An interesting story
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...nt-laughed-turns-invention-huge-business.html
A swimming coach has turned his invention into a huge business success despite being ridiculed on the BBC's Dragons' Den TV programme.
Kevin Moseley dreamed up the idea for a child's buoyancy aid sharped like a shark fin and went on the BBC2 show hoping for investment.
The father-of-two, 45, recalls how Theo Paphitis warned the idea was dangerous and Duncan Bannatyne laughed in his face on the show in 2006.
Mr Moseley only developed a business plan for his idea so he could appear on the show, but pledged to go it alone after he was snubbed.
With the backing of his wife Nicky, 39, the couple remortgaged their home and cashed in their life savings to raise a total of £200,000 for the new business.
He registered worldwide patents and started Swimfin Ltd from the garage of their home in Burscough, Lancashire, with one other employee.
In its first year of trading, Swimfin has become an international sensation with orders flooding in from 47 countries and sales topping 70,000.
Mr Moseley gave up his job as a swimming instructor to concentrate all his efforts on his company and it is expected to turnover more than £1million next year.
He said: 'It was a very bruising experience to appear on Dragons' Den. I felt like I had been set up to be laughed off the show.
'The Dragons sat there with their big egos and just slagged me off.
'By the end of the experience I was angry and frustrated and determined to show them they were wrong.'
Mr Moseley had appeared on the show alongside Olympic swimmer Mark Foster, who endorsed the Swimfin.
But Theo Paphitis described the six-time world champion as an 'idiot' for backing the product.
'I went on the show because I was a swimming instructor, not a businessman,' Mr Moseley said.
'I needed the money and advice but I was made to feel like a naughty schoolboy. I had only created a business plan so that I could present to the Dragons.
'But the experience made me determined to succeed and I realised that I did have a good product that would help children learn to swim, so I decided to carry on alone.'
Mr Moseley had wanted £150,000 for five per cent of his business and rejected an offer of £75,000 investment for 25 per cent of his business from Peter Jones.
He originally created the Swimfin 22 years ago by shaping two polystyrene 'kick board' floats and slotting them together. He wore the 'shark fin' as a game with children under his instruction.
He said: 'As a playtime reward, I cut two little kick boards into a fin shape and slotted them together so that it could sit on my back.
'I would then submerge and chase the kids so that all they saw was the tip of the fin coming towards them.
'But my eureka moment was when a four-year-old, who was struggling in the water, said he wanted to be Sharky.
'I let him wear the fin and we found he could swim with it on his back. It gave him freedom, confidence and mobility in the water.'
Manufactured in China and costing £19.99, each Swimfin is strapped to a child's back and works as a streamlined self-adjusting buoyancy aid.
Learners with swimming skills sit low in the water, submerging the fin so it acts as a float.
As their skills and confidence improve, the fin raises out of the water naturally, allowing the child to do more of the support work themselves until they no longer need it.
Swimfin has won government assistance through the UK Trade & Investment and the Northwest Regional Development Agency.
Judith Kyle, international trade adviser for UKTI North West, said: 'Kevin's design is proving to be a real hit among parents and swimming associations across the globe.
'Very early on he recognised the opportunity to export the Swimfin and secured the relevant international patents.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...nt-laughed-turns-invention-huge-business.html
A swimming coach has turned his invention into a huge business success despite being ridiculed on the BBC's Dragons' Den TV programme.
Kevin Moseley dreamed up the idea for a child's buoyancy aid sharped like a shark fin and went on the BBC2 show hoping for investment.
The father-of-two, 45, recalls how Theo Paphitis warned the idea was dangerous and Duncan Bannatyne laughed in his face on the show in 2006.
Mr Moseley only developed a business plan for his idea so he could appear on the show, but pledged to go it alone after he was snubbed.
With the backing of his wife Nicky, 39, the couple remortgaged their home and cashed in their life savings to raise a total of £200,000 for the new business.
He registered worldwide patents and started Swimfin Ltd from the garage of their home in Burscough, Lancashire, with one other employee.
In its first year of trading, Swimfin has become an international sensation with orders flooding in from 47 countries and sales topping 70,000.
Mr Moseley gave up his job as a swimming instructor to concentrate all his efforts on his company and it is expected to turnover more than £1million next year.
He said: 'It was a very bruising experience to appear on Dragons' Den. I felt like I had been set up to be laughed off the show.
'The Dragons sat there with their big egos and just slagged me off.
'By the end of the experience I was angry and frustrated and determined to show them they were wrong.'
Mr Moseley had appeared on the show alongside Olympic swimmer Mark Foster, who endorsed the Swimfin.
But Theo Paphitis described the six-time world champion as an 'idiot' for backing the product.
'I went on the show because I was a swimming instructor, not a businessman,' Mr Moseley said.
'I needed the money and advice but I was made to feel like a naughty schoolboy. I had only created a business plan so that I could present to the Dragons.
'But the experience made me determined to succeed and I realised that I did have a good product that would help children learn to swim, so I decided to carry on alone.'
Mr Moseley had wanted £150,000 for five per cent of his business and rejected an offer of £75,000 investment for 25 per cent of his business from Peter Jones.
He originally created the Swimfin 22 years ago by shaping two polystyrene 'kick board' floats and slotting them together. He wore the 'shark fin' as a game with children under his instruction.
He said: 'As a playtime reward, I cut two little kick boards into a fin shape and slotted them together so that it could sit on my back.
'I would then submerge and chase the kids so that all they saw was the tip of the fin coming towards them.
'But my eureka moment was when a four-year-old, who was struggling in the water, said he wanted to be Sharky.
'I let him wear the fin and we found he could swim with it on his back. It gave him freedom, confidence and mobility in the water.'
Manufactured in China and costing £19.99, each Swimfin is strapped to a child's back and works as a streamlined self-adjusting buoyancy aid.
Learners with swimming skills sit low in the water, submerging the fin so it acts as a float.
As their skills and confidence improve, the fin raises out of the water naturally, allowing the child to do more of the support work themselves until they no longer need it.
Swimfin has won government assistance through the UK Trade & Investment and the Northwest Regional Development Agency.
Judith Kyle, international trade adviser for UKTI North West, said: 'Kevin's design is proving to be a real hit among parents and swimming associations across the globe.
'Very early on he recognised the opportunity to export the Swimfin and secured the relevant international patents.'
