Toowoomba company AFCorp Industrial Supplies in running for award thanks to WallWeb DIY wall repair kit

It’s a device that costs $20, takes minutes to install and leaves your wall stronger — and it’s launching a Toowoomba company to a global market. Here’s the story of the DIY drywall repair kit WallWeb:

Showing off the WallWeb DIY drywall repair kit is Toowoomba's Arron French with son Vincent. The device takes minutes to install and requires just a screwdriver and putty.

A doorknob-sized hole in the wall of the investment property he was selling was all the inspiration Arron French needed to create a product that will soon be in homes across Australia, Europe and even the United States.

“It was a nightmare (to patch the hole) — I didn’t know how to backbrace it, it kept falling in on the inside and it kept drying and cracking and falling inwards,” the Toowoomba businessman said.

After five years and $200,000 in research, Mr French and his wife Marina say they are ready to take their DIY repair kit WallWeb to a global audience.

The product, which braces the wall from the inside and provides a flat surface to place putty over, is now selling in Mitre 10 hardware stores across Australia for as little as $20.

“We initially thought we’d have it for the DIY market, but tradies use it because it’s always a solid repair,” Mr French said.

“Not only are you getting a speedy fix, it’s a strong and durable repair.

“I can do it within 30 seconds — get the device out of the box, adjust it, lock it in, put the putty in and let it dry overnight.”

Mr French said the product was not just designed in Toowoomba, but was also the first place it hit retail shelves.

“I took this to America with Lowes and won a medal for innovation, but the first store to take this on was the Mitre 10 hardware store on Carrington Road,” he said.

“Rodney Bird (of Mitre 10 Toowoomba) was the first person to look at this and realise what we had and it just morphed from there.

“It’s just started spreading across Australia — we’ve sold 10,000 units so far and there was a big order that just came in with Mitre 10 for 6000.

“They get made in China. We kept everything else in Australia, the artwork, all the attorneys have been Australian, the pack-and-sends have been Australian.

“We’ve been using as many local people to keep it as Aussie as we can.”

Celebrating the success of their startup WallWeb are Toowoomba's Arron and Marina French, with children Vincent, Nicholas and Alexander.

On top of its initial national success, Mr French said Amazon US had made a second order of WallWebs after the first run sold out, while his company AFCorp Industrial Supplies has also secured a European distributor.

He said a lot of the success could be attributed to the support of the Toowoomba business community.

“We’ve sold 500 in six weeks on Amazon and that’s pretty unheard of — it usually takes months for the first sale,” Mr French said.

“We’ve got a European distributor on board that’s going to take on that whole continent.

“In larger cities, everyone is in their own world, but in smaller communities, people rely on each other to keep their businesses afloat.

“You would never get the same level of help and vision outside of a city like this, everyone we’ve spoken to in Toowoomba has been excited and want to be a part of it.”

The company is now a finalist in Kochie’s Business Builders Innovators award (by TV personality David Koch), competing against entrepreneurs across Australia.

To vote for WallWeb, head to the website before May 13.