The Pool-Mate is available in various colours. More variations on the product are in the pipeline.

Lisa Irlam, inventor of the Pool-Mate, gives us her top tips that have led to the lap counter for swimmers being a sell-out success. Her tips on pricing and margins, working with your customers, and being flexible in planning, are spot on for any new product.

When Lisa Irlam gave up a secure job in project management 2 years ago to work on her concept for a new gadget, she found the vision just got bigger and bigger. From a simple swimmer's lap and stroke-counting watch, the patented Pool-mate with proprietary software grew to include other functions important to athletes in training.

Even though Lisa and her husband knew the concept would be a winner in the strong sports accessories market, the extent to which Pool-Mate has captured hearts and minds has taken them by surprise.

The Pool-Mate has won recognition and awards across the industry

With endorsements from double Olympic medalist Nick Gillingham and Paralympic gold medalist Clare Cunningham, and an award from the Enterprising Women network for Lisa as Innovator of the Year 2009, Pool-Mate has already earned its stripes.

Other industry endorsements, including winning Editor's choice for the 220 Triathlon The Pool-Mate from Swimovatemagazine, and now the Pool-Mate fan club, are all clear indicators of the product's reach.

Within 3 months of the September 09 launch Pool-Mate had already paid back all the development costs the  Irlams sank into their idea. The business is now returning a healthy profit and further developments of the product are in the pipeline.

In this interview, Lisa singles out 3 tips she'd give to anyone launching a new product.

Video interview 3:19 mins (Click on arrow in video below to play)

Listen and read the powerpoint notes for Lisa Irlam's full story of the Pool-Mate's development and launch

Find out more at the Pool-mate blog and the Swimovate website