Lisle resident's water balloon invention makes a splash on ABC's 'Shark Tank'

LISLE – Lisle resident Wayne Sikorcin often fixes problems around the house, so it wasn't a huge surprise when he told his wife, Laura, that he had come up with a novel solution for a common problem: tying water balloons.

At the time, Laura said she didn't think much about it, despite her husband's enthusiasm for the idea.

But Wayne was serious about this solution, which blossomed into a line of products under the name "Tie-Not."

The owner of Aurora-based manufacturing business Craftsman Tool and Mold, Wayne decided to take his product to the next level, with the help of his wife and his employee, Scott Smith.

He applied to appear on ABC's "Shark Tank," a competitive reality TV show where entrepreneurs are offered a chance to pitch their business idea to a panel of wealthy investors.

Tie-Not was inspired by frustration, Wayne said. A family picnic had required he tie 250 water balloons by hand, a tiring and thankless task.

"It's very difficult and nothing was on the market to help assist with that," he said.

Tie-Not, Wayne's answer to the problem, "functions quite simply," he said.

A YouTube video on the Tie-Not website features the "Battle Pump and Garden Hose Waterballoon Filler," which includes a one-gallon reservoir attached to the tie mechanism.

"Place the ballon around the nozzle, press the pump a few times, wrap the filled balloon around the Tie-Not tool, slip the end through the notch and pull out a perfectly tied balloon," the video instructs.

"Every one of the sharks loved the idea," Wayne said.

The sharks include Mark Cuban, Laura Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymong John, Kevin O'Leary and Barabara Corcoran.

In the end, Corcoran made Wayne an offer he had to refuse.

"The deal was she'd pay $50,000 up front, $75,000 in a line of credit and she wanted 25 percent of the company," he said.

It was just too large a percentage of the company to part with, he said.

"We had to stick to our guns on that and I'm very glad he stuck with it," Laura said. "When he turned around and left the tank and called, he knew he did the right thing."

Wayne said he's already sold millions of his products through large retailers such as Wal-Mart and Walgreens, in "mom and pop" stores and through the company's website, www.tie-not.com.

"A lot of the emails I got said the sharks really blew it on this one," he said.

But simply appearing on the show has been a boon to the entrepreneur. The episode, which was "Shark Tank'"s season five finale, aired Friday night.

Since then, the phone has been ringing off the hook, Laura said.

"Any entrepreneur is dying to get into the shark tank," Wayne said. "It is a gift if you can get aired on that show, you feel blessed."

Both Wayne and Laura remain excited about the future of their company. Wayne said retail giant Party City has even reached out to Tie-Not.

"There are tons of investors out there who want to invest in the company, but we're looking for strategic investors," he said.

The toy industry is pretty well covered by Tie-Not already, but Wayne sees a bigger future for his line of products.

"I consider it more of a utility," he said. "It's a problem solver."

In Wayne's ideal future, Tie-Not products, a solution for sore fingers and a source of expedited water-related fun, would be sold in all gas stations, sporting good stores and convenience stores.

"Boy, if we could make it into a household name like Kleenex, that would be the ultimate," Laura said.

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Know more

To learn more about Tie-Not, visit www.tie-not.com.