Six years ago entrepreneurs Herman Allison and Kevin Fricker applied the basic principles of physics to invent a display board that can be used to display objects without the use of adhesives.
The technology behind Justick works in a seemingly uncomplicated manner. An electrical current behind the board creates Coulomb forces, which in layman terms can be described as electrostatic forces that attract particular objects, thus providing an effective adhesion surface.
The product, which is sold in most retail outlets, has won the duo several global and local innovation awards.
Among these accolades is a gold medal at the Inpex trade show in recognition of innovative excellence in the office supplies and stationery category, the Xerox Innovation Award and overall Grand Prix first runner-up of all inventions in all categories - all in 2006.
The board was also voted the best locally manufactured product by the Southern African Association of Stationery, Home and Office Products, competing with more than 7 200 trade members. In 2007 Justick was a finalist in the Technology Top 100 award for excellence in the management of innovation.
Last year the product won the Australian Promotional Association's award for best new promotional product.
Allison and Fricker have formed various business alliances and distribution networks to send their product to all the corners of the globe.
"Justick has received a lot of international interest in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Australia and the US," says Gerhard Ferreira, who is the chief executive of the company that goes by the same name as the product.
According to him, it has become a recognisable brand in the UK and Germany.
With such success it is easy to think that things went smoothly for the two inventor-entrepreneurs.
But it has been anything but plain sailing. Fricker, a cofounder who is now just a shareholder, says it was initially difficult to get financial assistance to develop the concept into a viable venture.
"Market awareness was a challenge at first as this was a new product that people had not heard of before," he says.
It is thanks to funding of almost R3 million from the Innovation Fund that the pioneering idea has been able to come such a long way.
The company now employs about 10 people. Most of the distribution has been outsourced.
Looking ahead, Ferreira hopes that Justick will continue to grow its market share here and internationally.
Fricker adds that this technology has "a wide range of uses which could be implemented in the future".
But for now the next project is developing a clear version of the board - and this is in the pipeline.
Ferreira points out that young business owners often make the mistake of "not knowing what the consumer wants" because they do not do their research.
His advice is that it is important to gauge market perceptions to be able to sell a product that consumers want to buy.
He cautions that "a business cannot become successful in one year" and few entrepreneurs realise this beforehand.