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78 / Flight Time / JULY 2018
Talking Business
James Robbins, 38 is the
Founder of Drysure – an
innovative, eco-friendly shoe-
and boot-drying product for
outdoor-sports enthusiasts
What’s your business
background?
I studied business at Durham
University in the early 2000s and
worked for a clothing start-up at
the same time – which gave me a
taste for entrepreneurialism.
I then entered a graduate scheme
at Barclays Wealth before leaving
the corporate world to take on the
challenge of running a hotel in
Morocco and turning it around.
I helped to established Tigmi,
Marrakech as one of the leading
yoga hotels in Morocco, before
returning to the UK as a business
consultant helping start-ups and
SMEs develop and grow their
business and reconnecting with my
entrepreneurial spirit.
Where did the idea for Drysure
come from?
Whilst on a family ski holiday in
Austria, my ski boots became wet
and the thought of putting on
soggy boots the next day wasn’t
very appealing. My hotel didn’t
have boot dryers and I thought
there must be a way to solve the
problem with a mobile boot dryer
but couldn’t find one anywhere.
I had the same problem at home
when I went to the gym or for
a run – and soggy or sweaty
running shoes was a common
problem my friends seemed to
experience, too. So the idea of a
boot and shoe dryer you could take
anywhere developed naturally, out
of necessity. If I couldn’t find the
product I wanted, I’d make it!
How did you get started?
After having the initial idea, I got the
product patented right away. Then
I brought in a design team and had
some prototypes made. I repeated
that process a few times until we had
a great-looking, practical product
that could dry footwear 12 times
faster than airdrying.
After struggling to find a
manufacturer in the UK, I found a
company in China that could create
the product we needed. The first
batch went to market in spring 2016
as a test, before we officially launched
at the Ski and Snowboard Show in
London later that year. By the end of
2016, we had completely sold out.
Today, we have expanded
internationally and ship products
all over the world. We’re supplying
skiers, runners, cyclists, farmers,
ice-hockey players and every other
type of outdoor enthusiast you can
imagine.
What were the main
challenges along the way?
Initially, it was tricky to make
the idea work. The design must
allow enough air to flow through
the footwear to dry effectively,
whilst at the same time being easy
to insert. Once we solved that
problem, finding a manufacturer
was the next task. The product
design is very unique, so we
needed to find someone with the
right tooling capability and who
could produce products at the right
price. The final challenge, as I’m
sure any start-up will understand,
is funding. Drysure was totally
self-funded before securing a loan
from a start-up loans company
which helped us kick on to the
next stage – increasing our product
range to more colours.
How do you market Drysure?
We primarily use E-commerce,
Amazon and a few key retailers.
We also have some celebrity
fans which has helped us a lot,
including Winter Paralympians
Millie Knight and Brett Wild and
Olympic skier Peter Speight.
What’s the best piece of
business advice you’ve been
given?
Wow, the best is hard… I have
three: Keep an eye on the pennies
– start-ups are costly and if you
are not careful they will consume
the cash too quickly. Make the
relationship with your factory as
strong as possible. They are part of
your start-up. Listen to others but
also listen to your gut; you are the
entrepreneur.
Is there anything you would
have done differently?
Mistakes are a natural part of
business but it’s important to
learn from them. There’s nothing
I would do differently as the steps
we’ve taken have ultimately led to
Drysure now being sold in North
America, New Zealand, Australia,
Japan and Europe – which may not
have happened without learning
from the odd stumble.
What are your plans for the
future?
We’re keen to grow by creating
jobs, expanding our product range
to incorporate a wider variety of
footwear dryers and accessories,
and entering new markets globally.
It’s an exciting time to be involved
in the action sports industry.
5 MI NUTES W I TH . . .
James Robbins
“The idea of
a boot and
shoe dryer
you could
take anywhere
developed
naturally
and out of
necessity. If I
couldn’t find
the product
I wanted, I’d
make it!”