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Rebound Driveway Marker

Breakthrough:
A spring-based and spike-mounted driveway marker that is flexible, sturdy and easy to install. It rebounds back if struck by a vehicle.

Inventor:
Arra David, United States

Financial reward:
$1 million +

The Story:
Rebound Driveway Marker

When the snow starts to fall it’s out with the driveway markers to show snowplow drivers and others where a road ends and a property begins. They are a winter necessity in many areas, but as Arra David a New Hampshire-based inventor and entrepreneur discovered they are also a perennial pain in the proverbial.

He continually found that hammering the poles into the frozen turf without them snapping was difficult. In addition they would sometimes fall victim to snow ploughs, cars or huge snowfalls, or his car would scrape against them as he pulled into and out of his driveway.

The Big Idea

To vent his frustration David started to dream up a solution which resulted in Rebound, a flexible fiberglass driveway marker equipped with an eight-inch spike and a stainless steel spring at the base. If a snowplow or other vehicle hits it, the marker simply bounces out of the way instead of breaking - it can deflect 90° (flat to the ground) in any direction and the spring will return it to its vertical position.

The inventor’s inspiration came from slalom ski markers that bend, but do not break. Traditional driveway markers suffer a high mortality rate of at least 50 percent but David’s innovation is sturdy enough not to break, and it can easily penetrate the ice-covered ground.

Consumer Testing

Fully aware of the difficulties of turning a concept into a winning product David turned to the Big Idea Group (BIG), an online-product development firm. They liked the concept, but before giving their backing decided to subject it to some consumer testing. The response was overwhelmingly positive and a few minor tweaks were suggested. BIG was sufficiently enamored to invest $50,000 seed capital and help David create a company around this single product. He did not have to license the invention to a bigger outfit and retains an equity stake in the company which is also called Rebound.

Manufacturing and warehousing were outsourced, leaving David to concentrate on engineering prototypes and marketing. With the finished product in hand he attended trade shows in the northeast and signed deals with a number of DIY stores in the United States and Canada. Canada-based hardware chain Primeline Tools Inc., ordered 50,000 units after seeing Rebound at a trade show in Las Vegas.

Bigger Profits

To maximize profits for Rebound a determined effort has been made to keep overheads extremely low. The manufacturer is based overseas, the company filed its own legal documents, the sales people are commission-only and Rebound has no physical premises. And most communication is carried out via Skype or by cell phone. David’s company was profitable within nine months of the Rebound marker first appearing on shelves in early 2009, and he’s now working on new designs of the product, including ornamental versions with Santas and seasonal symbols.

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