Blog posts tagged Idea

Dragons' Den digest: Week 3

A slight shift from Wednesday to Monday for the remainder of this series of Dragons' Den. It will take more than that to catch us off guard.

If you missed last week's, catch up here and below you will find the highlights of episode three.

Quote of the Episode: "If you were to wear glasses you'd look a bit like Theo" Peter Jones

Idea 1
Product: Tatty Bumpkin - ethical children's brand
Investment sought: £200,000 for 20 per cent
Handling: A confident start but confused the Dragons with so many aspects of the business. She demonstrated one of the classes when Peter Jones questioned what her business is about. An argument broke out when questioned about her brand and she became defensive.
Outcome: No offers
Verdict: Lots of ambition but not a strong enough brand and an unrealistic business model.

Idea 2
Product: Golfers' Mate - a pitch repair multi-tool
Investment sought: £100,000  for 12.5 per cent
Handling: A very shaky start, had to restart the pitch three times. Eventually recovered but was instantly faced with harsh criticism from the Dragons. He gave jokey responses to the Dragons' questions, which didn't impress them.
Outcome: James Caan offer: £100k for 30 per cent share – negotiated to 25 per cent with a proviso that they could buy back 15 per cent when James gets his £100k investment back, retaining a 10 per cent share – accepted
Verdict: Not a great pitch and quite blasé when questioned, however he managed to impress with his confidence in receiving bulk orders from large potential clients, which was enough to seal the deal.

Idea 3
Product: Aquatina - a collapsable drinks bottle that can be re-used
Investment sought: £100,000  for 10 per cent equity
Handling: A very confident pitch but the Dragons found it hard to see the point of the product. Duncan Bannatyne became quite irate and threw the product across the den. As the questioning continued, the Dragons became more hostile, accusing him of 'pulling the wool over their eyes' and misleading them in regards to the point of the product.
Outcome: No offers
Verdict: The Dragons struggled to see the point of the product and felt it was not a solution to the problem it was designed to solve.

Idea 4
Product: FGH security - Manned security company
Investment sought: £75,000 for 10 per cent
Handling: An excellent pitch, very knowledgeable and instantly likeable. They presented an excellent business proposition which was attractive to all of the dragons. James Caan made an offer within minutes and was soon followed by the others. Deborah Meaden said she was finding it hard to think of reasons not to invest.
Outcome: Joint offer – Peter Jones 50k for 10 per cent and Theo Phaphitis 50k for 10 per cent with 5 per cent of the equity given back to FGH when the investment is repaid. Offer accepted
Verdict: A highly professional pitch which offered the Dragons an extremely attractive business proposition.

• You can replay the episode on the BBC's Dragons' Den micro site

What did you think of the episode?

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