LEAD MAGAZINE | 2019
RICHARD HARDIMAN
MEET THE
WASTESHARK™
I am often asked what the hardest part of
being an “entrepreneur”; is it the lack of a
monthly paycheck? Could it be the endless
seemingly lonely road that you have to travel
when starting out? Or perhaps finding an
endless source of the will and grit to keep
moving when everything seems to be going
against you. These are indeed a part of every
startup entrepreneurs baggage of course, but
above all of this, I believe the hardest part of
being an entrepreneur is just simply “getting
started”. Making the move and taking the first
step from idea to action.
We live in a world full of ideas, easy access to
technology to show us what could be possible
in the future and how our lives will be
changed for the better, but sadly most of this
is just graphic renderings on well place social
media sites. These are ideas shown in picture
forms, which do admittedly get us excited but
are very often a lot easier to execute than the
actual plan, product or business itself. They
say innovation is rewarded but the execution
is celebrated; without execution of an idea,
you simply have an innovative idea and
nothing more. Execution and action is the
hardest part of all.
When I developed the idea of the WasteShark,
it had been marinating in my head for about
a year; I believed it was a good one, my
friends and family reinforced this notion
and I seemed to understand how I could
do it; however it was not until I stood up in
front of a crowd of other entrepreneurs and
58
business thinkers that the idea really took hold
as a possible venture for me.
While attending the Entrepreneur X-Factor in
Cape Town a few years back, we were given
the opportunity to pitch an idea and see how
well it floated amongst the guests. I was at first
reluctant as although I was sure I was on to
something, like anyone I didn’t want to be told
what the “holes” in my theory could be; friends
and family will rarely suggest the negative
implications in your ideas and want always to
provide positive feedback, often increasing your
bias to how good an idea you have (note to
budding entrepreneurs, open yourself up to this
space and take the rough with the smooth, if the
idea is solid enough you will find ways around
the negatives).
Standing up in front of business people and
pitching an idea is another story altogether;
even today when we have actually executed on
the product, I will always encounter those that
want to offer either a negative or critical insight
into the business, but this, of course, is how we
improve.
To say that the idea received a rapturous
reception was probably an understatement. I
was overwhelmed by how the audience received
it, grasped both the concept and the need so
quickly; I was quite taken aback by the positives
of what I had introduced, but with that came a
need now to actually do something - put a plan
in action. If it wasn’t for this last minute off the
cuff pitch, I am actually quite sure I may never
have got around to starting my business but now
the idea was out there it needed to be executed;
people were now aware of it and challenging me
to implement it.
I should, of course, explain what the WasteShark
is. At its core, it is an aqua-drone (drone or robot
that floats on the surface of the water) that is
designed to swim around our harbours, rivers
and canals cleaning up plastic debris; essentially
we have developed a more efficient tool to clean
up waste before that waste is taken out on the
tide or wind to pollute and destroy our oceans
and environment. It is not the only solution
out there but it forms a very important part of
the collective drive to clean and remove plastic
from our oceans. I developed the concept not
just with environmental goals in mind but also
as a business; I didn’t want to be in a position
where I was constantly looking for grants and
government funding to fund and develop this
product, I wanted to build a tool with a definite
customer in mind so that we could make a
profit and put that profit into further innovation.
This was we would do good for our planet,
a noble path to be on, but at the same time
be a profitable concern for shareholders and
employees alike.
So back to my point about action; I had the
idea and the backing of my peers, now I just
needed to build it! If I look back on it now it
may seem like a linear path from, idea, winning
Entrepreneur X-factor Cape Town, prototype to
business but it was anything but straightforward.
I started by building a prototype in my garage at