How do you move a great business concept into an actual thriving business? This was the question posed by Occupational Therapist, Patrick Pinkart, when he designed a product to help hold a golf club securely after suffering a paralyzing spinal cord injury.
The Business & Entrepreneurship Center (BEC) at Cuesta College worked with Patrick on a host of details for the business plan including projected cash flow analysis and compilation of pro forma income statements, operations management strategies, bringing the product to market, branding, positioning and pricing strategies, contingency planning for alternative manufacturing sources, and access to capital.
The results? Within six months of working with the BEC's, sales projections for the first year are estimated to be well over one million dollars. The product, called Quantum Grip, utilizes a very simple technology of "hook and loop" (Velcro), to make golf more accessible to physically challenged persons and enable them to easily and securely hold a golf club. The specially designed and patented system includes a golf club grip that has a recessed groove designed in a spiral fashion so that the hooks of the Velcro material lay smooth and flush with the grip surface. This provides a natural and seamless feel, and a durable, long-lasting grip. It is also visually discreet, and looks like a typical golf grip. Golfers with arthritis in their hands and fingers, those with hand or elbow injuries, or any condition that affects their hand strength, find that QUANTUM GRIP magnifies their gripping power many times.
As Billy Gibbs, PGA, golf Pro at Avila and Blacklake Golf Resorts in California, and co-host of ESPN's Golf Talk Radio says about the product, "When the glove and the grip meet, it is magic! It makes the disabled able again."
For more information about Business & Entrepreneurship Center go to www.CCCEWD.net/BEC or contact Michael Roessler at (916) 361-2964 or mroessler@cccewd.net
Comments