News Article
MARTIN DRIVES AHEAD AFTER DRAGON'S DEN REJECTION
- Published Date: Friday 4th December 2009
A DROMORE man who landed in the rough after daring to enter the Dragons' Den online is driving ahead with a homegrown business he says has now won the approval of some 60 professional golfers.
Trained professional designer and golf enthusiast Martin Greeves is director of Shaft Skinz Ltd., a company trading in an accessory designed to enable golfers to both decorate and protect their club shafts.
Martin asked online Dragons Shaf Rasul and Julie Meyer for £50,000 in exchange for 10% of his business, but neither would step up to the tee and Martin left empty-handed.
Having hoped to use the investment primarily to market a product he believes is a surefire winner - marrying a clever labelling technology with what calls an established trend in golf - Martin was disappointed by the Dragons' decision, but he was determined to stay the course.
"Specifically within golf there is now a greater opportunity for individuality and self-expression through the overwhelming choice of all the items associated with the game," he said. "Graphite shafts have been at the forefront of that trend, with their fancy graphics, but steel shafts were being left behind; this heat-activated labelling technology allows us to offer golfers not only a way to choose how their shafts look from a range of graphic options but also provides a way to protect the shaft from everyday scratches and scrapes."
Martin asked online Dragons Shaf Rasul and Julie Meyer for £50,000 in exchange for 10% of his business, but neither would step up to the tee and Martin left empty-handed.
Having hoped to use the investment primarily to market a product he believes is a surefire winner - marrying a clever labelling technology with what calls an established trend in golf - Martin was disappointed by the Dragons' decision, but he was determined to stay the course.
"Specifically within golf there is now a greater opportunity for individuality and self-expression through the overwhelming choice of all the items associated with the game," he said. "Graphite shafts have been at the forefront of that trend, with their fancy graphics, but steel shafts were being left behind; this heat-activated labelling technology allows us to offer golfers not only a way to choose how their shafts look from a range of graphic options but also provides a way to protect the shaft from everyday scratches and scrapes."
The process involves sliding a film tube, or sleeve, over the grip and shrinking it onto any shaft type using a strong domestic hair-dryer before trimming it to fit.
According to Martin his creation has won a following on the world golf tour circuit, with 60 pros putting the product into play so far.
"It's really exciting that some of the world's top golfers have opted to express themselves with a product I conceived," he said.
Martin makes and warehouses his product in the United States and sells it via sales reps there, although he controls operations from his Dromore home; in other countries, such as Sweden and India, he sells through distributors with greater local market knowledge and contacts.
Martin has encountered a few pitfalls during this, his first foray into business. "Having the idea represents about two per cent of the effort," he said. "Making it is about 10 per cent and the remaining 88 per cent is pure hard work making it 'fly'."
The Dromore man insists that while his product may not yet be soaring, it is certainly off the ground, only recently finding its way into a number of pro-shops and golf retailers around the Province.
As for his experience in the Dragons' Den online, he said, "It hurts a little to be given a 'no' but, like the Dragons themselves, you have to develop a thick skin to succeed in business; whilst I didn't get investment I learned a great deal from it and, as the local enterprise agency suggests, you should 'Go For It'."
According to Martin his creation has won a following on the world golf tour circuit, with 60 pros putting the product into play so far.
"It's really exciting that some of the world's top golfers have opted to express themselves with a product I conceived," he said.
Martin makes and warehouses his product in the United States and sells it via sales reps there, although he controls operations from his Dromore home; in other countries, such as Sweden and India, he sells through distributors with greater local market knowledge and contacts.
Martin has encountered a few pitfalls during this, his first foray into business. "Having the idea represents about two per cent of the effort," he said. "Making it is about 10 per cent and the remaining 88 per cent is pure hard work making it 'fly'."
The Dromore man insists that while his product may not yet be soaring, it is certainly off the ground, only recently finding its way into a number of pro-shops and golf retailers around the Province.
As for his experience in the Dragons' Den online, he said, "It hurts a little to be given a 'no' but, like the Dragons themselves, you have to develop a thick skin to succeed in business; whilst I didn't get investment I learned a great deal from it and, as the local enterprise agency suggests, you should 'Go For It'."
