Tie Not

What is Tie Not?

Balloons are fun, but water balloon fights are even more fun. However, no one enjoys the hassle of filling up the balloon with water and especially tying the tiny knots. Tie not solves that problem with two products, the Tie-Not filler and the Tie-Not tying stick. Meaning the task can be done in mere seconds by fitting it to a regular garden hose. However, the toys function separately, with the tying stick able to tie off balloons blown up by air.

Who Owns Tie Not?

Wayne Sikorcin and Scott Smith are the inventors of Tie-Not, a company they founded in 2010. Wayne has always been a crafter and tradesman, owning and operating his own company, Craftsman Tool and Mold, for over 35 years which does plastic base molding. Scott came from a sales background and was a Director of Sales at Craftsman at the time. He now lives in Michigan and is the Director of Sales for a plastic molding business, DME Company.

Founder’s Story

The idea behind the company came from a request from Wayne’s wife to fill up 150 water balloons for a family picnic. Unfortunately, he only managed to do 15, lost interest, and got his kids to do the rest.

However, this first-world problem bugged him—surely there must be an easier way for such a menial task? So he began to design some ideas, and with some beautiful insight from his daughter, came up with a workable stick-like solution for the balloon to tie itself.

With a fellow friend, business partner, and dad Scott, they got a patent sorted, invested in some mold, and began production. Within his first year, they managed to net $112,000 in sales.

In 2012, they also signed a licensing agreement with an extensive production and packaging business, Imperial Toy Company.

Sales then pushed up to $385,000 with the product on Amazon, but they weren’t happy with their royalties. So with the licensing contract up for renewal, they started looking for new investors to come on board.

Is Tie Not Still in Business?

Despite expanding their product line to a balloon battle pump, catapult, and launcher, the company is now out of business, with their website closed, social media accounts dormant and Amazon mentioning they have no more stock. It appears to have had many competitors challenging it since its conception 11 years ago. Moreover, with the vast majority of plastic toy manufacturing in China nowadays, it probably could not sustain its profitability in a competitive toy market.