Female Entrepreneur Dr. Michelle O’Connor’s Harmony Equine Feeder is soon to be available in Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Having just started the company in 2012, the Veterinary Physiotherapist has a huge hit on her hands. So how did she come up with such an unusual feeder? And with no budget to speak of, how did she turn a startup into a business using Social Media?
“I was going in and out of stable yards and as each treatment lasts about 45 minutes, I had a lot of time to study the horses. Competition yards, and racing yards in particular, have a problem with gastric ulcers.” An ulcer is a wound in the lining of the horses stomach. Acidity levels are very high at the bottom of the stomach and are increasingly neutral as you move to the top. Regular chewing of grass and other forage produces saliva, which is alkaline and so helps neutralize the acid. Horses graze for at least 16 hours in the wild. By continuing to allow unnatural feeding behaviours, we are inflicting pain and suffering on our horses. Michelle decided to try and do something to alleviate this suffering.
“I started building a prototype, just wood and rubber matting from my local DIY store. When I had something I could safely use, I tested it on my own horses first”. As the horses were now grazing ad lib in a more natural position, she says the effects were amazing. Its ergonomic design also alleviates sinus problems and avoids the development of painful hooks on the teeth. She spent about 3 years perfecting the prototype, taking it as far as she could.
She then approached Westmeath Local Enterprise Board and received tremendous support from Aileen McGrath and Christine Charlton. “I couldn’t have done it without them as they co-funded the patenting process. I couldn’t take a chance on developing the product further, as we are first to market, without patenting protection so this was a huge boost”. She also took full advantage of their one to one mentoring sessions and marketing workshops. “I don’t think businesses take enough advantage of these super services, it’s not all about funding. I learned a huge amount from the mentoring and workshops alone.”
The next exciting thing to happen was getting her product into a top race horse trainers yard. The racing maestro is currently testing the product by scoping his horses every ten days and moving it around the yard, continuously assessing the results. “Controlled portions are really important for race horses so it works on a trickle feeding system. For noncompetitive yards, the benefit is that it only needs to be filled once a day. This is a huge time saver for busy professionals who ride.”
It hasn’t all be plain sailing though. Her darkest hour came at the same time as her best day! “We won the Innovation Award at Equus which was a real high. I thought it would lead to lots of sales but there was nothing. Not a dicky bird until the following March. So I had the elation of winning the Innovation Award but the complete depression of having no orders afterwards.” Following the lead from her own inspirational entrepreneur Norah Casey, Michelle kept positive and kept going. “The CAD design engineer Conor Hayes (based in the Polymer Design Centre, AIT, Athlone) had put so much work in to get the design right, I kept going because I believed in it.”
Her perseverance paid off and resulted in an introduction to Enterprise Ireland. “I have been so lucky with the product, Enterprise Ireland got behind me and helped me to do my market research etc. They also gave me competitive start up funding which allowed me to invest in the specialized tooling required to make the product. I couldn’t have developed the product without that help either.”
Another problem was a lack of funding for marketing. She had to get creative and through the help of friend she learned how to use social media to market. “I can’t believe how powerful it is”, she says. “I have installed Google Analytics which clearly shows where the traffic is coming from and it’s nearly all social media. It’s brilliant for getting the word out there.” She also learned that her customers/audience like general horse pictures and information so she avoids hard selling, posting things like art images of horses etc. This helped her grow her audience even further. She found the most traffic coming from Facebook and Twitter resulting in sales directly to Paypal. “These are customers having found us on social media and buying direct. I haven’t even had to answer a question on the phone so it’s been hugely time saving and efficient.”
The company’s goal this year is to export to Australia, New Zealand and Japan. All the patents are in place and she is trying to decide between distributors or manufacturers as shipping from Ireland is cost prohibitive. “At the moment the produce is entirely made in Ireland (in the Midlands) but with the cost of shipping it means we will have to either manufacture abroad or get distributors who can take bulk orders. We’re actively working on solving this at the moment.”
Does she worry about being first to market? “It is a worry but I have an academic qualification with years of practical experience that proves I 
understand what the horses need in terms of welfare. I think people will see that when comparing us against any future competitors.” We think this product is going to be huge and so we have awarded Michelle the first 2015 coveted Business of the Month title.
If you’d like to know more about The Harmony Equine Feeder, you can contact Michelle on Twitter, Facebook and www.harmonyfeeder.com.
Discount is given on bulk orders.
