- Reaction score
- 4,580
- Points
- 1,160
Has anyone seen/used this Quick Snap thingy?
See this article, reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions (§29) of the Copyright Act from Friday’s Financial Post:
--------------------
http://www.financialpost.com/small_business/story.html?id=1067682
QuickSnap invention clicks with investors
Mentor’s advice to go on Dragons’ Den pays off fast
Daryl-Lynn Carlson, Financial Post
Published: Friday, December 12, 2008
Paul Darrow for the National PostDavid Reynolds, Quick Snap co-founder, shows the quick-lacing clips the company will be sending to Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan.
Sometimes the most lucrative entrepreneurial concepts evolve from the simplest of ideas. With the founders of QuickSnap, their invention was based on the simple idea that it should be easier to put on shoes.
David Reynolds and Drew McKenna developed a device that enables people to secure their shoelaces with a click, and it looks good. Their invention is proving to be a tremendous time saver and a significant benefit for people with disabilities. It could potentially become an integral safety component for Canada's troops.
In a collection of testimonials, a Winnipeg physician writes about an athletic 14-year-old girl who lost her dexterity as a result of a brain tumor and can now put on her own footwear using the device.
"In any business you want to make money but when you know you've touched the hearts of people and you've actually provided something so simple and so unique that you hear benefits their lifestyle, it's life-changing," says Riad Byne, a former soldier who served in Afghanistan and joined QuickSnap earlier this year as president and chief executive.
Mr. Byne met the QuickSnap founders at university, which he attended after returning from his tour of duty. He has been promoting the product to military officials.
Mr. Reynolds and Mr. McKenna launched the company in 2003, while attending university. As part of their studies they had to do a project that required them to prepare a business plan.
After a series of meetings to troubleshoot ideas for the project, Mr. Reynolds struck on the idea for the device. "I was getting ready to give Drew a ride home and I just jammed my shoes on and I'm out the door. But he has these boots that he has to tie up and it takes him about five minutes, so I was always waiting for him," he says. "I thought of something like a clip that would make it faster."
While the concept looked good on paper, the journey to market wasn't easy. The young men had to continue with their studies while trying to raise money to commission the manufacturing of their QuickSnap device.
They did receive initial funding through CYBF and another source, but that was quickly used up.
Their CYBF mentor, Peter Mombourquette, a professor at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, helped them balance their studies with their new business focus. He says young students are in a good postion to start a business. "Most students are poor and they're not used to having a lot of things. So when they start a new business and go through the initial years when they don't have a lot of money, it's easier [for them] to deal with [it] because they don't know any different, versus a 35-year-old who gives up a good paying job and risks mortgage payments," he says.
Once the product was ready, Mr. Mombourquette encouraged them to audition for CBC's Dragons' Den television show. Earlier this year Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Byne won over two of the judges who invested in QuickSnap in return for a share in the company. Brett Wilson, one of those dragons, was so impressed with the product he negotiated a deal with the entrepreneurs to purchase clips for Canada's troops in Afghanistan.
"Canada's troops have always had a soft spot in my heart and I don't think Canadians celebrate them enough," Mr. Wilson says.
"One of the benefits of Quicksnap was a clear improvement in two things: getting your boots on quickly and also getting them off quickly.
"If someone is injured, an ankle is broken, to get those boots off you have to cut laces but with this, it's just 'snap' and they're off. So I view this as a safety issue."
The goal is to deliver three QuickSnap clips to each of the approximately 2,500 soldiers in Afghanistan during the holiday season.
Mr. Wilson is also trying to make arrangements to provide QuickSnap clips to all of Canada's troops serving in foreign locations.
To date the snaps have been manufacturered in China, although the company recently penned a deal with a Quebec-based manufacturer to augment their production.
Since appearing on Dragons' Den, sales have risen more than twofold, with online orders originating from as far away as Australia and New Zealand.
--------------------
See also: http://www.quicksnap.ca/product.html
See this article, reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions (§29) of the Copyright Act from Friday’s Financial Post:
--------------------
http://www.financialpost.com/small_business/story.html?id=1067682
QuickSnap invention clicks with investors
Mentor’s advice to go on Dragons’ Den pays off fast
Daryl-Lynn Carlson, Financial Post
Published: Friday, December 12, 2008
Paul Darrow for the National PostDavid Reynolds, Quick Snap co-founder, shows the quick-lacing clips the company will be sending to Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan.
Sometimes the most lucrative entrepreneurial concepts evolve from the simplest of ideas. With the founders of QuickSnap, their invention was based on the simple idea that it should be easier to put on shoes.
David Reynolds and Drew McKenna developed a device that enables people to secure their shoelaces with a click, and it looks good. Their invention is proving to be a tremendous time saver and a significant benefit for people with disabilities. It could potentially become an integral safety component for Canada's troops.
In a collection of testimonials, a Winnipeg physician writes about an athletic 14-year-old girl who lost her dexterity as a result of a brain tumor and can now put on her own footwear using the device.
"In any business you want to make money but when you know you've touched the hearts of people and you've actually provided something so simple and so unique that you hear benefits their lifestyle, it's life-changing," says Riad Byne, a former soldier who served in Afghanistan and joined QuickSnap earlier this year as president and chief executive.
Mr. Byne met the QuickSnap founders at university, which he attended after returning from his tour of duty. He has been promoting the product to military officials.
Mr. Reynolds and Mr. McKenna launched the company in 2003, while attending university. As part of their studies they had to do a project that required them to prepare a business plan.
After a series of meetings to troubleshoot ideas for the project, Mr. Reynolds struck on the idea for the device. "I was getting ready to give Drew a ride home and I just jammed my shoes on and I'm out the door. But he has these boots that he has to tie up and it takes him about five minutes, so I was always waiting for him," he says. "I thought of something like a clip that would make it faster."
While the concept looked good on paper, the journey to market wasn't easy. The young men had to continue with their studies while trying to raise money to commission the manufacturing of their QuickSnap device.
They did receive initial funding through CYBF and another source, but that was quickly used up.
Their CYBF mentor, Peter Mombourquette, a professor at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, helped them balance their studies with their new business focus. He says young students are in a good postion to start a business. "Most students are poor and they're not used to having a lot of things. So when they start a new business and go through the initial years when they don't have a lot of money, it's easier [for them] to deal with [it] because they don't know any different, versus a 35-year-old who gives up a good paying job and risks mortgage payments," he says.
Once the product was ready, Mr. Mombourquette encouraged them to audition for CBC's Dragons' Den television show. Earlier this year Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Byne won over two of the judges who invested in QuickSnap in return for a share in the company. Brett Wilson, one of those dragons, was so impressed with the product he negotiated a deal with the entrepreneurs to purchase clips for Canada's troops in Afghanistan.
"Canada's troops have always had a soft spot in my heart and I don't think Canadians celebrate them enough," Mr. Wilson says.
"One of the benefits of Quicksnap was a clear improvement in two things: getting your boots on quickly and also getting them off quickly.
"If someone is injured, an ankle is broken, to get those boots off you have to cut laces but with this, it's just 'snap' and they're off. So I view this as a safety issue."
The goal is to deliver three QuickSnap clips to each of the approximately 2,500 soldiers in Afghanistan during the holiday season.
Mr. Wilson is also trying to make arrangements to provide QuickSnap clips to all of Canada's troops serving in foreign locations.
To date the snaps have been manufacturered in China, although the company recently penned a deal with a Quebec-based manufacturer to augment their production.
Since appearing on Dragons' Den, sales have risen more than twofold, with online orders originating from as far away as Australia and New Zealand.
--------------------
See also: http://www.quicksnap.ca/product.html