‘Each mistake has taught us how to adapt’
We are Justine Nicholson and Graham Nicholson and our business is ELKAH Ltd We are cycling accessory designers and we will soon be launching our first product, Velojackr.
Velojackr is a small, portable container that holds vital puncture repair equipment and converts to a repair-stand – to protect your bike from dirt and ground abrasion when repairing a puncture on the road.
The container/box part of Velojackr is small and contains puncture repair equipment (three tyre levers, inner tube patches and task gloves) and a saddle protector.
The box slides apart to convert to two handlebar stands, which keep your handlebars off the ground when you’re repairing a puncture. We are based in Paisley in our office at home, which helps keep start-up costs down. We got started while out on a bike ride. Our operations director, Graham Nicholson, got a puncture and started removing his handlebarmounted accessories so that he could turn his bike upside-down without damaging them.
Realising there must be a better way than this, we came up with the basic concept that would become Velojackr. different. With a large family time management has been critical, so our top tip would be to prioritise tasks and break the big ones down into manageable chunks. We’ve been working with Entrepreneurial Spark for over a year and have recently moved onto their Nest programme. Without the support of Entrepreneurial Spark and our enablers, we wouldn’t have progressed nearly as quickly as we have. Their boot camp, business training, coaching, access to mentors, collaborative environment and networking opportunities have been invaluable to us. Lord Willie Haughey has been an inspiration and a role model to us. With hard work and determination, he and his wife have progressed from a modest background to where they are today, and they remain genuine, good people.