A month has past since the first episode of season 7 in the Dragons Den but it feels like only yesterday! Today is episode 4, reading up on BBC’s preview its another mix of the interesting and odd in the den. So without further ado, here are this weeks entrepreneurs
Patrick Thirkell – Spey Bay Mussel Farm
http://www.speybaymusselfarm.co.uk
First into the den this evening was Patrick Thirkell who wanted an £100,000 investment for 20% of his Spey Bay Mussel Farm on the east coast of Scotland. With the money he wanted to build a packing station and a boat to harvest the mussels.
Peter Jones begun the questioning and discovered that Patrick hadn’t got long term experience in the Mussel farming field. Patrick feels he has a unique selling point that he will sell in party packs in a “Come Dine with me” manner. Duncan Bannatyne strongly disagreed with this!
Theo Paphitis started questioning the money, after Patrick stated that he had put in remarkably little money into the business. His children’s inheritance was mentioned! (I feel a Dragons Den drinking game coming along – any suggestions leave a comment!)
Deborah Meaden was out after Patrick was unable to tell her how many tonnes of mussels could be fished while being environmentally sustainable.
James Caan said Patrick should get professional advice, and was out. Duncan Bannatyne said it was ludicrous and he should give up and was out.
Theo and Peter were both out too wishing Peter well with his dream but said to ensure he only put in what he could afford to lose!
Karen O’Neill and Karen Coombes – KCO Inline Ice Skating Ltd
Karen and Karen wanted £100,000 for 25% in their business ice blading, learn to skate without the ice! Three skaters then appeared and gave a competent performance of synchronised iceblading, complete with jumps and twirls.
The Karen’s then gave a strong pitch showing the multichannel approach to iceblading with retail outlets, fitness centres and education in schools. They also revealed that they had been approved as a training tool by the National Ice Skating Association.
The Dragons all seemed interested asking pointed questions about the abilities of the skates which were well answered by the Karen’s. Peter Jones then asked about the finances, where they seemed less confident. Duncan Bannatyne then asked about the size of the market and they couldn’t answer. Duncan couldn’t understand the product and could not see it being a big seller.
James Caan discovered that they had sold no skates to date and found it hard to believe their projections from this. Peter felt the company was overvalued and just an idea in their heads so he was out, shortly followed by Deborah who couldn’t see the business model.
This just left Theo. He asked for clarification on the approval by the governing body. Theo was impressed enough to make an offer for the full £100,000 but wanted 45% of the business, feeling the business was way overvalued and they would need a lot of help. They accepted, Success in the Den!
William T Sachiti – Clever Bins
Am I gettng the feeling every episode contains a pitch about rubbish? William wanted £65,000 for 10% of his company clever bins. These bins would be provided cost free to the councils and would make revenue from advertising on the bins. I found it amusing that the bins were fitted with GPS tracking to solve the phantom bin problem. The bins cost £600 to manufacture.
Deborah and James both question the financial plans for the company. William had a very confusing plan, using agencies rather than approaching advertisers directly. James felt their was a strong profit margin.
Peter couldn’t understand why William needed the money, as he could get up front deposits which would pay for the bins and the monthly cost would cover the maintenance cost. Peter felt it was rubbish particularly that William said it was £12,000 of legal paperwork to get the bins on the street and was out. Deborah instantly followed saying he was probably a good salesman but it was not a good business.
Theo Paphitis as a retailer would never pay the advertising cost for the bins, when stacking it up to over a million pounds for 100 bins for a year. Theo went out and James Caan followed.
Duncan Bannatyne had been studying the letters William gave him and felt they were not true orders, as they could easy cancel, and hadn’t paid a deposit so he was out and William left with nothing.
Each week I search the web for more information or videos about the products. This was perhaps the product I least expected to find but here we are!
Tony Earnshaw and Steven Pearson – UK Commercial Cleaning Services Ltd
(I can’t find the website! Leave a comment if you can)
Tony and Steven were seeking £100,000 to take their regional commercial cleaning company national while offering 20%.
Once again I wondered did they really need the money since they have a annual turnover of over 1.5 million pounds. Couldn’t they just get a loan? Of course they would be also looking for help.
The main use of this money would be to open a third depot in Scotland. Deborah and Peter questioned the structure and roles of the company and its managers. James calculated that they made about £30,000 a month profit.
the company had an impressive list of clients and have confidence in meeting their sales figures. Deborah though felt profit was more important than sales, and doubted the truth of their figures. Deborah was out. Theo equally felt that they had a business with high sales but poor cost management and they should employ an accountant / bookkeeper in house. Theo was out and so was Peter.
Duncan Bannatyne loved his drive and offered the full amount but for 35% of the company, James Caan offered the full amount but wanted a stunning 50%. In exchange for this he would give the full support of his “team” but would give back 5% a year if they met their profit figures. After a back of the room discussion Tony chose to accept Duncan’s deal.
Final Thoughts
An enjoyable episode in the Den, the pitch which most interested me was the iceblading one, another product which I wonder, why hasn’t this been invented before! I was also surprised that no one asked about patents!
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