Maker Series: Shane Geary & the Flip-n-Chip

I recently had the opportunity to interview Shane Geary, the mastermind behind the Flip-n-Chip (www.ChippingMasters.com) which is a way to practice golf in your back yard or park or even a chipping green WITHOUT a net.

I was intrigued by the concept and the product itself, which looks kind of like a Frisbee, but bigger (14.25-inch diameter) and flatter with a 5-inch hole cut in the middle. It was designed to fly so the resemblance is not a coincidence. The premise is that with a flat target you can actually see how close the ball comes to the hole. That means the emphasis of your practice becomes speed of swing, loft and control (skills you need on the course).

You can learn more about the product from Shane’s YouTube videos.

The Journey:

Whether you are into golf or not, the journey Shane took to get his concept to market is an interesting tale of persistence and perseverence.  Here’s what he told me.

>> Part 1: Taking the American Inventor Route

American Inventor, a television program produced by the same people who put together American Idol, was in Chicago (on Navy Pier) holding auditions.   I had no prototype to speak of, only a Provisional Patent application sitting at the Patent and Trademark office. I thought, what the heck I will draw them on brightly colored paper leaving no detail unturned (since no working prototype was required).  I have to say I did a great job with my display.

I arrived in Chicago on March 30, 2007, a day before the audition, and spent time scoping out the location to familiarized myself and get make sure I could get into a good place in line.

At 4 am the next morning, I showed up at the gates and was fifth in line. Security was on hand to stop people from entering Navy Pier before the doors officially opened at 6:30 am.

And They’re Off: When the gates finally opened, it was every man for himself. Most chose to run through the building but only a small number of us, 16 total, ran down the road next to the building, we were not alone as many speeding cars raced past us.

I was halfway to the lineup area when I heard a faint voice crying out, “Help me! I can’t make it, I need a hip replacement, I need a hip replacement.” I stopped and looked back and saw this guy struggling with carrying his invention. The thought crossed my mind that if I go back, then all of my early preparation would be for naught. I would surely fall back somewhere deep in line, if I stopped to help this guy. Something inside me urged me to go back and help this man. When I grabbed the bag he was holding, the weight of it surprised me. He must have brought everything and the kitchen sink, because it was HEAVY!

Believe it or not when we arrived at the door to line up I was 20th in line. Those thousands of people who ran in the building at the beginning were locked inside and could not proceed any further until security let them out. The timing couldn’t be any better and they all filed in behind me.

BTW, I don’t remember the man’s name or what happened to him.

Here Comes the Judge: Basically, the way it works is that you are given two minutes to pitch your concept. When it was my turn, the judge that arrived at my display was a young lady in her early twenties who knew nothing about golf. Needless to say, since she didn’t get what I was trying to accomplish with the Flip-n-Chip (replace chipping nets), she sent me home.

>> Part 2: Taking matters into my own hands– aiming high: Rather than be discouraged, the American Inventors experience spurred me into further action as I became even more determined to bring the Flip-n-Chip market. So I contacted Wilson Sports. I knew they were big into golf.

They told me the general public will not understand my product. I also later figured out that since Wilson had its own line of chipping nets, they probably wouldn’t have bought into the Flip-n-Chip even if the public did get it. I knew at this point I must, quite literally, do this on my own with some help from my friends.

>> Part 3: Taking matters into my own hands– Flying solo: I called a friend, Allen Chabot. He and I handmade the templates. The Flip-n-Chip went through an evolutionary period which spanned over a year (13 months to be exact). There were seven different designs before we finally nailed it.

Friends pitch in: Once the templates were made a few friends stepped forward and like Allen volunteered their time to help make my dream come to life. Timothy Skavland, Mike Skavland, Tina Skavland, Mikey Skavland, and Kyle Streich all chipped in knowing I couldn’t pay them. With everyone’s help we handmade 1,500 Flip-n-Chips. This took us 2 months.

[Note: The original Flip-n-Chips were made from wood. However 800 units later, I decided they were not strong enough and made the move to high impact polystyrene.]

Chicago Debut: The Flip-n-Chip finally made its debut on February 27, 2009 at the Chicago Golf Show, where nearly 50 units were sold for $19.95. It was a solid start.

Snowball effect with a slight derail: We then moved on to the Milwaukee Golf Show and doubled our sales (nearly 100 units). We took our momentum to “Florida’s Largest Golf Show,” and that’s where we got derailed.

We were told there would be 35,000 attendees. But with a bike-a-thon happening at the same time (blocking roads) and the PGA Tour in town, only 2,000 people actually showed. We sold only 22 units.

The silver lining is that when we arrived home from the Florida Golf Show, we received a phone call from the local Fox News in Milwaukee. After we appeared on the Fox 6 Newscast on March 30 and 31, sales took off. We captured 48% of all whom came from the Fox 6 link…wow!!

During a four month period, Flip-n-Chip was featured in Milwaukee Magazine (July issue) and over 15 online publications. The publicity along with the use of social networking (YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter) has helped ramp up sales. We also picked up a distributor in the Netherlands.

Conclusion:

To succeed in anything, especially in the golf industry, requires a brilliant concept, a solid game plan for moving from the drawing board to market, and perseverance. There is so much outside your control (i.e. whether other golfers will embrace your solution) that what you need to do is put your best foot forward. Shane has tenaciously pursued his dream of getting the Flip-n-Chip to market. His price point is quite competitive. His shipping is free (Priority Mail). He has taken marketing into his own hands by doing YouTube videos and setting up a Twitter account. Now what will be, will be.

And what we can take away from his story is that the journey can be challenging with all kinds of barriers to overcome. Like the Knights of the Round Table, there are all kinds of dragons to slay… in fact, similar to a video game, the dragons seem to pop up out of nowhere to test your worthiness.

• If you can fight your way through the various attempts to block you from the path…

• If you can adjust and adapt, then your reward is more than just “getting to market.” It is confidence. It is knowing that you can do it and you ought to keep doing it , with the “it” being whatever invention or creation you’ve been dreaming of.

“Take a chance. If you lose you are scarcely worse off than before.”

For sure, either way, you’ll have some interesting stories to tell.

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To get a hold of Shane:

Shane Geary / Chippingmasters
shane@chippingmasters.com
www.chippingmasters.com
866-915-2177