Case studies: Thudgyard - ILA (Scotland Ltd)

Background

Kelly Forsyth-Gibson had been working as a secretary and bringing up her two boys on her own when she met her second husband. The couple had a little girl, and it was while being at home to look after her that Kelly’s business idea came to her.

“I stayed at home again to bring up my baby and when she was about one year old, she had a fall whilst learning to walk. I took great care to child proof my home and had plenty of experience with having two older children but I still felt extremely guilty that I did not catch her in time.” Explains Kelly

After the hospital x-ray and a leaflet showing the symptoms to watch out for in the next 24 hours were given, Kelly couldn’t help thinking that, in this day and age, there should be something more a mother could do short of being permanently glued to her daughter’s side while she developed her gross motor skills over the next few months. That was when the idea for Thudguard was born.

Kelly says, “It really did come to me in a flash, completely and utterly out of pure necessity. A mother’s instinct to protect her child. It made total sense – take the protection straight to her head while she was learning to walk.”

Progress

Kelly telephoned around first to see if any baby stores sold such a device but none seemed to exist. A visit to the local library to research existing patents also revealed nothing similar to what Kelly had in mind, so the business journey began.

Kelly says, “I went to my local Business Gateway to ask for help with my idea. It all happened fairly quickly to start with. I was advised to research more, get medical opinions on the need for such a product and the most important piece of advice I was given, to protect my idea with a patent application.”

Further research and a private meeting with consultants at her local hospital to discuss the concept yielded much evidence to support the need for a product of this kind.

“If the two consultants that I met with had laughed or appeared less than enthusiastic, I would have run out of there and never have given it another thought but they were fantastic and to this day, have been motivating me and encouraging every step. They told me that it would not only save a child from injury but would reduce their work load as they sometimes see about six infants a day at accident and emergency with head injures. In fact, the research uncovered that over 500,000 children had a head injury in one year in the UK!” Explains Kelly.

Help from Scottish Enterprise

The next thing Kelly did was attend the free business courses being held in her area. She comments, “I found this very helpful and would recommend this as a must to anyone.”

Kelly also received free help from the Scottish Enterprise marketing team. She was given 250 questionnaires with specifically thought out questions to ask parents about her product. Over that summer, with her baby in tow, she walked around play parks, stood outside baby shops and visited nurseries asking questions. This initial research showed that her product could be viable.

Kelly received financial help from Scottish Enterprise who also paid for an independent “Viability & Route to Market” study and report conducted by a Glasgow company, Frontline, who came back with evidence to keep the momentum of the Thudguard invention going. Along with bank funding for seed capital and development and her patent application in the bag, Kelly was on her way.

Kelly was now attending Women Into Business Networking events and had been matched up with a business mentor.

She explains, “These business events are crucial for many reasons; it gets you out there talking about your business idea. This helps separate the reality from the dream and is a major step in helping it come true! It builds up your confidence as well as building up your support, business contacts and of course, potential future sales.”

Drawing on Past Experience

“I think the qualities that I already had to be able to start my own business came from temping jobs I had over the years. They ranged from being a secretary for marketing and recruitment companies to admin; helping set up new oil based offices, contracts and procurement to more personal skills such as enjoying drama and travelling. The skills I did lack I gained through the courses I attended or my local college but I am still far from totally mastering the business world and anyone who feels that they are, should not rest on their laurels to soon – there is always something new to learn!” says Kelly.

Through challenges including raising finance, convincing people to believe in her vision, keeping afloat financially through the years of research, development, product testing and finding a company to licence her invention to, Kelly has had valuable support from friends and family and can now look toward a successful future.

“My plans for the future of my business are to develop two other products that I am currently working on and to make the Thudguard brand name known world-wide.”

And finally…

“My advice to anyone thinking of starting up a business is, if you really think it is something that you yourself would use or buy then there must also be others that would, so go for it and never give up!”