Becky Davison sees a massive market for her line of clothes for people with arthritis, and she is now trying to execute a strategy for selling it to consumers.

The MBA student at Saint Mary’s University is the CEO of DressEase, an adaptive apparel company whose clothes fasten with magnets, so rheumatoid arthritis sufferers can dress and undress with ease. 

Having designed the clothes and settled on a business strategy, Davison is now seeking $400,000 in capital to fund a direct sales distribution network with 10 locations in the U.S. and Canada. 

Existing products have Velcro fasteners, said Davison in an interview, but the problem with such a solution is that they wear out. And just as significant, she said, too many look “dowdy”. 

“One of the things people struggle with as they get old is that they don’t want to feel like they’re old,” she said. “In their minds they still think they’re 30 and want to dress nicely and beautifully.”

Davison conceived of the project in SMU’s New Venture Opportunities course, in which students turn a business idea into a market-ready venture. She was paired with five other students, who have been developing both the product and business model since September.

“It’s going to take us three years to start making money,” she said. “I wouldn’t have known before doing [the course]. We did a lot of research on where to produce our garments, where to have our home base office, and just the whole employee structure.”

One significant problem they considered is the ease with which other manufacturers could imitate their magnet-based fasteners, but Davison is unable to say when imitations may appear. She said she was surprised, during the research phase, to find so little competition.

“Perhaps it’s not seen as sexy to market to that age group,” she said. “When you think of mainstream movies, music, things like that, it tends to be focused on youth, and I think that’s going to change. I think it’s slowly changing.”

The team thought of an ambitious direct sales and distribution strategy to counter the threat of someone copying the idea. They want to hire regional sales managers in 10 locations, including Halifax, Montreal, Vancouver, New York and Florida. These people would work on commission only, a similar model to Avon representatives.

According to Statistics Canada’s medium-growth projections, individuals over 65 will make up more than 22 per cent of the Canadian population by 2030. While that demographic will make up a smaller 19 per cent of the total population in the US, the number of individuals over 65 is projected to reach 72 million. Davison said DressEase would “need to have some good partners in the States to make it successful.”