Dry lines in dry weather

The phenomenally dry weather through September and into this month has not improved sales! However, they are ticking along at a reasonable pace and I am waiting for a breakthrough in the shape of a media coup. I can't say what it is, but I am sure it will put the Dryline on the mainstream map. There are three irons in the fire at present, and surely one will come to fruition soon, if that is not mixing the metaphor too much.
I am working on an adaptor that will potentially cut my range down to half its present level by allowing all airers to use the preferred Classic version of the Dryline. The drawings will have to be turned into a CAD file that the mould makers can use.
The bureaucracy involved in business these days is in my view excessive; certainly enough to stifle a lot of development that otherwise would have time to be done. The accounts for last year and the VAT return have taken up hours and hours of tedious labour, and getting the right software to deal with the orders is a nightmare that I have yet to be free of. Ordering the amount of stock you think you will need three months in advance is also very trying, and of course impossible...
But it's an interesting game.

A busy summer

It has indeed been a busy summer. A lot of effort has gone into publicising the product by attanding County Shows and Gardening Shows and rather than take a holiday my wife and I have been taking weekends at fairs around the country. Each one has been good for sales, but more importantly it has put the idea into thousands of heads that otherwise would not have seen it. So often a person will remark how annoying it is to get back from work to find the laundry sodden by unecpacted rainfall; if someone has seen the Dryline they can say "I saw a cover for the laundry at as Show; it was called the rota- something." All that needs to happen then is for the person to go to Google or another search engine and find me.
Apart from that I have expanded the range of accessories a little, getting a part manufactured to increase the working height of the airer and so on. Problems due to an early batch of faulty material still return, causing replacements to be sent out at considerable expense and time. However, sales are definitely on an upward track, and the poor weather this summer has been a benefit to the project. However, September has been dry all month, and it is surprising how much this affects sales. I have recently designed an adaptor that could halve the product range, which would be a great help in selling. I am exxcited about this possibility. The website and price list have been overhauled as well, and the results, although it has been slow and time consuming, will set the Dryline on a better footing for the future.
I sometimes feel that my life has been taken over and that I don't get out enough, but after all, life is change, and I'm lucky to have a business that is prospering in the economic recession. A lot of it is fun as well!

Summer is passing!

Is it really two months since I last visited this hallowed page? Yes, I am afraid so.
What have I been doing, you might ask (if anyone ever looked at this meagre blog).
I have been incredibly busy, I am behind with the accounts, my other patent work has gone onto the back burner and the Dryline takes up nearly all of my waking hours. Other wise everything is just tickety boo.
I passed the thousandth sale point last week; over a thousand happy customers are using my invention - and they keep telling me how much they like it! Now to move into the larger market; a new integrated website to take the pain out of processing orders, a new version to sell cheaply enough to enter the retail market, a much-overdue price rise and hire an apprentice to learn the online retail trade. Alan Sugar eat your heart out!

After May Day

Preparations for the Euro and County elections have taken a lot of time lately, and the Malvern Mayday also took its toll. However, it's great to have a prominent role in establishing a great local event like the Mayday parade and party in the park. We have actually created a folk tradition that could (why not?) endure long after we are in the sod.
Straight after that I plunged into the RHS Spring Gardening Show, where for four days I displayed several Rotaire Drylines and handed out leaflets with instructions on how to measure your airer. The best part of the positive feedback that I received was when ladies would come up to me and shake my hand, saying that they had bought a Dryline last year and it had been brilliant; they loved it and wanted to thank me personally! You can't buy that sort of satisfaction.
Anyway, that excuses the lamentable lack of entries to the blog. I now intend to display the Dryline at more shows this summer, as it is the most direct route to engaging people. Public awareness is building up nicely, and I still get a lot of referrals from the Chris Evans Show last year - amazing how important national media is.

Light at the end of the tunnel (2)

I just re-read my last post, and it's strange that one's view can change so completely over such a short time. Two weeks later and the prospect of selling Drylines seems easy. The Rotaire Dryline sells itself! The only matters that prevent more sales are uncertainty (because it is a totally new concept) and the relatively high price. It is obvious when the Dryline is shown to a customer that it is well made, without cutting corners - and that the Dryline is made to last, unlike so many imported products.
I look forward to the Malvern Spring Gardening Show, where people show such enthusiasm for the idea. After all, it is so simple, and so obvious, that if you want to dry clothes in the British climate you need to cover the laundry. The Rotaire Dryline washing line rain cover is the first and only cover to fit existing airers - across the range.
Roll on the April Showers!

The Light at the end of the tunnel

Some days the light at the end of the tunnel just seems to go out, as if turned off by an invisible hand. I searched my soul to find out if I really thought I could pull it off; the international marketing, patent costs for all those territories, the sheer day to day grind of fielding questions and sending out orders. It wouldn't be hard if I had not had to invest so much money to get the project to this stage. Now maintaining the debt is getting more and more difficult. Moreover, the financial melt down has caused the jolly British Pound to tumble to 75% of its value, meaning that I can only buy 3 Drylines for my money instead of 4.
If the product is adopted by a major retailer (negotiations under way) I will have to take on an extra £100k in short term debt from the bank in order to bridge the gap between purchase of goods and payment of invoice. The little entrepreneur gets trampled by the bigger fish! And the rates they are charging??? At a time when the bank rate is lower than ever in history the banks are still lending at premium rates. There ought to be a Law...
Don't expect cheap imports to go on forever. Tomatoes have gone up considerably, as will anything from the continent.

Into the New Year with a bang!

I usually can't get going until the second week of the New Year, can't remember to write the correct year on cheques, that sort of thing. This year was different. I crashed into it well refreshed, though slightly hung over, and started work with relish. Plenty of orders to process!
I've made enough this month to pay the heavy fees to keep the Intenational Patent cover in force, and even got an Australian patent application in place. Australia is the home of the rotary airer - probably their only invention, so it seemed right to take the Rotaire to them.
The next problem is to get through the winter, when people don't think of drying outside and sales will be low. If only they realised: some new users found they could dry their clothes in the sub-zero temperatures we we've been experiencing this Season. The problem after that is to afford new stock, as levels are dangerously low on some sizes, and completely out on others. However, I seem to be faring surprisingly well in this Global Squeeze (why won't anyone call it a slump? It clearly is!) so long may my good luck continue.
Oh yes, I got a call from a buyer at Argos too...