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00:02the doors to the den are open for business the place where fortunes are made and futures are
00:09forged but this time the game has changed a fresh wave of fierce investors are out to shake things
00:18up and steal the deals joining them tonight i'm jenny meek i'm a serial entrepreneur i'm currently
00:27the co-founder and ceo of refi beauty jenna welcome back to the den no thank you for having me
00:33back i'm
00:33excited for today when i look in the eyes of an entrepreneur there is literally one thing i'm
00:38looking for it's their belief that their idea is going to succeed i can see in people's eyes if
00:43they're lying to me i know exactly what i can bring to a business so if there's a fight for
00:47an
00:47investment i will be absolutely fighting for it i love disagreeing with the dragons i really really
00:52do i am not scared of any of the dragons if anything they should be scared of me
01:07my name is laura and i'm from northern ireland my business is all about oats
01:15instant oats
01:17instant oats
01:18instant oats
01:18instant oats
01:18instant oats
01:18instant oats
01:19yeah but they're kind of exist
01:22yeah so the dragons i'm looking for investment from would be steven bartlett he would be really
01:32helpful with building that community brand which is what we aim to do at okul
01:50hello dragons my name's laura and i'm the founder of oatco superfuel today i'm here to seek an
01:57investment of 50 000 pounds in return for a five percent share of my business leading an active lifestyle
02:04and being a busy mum i found myself seeking nutritious convenience solutions and i was
02:10disappointed as to what was available on shelves this sparked the passion of me to create oatco
02:15superfuel currently in our range we have our just add milk overnight oat pouches our ready to
02:22eat overnight oats and our small bites with big energy super bites and at oatco we aim to fuel the
02:29every day whether it's a school run a busy day in the office or a gym workout we are currently
02:35delivering to a strong community of customers through our shopify website nationwide as well
02:40as being stocked in over 150 retail stores and in the past seven months we've did 200k in sales with
02:47a 60 gross margin and 28 000 in net profit currently the market is more protein focused but we aim
02:56to
02:56disrupt the food to go market with natural energy that oats can provide and we've got both excuse the
03:03pun now i've got some samples of our just add milk pouches for you to try and i'd love for
03:09you to try them
03:13a range of oat based food products is the offering from laura murphy that's what's that one that's a
03:20vanilla chocolate chip yeah thank you she's asking for 50 000 pounds in exchange for a five percent
03:27stake in her business how much protein is in your original so we're around six grams so it's just the
03:33natural energy however the other three we've added plant-based protein laura claims her oats stand out
03:41from the crowd you will notice under your chairs as well there's also some other products but in a
03:47sector packed with healthy promises peter jones is keen to know what makes this offering more than
03:54just a mouthful of marketing laura hi hello um so it's basically oats with bits in it to
04:07give you a super fuel is it so is it was it just protein or no so give me the
04:14so contents we aim to
04:17be different so how we feel at the moment is everything is protein lead however we want to
04:22focus on the natural energy from the oats okay and in what way is this different is anybody else doing
04:29this
04:30so i suppose it's difficult to say because we have three different products so there is three
04:36different competitors depending on which one we look at in particular in terms of the pouch product
04:41our point of difference is you actually prepare that in the pouch you can reseal take it with you
04:48and so that is the usp of the pouch product alone okay laura yeah your balls are absolutely banging thank
04:58you
04:58um when something tastes that good i worry that it's not good for my health yeah and i was looking
05:06at the nutritional information on on this packet but also on the on the balls as well
05:11are those the best balls you've ever had that is so good
05:16it's really good thank you so much that's got to be like you say that's such a good point it's
05:19got
05:19to be bad for you yeah well some of the flavors are slightly more on the indulgent side
05:25but we're mindful of that and we're trying to appeal to that target consumer that still wants
05:30us to taste good but is mindful of their health on the balls it says there's uh 20 grams of
05:37sugar per
05:37100 grams yeah it is something we're definitely mindful about and we've had conversations recently
05:42on how we can improve and in our new product development we are taking that on board and 100
05:48trying to make them as well-rounded as possible okay laura hi gotta tell you um yes they're high
05:57sugar but they're delicious thank you so much um so how much are they selling for um the pot you're
06:04holding retails for 3.79 okay um and i've seen the overnight oats in tubs but i don't think i've
06:12seen
06:12the this on top is that yours that's our usp yeah okay so that makes it quite unique and yeah
06:17but if
06:18i was buying a sort of or standard overnight oats yeah what would that cost me um they would retail
06:25probably around the 2.99 three pound mark okay and what about your retailers you've got 150 stores who
06:32are they so we're mainly direct to store and it's a mix of spars centras apple greens is a big
06:38customer
06:38to us all based in northern ireland and this week we're actually launching into tesco as well our
06:44first tesco northern ireland or tesco northern ireland okay and do you have any um stores in the rest of
06:50the
06:50uk um not as of yet okay thank you laura hi hello um i'm probably your customer here and i
07:01think that's
