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00:01the doors to the den are open for business a place where fortunes are made and futures are forged
00:11but this time the game has changed a fresh wave of fierce investors are out to shake things up
00:19and steal the deals this evening it's double the heat i'm jenna meek i'm the co-founder and ceo
00:28of a five beauty i'm suzy ma and i'm the founder and ceo of tropic skincare two queens of commerce
00:35make history can we take a moment i think this is the first time in the den there's been more
00:40females than men so very cool so watch out yous two at the end don't gang up on us will
00:47you
00:49i started my first business with 3 000 pounds and scaled it to a multi-million pound empire
00:54my vision is to own this this world i started my business when i was 15 years old since then
01:02we've been one of the top 100 fastest growing businesses in the uk that's what i'm looking for
01:08i believe what's driven me to make these businesses happen is just the belief that the only solution to
01:14this is to succeed failure is not an option you have to be so confident though and no it's like
01:19a
01:21i'll try another way in my 20 years of business i've had to overcome countless challenges
01:27so i'm getting emotional here but i've learned that with grit and determination
01:31anything is possible it's a power shift yay we're in and it starts tonight
01:47my name is cicely coops and i am the founder of selkie so it's just me in selkie obviously female
01:57founders have some challenges and yes there was a lot of hurdles and a lot of barriers but
02:03i just knew that it was a great idea and something that i wanted to create i think it's so
02:10important
02:11that we shine a light on amazing female founders so just to meet some very impressive female dragons
02:19is yeah a real honor and i can't wait to meet them
02:31hi dragons my name is cicely and i am the founder of selkie an innovative hair care brand that is
02:38on a
02:39mission to revolutionize the industry today i'm seeking a 40 000 pound investment for 12 and a half
02:47percent of my company four years ago i was searching for a shampoo and conditioner that was nourishing
02:54for my scalp and gave luxurious results without harsh chemicals or single-use plastic however i quickly
03:02discovered that many mainstream products are filled with synthetic ingredients and are sold in single-use
03:08plastic bottles so with my master's degree in chemistry i took matters into my own hands
03:15and after two and a half years of development alongside a b corp manufacturer selkie launched
03:22with our cutting edge powder to liquid hair care products on a clear mission to be kind to our hair
03:29and the planet in just three simple steps water powder shake you create luxurious liquid formulas in your
03:42farmed and until five years of knowledge in your water lifething water supply production um
03:44we have mentioned that there are no themes in the world of water and water and airship even in the
03:50water with the water and water and water and water when we have to work with our water water and
03:50over
03:50the water and water in the water in the water with our water hands and water
03:57but there are no other things that we do in the water for our plant-based plants when we have
04:08to go to our
04:10we have our refillable bottle here you literally just take the pump off and then you pour in water
04:17straight from the tap cicely is seeking 40 000 pounds and then you just take your powder and
04:24pour it straight into the bottle and then all you do is shake in return for a 12 and a
04:34half percent
04:34share of her company and then when you're running out you literally top up with the plastic-free
04:41refills made of cardboard so has this eco-conscious entrepreneur's pitch won over the den's queen
04:50of all things green i wanted to applaud at the end of that
05:04um so what this does is take that crazy thing out of your product which is transporting water
05:13yes all the way around the countryside which is mad um so i love it and the current manufacturer yes
05:22are they specialist in powder to what do you call it powder powder to liquid powder to liquid are
05:27they specialists in that yes i think they're a key component of the success of this product and they
05:33are specialists in this really brilliant pitch when i say thank you first what a great product as
05:41well what's the biggest feedback that you've taken is there something about the product that you think
05:48that you need to improve upon or is it just perfect so there are things that i would like to
05:54improve upon
05:55one being the bottles currently have labels on i would like to have them printed on because
06:03it is a label that isn't that easily recyclable but overall i think what we're doing just resonates
06:12with people so much because i think people do care about the products they buy and the harm they're
06:18doing to the planet but have found a lack of solutions in terms of usability or results great well i'm
06:26going to i'm going to sit here and and i'll watch everybody to the questions and i'll just come in
06:31in the end and steal it hello i love i love what you've done thank you i love that you've
06:38thought
06:38about the sustainability element i love your innovation um and this is right up my street because
06:44obviously i have a manufacturing company that makes skincare products hair care products makeup products but
06:50also powder products but you're introducing a product that people are putting on their heads
