.jpg;w=450)
Nicole Reid has parlayed her restless nature into a budding business venture.
The fledgling Thunder Bay entrepreneur is expecting great things from a protective footwear product for contractors and homeowners that could break big this summer.
Four years in the making, the calls are coming fast and furious into Reid’s home-based business, Yuleys Footwear, as she prepares to fill up the order book.
At first glance, her invention resembles an industrial-strength version of a men’s dress shoe toe rubber, except it’s hands-free.
The idea came from her husband Scott, owner of Reid’s Countrywide Furniture, who wanted something his drivers could easily slip on over their steel-toed boots when making deliveries, instead of tracking dirt into customers’ homes.
Reid, who works as a hospital project manager, was bored and fidgety while on maternity leave. “I was thinking maybe I should invent a product to kind of spark some change in my life.”
So she took Scott’s idea and ran with it.
The one-piece boot cover is made of flexible thermoplastic rubber. For now, it’s available only in men’s sizes 8 to 12, but Reid hopes to introduce women’s sizes soon.
A shipment of samples was arriving from a factory in China this spring to distribute to some potential customers. Union Gas in Thunder Bay wants to field test them as do some local plumbers, furniture movers, marble layers, furnace technicians, electricians and painters.
She’s even received a query from the Canadian Mental Health Association which want pairs for their community workers.
With a suggested retail price of $39.99 a pair, Reid hopes to land on some big-box store shelves this summer when a container of 5,700 pairs arrives in June from China.
The Yuleys name came from reconfiguring the names of her two sons, Ewan and Leyton.
Her husband’s drivers have been testing out the various prototypes.
“We’ve got it to the point where you put a Yuley on and you can do jumping jacks, walk backwards, up and down stairs, and it doesn’t come off.”
The final product has come a long way from the original prototype, a jumble of wood, duct tape and ski bindings.
Not knowing how to develop and bring a product to market, a friend suggested Reid contact the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre. She credits manager Judy Sander and director of development Rick Prior for all their handholding.
“I don’t think this would have flown if it wasn’t for them.”
As experts in helping entrepreneurs at the early stage of innovation, they helped her with business planning, writing research grant applications and opened up their vast Rolodex of contacts in manufacturing, engineering and patent law. They also made introductions on her behalf to investors, local companies and at the corporate level.
“She’s a very tenacious gal,” said Prior. “Her calling is sales.”
Prior was impressed with Reid’s presentation skills when she pitched her product to a group of local investors. “She was just the star. I was so proud of her, just like she had been presenting to a board of directors all her life. She had all the answers, very smooth and collected.”
Reid secured two National Research Council grants worth $5,000 apiece and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund invested more than $61,000 in her venture.
Though reluctant to say how much she’s personally invested, Reid said engineering costs have been north of $80,000, not including money spent on prototype development, legal fees and making the moulds for her Chinese manufacturer.
Reid discovered that injection moulding is three times more expensive here than having it done in Asia. But she hopes to create some distribution jobs in Canada, especially if she ships product to the U.S.
She suspects things could really take off once she segues into the restaurant industry with a non-slip version.
“As soon as we launch this (current) phase, we’re going right into phase two in changing the design to work with a running shoe or regular footwear for fast food places. That’s an even bigger market.”
Though Reid is competing against cheaper paper, nylon and plastic throw-away versions, Yuleys are reusable and can be sanitized.
“We also can slide in a foam piece so it’s ergonomically friendly to help with back issues.”
Reid is also hopeful of striking a deal with some major retailers to get Yuleys on the store shelves this summer, coinciding with the arrival of her container in June.