07:01what makes me quite different to the rest of dragons because i'm not super educated around kind of what i
07:06need to put into my body like i look at these packaging the first thing i look at is calories
07:10because that's the world i've been brought up in i don't understand the rest so as a customer
07:15explain to me why i need your product so it's something substantial that you can eat and i eat
07:21it every morning and being a busy mom as well like it it keeps me going throughout the day okay
07:28and then
07:28what is it you're looking for in a dragon to help with this business yeah so um like i want
07:34okko to be
07:35a household name in many regions particularly in the uk and ireland and i think with the dragon on
07:40board it gives me that platform to help achieve that okay i'm going to tell you where i am
07:49i mean oats are a superfood yeah they're incredibly good for your heart yeah um you know control your
07:56cholesterol levels yeah so so i think the oat story is very very strong and i tell you what you've
08:03done
08:03really well this is like one of the most hotly contested markets if you go in anywhere there are
08:08loads of blinking protein balls and energy balls so to actually stand out in that and that is absolutely
08:15delicious too delicious scarily delicious exactly but i i meant to have just one little nibble i've been
08:23back in three times um so um so so much to like about this business but there's a problem and
08:34it's the sugar
08:38okay um i wouldn't eat that because of the high content yeah now i know i'm purist but the direction
08:47of
08:47travel is is against sugar so i'm really sorry i won't be investing no problem and i am really sorry
08:54i won't be investing but i'm out
09:01laura you are fantastic
09:05um but this is just a market that i'm i'm just not happy to invest in at the moment i
09:10think it's
09:10hyper competitive and you're going to struggle with this at the moment so i'm going to say that i'm out
09:20laura i'll tell you where i'm at i think you're amazing you're so investable there's a lot of work to
09:27do with actually defining the purpose and that kind of vision like i know you want to own the natural
09:32energy market but that's not a brand purpose that's what just that's i'm like why why like
09:37i still need to understand why what is natural energy why do i need it and i think that needs
09:42to
09:42be laser focused and i feel like i could offer so much help in terms of that in terms of
09:47the branding
09:48in terms of the lifestyle in terms of the persona i don't know the food market and that's
09:53just me being completely transparent at all
10:00so i am going to make you an offer but it's a bit of a wild card because there isn't
10:06any other
10:06offers yet you asked for 50 000 pounds for five percent i'll offer you half of the money for seven
10:15and a half percent i'd want to share with someone else that actually understands the food market because
10:20i know what i can bring it's fantastic yeah and you're a fantastic entrepreneur once you can get
10:24the branding spot on we can make it a cool on trend product we can get the persona perfect
10:29but i want that help at the other side of the retail side as well perfect thank you very much
11:00thank you very much
11:07um laura i am i am such a big fan of you thank you um i have uh quite a
11:16lot of experience now in
11:17this industry um have a brand that came into the den that's making tens of millions now just a couple
11:23of years from retail and actually one of the most useful things i could do is to sit you in
11:28a room with
11:29one of the investments i've made who exploded in the uk market and really understand how they did that
11:37yes um so i'm going to make you an offer because i think you're fantastic
11:44i'll offer you all of the money for um
11:5517.5 of the business
12:00thank you very much
12:04so thank you so much firstly for all of the offers that it means a lot um so i suppose
12:11just
12:11stephen i did have a cap of 15 percent in my head and so i suppose if you had the
12:18money paid back
12:19within sort of a two-year period would you drop to 10 percent to 10 percent
12:32considering i came in for five percent
12:37um i i um i'm not the biggest fan in the world of the deals that that drop because it's
12:43almost like
12:43punishment for success in a weird way i suppose 15 percent is what i said was was my cap and
12:50that's what i'm struggling with okay
12:55i'll do 15 percent you do 15 i'll do 15 percent
13:00well i'd love to accept your offer thank you thank you so much well done thank you so much
13:07i can't wait to work thank you victory for laura after tough negotiations she secures stephen bartlett's
13:19backing her oat empire is officially expanding
13:28breathe i'm still catching my breath
13:32amazing i couldn't have asked for it to go better really i'm delighted
13:37that's a great entrepreneur to invest in yeah she was so good so good so so excellent and it is
13:43serendipitous you didn't you did look the same
13:45so
13:48so
13:48so
14:02so
14:04I think I kissed my head then.
14:07My name's John O'Donnell, and I'm joined today with my son, Jamie,
14:11and we've created Screwcaddy.
14:15DIY.
14:17Definitely DIY. Definitely DIY.
14:20I could deal with a few more DIY things.
14:22What have you got, Peter? I've got a toolkit.
14:26You've got a toolkit? Yeah.
14:27What's the last DIY you did, Peter?
14:30I think I've hung a picture up.
14:34I believe Deborah would show the most interest in our product.
14:38Just in the sector that it's in, I feel like it would perk her interest the most.
14:42So I'm definitely confident and ready to go.
14:53Hi, Dragons.
14:54My name's John O'Donnell, and I'm joined today with my son, Jamie,
14:58and we form part of the family team who created Screwcaddy.
15:04Today we are looking for a £50,000 investment for a 40% stake in our business.
15:10In 2020 during lockdown, me and my mum were doing various DIY projects in and around our home.
