Segway 2.0 - GoPet

Segway 2.0 - GoPet

A trio of entrepreneurs hopes to go lots of places on their personal electric transporter. Big sales is one destination.

Steve Swain likes the Segway just fine. He thinks the standup personal electronic transporter is an industry pioneer.

But Swain hopes his product, the GoPet, will be able to do something Segway hasn't been able to do: Drive real sales traction, not just a cult following.

"What people do now when they see [the GoPet] is say, 'wow, what a great looking Segway,'" says Swain. "We want people to say 'wow, what a great looking GoPet.'"

The GoPet has some core similarities to the Segway. Both are upright personal transporters that run off electricity. But Swain says the GoPet can go a "little faster and a little further," than the Segway, for a lot less money. The GoPet can also remain upright when the motor is turned off.

The GoPet works through a 48-volt drive motor, which is built into the front wheel and handles control and stability. The motor, which can power the GoPet for up to 25 miles per charge, can be recharged by plugging into a standard 100-volt wall socket for six hours.

Then, there's this: One new Segway can cost in excess of $5,000. A GoPet costs about $1,100.

Swain and his two partners scaled back significantly on their old jobs earlier this year to focus on building GoPet into a thriving business. Swain had run his own shelving company, while Duane Laughlin had been in construction and David Pilfey owned a Web site and IT company.

Swain and his partners own the GoPet distribution rights for Florida and the Caribbean through GoPet's Portland, Ore.-based parent company. Swain also has first-refusal rights to rest of the Southeast U.S. territory.

Working out of a storefront in a Sarasota strip mall since last month, Swain and his partners have so far sold about 80 GoPets. They ultimately hope to sell as many as 250 GoPets a month.

Indeed, the trio thinks the GoPet potential can pretty much go anywhere. "We are looking to create a giant brand recognition," says Laughlin, whose father, Peter Laughlin, is a longtime Sarasota developer and entrepreneur. "We want to be the Hula-Hoop."

Swain says his first hoop has been to build a network of dealers across Florida and the Southeast to sell the GoPets. He is focusing on finding dealers that can tap into wholesale markets, including selling GoPets to police departments and private security companies; hotel and resort operations; colleges and large corporate campuses and warehouses and industrial facilities.

Swain has even met with a quasi-celebrity who might become an independent dealer of GoPets in Richard Williams, the Miami resident whose daughters are star pro tennis players Venus and Serena Williams. Swain met Williams through a business acquaintance a few months ago while meeting with potential dealers in Miami.

The company also plans to pitch GoPet to the general public by setting up demonstration booths at several upcoming events, including the college football national championship game in Miami next month and the Super Bowl in Tampa in February.

"It's a great product," says Swain. "We can really build a great brand with this."

-Mark Gordon