The Barsley Brief

Tonight the BBC aired the first in a new series of Dragons Den.  Its hard to believe that they’re up to series seven already, especially when Dave seems to just show the same three episodes every week (or at least when ever I watch it).

I had many questions before the show began, Will the pitchers still only want to give away an unrealistic 10% of their company for £100,000?  Will Theo Paphitis mention his children’s inheritance?  How many will make the effort to dress in a suit and tie?  Only time would tell.

The seventh series continues with the same Dragons, but in case you’ve forgotten or need a recap here they are.

Duncan Bannatyne

http://www.bannatyne.co.uk

James Caan

http://www.james-caan.com/

Peter Jones

http://www.peterjones.tv

Deborah Meaden

http://www.deborahmeaden.com

Theo Paphitis

http://www.theopaphitis.com

The Pitches

The show started with an overview of the dragons throwing one liners at prospective pitchers, and then Evan introduces the Dragons, to a new sped up mix of the familiar theme tune.

Rupert Sweet Escott – Escott Aviation Ltd

http://www.airbikeuk.co.uk

This was one of the strangest pitches I have ever seen, a pedal powered hand glider or a “air bike”.  Rupert is a serial Entrepreneur and also showed a folding wing, a wind turbine chimney pot, a….. at this point I lost count.  Under interrogation it was discovered that Rupert had a roofing company, a palm tree company, a property company.

Rupert was seeking £80,000 for 10% in his aviation company Escott Aviation Ltd.  Although a little quirky everything he had on offer was patented, and could have potential.

Non of the dragons fully understood the business or the aviation industry but James Caan did make an offer, however James wanted 50% of Rupert rather than the specific inventions.  Rupert haggled and took £80,000 for 49%

Eddie Middleton – Westhawk

http://www.chillchaser.co.uk

Eddie was after £255,000 for a 15% stake in his environmentally friendly patio heater company.  His pitch sounded strong, mentioning sales of 2,000 to Halfords, the machines had many safety, and environmental features, and even an advertising screen for the business version.

The company had made a loss to date and Eddie wasn’t very clear on what the money would be spent on.  Eddie refused to tell the dragons the cost price of his products, I don’t blame him with it being broadcast to everyone in the UK.  However knowing he had made a loss this lack of information instantly cost him Duncan Bannatyne and annoyed Deborah Meaden, he did eventually relent and give costs.  He lost Theo who accused him of being “arrogant and rude”.

Peter Jones felt that Eddie was leading the way and this was the future of Patio heaters.  Peter offered half the money for 25% of the company.  James Caan offered half the money for 24% of the business, which Peter then matched.  This would give Eddie a controlling stake.  Eddie rejected this offer and Peter and James wouldn’t renegotiate so Eddie left with nothing.

Alan Mandel Butler – Apocalypse Ltd

http://www.apocalypseltd.com

Alan was asking for £200,000 for 20% off the business.  Apocalypse Ltd is a Horror based scare attraction specialising in hardcore horror live entertainments, putting people right in the centre of the scare.  With the investment they would launch a new scare attraction called “The Sickness” a hospital of “zombies” for want of a better description.

The dragons were then introduced to some of the patients and staff at the hospital which included two of the other directors!

Peter questioned how they could value their company at £1 million, and discovered that the company had only just formed, he felt he was being mugged, Theo Paphitis followed up and discovered the Dragons would be the only investor, no one else was putting in money, they hadn’t got a location etc etc, Deborah felt it was a good idea though but not a business, Peter thought the scariest thing was their business naivety.

Duncan Bannatyne pressed ahead though questioning what his return would be and discovered if he put in £200,000 in 3 years he would get £200,00, so he was out and finally James Caan left also.

Steve Smith – TrueCall Ltd

http://www.truecall.co.uk

Buy Truecall from John Lewis today

I already knew a little about this company before they came on the show.  This was because some train commuters don’t realise that they don’t need to shout on a mobile phone.  It was interesting hearing  this conversation broadcast to the whole train carriage as it showed how Dragons Den has become a form of advertising discussing a media strategy that was all worked out and centre pinned on the Dragons Den appearance.

Similarly when I visited the Ideal Home show, several stalls had “featured on Dragons Den” signs and even videos.  It seems with or without a deal on Dragons Den entrepreneurs can use their exposure to spearhead a product launch.