15:17One of these projects in particular involved screwing a bracket to a fence for a hanging flower basket.
15:23Through this, we had many deflected screws and it caused several near-miss injuries.
15:28So we went out to see if there was a product on the market that could solve our issue.
15:33But we struggled to find anything to solve our solution.
15:35So as a family, we had a go at trying to create up a product of our own.
15:39So dragging is a traditional method for uncertain screws is you secure the screw with your fingers
15:46while also trying to handle a power tool, which is particularly difficult and can cause possible injuries.
15:54However, if you look at our product, you can see that my fingers are away from the screw.
15:59And it allows the DIYer to focus purely on the power drill.
16:07As the screw head comes down, it makes contact with the angled top side of the Screwcaddy.
16:13Screwcaddy pops off.
16:18And the job's complete.
16:20We were introduced to a third party who helped us a lot during the development stages of the product,
16:26and we now have a manufacturing site here in the UK.
16:30Screwcaddy is patent pending, and we are looking for that dragon or dragons
16:34who can ultimately put a Screwcaddy in every DIYer's toolbox.
16:40If you would like to come up, the wood we have actually brought in is very, very hard.
16:45So just to make you aware, you need to give it some welly to get in.
16:52A lockdown invention that takes the pain out of drilling is the offering from John and Jamie O'Donnell.
17:00So your fingers go to the side.
17:02Yeah, no, I've got that. I'm just doing that while I...
17:04OK. All the way down.
17:07The inventive father and son duo are seeking an investment of £50,000 in return for a 40% share
17:15in their business.
17:17Yeah, and then pull it off. OK. That's good.
17:23The product gets a nod of approval from the DIY doyen of the den, Deborah Meaden.
17:29But it's Tuukka Suleiman who's the first to drill down into the potential of the business.
17:38John and Jamie, just so you know, I've got no investments in DIY.
17:45This could be my first.
17:47So, have you shown this to any major retailers?
17:53Yes. So, the very first people we contacted was GML. And they asked for costs and samples for up to
18:01£750,000.
18:02We have been to B&Q and they've had samples. So we have had a lot of interest, but it's
18:10converting the interest to sales.
18:13So...
18:14It's been a blocker.
18:15Have you turned over anything?
18:19£80.
18:20We've sold some...
18:22Yes.
18:22Right. So, £80 turnover, but I can see you want to give away 40% of the business.
18:29Yes.
18:30So, you really want to entice a dragon.
18:33Yes.
18:36Jamie, John, when I was watching Deborah have a go at it, it still looked quite dangerous to me.
18:45I think because this screw, when put in the biggest hole here, is still really about five millimetres away from
18:50your finger still.
18:51Which means it could still, you know, hit the edge of the plastic and then hit your finger.
18:57So, I just wanted to see if you had a response on that point.
18:59Yeah.
19:02I take your point about the apertures at the side of screw caddy, you are a couple of millimetres...
19:09Do you agree with that? Because I don't.
19:12Sorry?
19:13Do you agree with that? I mean, it's your product and I'm about to defend it for you.
19:17Is there another answer to that?
19:21He agrees with it.
19:24So, the danger is the wobble.
19:27Mm-hm.
19:27This stops the wobble.
19:30OK.
19:31So, it's not the proximity to your thumb.
19:34It's the fact that if the screw head wobbles to one side...
19:38Yeah.
19:38..then you're in danger.
19:39That's holding it solid.
19:42Is that what you meant to say?
19:43Yes, sorry.
19:44That's what he meant to say.
19:46My other point was around the combination of metal and plastic.
19:51So, what I did is I took the screw in and out over and over again.
19:56Yeah.
19:56Repeatedly like this.
19:57Yeah.
19:58And the plastic has worn off, so now it basically doesn't fit anymore.
20:02So, what we've...
20:03The third party who done the development work with us, they tried to destroy it with the roughest screws they
20:10could find.
20:11They worked out.
20:12If you were using it the same aperture, the same size, you'd be talking and you'd get about 35 screws.
20:18So, one is...
20:1935 screws?
20:20Yeah.
20:22And how much does this cost?
20:24$499.
20:25OK.
20:26The equation is not great there, being able to do 30 screws before it breaks.
20:30And actually, I think the consumer will have a bigger expectation of longevity from the product.
20:36My other question was about the percentage.
20:39What's the current shareholding between you guys?
20:43There's three shareholders.
20:44It's me, my wife and Jamie, and it's just a third share each.
20:48OK.
20:49Which means that the Dragon would be the major shareholder?
20:51Yeah.
20:51We would change our structure, obviously, to make it a 60-40 spot.
20:57Keep it simple.
21:00Guys, can I ask you, what's your patentable step?
21:04What's your claim?
21:06It's the way it holds the screw and it's the way it releases the screw.
21:09It's the angled edge and it's the transfer of that vertical force to a horizontal force that forces the screw
21:16caddy off.
21:17OK.
21:17So, it is quite specific as to why this works and what you're telling me is it wouldn't work if
21:23you didn't have those angles right.
21:25You've obviously been through lots of iterations.
