An unfog-getable winner
In June 2011 Phil Hall won Business.govt.nz’s ANZ Flying Start Business Plan Competition for his plans to produce revolutionary safety goggles. We’ll be following Phil and his company Kiwi Ideas Limited over the coming months to see how he has been using his prize to grow the enterprise and reach international markets.
The birth of Safe Eyes, the brand name of a range of Kiwi Ideas Limited’s safety goggles, began about 11 years ago. Phil, based in Masterton, was running a team of 24 forestry employees and struggling to provide suitable eye protection that both kept out the sawdust and didn’t fog up under the physical exertion required to do the job.
“I disappeared into the shed, as I often do, with a goggle frame and a hot glue gun,” said Phil. He added some mesh, picked up from a local engineering friend, and the first version of Safe Eyes was born.
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Perfecting the product
Phil kept making goggles for all his employees, and “that expanded to other forestry workers until I was almost full-time into hot-glue-gunning mesh into goggles,” said Phil.
“As with most ideas, refinements were needed. So, in my spare time I did research to find the most durable material to make these goggles out of. The goggles ended up very durable, which from a sales perspective is perhaps not such a good idea – because unless you lose them they will literally last you a lifetime!
“The best thing about our goggles is that they don’t fog up, regardless of how hard you’re working. We are the only goggle manufacturers who can state their goggles are ‘unfogable’.
“We soon learnt they weren’t only suitable for the forestry industry but had other uses such as for harness racing, water blasting, weed eating, and mining. More than 60 different industries are currently using them.”
Working with his wife, Jeanette, Phil said he “kept improving and refining the goggles, and the mesh in particular, to enable our goggles to pass the European safety standard and then the US safety standard for eye protection.
“We’re now positioning ourselves to enter the worldwide market for eye protection and have been in discussions with two possible global distributors and plan to add to our range of products. Global domination is on the horizon.”
Off to a flying start
Safe Eyes has a quality product, a ready export market and winning the business plan competition has literally got them off to a flying start. The competition, run in conjunction with the Government small business support agency Business.govt.nz, saw them beat a number of other great business ideas submitted from across New Zealand.
The innovative safety features combined with the Safe Eyes goggles’ comfort and durability is drawing in customers, but it was Safe Eyes’ sound business model, strong team and in-depth understanding of their target customers, combined with accurate and robust financials and the potential to sell their Kiwi-innovated goggles to the world that won them the Supreme Award in the competition.
Safe Eyes received $30,000 in cash as well as $30,000 in business advice and services to help Phil and Jeanette take their business to the next level. Phil said winning the competition has been a huge boost to Safe Eyes already. As a result of the publicity, sales in the first two weeks after the competition went up 300%, and generated sales both locally and internationally. “We got another client in Peru out of it. It’s been good – very, very positive,” said Phil.
Phil believes Safe Eyes is off to a flying start because they have a good business plan and believe in their exciting product and the opportunities for growth and exports it represents. His five-year plan is to “build a global brand, adding to what we already have to offer.”
Business drill-down
Business type: Eye safety product designer and manufacturer
Main products: Ergonomic and durable industrial-strength, safety-approved goggles and spectacles
Number of staff: 1 full-time, various part-time as required
Trading since: 2005
Main markets: New Zealand, and the global market
Website: www.safe-eyes.co.nz
Follow the Safe Eyes story
September 2011 update
After winning the competition in June, Phil and Kiwi Ideas have been busy.
Because Phil sees international markets as being essential to the future success and growth of Safe Eyes, he has been keen to travel overseas to meet with distributors who can help get his product in retail outlets overseas.
After working with a specialist in market connections, he spent part of the $30,000 cash prize won in June on a trip to Hong Kong to meet with potential global distributors. They’ve already received one distribution proposal, currently under consideration, which could see sales take off exponentially. A joint venture with an overseas partner could see Kiwi Ideas Limited being able to tap into the existing resources of their joint venture partner such as manufacturing facilities or distribution networks.
Find out more about exporting your products and services and strategic alliances and joint ventures.
If international sales do take off, Phil knows he’ll need to be able to quickly scale up the production of Safe Eyes to meet demand; therefore, he is exploring options to ramp up production.
Read more about increasing your business’s capacity and capability.
There is also the possibility that distributors or retailers may want the product in different styles and sizes. Phil is already working with an industrial designer to draw up designs for the next version of their goggles.
“Within six months we’ll go from our current two products (a standard mesh and a fine mesh goggle) and develop a range of eye safety products,” said Phil, who expects to see a significant increase in sales volumes within a year.
Find out more about fostering innovation.
Phil said Kiwi Ideas will use the balance of the cash prize for product development and any further related business trips; the prize of legal assistance to check over any distribution contracts; and the marketing assistance prizes to refresh their brand, website and social networking.
Read these useful tips on getting your business online and using social media for business.
December 2011 update
Jeanette called Phil out of his infamous shed, where Phil has been hard at work, so we could catch up for the December update.
International opportunities
Safe Eyes’ focus on international opportunities continues. Phil has been in on-going negotiations with distributors in Hong Kong, and says: “It’s getting down to the exciting stage of negotiating the finer details of the contract!”
