Kikka Digga – the University of West London’s Westmont Hub supports adaptive gardening gadget creator Nick Skaliotis to grow his business
Intro
When Nick Skaliotis was a child, he would earn pocket money helping his dad to dig his allotment. Watching his father suffer back pain while working on the plot inspired a money-making venture – the creation of a portable assistant that can be attached to tools like spades and forks, to take the strain out of gardening.
Now, with support from the University’s Westmont Enterprise Hub he’s looking at breaking into US and Japanese markets.
Article body
When I looked for something to help Dad, nothing was on the market. I was studying physics at the time and had an idea for using a lever or fulcrum point, however I didn’t start exploring it until years later,”
Nick recalls.
Nick began attending inventor clubs and created his first functioning prototype in 2014, with the help of a South London blacksmith. From there, he moved to laser manufacturing to commercialise his product.
I started selling the laser cut version on eBay in 2016 to see if people bought it, and they did. But I was making zero profit from it and so I'm now addressing that by getting the product value-engineered and honing its design,"
he says.
The first Kikka Digga that Nick sold was version five or six of the product; he’s now on version 45.
Nick initially came to Westmont Hub for support and guidance around issues including negotiating licensing and intellectual property agreements.
An American distributor is very interested in his product and we’re helping to negotiate the right licensing agreement for him,”
says Westmont Hub Executive Director Stephen Fry, adding that it’s a brilliant product.
We are incubating the business and the commercialisation and we're going to be working with Nick to get new product development going.”
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