21:28OK.
21:32John, Jamie.
21:33Hi.
21:34Hi.
21:36I think it looks really good.
21:38I think it does what you said it was supposed to do on the tin.
21:43But I think it's really expensive at £5.
21:46You know, you can get a pack of screws for £5 and you're selling your product that holds the screws
21:51for the same price.
21:52So, I just wonder whether this becomes like a really considered purchase, so I don't really want to buy and
21:58spend £5 on it.
22:00Or is this something that, frankly, what you should really do is perhaps license this to the people that put
22:07these screw packs together.
22:09And this could be a product that you see in the pack as a giveaway.
22:13Yeah, adding it on to buying a bag of screws was something that we considered right at the very start.
22:20It's interesting though, because I don't think it's attached to the screw, I think it's attached to the drill.
22:24The dangerous bit in this whole process is the drill.
22:26Yeah.
22:26And the trouble is, this product feels very expensive against a pack of screws.
22:31Yeah.
22:32It doesn't feel at all expensive against a drill.
22:38John, Jamie, I do think the price is probably an issue.
22:45And to me, it feels like you would like a dragon to come in and run the business for you.
22:52And I say that because you've not had any luck yet with sales and you're willing to offer the dragon
22:57the opportunity to be the single biggest shareholder in the business effectively.
23:01And that comes with an obligation that I don't feel comfortable meeting.
23:06So, I'm going to say that I'm out, but I wish you the very best.
23:09Thanks.
23:13John and Jamie, hi.
23:14Hi.
23:14I'll just tell you where I am because I think where I'm stuck with this is, given the 40%
23:20away, it's no one is going to drive this business more than you two standing there.
23:26And like, I got 50 no's from a retailer and I think they even blocked my email address at one
23:31point because they were like, this girl is so annoying.
23:34But I was delusional.
23:35And you have to be so delusional in your product that like, I know it's like a, shh, shh, shh,
23:42right.
23:43I'll try another way.
23:44I'll try another way.
23:45And I'm just not feeling that.
23:47So, that's kind of where I'm at.
23:49And I can only get behind something that you're more, you need to be more delusional than me on this.
23:53And right now, there's no delusional here.
23:56So, well done.
23:57But I am out.
24:03guys um to try and sell this product on its own will cost you a lot of money yeah you
24:11could make
24:12it into a set somebody comes in they want to buy that screw it's already in the packet and that's
24:18peter's idea i won't take it away from him but i would i would say this i'm not your right
24:24dragon
24:24for this so i'm gonna say i'm out i wish you all the best thanks thank you
24:32john jamie i really think it's genius that you came in and offered 40 percent
24:40because you want to make it attractive for a dragon yeah so as a as a dragon that really likes
24:46opportunity and never likes to miss out um and bear in mind there is one dragon here that's had quite
24:51good little bit of success with diy i'm just going to pause for a moment and reflect
25:09so somebody stood in here about 10 years ago a couple stood in here jenny and martin and they
25:17had a genius diy product and martin said i'm an inventor um i haven't got a clue about business
25:24but i'm an inventor and i know it works and it's brilliant that was marksman pence
25:29they didn't know the numbers they haven't talked to the right people um but there was something about
25:36them and there was something about their product and apart from anything else i wanted to find out
25:40whether or not they really had something um and that product now we sell millions of um
25:55so i'm gonna make you an offer
25:59thank you very much thank you
26:03we haven't heard it yet
26:07so you asked for 50 000 pounds for 40 of the business i'm going to offer you all of the
26:14money
26:17and i want 30 of the business whoa
26:24wow because it's your business and i don't want to be the majority shareholder
26:34so
26:37i think you guys are you're really great i think you've got a really good idea it's really neat
26:44um and i think that you've got the perfect dragon for this so i'm not going to make you an
26:52offer and
26:52say that i'm out but it'll be interesting when you reflect over there what your decision is
27:01do we need to reflect don't think so
27:05we would love to accept you well done excellent well done guys well done you guys great success for
27:14the father and son team thank you very much thank you very much thank you can you be a little
27:19bit more
27:20excited seriously i'm more excited than you at the moment come on a little bit of a
27:26thank you thank you very much the diy duo have secured their dream dragon and managed to achieve
27:35that rare feat of leaving the den having given away less equity than they offered
27:43i'm all over the moon that i've got deborah and the team i can't believe it it's absolutely amazing
27:48they seemed in shock
27:52that was like yeah thanks
27:57can't wait to film on i'm surprised my dad because to see the whole journey come together
28:02like this is just unbelievable
28:16well here we are right then the den my name is fred parry and i'm from london look at this
28:22thing
28:23i can't imagine many people who have been dressed as a chicken in in the den i am wearing a
28:29chicken
28:29costume because i built a game where someone hides in a chicken costume and i thought it was only right
28:34to put me in it today the dragons are probably going to guess for a birthday party fancy dress thing
28:44they're going to think someone's obsessed with chickens probably children's entertainer
28:54honestly it's a really good chicken do you know what it's good to know you have a plan b
28:58sometimes in life in life you should always have a plan b
29:04uh i'm nervous this chicken costume seals in all the heat i'm gonna be roasted in that den roasted chicken
29:17one two three four five six seven eight nine ten
29:50i don't know what to do now i was about to abroad and then i thought maybe not
