We all have a school or university project that we will always remember fondly, in fact it is no secret to anyone that the greatest ideas are born in schools. This is how Puro Diseño México (PDM Mobility) was born, a medical equipment design company for people with limited mobility.
“PDM Mobility was born from a school project a bunch of years ago [2014] and at the time the product came out we were still studying. A year after graduating, we began to truly consider it as an enterprise”, explains Alejandra Ortiz in an exclusive interview.
No starting capital
Industrial designers Javier Mejía and Alejandra Ortiz, founders of PDM Mobility, started this project with a very small capital that they only used to buy some materials they needed to build their first standing chair. “We started with zero,” Ortiz said.
“My dad is also dedicated to manufacturing in a completely different field, but to assemble the first chair that was sold, he lent us his workshop, the tools, the machinery, and we made it with him,” says Mejía.
From 2016 to this moment, the entrepreneurs have managed to help approximately 500 people and in 2021 they closed sales of 4.1 million pesos with a profit of 19% before taxes.
Tailor-made for each client
Standing wheelchairs are those that allow people to stand up, move around and perform tasks in that position.
“[En México] there really is no business dedicated to manufacturing these custom chairs and whose line are those with special mechanisms such as standing up. When the project began in 2014, no one in the country manufactured standing chairs, today you may already find two more suppliers,” says Mejía.
PDM Mobility devices are tailored to each client, which has represented a great challenge for entrepreneurs. However, they have managed to overcome it by standardizing some parts.
The importance of catching a shark
Javier and Alejandra arrived at Shark Tank Mexico, which airs every Friday at 10:30 pm on Canal Sony, asking for 1.6 million pesos for a 20% stake in his company.
In addition to the congratulations from all the sharks, they received a joint offer of Amaury Vergara and Ernesto Coppelwhich consisted of giving them what they asked for, but for 0% participation.
Although it would seem a very striking and generous proposal on the part of the sharks Both entrepreneurs made it clear that they were looking for strategic partners and managed to get both Amaury and Ernesto to accept a symbolic percentage.
“To make the leap that we want to produce a lot, reach more people and be able to lower costs, that is, offer products that are more accessible to everyone, we need one, the capital to accelerate and two, the knowledge of the partners . For example, in the case of Amaury, who has a gigantic team behind him that can help us with legal issues, export issues, the fact of having contacts that help you,” says Ortiz.
Reinvest, reinvest and reinvest
Where have I heard this before? In a conversation with one of the sharks of Shark Tank MexicoMarisa Lazo, I remember that one of the pieces of advice you give to entrepreneurs is the importance of reinvesting money to buy supplies, materials and even the first plot of land for your factory.
In this context, both Javier and Alejandra commented on how important it was for them to reinvest.
Do not spend the money of your business, the first three years are not to see it, the advice is to reinvest, that is, assign yourself a small salary and survive as long as you can and then it becomes profitable. I believe that many enterprises die the first years due to bad administrations.
Mary Arcia Communicologist and Master in Narrative and Audiovisual Production graduated from the Universidad Panamericana. “I like to tell stories” is a phrase I say very often. Person with strong convictions of a better world, reader.