As I said, it all started when I went to help tape up boxes for an order my wife had to get out for her customers. This was back in the beginning of 2019. The very first design was a flat piece of plastic. This was out of pure frustration and having to bite the tape or jab it with a pen or blade that got lost with each box. The funny thing is that my local hardware stores did not have one tape dispenser and we were pressed for time. This is when the entrepreneur in me came out.

The flat piece of plastic stopped the end of the tape from getting lost. The next step was to get something to cut the tape. In the very first one we used a drawing pin then we progressed to a unit that sort of stood up. The pin being in the bottom now became teeth on the top and our flat piece of plastic became a very intricate piece of folded plastic, which by now had plastic, steel, double sided tape and sandpaper in the design. At this stage my biggest overhead was rolls of tape while designing the prototype. At a stage I was sitting cutting up tape night and day trying to find the best way to make it as simple as possible for everything to work.

So eventually we had a product that they could use in the warehouse for testing. The thing was, it took me half a day to build one as it would break after a few rolls, but it was working fine. As having attempted patented something before, I was not going to work with one of the big companies. I wanted a patent attorney that was going to be part of the journey and I found a great attorney based in Pretoria namely Gunter Attorneys. And so, the patenting journey began. I also had to find someone who could make 3D drawings that could work for 3D printing and injection moulding.

This was a big challenge as there are very few that can do so. On my second attempt I found the right one. They are also amazing in what they do. I would make a change that would consist of cutting up the previous model and sending it back with pins, wood, steel, tape and Prestik and even pieces of plastic and a few days later get drawings and once approved, again a few days later get a printed 3D working model until we ended up with the MIJOVY as you now know it.

While assisting her in taping up boxes, MIJOVY-it was born. Now, after 28 years of experience and having to start over 3 times and now the 4^th, I do believe I have the right product and the right recipe for a successful business.

• A great market
• A divine idea
• Patent pending with 11 new points of invention
• Low overheads
• Very profitable

The MIJOVY will be available in 5 different colours with the main body of the unit being black and the attachments being either RED, YELLOW, BLUE AND GREEN.