29:55oh please please wow scary please
30:06hello dragons my name is fred and i'm asking for 50 000 pounds in exchange for 10 of my business
30:11chicken rush we are a real world gps powered game of hide and seek teams race to find someone hiding
30:18in
30:18a pub or bar dressed as a chicken and use our app as a live radar along the way they
30:25complete silly
30:25challenges compete for points and submit photos and videos as proof it's team-based tech-driven and
30:33utterly ridiculous in year one we turned over 55 000 pounds in year two we forecast 164 000 pounds we've
30:41had over 7 000 players across 50 countries with no full-time staff we've had over 5 million views on
30:48social media with barely any marketing spend i built the platform myself the tracking the booking
30:55system the scoring the lot it's scalable tech that can pop up in any city tomorrow
31:01i've proven it works now i want it to grow with your help we can achieve global chicken domination
31:09a real world game of hide and seek with a tech twist using gps and a custom built app fred
31:17parry is
31:17reinventing outdoor play for the digital age thank you thank you see you
31:24the entrepreneur is seeking an investment of 50 000 pounds terrifying in exchange for a 10
31:32percent share in his feathered venture but will the dragons flock to the opportunity or cross the road
31:40to avoid it fred i can't work out whether you're looking for an investment or you're looking for a
31:50dragon to dress up as a chicken um very much looking investment to grow the game uh most of our
31:56games at
31:57the moment are team building games so someone dresses up as a chicken often the boss of a company
32:02perhaps um and hides okay so i'm trying to work out yeah what this business is um it's it's hide
32:12and
32:12seek for adults so one person hides a circle appears on a map that gradually shrinks around their location
32:19and then there's also challenges teams do while they're playing the game so it's not just about
32:24finding the chicken but you get 100 points for finding the chicken first okay so i want to know
32:31about you what's your background yeah you know you built this yourself i just want to know what who
32:37am i invested in which chicken am i going to invest in yeah from the beginning um i was building
32:42online learning games for kids but over time as and i think a lot of people now who are software
32:48developers find this they're not meeting people on the other side they're not seeing how their tech is
32:53used so i had a bit of a disillusionment with that so i i wanted to prove that i can
32:58build one bit of
32:59tech where i know that people were enjoying using it meeting the people playing the game this was like
33:05the perfect example and perfect case study for me being able to do it and then we hosted a public
33:10dating event for 40 singles to get it off the ground which is a bit strange like there's one thing
33:15a chicken chasing game and then there's also a date involved with it well people want to be distracted by
33:21the fact that on a first date so turns out our dating events became really popular and we had a
33:26wait list of over 2 000 singles in london oh single people yeah wanted to come and play this game
33:33to
33:33meet somebody else people have found love while hunting chickens yeah right so let's look at the
33:42serious part of this situation the business part so how how do you monetize this how do you organize it
33:50yeah just want to know yeah um so there's two types you uh you get the tech and you play
33:57with
33:57your friends for 15 pounds per person in a team building setting or just for fun or sometimes with
34:03large companies they've got a big budget they just want to hassle free someone to come here hand over a
34:09chicken costume explain the rules and then you play the same game fred um how does this how does this
34:16get big what does big mean to you um big is getting into definitely at least every city in the
34:27uk as
34:28well as any city which has enough hiding spots in them and what does in terms of quantifying big
34:35what does that look like uh the the number i've had in my head is 100 games a day and
34:40if you did 100 a
34:41what does that look like in terms of revenue um it's 30 grand revenue a day yeah okay
34:52fred hi hello have you forgotten by now that you're dressed as a chicken uh you do start to if
35:00you wear it enough times okay so so what next i i mean i you know it's it's a cool
35:08funny eye-catching idea um and i can imagine my corporates would who were desperate to find the
35:16next thing and not do the old paintballing thing for corporate events so i can imagine them thinking
35:22oh that looks new and different um but if you're really going to leverage this business you need
35:27to become the place to look to the innovative ways of building teams don't you you know um so what
35:34what
35:34next what's your plans um at the moment my core focus is just grow outside of london with your
35:40investment though it's about scaling the casual games so birthdays stags and hen do's easter easter
35:47turkey hunt for christmas um all of these things but at the moment it's just been me working on this
35:53so i just have to focus on one small thing at a time okay so you're on your own at
35:58the moment yeah
35:59are you just going to keep moving yourself around the country for the next year with that would be
36:04our main focus it's you uh yeah but we'd have part-time help um brought in for each event
36:12fred hi i love adding the crazy into business but then on the flip side i hate organized fun yeah
36:20um
36:21i love the dating idea i think that's genius but i think where you're almost missing that trick is
36:27actually making this a thing before you pigeonhole it into the corporate world into the dating world
36:33and it's like if that wasn't on in bentbrite in london yeah and you got everyone in london like hey
36:39do you want to go to pilates today do you want to go get coffee or do you want to
36:42go and do this crazy
36:43thing i just saw called chicken rush like you get everyone doing it and then you pigeonhole it into
