Entering the Dragon’s Den is a hard experience for a business, but when the product you believe in and have dedicated a huge amount of time and effort fails to be taken up by the dragons you feel even more under pressure.
That’s what happened to Mick Janaway an entrepreneur from Essex who took the big decision of facing the Dragons with his innovative product StepNpull® The Foot Handle.
Having previously suffered a life threatening illness from catching an infection in a small cut on his right thumb, Strep A was diagnosed and there followed four operations to save his life and his arm. A short time later while taking a recuperative holiday with his family in America Mick discovered StepNpull®
What Mick found was a simple device which bolts on to the bottom of a door allowing a person to step on to it and pull the door open with their foot, aptly named StepNpull® The Foot Handle, and by avoiding hand contact with the door handle there was no chance of picking up a nasty germ in a public place.
Mick was determined to bring StepNpull® to the UK knowing that it was a fantastic opportunity for hospitals, restaurants, offices and schools; many of whom spend millions of pounds on hand hygiene and infection prevention .
From his own near death experience Mick knew that this simple product could even save lives, we hear in the news all the time bugs and super-bugs are becoming more and more resistant to drugs and these bugs can live on the door handle for days and even weeks, lying in wait for someone to pick them up on their hands.
Knowing there was no better opportunity to market a brand new product Mick decided to ‘Enter the Dragon’ and face Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones and the rest of the team. The pitch went well and none of the dragons had any issues with the product, Duncan Bannatyne asked how far you go with this type of thing and he thought that they were expensive but he would like them fitted for free in all of his gyms!
At £49.99 for a product that will last the lifetime of a door and provide 100% germ free protection every day; Mick still believes this is a small price to pay in the fight against infection
As it turned out none of the dragons invested but Mick did not leave the Den feeling a blow had been struck and is still carrying on his crusade to revolutionise the way we open public doors, he believes that before long you will be disappointed if you have been to the toilet, washed your hands and you realise you will have to pull the door open with your clean hand as there is no handle for your foot.
Appearing on Dragon’s Den was tough but like Mick says it’s tough when you nearly lose your life to an invisible infection so when the going gets tough the tough get going and StepNpull ® is a simple product that can deal with a tough task.