Treasured ornaments, sometimes an heirloom passed down from a parent or grandparent, are often part of a family’s Christmas tree decorations. No one wants to hesitate to use them, but may do so because they are concerned the somewhat flimsy hooks commonly used may not hold and the ornament will fall and be broken.
When this happened in the Naqvi family, 10-year-old Ayaan came up with a creative solution. The Naqvis are no strangers to the entrepreneur spirit and, in fact, appeared on Shark Tank in 2019 pitching their product, Kudo Banz.
Ayaan originally designed the Ornament Anchor when he was in the 4th grade and displayed it at his school’s invention convention. At the convention, his booth was overrun by adults asking where they could purchase them, and Ornament Anchor won first place in Ayaan’s classroom.
Over the following year, the family perfected the design, obtained a patent and set up their website. The business was officially launched in 2020, with income in that year of $350,000. They appeared on QVC and Good Morning American in August of 2020 and sold out both times.
The Ornament Anchor is essentially a string with a toggle device that loops through the ornament’s built-in attachment and secures it around the tree branch. The anchors come in a variety of colors.
Ayaan is assisted by his older brother, Mickey, and his mom, Amanda. Besides being an inventor and entrepreneur, Ayaan is very interested in animals, so he donates a portion of the business’s proceeds to the North Shore Animal League. When he grows up, he hopes to expand his efforts to help endangered species.
Although they were not successful in getting an investment when they appeared on Shark Tank before, the Naqvi family firmly believes that you only fail when you stop trying. So, they are going back into the Tank to see if they can anchor a Shark to their newest invention.
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