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Kids toy seller

Dragons' Den: Kids suitcases - Trunkis

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Rob Law remembers vividly the moment when "Dragon" Theo Paphitis pulled the strap off the children's suitcase he was trying to persuade the team to invest in.

Last year Rob, who has just turned 30, appeared on the BBC show in which five millionaires decide whether to back a business idea.

Although the Dragons shunned his bid for £100,000 in return for a ten per cent stake in the company his appearance proved marketing magic for his product, Trunki.

Department store John Lewis reported that the ride-on suitcase, which aims to make travelling with small children fun, was one of its bestsellers over the summer and out-sold the next most popular children's luggage four to one.

You can now buy a Trunki in over 24 countries and Rob's company, Bath-based Magmatic has sold 100,000 of the brightly-coloured cases.

Show appearance proves priceless

Although in the TV footage Rob appears devastated by the mishap the show marked a turning point for Trunki.

"Being on the Den has ended up being a priceless bit of marketing, though I hasten to add we had to turn around what could have been potentially damaging exposure," he says.

"It was mine and the Trunki's first TV appearance so I will always remember it and the Dragons fondly - even Theo."

He adds that ten minutes earlier another dragon, Richard Farley was enjoying a ride on the product which is designed for three-to-six-year-olds. The company strengthened the damaged catch and the publicity from Rob's "roasting" proved a huge boost.

"Designing and manufacturing a product is just the start. I can't emphasis enough the value of marketing and having a sales infrastructure in place. We benefited hugely from selling online and being able to track the response from our marketing plan, it was also a vital source of money to help our cash flow."

Rob also writes a blog that he describes as "an honest - if not chaotic - reflection of what's going on in the world of Trunki".

"My top tip is to invest in exceptional photography and have a fantastic PR team," he adds.

How the idea crystalisd

The idea for Trunki emerged after he'd watched parents struggling at the airport with mountains of luggage and over-excited children. At the time he was studying for a degree in Design for Industry at the University of Northumbria. He earned a First Class Hons BA and in 2002 a £4,000 loan from The Prince's Trust to help him develop his idea.

After visiting the London Toy Fair in January 2003 he licensed the design and manufacturing of Trunki to an outside business while he gained experience at a product design consultancy in Bristol. He was forced back into the front line when Trunki's manufacturer went bust - a moment he describes as one of the low points of his career.

How Trunki was saved

He managed to save Trunki with financial help from family and personal loans. His employer also let him take a day off each week to work on the business. He split this in to two afternoons so that he could work on into the night from the desk next to the bed in his flat.

The manufacturing problem wasn't the last big setback.

":The hand luggage restrictions (on aeroplanes) were tricky - they nearly crippled us just as things were about to take off. The Chinese government seizing our tooling was pretty major too."

Although Rob doesn't have children himself he says he's learnt a lot from watching how they interact with Trunki.

"Working with children is amazing as they have so many left field ideas. I guess I'm really a big kid myself at heart and I really enjoy designing products for them."

Trunki isn't just a toy. It's also a piece of luggage aimed at the nursery market so Rob has to understand three different sectors. He found trade fairs helpful - especially meeting other people in similar industries.

Social life disappears

Rob promised himself he wouldn't become a workaholic like his father but he admits that his social life has disappeared since he started his own business.

"We are now doubling our team and moving our office back to Bristol so I'm really looking forward to getting some free time back."

There might even be time for his first holiday in 18 months.

Useful links:

magmatic.co.uk
bbc.co.uk/dragonsden
princes-trust.org.uk

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