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Blog posts tagged dragons den
Dragons' Den digest: Week 3
July 27, 2010
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?
Related articles:
Dragons' Den digest: Week 2
July 22, 2010
After the exciting start to the new series last week, we are back once again with a bite size round-up of episode two.
Quote of the Episode: "Love the knickers" Theo Paphitis
Idea 1
Product: Subeo ― submarine
Investment sought: £1.45m for 45 per cent equity
Handling: Confident delivery of pitch, a positive start. Dragons were fascinated by the product and enjoyed testing it out. Duncan Bannatyne tested them on their figures. Financial row between the Dragons while pitchers looked on bemused.
Outcome: With a sale price of £595,000 and such a high risk, the Dragons didn't invest.
Verdict: Interesting product but huge financial risk.
Idea 2
Product: Vintage Patisserie
Investment sought: £100,000 for 30 per cent
Handling: Confident delivery, knew her pitch. Brought dancers and sample cakes, knickers and chocolates. Dragons questioned her premises costs and she struggled to remember her figures. Made a heartfelt plea at the end of the questioning. Very passionate.
Outcome: Deborah Meaden offer: £50,000 for 20 per cent, Theo Paphitis offer: £50,000 for 20 per cent ― accepted.
Verdict: Lots of passion and personality but needed to know her figures inside out.
Idea 3
Product: EDH Washing Line ― Motor powered washing line
Investment sought: £80,000 for 25 per cent
Handling: Honest, down to earth, not a traditional sales pitch. He explained both the good and bad points of the product and was honest about the high parts costs. Dragons liked him personally.
Outcome: No offers.
Verdict: Nice natural down to earth pitch but the Dragons thought the price was too high. Peter Jones liked the idea but told him to speak to washing line manufacturers instead.
Idea 4
Product: Shopbox Systems Ltd ― innovative storage system for storing groceries
Investment sought: £250,000 for 10 per cent
Handling: Self-assured pitch in which they explained the product well. Spent almost £1m already. They upset Theo Paphitis after he questioned whether a child could get locked inside. Mentioned that they had other parties interested but wouldn't disclose the details.
Outcome: No offers.
Verdict: They had spent lots of money already and didn't seem to need the investment as they had other offers in the pipeline. Peter Jones said they had made the pitch quite unattractive.
- You can replay the episode on the BBC's Dragons' Den micro site
What did you think of the episode?
Related articles:
Dragons' Den digest: Week One
July 15, 2010
The new series of Dragons' Den began last night. As well as tweeting along to the episode, we will provide a Dragons' Den digest each week.
Quote of the Episode: "You win the worst invention ever brought into Dragons’ Den today” Peter Jones
Idea 1
Product: Flowsignals - light up traffic signs
Investment sought: '£50,000 for 10per cent’
Handling: Struggled to make a case for the product and appeared not to have conducted sufficient research into if the product was needed. Muddled.
Outcome: Having invested £24,000 of his own money, Flowsignals walked away with no interest from the Dragons
Verdict: Pitch poor
Idea 2
Product: Pebble Bed Vineyard - own your own vineyard
Investment sought: ‘£60,000 for 20 per cent’
Handling: Nervy start was not a problem. Business plan interogation from Deborah Meaden highlighted a number of flaws in return on investment. Entrepreneur knew his sums but they didn't add up. Duncan saw a way to make it pay.
Outcome: Accepts an offer of £60,000 for 40 per cent from Duncan
Verdict: Pitch perfect
Idea 3
Product: Dhamaka Events/Flex FX Productions - Bollywood dance events
Investment sought: ‘£200,000 for 30 per cent shares’
Handling: An excellent pitch and dance demonstration. Both well rehearsed. Handling of the Dragons was cagey. Not open enough about the business plan and frustrated all Dragons.
Outcome: No takers
Verdict: Pitch poor
Idea 4
Product: Worthenshaw's - healthy frozen food desserts
Investment sought:‘£65,000 for 15 per cent equity stake’
Handling: Confident with her research and had done a lot of leg work to get to advanced stages with Tesco. Passionate.
Outcome: £100,000 for 40 per cent from Theo was declined in favour of a joint deal with Duncan and Peter to the tune of £65,000 for 30 per cent
Verdict: Pitch perfect
- You can replay the episode on the BBC's Dragons' Den microsite
What did you think of the episode?
Related articles:
Lessons you can learn from TV business shows
October 29, 2009
Reality TV has taken a big role in raising the profile of entrepreneurship in the UK. But does watching a bunch of self-important investors smugly tearing strips off some poor first-time entrepreneur really show us what it takes to set up and run a small business? Are they conveying sound business lessons or simply mugging for the camera before striding off to negotiate another well-paid advertising contract?
Ok, I’m being deliberately cynical. But I think the major attraction of shows like Dragons’ Den and The Apprentice is the in-built ritual of humiliation. It’s sadism as entertainment. Having said that, I reckon there’s plenty a business owner can learn from watching these shows - even if it’s what not to do in business (eg, don’t pitch to Peter Jones unless you’re REALLY sure of your figures; don’t EVER answer back to Alan Sugar, that sort of thing).
Anyway, we’d like to know what you’ve learned from watching TV business shows. Do they contain proper business lessons that entrepreneurs can draw on? Or are these programmes just pure popcorn entertainment where the lesson for business owners is ‘Don’t ever do it like this’?
Let us know! We'll compile the best responses into an article for our newsletter and credit the contributors.
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