06:55nearing their eyes you have to be so careful about the safety of that if people are adding their own
07:01tap water in their own home you don't know what bacteria you're introducing to that product
07:06and it worries me i completely hear your concerns and i can assure you everything has gone through the
07:15safety testing and we have been so rigorous when it came to working with this manufacturer they have
07:22assured me that it works with different water types but when it comes to making formulations as
07:27a factory myself you have to be so incredibly careful so to give an example of the stringent
07:33processes we have to go through all of our machines have to be cleaned and then uv light passes through
07:39all of them the water we use in all of our products are boiled to 100 degrees and passes
07:45through a uv filter through a stainless steel pipe so there is absolutely zero introduction of bacteria
07:51i just so what's your offer there is there is no there is what i'm trying to say is i'm
07:56trying to
07:57i'm trying to foresee the future because i've been down this road you know i started my business in my
08:02mom's kitchen i've made moisturizers that i thought were fantastic in a pot taking it to the market and
08:08they have gone moldy and that is the worst thing like i'm please i'm really genuinely i'm not trying to
08:14critique i just wanted to give you some advice i'll tell you what though it's it it's why it's
08:21great sitting here it that for me is enlightening because that's almost i'd love to stop to know how
08:28you're going to respond to that because that means a complete pivot doesn't it so obviously uh water is
08:35what harbors bacteria and both the shampoo and the conditioner there is no water used in any of our
08:40production whatsoever it is all dry ingredients i know i know that get blended together when we then
08:46deliver it to our customers we do say it needs to be used within three months once it's rehydrated
08:52i think one of the strongest things about this product are the people who are manufacturing
08:56i've worked so closely with them as a chemist myself we went through so many different tests with
09:03both the shampoo and the conditioner it was actually the shampoo we had to put re-through
09:07uh stability testing because we had to add more preservative to it so these have been tested we've
09:13gone back to the drawing board multiple times to find the perfect way to make a formula sicily i love
09:19the area that you're in i love your passion for for sustainability i love your knowledge i love
09:25everything about what you're doing i just i see you as a female entrepreneur and i love i love supporting
09:31female entrepreneurs but for me this is something that is too close to home and so i'm out but
09:42i wish you the best of luck and i'm going to be watching and and really rooting for you thank
09:46you
09:48hi um so i'm gonna blow everyone's mind um and just hi hi sorry that was a bit of a
09:56grilling someone
09:56had done that to me in my early days i think i'd have ran and probably not got to where
10:00i am today
10:00all right i'm trying i'm trying to i'm trying to give advice genuinely it's coming from a good place
10:04no of course no no definitely um i just think you've got to figure it out but this is what's
10:09going to blow everyone's mind i four years ago developed a very similar product um and it took a few
10:15years to develop it don't worry i'm not launching this product i'm happy with my business but it's
10:20already been pitched into one of the biggest retailers in the u.s and they said it was incredible
10:26innovation so just give yourself a second because it is incredible the biggest issue is it's not easy
10:33to make people change a habit and it's just how big do you need to make this impact to make
10:38this
10:38movement because making change to a customer is what's really really difficult yeah so my question to
10:44you is how are you going to make people change their habits to stop using shampoo that they do
10:51and start doing it this way i think it's all about education and kind of bringing people along on the
10:57journey with us i think all it needs is a good quality product and a strong brand and story to
11:02be
11:03able to bring everyone on the haircare journey i'm very on the fence on the fence because
11:11there will be a business in hair care that does this exact concept that will be absolutely huge
11:17and it's just a question of is it is it this one which maybe it is i think i would
11:24invest
11:26but i would like to share with another dragon um if deborah would be open to potentially sharing
11:33the offer on this because i think deborah would bring her vast knowledge of everything sustainable
11:39that we could just put into this business to make it huge we've got no chance so you've asked for
11:4640 000 pounds of 12 and a half percent i will offer you all of the money for 15 percent
11:53all potential to
11:54share with deborah um so i do you know you've got a lot of issues ahead of you um the
12:04biggest thing
12:04and the big difference between this and things like seep that came on here is a you know completely
12:10environmentally friendly cleaning products the difference is that none of those ask people
12:15to change their behavior what they do is offer them an alternative that is cleaner and it's the
12:21behavioral change piece that has caused the almost block on shampoo bars because it doesn't feel right to
12:31me so i think it's going to be all about storytelling um i hear all of the issues but
12:39that's never stopped me going into a business before um because i do think that that they you're good