36:48corporate dating whatever you want and it's like yeah how do we make this bigger and how many people
36:56come back so once they've done chicken rush do they then delete the app or do they stay on do
37:01they
37:01do another one like yeah what so um as far as numbers are concerned five percent in year one of
37:07our corporates came back um and then ten percent of the people that came to one of our events came
37:13back
37:13uh some have played over five times
37:28i'm like i'm really um i'm really into businesses that are able to bring people into the real world
37:34and find ways for them to to connect and especially businesses that are a platform to scale that globally
37:42so what am i investing in here am i investing in a platform that has scale that's that's really the
37:47pitch that i think really would have swung me is something like that we have built that events
37:52platform in the background so a huge part of it is for all our dating events the thing you pitched
37:57to
37:57me today was a chicken game where people hide in pubs so true if it sounded different if it started
38:05with
38:05the the big picture of the macro loneliness epidemic people despairing at dating apps letting them down
38:11so we're building the platform for social competitive in real life games i would have been like oh here
38:17we go i rewrote that on sunday but then i got worried that you wouldn't understand what the game was
38:21so the whole pitch was uh all around us pubs are closing there is a loneliness epidemic that was the
38:29pitch that was the pitch the whole that was the pitch the the key to the the key to pitching
38:33for
38:34me is you start with the why pubs have closed loneliness i would have been nodding like a dog
38:38yes yes yeah yeah and then you build it up and say that was our whole story made this and
38:42i go oh
38:43interesting but what you did is you started with the what you started with the chickens hiding pubs and
38:47i'm like the my my original pitch was just that exact story it might be the story but it's not
38:54the
38:54business either that you have that's the difference is it well it's not this is one this is a this
39:00is
39:01a chicken game with a gps tracking device yeah we get hundreds of people outside interacting um the whole
39:09aim and ethos of this is just try and get people outside and playing and meeting new people that's why
39:16i set it up anyway yeah fred look i think you've it's great i think that it it's a tough
39:22one to invest in
39:24it really is um and sadly i'm going to say that i'm out but but good luck to you thank
39:32you peter
39:36um i do think you need an investor but i think um i think it's going to be tough for
39:41you to get
39:41an investor based on what your pitch was today okay the chicken thing because it is it's really really
39:46fun and but it's also quite distracting uh in a way where an investor is trying to understand the
39:52potential in the scale of this business the the coming in the way that you came in with the
39:57the chickens and that deborah meaden and uh peter jones's face i mean that was distracting but
40:02the whole thing kind of diverted me from the real problem you're trying to solve here which i've
40:05managed to tease out of you which is loneliness connection bringing people together in real life
40:10in an increasingly digital world that's it um that's that's an inspiring proposition but the proposition i
40:17saw today wasn't was it wasn't wasn't that so um i'm gonna say that i'm out but i wish you
40:25the very best
40:29fred um i think you need investment because you need people around you
40:36my issue is that i can't personally see how i can spend the time that you need
40:44in this business so i won't be investing i'm out thank you deborah
40:56i'm not interested in chicken games at my age um i'm gonna say i'm gonna go back to my little
41:04cage yeah not invest and i'm out thank you then
41:12hi fred hello um sorry i just panicked there i got your name wrong i was like no no i
41:19just think
41:20you're great i think you're great and i think you're amazing and for me i feel like there is
41:25something in this chicken play but i think this needs to be blown up stronger make it massive and
41:33then you cash in with corporates with dating once you've made this chicken game a bigger thing
41:40i do generally feel that if i came on board i would just be giving you the same advice that
41:44i've
41:44kind of given but i would love to help you and however i can so i'm not going to be
41:49your business
41:49partner but i can be that person to call and this is going to be huge and you're going to
41:53be huge i
41:54think you need to keep going um but i am out but i wish you all the best but i
41:57will definitely help
41:58you thank you good luck fred good luck thank you cheers sadly for fred he's failed to land any of
42:07the dragons though he has managed to secure a wing woman in jenna meek i love the idea of getting
42:15everyone out together and creating something it just wasn't something enough jenna was really helpful
42:24she gave me some advice about how to have mainstream appeal so i expect to see more
42:29chickens popping up in other cities tomorrow maybe
42:45i'm retro williams i'm from a small town in lancashire in the north of england and my business
42:51was born on the top of of a mountain in the french alps nice bright packaging lip creams it's a
43:00lip
43:00brand definitely a lip brand it's been a long journey and many many people said you'll never
43:08make it in this industry and being a northern girl i kind of thought well i'll show them so i
43:15did so i
43:17so yeah i feel quite proud i got here hello dragons i'm rachel i'm a physiologist and i'm the founder
43:34of albus and flora a specialist award-winning skincare brand that provides targeted support
43:41for the lips and skin around the mouth i'm here today to ask for fifty thousand pounds in return
43:49for fifteen percent equity in my business lines and wrinkles around the mouth thinning lips chronic
43:58dryness cold sores sunburn and lip cancer affect the confidence and comfort of millions of men and
