The QwikGoal Story

I love going to the park to play football with my son, but we always have trouble finding something to mark a goal. If your playing football you want to score a goal. We search around for bits of stick, but even if you find 2 small pieces it's impossible to push them into the ground. Jumpers or shoes work as a marker but then we argue about whether or not we scored when the ball bounces over them. Sometimes we even resort to saying "it's that daisy to that buttercup". None of the choices work as a realistic goal.

Then I thought, there must be millions of kids out there wanting to play a decent game of football in the park, just like us. So I got to thinking about our problem and decided to do something about it. I decided to manufacture a set of goalposts, which would look like real goalposts but would be completely portable and very easy to put up. I found a great designer and we got together to find the best way to solve our problem. It had to be the best design using the best and strongest materials.

We tried lots of ideas and spent a year experimenting with designs and materials until we found the best solution, which above all worked brilliantly, but also fulfilled my other criteria, which were: ease of use (you can put them up in a few seconds), easy to carry around (they pack away into a backpack), virtually indestructible and look like real goalposts.

I didn't want a crossbar or a net because that would take too long to put up and be too difficult to carry around.

We achieved a solution that works much better than I ever imagined.

A pair of goalposts which are over 6 feet high, take only a few seconds to put up, but telescope down to be easily carried in a backpack.

With the design ready I started manufacturing in a factory in China, recommended to me by an English company manufacturing sporting and other goods, and they did a brilliant job making a really high quality set of goalposts.
It was very exciting. My dream had come true.

To design it I had brought an expert to get the best result.
To sell them I thought that I could do it alone.
It seemed easy: create a website to sell the goalposts and advertise in magazines to get people to the website.
It turned out to be a very expensive way of doing things and I quickly ran out of money.

So now I was stuck. I had a great product, but no one knew it existed.
For a year or two I tried learning about Internet advertising, but it's not easy and I had no business experience to make it work.
Every week I was losing money in storage and other costs.

I was desperate, losing sleep and trying to decide whether I pay the mortgage or storage. The mortgage won, but the costs were adding up and had to go on to my credit card.

I needed help, but from who?
Then I thought of Dragons Den on the BBC. I had watched the program many times.
Could I get on there and get help from a Dragon?
My accountant told me I was insolvent and recommended closing the company.
So I applied to the Dragons Den.

After a lot of forms and paperwork I was accepted to go on the online Internet version which is the same format as the TV, but watched on the website.
I filmed my pitch and sent it in.
I was asking for £49,000 for 20% of the company.
The money would all go on advertising and promotion to get the goalposts known.

A glimmer of hope to get me out of the depression.

Saturday, the day of the filming arrived.
I was very nervous.
I rehearsed and rehearsed. Then rehearsed some more.

Then I was in the Den.
The two dragons in front of me.
My mouth was dry. I could hardly speak.
I stared at the 2 dragons.
On my left was Shaf Rasul, worth £100 million.
My God!!! That's impressive!!!
On my right Julie Meyer. Head of an investment company.
Also impressive.

I managed to get through my pitch because I had done everything myself, so I knew all the details and figures.
At the end they both grilled me.
Julie Meyer then decided she was out.
No more panic, just numb all over.
Shaf asked me how much of my company I was ready to give up.
Good question. Was he interested?
50% I said. Silence.
60% ....silence.
70% ....silence.
80% ....silence
What am I saying????!!!!
Panic. Desperation. What the hell, right now I've got nothing but debts.
90% I said, thinking "10 % of a global enterprise is better than 100% of nothing.
Silence....
Then Shaf said "at the moment your company is insolvent and I could take 90% or even 99% of it, but I wouldn’t do that to you. It wouldn't be fair."
"Nice guy" I thought.
"So I'm out" he said.

I couldn't comprehend what had just happened. So I just stood there. Frozen... numb. What do I do now?
Then after what seemed like a lifetime, I remembered what the director had told me before I went in. "After the answer you turn and walk out".
I didn't want to go. But I had to.

I turned and walked out on my dream.
I had lost the World cup final. I had been beaten by a penalty in the 93rd minute.
It wasn’t fair. It hurt. But I had to accept it.

After the filming I had to go back into the den to get my goalposts.
I packed them up in a daze.
"I thought you'd got it" said the director.
"I really thought you were going to get the money" said the executive producer.
"Thanks" I said.

"Excuse me, I'd like to talk to you" said a broad Scottish voice.
I looked up. It was the Dragon, Shaf Rasul.
"I want to help you" he said.
I was still shell shocked. I couldn't think of anything to say.
"I really felt for you" he said
"You've got a great product but you’ve tried to do everything yourself. You can’t be an inventor, a manufacturer, a retailer and a salesman. You need help, call me Monday".

He gave me his card, we shook hands and he turned and walked out.
Wow!!! Had I just been thrown a lifeline?
I left the Den and phoned my wife.
"How did it go?" she asked.
"I'm not sure. I didn't get the money, but I think maybe one of the Dragons wants to help me".

Monday morning I phoned Shaf and he explained to me what he had in mind. He said that I didn't really need money so much as a business mentor, and he offered to mentor me and show me how to make my business work and be successful. I was suddenly in a fantasy world. Was this really happening? Did people like this guy really exist? "Fantastic, unbelievable, incredible, thank you".

The next couple of weeks were a blur.

Shaf is like a whirlwind. He makes things happen and comes up with ideas which are just genius. He actually is a business genius. And such a nice guy as well. He invented a viral campaign to make people understand how brilliant and easy the goals are. He did a deal to sell all my stock to ebuyer.com so I could pay off my business debts and wouldn’t have expenses every month, and even arranged for me to talk to them about a licensing deal, which he says will get me out of debt and could eventually make me a millionaire.

He also enlisted the help of other companies to donate their time and skill to help my company become a name and a brand, all for no payment!!! I couldn't believe it. "I just thought you needed help" he said.
Boy is that the understatement of the century.
"But I really wanted to thank you" I said, dumbfounded.
"Ok, you can buy me dinner one day". He said.

Well, obviously I've got to make it the best dinner in the history of the world.