In addition Phil flew to India in November to with meet another potential distributor – an opportunity that opened up from contacts made as a result of winning the Business Plan competition. Phil met with NZTE in New Delhi to get advice and input before meeting with Jacyo Safety, a safety product manufacturer and distributor in Mumbai. Jayco is interested in distributing Safe Eyes’ safety goggles, and Phil has returned to explore the option to become the exclusive Australasian distributor for Jayco’s dust masks and related products.
Read more about finding major project opportunities and the logistics of exporting and importing.
Phil reports that directly after winning the competition Safe Eyes’ sales spiked with a 300% increase on the previous year, and sales are still tracking much higher, with an average of a 200% increase on the previous years’ sales.
Find out how to avoid common marketing mistakes and how to plan your marketing and market your point of difference.
Phil’s tips for businesses wanting to negotiate new contracts:
- It’s so much more effective to negotiate a business deal with someone you’ve met face-to-face. In the past we would’ve tried to do this over the Internet, but a personal visit is a must – and always set up meetings prior to heading overseas.
- Take enough product samples with you.
- Don’t give things away too easy. In the past, if someone contacted us and wanted to represent our products in an area as large as Europe, for example, we would’ve been delighted and simply said yes. Now we know to negotiate and not give away more than we need to.
- Don’t expect to walk away with a signed contract from your first visit. Start with a face-to-face meeting and a handshake deal, then discuss the finer details of the contract. Be upfront from the start, with open discussions and no hidden surprises, and once you have a draft contract that both parties are happy with, get legal advice before you sign anything.
Use this handy tool to help you find out how to negotiate better contracts.
Branding and marketing
Safe Eyes is also busy with a rebranding exercise and February will see the launch of their rebranded packaging and new market material, as well as a website update and a foray into interacting over social media. We’ll bring you more information about this in our March 2012 update, but in the mean time, find out more about website marketing and social media or try the website health check to see how you can improve your website.
April 2012 update
For our latest update, we asked Phil some questions to find out what he’s achieved since entering the Flying Start Competition, where he expects to be in the next five years and what advice he has for businesses thinking of entering the Flying Start Business Plan Competition this year.
Q: What are your three main achievements since winning the 2011 competition?
A: We secured a relationship and understanding with two potential global distributors. The $30k prize money donated by ANZ made this possible – the injection of funds enabled the travel to Hong Kong to meet these parties as well as continued travel to China to meet potential manufacturers.
Our most significant step forward was finalising a joint venture agreement with our global distributor, an achievement made possible by the legal assistance from Lane Neave (part of the legal assistance offered to the prize winner) and direction from our independent director, Murray McCaw.
We’ve also overhauled our website redevelopment and moved into social networking as part of our rebranding strategy. This was made possible by the grant of $10k worth of work offered by Munted Digital as part of the Flying Start Competition.
Find out more about exporting your products and services and strategic alliances and joint ventures as well as more about getting your business online and using social media for business.
Q: What roadblocks did you need to navigate and how did you achieve this?
A: The biggest challenge was deciding which global distributor to work with! We made a decision following considerable discussions with our independent director, on the basis of an analysis of market opportunities of the distributor options, and gut feeling on experiences to date.
Another roadblock was finding financing for re-tooling. We got the money we needed through a personal property revaluation, another personal bank loan, and a design grant from the Ministry of Science and Innovation.
Finalising the joint venture agreement with our global distributors and terminating current distribution agreements was another challenge we overcame with assistance from Lane Neave, our independent director, Murray McCaw, and the willingness of our distributor to have a good, strong but flexible agreement in place.
Read more about business mentoring and the logistics of exporting.
Q: What is the outlook for your business and what are your plans for Kiwi Ideas in the next five years?
A: Kiwi Ideas is in very good shape. Over the next five years, we’ll be building a brand with a range of products to meet and exceed the wants and needs of the market. Most importantly, we now have the base from which to build a significant international brand and expect it will take five years to bring this close to reality. During this time we plan to enhance our brand offering through a diversified product range (while sticking to what we do best) and ensuring we have the cash reserves to facilitate research and development (both market and product), product development and international distribution and sales. It’s not for the faint hearted!
Find out more about marketing and building capacity and capability.
Q: What are your next steps and what do you need to achieve them?
A: Further finance! New product developments are well on the way and we have an outstanding manufacturing partner in China. The greatest challenge now is to ensure we have the capital funding to go to the next stage – production for global distribution, market growth and sales.
Read more about financing growth.
Q: What advice do you have for entrants into this year’s Flying Start Business Plan Competition?
A: Enter all competitions going. They force you to think strategically about your business and what the priorities are. Don’t be afraid to ask for assistance in any way possible and find a good, independent company director or mentor to help you take your business to the next level.
Some points to note:
- If you want to export, you need to be prepared to travel and meet your customers or partners.
- Get legal advice when negotiating contracts.
- Make sure your online presence is professional and well managed.
- Identify your strengths and weaknesses and ask for help where you need it.