44:06women every day uv exposure and sun damage are known to impact on these concerns however uv lip
44:15protection is not always used on a daily basis in people's skin care routines we've launched two
44:22products so far lip shield which is an spf lip balm and lip facial which is an exfoliating and plumping
44:30treatment mask we currently provide products to 370 aesthetic clinics spas and beauty salons we also supply
44:41direct to our customers via our website today we have delivered six hundred and ninety five thousand
44:47pounds worth of accumulated turnover and we want to develop a clinic and consumer brand that can be
44:53accessed globally thank you oh i can breathe that breathe i can breathe
45:05products which both prettify and protect the lips are the offering from rachel williams in the large
45:12square box you've got a part of the lip facial and then in the smaller boxes you've got the spf
45:18lip shield
45:20she's looking for a 50 000 pound investment in return for a 15 share in her business
45:28can i just tell you when you do your lipstick you only have to put it out about that much
45:32even not even that much just to fill the end that's it rachel believes her targeted approach
45:39fills a gap in the ever-growing skin care market how do i how does it look oh that's good
45:46but will the dragons be convinced by her pout focused pitch
45:54so so have i got this straight that this is essentially the unique selling point of this
45:58business is that it protects my lips from sun damage yes and people don't realize how how much
46:06damage you can get from from daily uv and the lip is so thin and delicate and that means it
46:12dehydrates
46:13quite quickly so is this the health product versus a a beauty product per se the spf is is a
46:20lifestyle
46:21product you know everybody's got a pair of lips and we need to look after them and how is this
46:26different from a lip balm because it's a broad spectrum uva uvb protector so it is what does that
46:32mean for a muggle like me that there's nothing about uv anything so it's going to protect you against the
46:37damage that uv rays can do because uv would come into the skin and it can impact on the cells
46:43physiology
46:43and function and sometimes that uv damage is is accumulated through your lifetime so it is like a
46:50lip sun cream then yes the the lip balm is yes because i put some of this lip balm on
46:56but what's
46:57weird this lip balm i've got a bit tingly and it feels that feels like my bottom lips going thicker
47:02so so so that that isn't a lip balm so that's the advanced treatment it's not a lip balm no
47:08so
47:08the lip balms are in the in the sticks so what is this what's that supposed to do so the
47:12lip facial
47:12is an exfoliating and plumping treatment mask it's plumber so that is a product that we use so that's
47:22why that feels it's getting thicker it's swollen up could i ask you a question while you're playing with
47:28each other no we're not playing i'm just asking some quick very important questions just tell us
47:33about your qualifications in this sector well qualifications um i've been a physiologist for
47:38many years and supported british teams in three olympic cycles really looking at the impact of
47:45environment on health and you know physiology so my interest is so you know i own the trademark
47:52lipstick okay and i'm about to go retail with it later in the year cool so this is of interest
48:00yes
48:00cool just want to make sure you've done 695 000 turnover in total yeah so can you break that down
48:07so we could get an idea so the last three years in um 2022 we did 139 000 with a
48:16net of 41 which
48:17obviously gave us a 29 net profit and then in 2023 we did 143 turnover and 27 000 net um
48:30and then in
48:31last year we did again 140 and a 15 000 net profit profits have been going down yes is that
48:42because of
48:43marketing no it's a strategic decision by me because when we had that 20 29 net profit i knew that
48:51the
48:51decision to become a really specialized focused brand you know really supporting the professional
48:57retailers was working but i'm you know a single entrepreneur um with not a huge amount of working
49:05capital yeah and i needed therefore to prepare the business to scale so i wanted to put in foundations in
49:12the last two years to help me do that so i've got a new office um a part-time member
49:17of staff we
49:18launched the new product we did a rebrand and a refresh because i wanted to make sure the image was
49:24right for both um clinic market as well as retail look you've done you've done quite well i mean the
49:32product looks really great thank you we we do have it just so happens an experienced expert
49:41in the den today with jenna my question is actually not just to you because i don't know a lot
49:47about
49:48this market but it would be to jenna is are these sort of types of products widely available is this
49:53already out there yes i guess that was hi rachel and i think that's what i'm trying to struggle with
49:58is
50:00i can probably already find something similar yeah because it's a very crowded market
50:06i think one of the things that's um confused me a little bit is that kind of vision of where
50:10you
50:11see the brand going so like is this going to be spf everything will be focused around spf or will
50:17it
50:17be more focused around lips like how does the product range build from here so we've got a few collections
50:24planned so the spf products are all part of the daily care range the lip facial is also in the
50:30daily
50:30care range there's then the targeted care range this range will focus on supporting clients who've
50:36got inflammation you know when they're on acne medication solution-based you can yeah daily for
50:42everyone a solution-based yeah range and then and then third one would be targeting sort of 40 and
50:49upwards okay so if you had a magic wand what beauty retailers do you see this branding just i understand
50:54the vision yeah so i think the the more premium end definitely sort of liberties selfridges space nk
51:02sephora but i think for you know sephora we would need to increase you know our kind of digital footprint
