Blog posts tagged Rotaball

Dragons' Den digest: Week 4

Highlights of episode four in the latest series of Dragons' Den.

Quote of the Episode: “You're a Dragon, I trust you” Layla Bennett, Hawksdrift Falconry

Idea 1:
Product: Hawksdrift Falconry - Falconry experience business.
Investment sought: £50,000 for 25 per cent
Handling: Her pitch was succinct and told the Dragons all they needed to know. Honest about need for advice in marketing.
Outcome: A small business that the Dragons felt they could not scale but Duncan saw an opportunity and made an offer to reach the required investment.
Verdict: Good pitch and solid business run by someone who has given their all, reaped the small rewards and now earned an offer from Duncan.

Idea 2
Product: Rotaball - Football on a rotating poll, recreational equipment.
Investment sought: £150,000 for 10 per cent
Handling: His children that performed the demonstration looked to be there under duress and the product seemed weak. Duncan was critical and Theo scathing, “Explain to me how company a selling a ball on a stick can be worth £1.5million.”
Outcome: Weak product and very little to back up his pitch with no written order confirmations. Peter Jones said he should get a “Reality check”
Verdict: Pitch poor, product poor

Idea 3
Product: Blooming High - a stackable plant pot product.
Investment sought: £50,000 for 15 per cent
Handling: A classic example of a hobbyist with a true passion and spotting a gap in a very niche market. The product needed to be less fussy and the business plan was leaky. Initial stock order was huge and now surplus stock needs selling. No distributors taking it on.
Outcome: No investment but some sound business advice from Duncan to help them push on the business (and shift all that existing stock!).
Verdict: Need a business partner to bring some focus to what is a useful niche product that has a patent. Catalogues and shopping channels are a likely source of custom.

Idea 4
Product: Lumacoustics and their ‘Your Wall’ - Indoor graffiti technology
Investment sought: £50,000 for 10 per cent
Handling: The product split the Dragons. Some could not see any potential. The inventors nearly talked themselves out of a deal but got there in the end.
Outcome: After playing hard to get they managed to secure a matched investment of £50,000 for 40 per cent between Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones.
Verdict: A great product that will do well unless the inventors talk themselves into trouble.

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

What did you think of the episode?

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