Anyone know who owns the trademark on the word 'hoser'?
In 2008, Jason Farrell, owner of Farrell Agencies, was digging around at the Salvation Army store and came across a hat with a maple leaf and 'hoser' emblazoned on it.
He wondered if anyone had ever registered the word. No one had, so Farrell did.
"There is no other word in the English language that I'm aware of that has instant recognizability and is so uniquely Canadian," he said.
In the mind of an entrepreneur such as Jason Farrell, that is a business opportunity.
"My plan is to make it the next biggest brand name in Canada," he said.
For that, he decided, he could use some help.
Enter Dragons' Den, the wildly popular CBC reality TV show on which entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a panel of venture capitalists to garner investment.
Farrell had some clothing samples made up and headed to Regina in March 2012 to audition for the show. He made it through the auditions for a chance to pitch to the dragons in May.
Anyone who has been around Yorkton for a while has probably seen Farrell speak at some event or another. He has a lot of experience. He was very confident. But, this was a little different, he said.
"It was the most intimidating experience I've ever had. You think you're prepared until you're backstage and you hear this voice say, 'Mr. Farrell you're on in 3 2 1 Then you walk down the stairs, turn right and the lights are blazing and they're all sitting there leaning forward waiting for you to say something."
Farrell did not make the final cut, but the producers liked his segment enough that he is one of 20 presenters who have been selected for web exclusive viewing. It launches this Friday, January 18, at around 3 p.m. eastern time at www.cbc.ca/dragonsden.
His pitch was basically $12,000 for half the company, which will begin with a clothing line. He can't say whether he made a deal or not because of a confidentiality agreement, but he will be going ahead with the business either way. At the same time his pitch is being aired on the Dragons' Den website, he will launch www.hoseshop.ca.
Coo-roo-coo-coo-coo-coo-coo-coo. Take off, eh?
