Focus. Focus. Focus.
Founder: Renish, Kamalanathan
Hometown: Scarborough, Toronto
Education: Sociology and Geography, University of Waterloo
Start-Up: Fidget Toys
What is Fidget Toys?
Renish Kamalanathan started Fidget Toys 3 years ago with the hopes and dreams to help people like her cousin, who has a child on the autism spectrum, to give her more time to get things done, while allowing her child to focus on tasks for longer periods of time. Today, with over 4000 pre-orders, their first fidget toy, after many iterations, is finally coming together. This toy involves pedalling the feet and has been shown to increase the amount of time a child sits from 7-9 mins to 47-49 mins—that’s a huge difference! That means that parents can get more done and the child can focus longer and learn more.
How did Renish get started?
Renish was an active member on her university campus through various leadership roles, which gave her opportunities to get engaged with strategies to change the university environment. One of these changes came up in renovating the campus library. At the time, she suggested revolutionizing the space by adding different learning tools like study bikes. This sparked her interest to do more research on the importance of exercise on memory retention and concentration level. And that’s where it all began.
What was Renish's “aha” moment?
Renish experienced an “aha” moment when she was with her nephew. What caught her attention was not the fact that he was on the autism spectrum, but that he just did not want to sit still. She thought about her own situation, in university, where she struggled to sit still through the long lectures in the dark classrooms. After dabbling in the study B.I.K.E for campus, she realised she could also create something that helped her nephew. She was attentive to her nephew’s behavior and noticed that the heel/toe movement is very natural. She put a quick sketch together with peddles on one side and rollers on the other.
How did she come up with the Fidget Toys name?
Renish kindly noted her marketing mentor Kevin coined the term “fidget.” The B.I.K.E (Believing in Kinesthetic Education) turned into Fidget, but Renish realised she was not just a one-off and knew this first toy would only be one of many. She noted it is essentially the category of the product, so if you look it up online, Fidget Toys will come up.
Current Challenges for Fidget Toys
Work with the right people!! I definitely hear this a lot from entrepreneurs, so really think about the person you are hiring to join your team…do they fit with your culture? What culture do you want to instill in your initial employees? As Fidget Toys has gotten more exposure, which Renish noted was wonderful and added credibility, it also sometimes attracts the wrong people. People reach-out to volunteer to learn more and contribute to an organization doing meaningful work, but sometimes when people see the amount of funding the start-up has received, they ask to get paid. Remember, when you are applying to an early-stage start-up, funding can be eaten up pretty quickly with necessary tasks like development and marketing, and there is likely no budget for salary, at least at the outset…Just be patient, work hard, and really try to make a difference!
Renish said “There’s always a good and a bad. People put on contracts that expire, but then what do you do. Finding the right people is very key.” For Fidget Toys, Renish has done a lot of the hard work, building a great mentor network, building pre-orders, and solidifying manufacturing.
Using the Resources Around You
Remember, you won’t be good at everything that you need done, but there are experts out there, who really do want to help you and see you succeed! Renish has done well with finding resources that will help her get Fidget Toys to where she wants it to go. There is an embedded circuit board in the product and an app to collect data on how much it is used and for how long, which will be important for therapists and families. To create this, she has worked with engineers through Conestoga, who have included this as part of their capstone projects, and as well, creative agencies. Renish noted that her job now is to mainly manage people and projects. Keep telling your story, and you never know where you will find someone to help you.
How to get Pre-orders
Renish is now exploring distribution channels and marketing strategies and has been able to get exposure through connecting to wellness and special needs centres, speaking to schools, providing leadership coaching, and working with parents and families. She has some ambassadors through these avenues and word-of-mouth has really helped her reach so many people. And keep in mind, this won’t happen overnight! This has come from all her hard work over the last couple of years. She believes face to face conversations and sharing her story has really made a huge impact, in comparison to social media.
The last couple of years Fidget Toys has been manually tracking the pre-orders, but now they are re-building this system, for they are hitting more than 4000 pre-orders. Renish said this is amazing, but it also adds a layer of pressure. She noted that because of the sensitivity of the special needs community, they have to be really careful with the product they put out there.
Figuring out what material to use
A big factor for Fidget Toys is functionality. So far, they are getting a positive outcome on this front and are currently looking at whether to make the product buildable, customizable, and how important the electronic functionality is.
In terms of the whole product, they are looking at wood. Even though a plastic mould is easier to go with, Fidget Toy’s demographic put importance towards the more naturopathic ways and wood is a pure form and good for longevity purposes. The age group using this product can be from young children to adults on the autism spectrum, so it is important to be durable.
Some Interesting Facts…
· Need a new book to read? Well, Renish suggests reading “Think and Grow Rich” by Napolean Hill
· Find Renish in a major Mclean’s article featuring entrepreneurs!
· Remember, entrepreneurship isn’t easy. You will go through a lot of emotional battles. Remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing
What is the best advice someone has given Renish?
Renish kindly shared some of the best advice someone has given her: and that is to focus. Focus!! She has been told that as the creative person she is, she takes on a lot of things. She said that if you believe you are an idea machine, pick the idea that is most meaningful to you and just iterate and focus. She noted that when she started Fidget Toys, she had a number of ideas at the time, but it was just a matter of focusing and reminding herself on a daily basis to stay on track.
Thank you so much Renish! If you want to learn more about Fidget Toys, please check-out their website or join Renish on her “Friday Junior” Facebook live sessions at 6pm on Thursdays where she shares her journey. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach-out to me here!
