MICHAEL Harkins came up with Turtle Pack, a swimming aid, while he was studying pharmaceutical chemistry at Heriot-Watt University.The company’s Kickstarter reached more than £10,000 this year and Turtle Packs will be shipped to customers in December.
Name: Michael Harkins
Age: 25
Position: CEO and founder
WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS CALLED?
Turtle Pack
WHERE IS IT BASED?
Livingston
WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?
I HAVE been swimming since I was really young and started helping out at a lot of swimming lessons when I was 15. I worked my way up to become a level two teacher and then started running Dolphin Swim Club while I was at Herriot-Watt University studying pharmaceutical chemistry. I thought there must be a better swim aid than what was on the market. Noodles and floats are restrictive and uncreative, that was my problem with the current range. I wanted to come up with a solution.
Out of nowhere the idea of Turtle Pack jumped into my head. I searched on the internet to see if there was something similar out there but there wasn’t. I couldn’t believe I had come up with something unique.
I communicated with 100 to 150 parents in the swim school about the idea and asked for their advice. Parents got back to me and told me to be protective of my idea. Someone recommended entering the Sports Innovation Challenge and they told me my idea was good.
I was announced as the top 10 and was put through to the final which had a high calibre of judges such as Adidas, Sky Scanner founders. A week later and was announced as the winner of the competition so I entered more competitions which gave me an opportunity to develop my idea.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
IT is a fun swimming aid designed for children aged three to six. The vest provides extra support, comfort and stability for swimmer. As the child gets more confident parts of the “shell” can be removed. The vest means the child is not restricted and has full use of their arms. It is one of a kind because floats or arm discs are about aids held children get what confidence but develop bad habits that need to be ironed out later on. The shells allow children to get better a swimming and makes practice multifunctional. It can be used as arm aid or in pool games and throw shells out and scoop up water with shells and practice blowing bubbles.
One of key things is push and glide where you can set turtle pack a metre away from wall and grab it and bring it back. The most exciting thing it that it’s fun. It’s creative and makes children want to learn how to swim.
We are still in the manufacturing stage and have a Kickstarter that allows parents and swim schools to purchase when we have got stock. The reason we are putting online sales first is 50% of consumers now buy online. People are more comfortable buying online.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?
ONE of the key things behind our branding is the creation of a character. Tiki is our main character and the idea behind creation of a character was to engage with children as much as possible.
Creating a character that is supposed to be part of swimming lessons makes swimming fun.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?
THE people aspect is what I enjoy. First the most important is the vs and of creating a great product that will be on the market that will help children to swim effectively. There’s a study that says 40% of children can’t swim. It is exciting for children. I am extremely proud about of helping children to swim better. However, as a teacher can only go so far as I can only teach a limited number of children so that’s why Turtle Pack is useful. I plan to take the creation of the character above and beyond the product.
WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS’ TIME?
IN 10 years’ time our message will stay the same: We want to help children learn how to swim.
I truly believe what we developing is the best swimming aid in the market. In the next 10 years we plan to really build on our creation Tiki and get him to teach children about the dangers of water and prevent drowning. With rising child obesity levels, it is also important to teach children how to live a healthy lifestyle.
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