Stor-n-Dri – Sports Equipment Storage and Drying Cabinet

August 13th, 2013 | 0 Comments | 2013, 2014, Brand Valley, Branding, Business Venture Alley, Differentiation Station, Inventor's Corner, Marketing Place, Packaging, Procurement Path, Project List, Retail, Strategy Zone

There is no smell more disgusting than stinky sports gear, especially from the likes of a contact sport such as hockey or football. Working with a group that have challenged themselves to develop an affordable solution to this problem is an interesting opportunity to resolve. Many of the products currently available on the market have been tested, each yielding limited short and long term success. We have chosen to solve the challenge by developing a product that deals directly with storing and drying the equipment soon after each use in order to prevent the buildup of bacteria that contributes to the development of the ripening stench emanating from an open sports equipment bag.

Design Criteria:

The group set out a set of guidelines for the development of storage and dryer solution for contact sports equipment. The basic criteria developed is as follows:

• Solution must be able to store a full set of contact sport equipment
• The solution is to dry the equipment without the use of a heating device
• The solution must dry the equipment in less than 6 hours
• The solution must control any dispersing of foul odours

Outcome:

More than 20 generations of prototypes were generated to create a product that exceeded the original development criteria. During the development process more than a half dozen hockey teams were contacted and shown the project in order to obtain user feedback to further validate the products ability to meet their needs and cost expectations.

In less than six months the sport equipment storage and dryer concept was created and most importantly exceeded the original functional design criteria.  A company was registered in September 2013, a founders equity distribution structure was created and agreed to, initial start-up capital raised and a skilled team of personnel have been put together and given the mandate to finalize the retail consumer version of the storage and dryer system and to take the product successfully to market. A multi-pronged market development approach has been implemented to provide the team with a controlled growth strategy and the flexibility to pursue other channels for sales distribution.