However as the pitch started it was the 4th and final pitch so if previous series are to go by the final pitch could get the money.

Steve was looking for £100,000 for just 7.5% investment in TrueCall a nuisance call blocking device.  This device detects the number calling and if unknown asks the caller who they are, the user can then either take the call, get TrueCall to take a message or “zap the caller” with a recorded message telling the caller not to ring again.

TrueCall had already sold 1000 units to QVC and had high sales expectations, Peter felt the device was a backward step as the box is not a handset, Steve answered strongly though.  Peter then discovered that Steve had invested £700,000 in the business and has had highly successful businesses in the past.

James Caan came in first with an offer for £50,000 for 12%.  Deborah Meaden then offered all the money for 12.5%, Duncan Bannatyne offered to go in 50/50 with anything Peter offered.  Peter thought hard, he is a technology investor and offered the full amount but for 15% of the company, or a sharing option with Duncan and James.  Theo Paphitis matched Deborah’s offer and they agreed to go 50/50 with Deborah.

Steve went back to Peter asking for 10% just to work with him, Peter dealt for 12.5%.

Buy Truecall from John Lewis today

My thoughts

I wondered after 6 seasons whether Dragons Den would have lost its appeal but the first episode had a strong range of pitches, both the odd and the serious.

What did you think of the pitches?  Would you invest?  Leave a comment!

My second book review is of Duncan Bannatyne’s “From an Ice Cream Van to Dragons Den, Anyone can do it, My Story.

Yes another business biography review.  I do love reading about how successful people and businesses got to where they are and the insider view on it.  You might think that this is all about Dragons Den, the successful BBC entrepreneurial show which he features on.  In fact a search on Amazon.co.uk reveals 622 books (it will have probably gone up by the time I finish writing this!) with dragons den in the name, description or comments.

Refreshingly though this is not a “cash in” book on Dragons den.  Duncan Bannatyne’s autobiography starts at his childhood, describing his up bringing and those around him, how he started with little education going from one town to the next looking for work.  It was only in his very late 20’s early 30’s that one day sitting on a beach in Jersey after spending summers there working and partying that he decided to go back to England and become a millionaire (as if it’s that simple).  He was inspired by an article on Alan Sugar and thought if he could do it why can’t I.

The book then looks at his main career starting at “Duncan’s Super Ices”  where in a short amount of time he built up a fleet of Ice Cream Vans, National Care Homes where he set out to build quality care homes, interestingly this was a company he publicly floated on the stock exchange and it discusses his experiences of that and whether what is good for the stock price is good for the company, (quite topical at the moment).  Just Learning a nursery chain he founded and sold for a good profit.  He hasn’t just started businesses, he has also invested in many some successfully some not so well, Alpha FM is a great example of how despite being a completely different business format, many rules of business remain the same and he was able to turn the stations fortunes around.  Of course also Bannatyne’s Fitness which at the close of the book was vastly expanded with the purchase of Living Well from Hilton.

The book takes a chronological look at Duncan Bannatyne’s life and in doing this it includes his relationships, work for charity, business and TV career.  There is a small section at the back of the book about the first three seasons of Dragons Den with some interesting insights into the making of the TV series but this book is not about Dragons Den, it’s better! its about the man and what he has done, that said there is enough on Dragons Den, the other dragons and entrepreneurs if that’s what you want to read

Some interesting points I will take away from the book are

• How much money can be made from the ice cream business!  Duncan Bannatyne partnered with local dairy’s where he was able to make a considerable margin on ice cream sales, he bought vans at auction and soon had a fleet of Ice Cream vans in his area
• Always agree a fixed price.  Many of the conflict points in the book were due to builders working slow or overcharging. Duncan Bannatyne showed agreeing to a fixed price could be to the benefit of all parties.  Especially paired with the incentives he offered, such as to share the savings of cost reduction ideas that the builders could come up with when looking at the plans.
• Build your brand – in everything he has done he hasn’t set out to be the cheapest he has set out to be the best!
• Delegate
• Don’t buy a plane.  A funny but true comment that he heard and follows, if you buy a plane the only days you enjoy it are the day you buy it and the day you sell it.

In summary this book is much more than just a book sold because of a TV show.  It really shows where Duncan Bannatyne has come from and what he has experienced and learnt on that journey.  Anyone can do it!