51:09first um do your customers love the product yes they do do they tell people about the product
51:17they do um i'm not very good at sharing so they they love the product and they tell people about
51:22the products so why for the last three years has the revenue been stagnant i've almost never seen
51:30numbers like this where it's almost exactly the same for three years at 140k in revenue yeah three years in
51:35a row super consistent and the reason being that i've invested in the infrastructure and the operations
51:41to get ready and i've not been able to do that at the same time as put money into um
51:47the sales and
51:48marketing okay so one of the things investors look for in businesses when they're trying to invest is this
51:53thing called the growth profile and the growth profile is essentially the history of the business
51:58and how the how it looks from a revenue or profit growth perspective yeah if it's flat it kind of
52:05suggests
52:05that the future could be flat um and i like businesses that have a good growth profile which
52:10is a challenge a lot of entrepreneurs faces when you're a solopreneur on your own you have decisions
52:15you have to make it's trade-offs and the trade-off that you you made was to focus on infrastructure
52:21and those things first versus the growth profile of the business i think it's quite important to make
52:27a different decision which is to focus on that growth profile because that will give an investor
52:31the confidence that they have enough growth to get a return from the business in future
52:36but the growth profile of the business is an amber flag for me and i find it hard to see
52:41based on the
52:42last three years in the current year how an investor would get their 50k out and a multiple on the
52:46money
52:47so for that reason i'm going to say that i'm out but i wish you the very best thank you
52:51and rachel i'm
52:52going to be the same um you've created a great product um i'm struggling to see the size of the
53:01opportunity so sadly i'm going to say that i'm out um but yeah congratulations on creating a great
53:07product thank you rachel i think you've hit a market and you really really know your stuff and
53:16you explain it really well um but the truth of the matter is you are in a highly contested space
53:22this is readily available for me and i i buy it so i'm afraid it's not an investment for me
53:28i'm out
53:30thank you
53:34rachel hi hi um i think i mean obviously i know what it's like to develop a beauty product so
53:40just
53:40please well done thank you the packaging is lovely the branding is lovely um it's it's really really just
53:47stand out i think in terms of investment where i'm at is it's not something i feel like i want
53:55to
53:55invest in many because it is probably too close to my current business um but more because i can't
54:00necessarily see the the bigger vision in terms of everything you want to do yeah um but i would
54:06like to throw you a lifeline because i do think this is a good product i will help you get
54:10this product
54:10in front of selfridges space and care sephora in the uk so that you've got that step to entry
54:18because you can tell how passionate you are i'm not going to invest i am out say i'm sorry but
54:23yeah
54:24i will help you do that step and you'll be able to take it from the rest okay that's a
54:28great offer
54:29yeah it's amazing offer thank you so much rachel um you are investable but that's not okay and that's
54:38where i'm torn and i'll tell you why i'm torn um i am launching a lipstick retail concept later in
54:47the
54:47year okay um lip care is definitely a sector that could be included um what i'm interested in is your
54:59knowledge and trying to think how i can kill two birds with one stone here how you can help me
55:05with
55:05knowledge and help you your business yeah yeah that would be exciting so your offer was 50 000 15
55:16yes i'm willing to give you the 50 000 pounds
55:22but i would want 35 percent
55:28um 35 obviously is is quite high for me as a brand and i know that i've most likely going
55:35to be
55:35multiple rounds to move forward to take the brand to where i want it to go so that's quite challenging
55:42would you be prepared to reduce that offer if you got your money back well if i got my money
55:48back within
55:4812 to 18 months down to 25 percent okay um would you be prepared to drop to um 20
56:0630 percent i'll go down to 25 when i get my money back
56:17okay that's a fantastic offer um i would be happy to work with you excited to work with you and
56:24definitely have great great great great great great we're going to be choosing yeah we can do
56:30it's a win for rachel thanks for all your time well done thank you she walks away with an offer
56:37of
56:37support from skin care savant jenna meek but it's touca sulliman who's put his money where his mouth is
56:45securing a stake in the business really excited
56:52just fabulous to get investment from tuca and yeah also absolutely lovely you know offer from jenna
57:00so i'm super grateful and humbled
57:05how exciting it was her that i really loved i'm investing in her as an entrepreneur well you've got an
57:14expert
57:25that's the way you work
57:25dragon's den will return later in the year perfect i think this is the first time in the den there's
57:32been
57:32more females than men i think this is what i've been looking for for a long time i just came
57:38out of
57:38being your worst nightmare i'm about to go back in again you're sassy i'm like oh go on go sell
57:43more is
57:44that the way you work is that what you guys do as investors i think this is a wonderful opportunity
57:49and that's why i'd like to talk to tony hello peter i was hoping you'd say that am i happy
57:54to share
57:55with peter my business you should tell me i should not invest but my heart tells me i should
58:02you're setting us all off come here mates i'm so proud of you wow gary you teed that up as
58:07if we were
58:08team-mate and then that's the most guilty i've ever felt in my life yeah no it's great to have
58:13you back gary
58:23you
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