UQ inventor no one-hit wonder

One great product doesn’t make a business empire but inventor-entrepreneur Mark Alexander has more than his competition-winning BakBalls to bring to the market.

Mr Alexander said the BakBalls were a self-treatment and posture-correcting device that could be used in any situation where poor posture or activity contributed to back pain.

“This is the first of many products I intend to develop to remedy common back ailments people suffer from daily,” he said.

“The success of BakBalls shows there is a significant market for self-treatment devices for back pain.

“Rigorous scientific methodology will ensure new products are as effective and credible in the marketplace as BakBalls have proved to be.”

Mr Alexander said he had secured international patents to protect the BakBalls intellectual property and trademark.

He collected $100,000 cash in October 2004 when he won The University of Queensland Business School’s Enterprize business plan competition.

Mr Alexander said the win accelerated his progress significantly, allowing him to make his first sales just two months later on www.bakballs.com.

“I am looking to enter the New Zealand market this month, then Asia and the UK," he said. "I hope to break into the North American market by the end of the year.”

Physiotherapist to Australian Olympic and Commonwealth Triathlon teams, Mr Alexander said he was prompted by his own experience of back problems to explore self-treatment options.

Mr Alexander said back pain was widely recognised to be the largest musculoskeletal disability in the world.

“Medical bills and lost productivity associated with back pain costs Australia around $3 billion each year in medical bills and lost productivity,” he said.

Internationally-recognised musculoskeletal physiotherapy expert Professor Gwen Jull of UQ`s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences said the device was a breakthrough in back pain treatment.

For more information contact
Cathy Stacey
UQ Business School
Phone (07) 3365 6179
Mobile 0438 339 538
E-mail c.stacey@business.uq.edu.au