After suffering a spinal injury in a quad bike accident that left her partially paralysed from the waist down, Amelia was unhappy with the NHS crutches she had to use, which were uncomfortable, not suitable for long-term use and successfully created her own range of crutches and walking sticks.
Eureka Moment
Taking our first crutches into hospital for the other patients on my ward to test - the response was incredible. One woman said it was like swapping a Skoda for a Ferrari, we knew then we had something unique, that was going to make a big impact to the daily lives of people like me, who were living with a disability.
Finance
We started with £10k of savings and built from there - spent mainly on inventory, a very basic website and marketing. No other funding to date...!
Regrets
Trying to crack America in 2012, we didn't really do much research and thought we could just go for it. It wasn't great and we ended up pulling back all our stock into the UK 18 months later. A very steep learning curve on a totally different time zone so not much fun but in reality, we know the nature of the beast now so will be much better when we do eventually go for it again!
What would you have changed?
Nothing, every learning curve has led to a positive and every win, a learning. It's exhilarating & exhausting but I wouldn't have it any other way! Roll on the next challenge!
For more information visit Cool Crutches