12:46i mean you're even you even study chemistry yeah you know so i'm happy to share with jenna
12:52so that's half the money for 7.5 percent thank you both
13:00cecily i i think on the surface when you look at this and who you're presenting to steve and i've
13:10been saying i'm sitting here and steve and i sitting here thinking we've got no chance
13:14in terms of what i do in terms of just from an e-commerce perspective um i deal with more
13:20cosmetic products than anybody here um i just don't talk about it um i also though think which
13:30is really interesting is that steven is an absolute master at what he does we know what he does from
13:38a marketing perspective and has helped to launch brands all over the world from startup so my question
13:45wasn't actually to you to pitch it was a discussion with steven whether you'd want to join forces with
13:50you and i and placing them an offer that's so compelling that sicily can't turn down um a second ago
13:58deborah said that sicily was good and i i have to say i disagree i think you are great
14:08so are you going to make an offer oh yeah
14:18i love that yeah yeah so sicily we've confirmed so steven and i are going to offer you all of
14:28the
14:28money 40k for less than you came in for for 10 of the company
14:40oh you really don't think you're going to get this and you're having to undercut this side
14:51thank you so much to all of you i wanted to ask if there would be a world where the
14:57four of you
14:58would come in together because i would love for you all to be a part of this
15:06so i would be interested but i wouldn't drop below five percent i was going to say fine yeah i
15:12i would
15:13be happy but that would mean you giving away 20 to the company but you've got four dragons i would
15:18be
15:18in for that yeah i would be over the moon to give away five percent to each of you you've
15:27got a deal
15:28i would like to help you yeah let's make it happen oh my god thank you so much
15:37success for sicily
15:43wow thank you guys the chemist turned hair care entrepreneur leaves the den with 40 000 pounds
15:55and the backing of a blend of dragons whose complementary skills equal a winning formula
16:02oh my god mind is just blown to be honest
16:07the fact that i have come away with four dragons who are just incredible all of them
16:16beyond words you know who did the best deal just then jenna they did because they ended up getting
16:23exactly the deal they asked for and they got us two on board i just said to steven how on
16:28earth
16:28did we end up with five percent and we're going to get them to do all the work we'll see
16:34about that
16:49this is it i'm nervous i'm terrified my name's john my name's sean are you are you all right
16:59and we are mr swainston's traditional sweet shop yes we are the next sweets
17:06oh finally this is right at peter jane street oh mate i'm in i'm in
17:14which ones are your favorite peter all of them
17:20i think the dragons are going to say something a little bit different today
17:24you ready and we don't think we're just investable as a business but also as people
17:30that aren't in deck of the sweet world how amazing you've got this i hope so
17:52hello dragons my name is john and my name is sean and we're the owners of mr swainston's traditional
17:57sweet emporium we are here today to seek a 50 000 pound investment in return for a 10 share in
18:03our
18:03business on new year's day of january 2024 walking through beamish museum in county durham and dusting
18:10off the cobwebs of 2023 we were mesmerized by the 1900s town especially its traditional sweet shop
18:18witnessing families such as parents and grandparents educating the kids on how they used to shop
18:22before supermarkets and online shopping those comments didn't leave our heads for the weeks
18:27following and we set out on a journey to discover more traditional sweet shops to visit to our
18:32surprise we discovered that many sweet shops had moved with the times and traditional sweets had
18:38been replaced by freeze-dried candy and american imports due to our research our social media algorithms
18:44started presenting us with online sweet shops and we saw that they were all similar in their approach
18:48with loud pop music and flashing lights so in march 2024 we launched mr swainston's on tick tock
18:57we very quickly gained momentum as viewers tuned in to see us packing up live orders dressed in our
19:03vintage uniforms and playing music from the roaring 20s and to our quick success on tick tock we ended up
19:09launching our physical store in our hometown of south shales in may 2024 to date we have turned over
19:15almost 160 000 pounds in revenue and our social media continues to gain momentum with some of our
19:23tick tock videos attracting over 813 000 views our aim is to be the high streets go-to for traditional
19:31sweets when people think of sweets we want them to think of mr swainston's we believe with the
19:37investment and support of a dragon we can grow mr swainston's to be the biggest traditional sweet shop
19:42in a modern world are you ready for some sweets oh yes oh yes a traditional sweet shop with ambitions
19:54to go big online there you go peter thank you very much you're welcome and conquer the nation's high
20:01streets is the proposition from john gray and sean robinson susie thank you the pair are seeking
20:0950 000 pounds in return for a 10 share in their enterprise this is a risky strategy giving dragons a
20:18load of sweets to start i know it is hyperactive in no time so has john and sean's pick and
20:26mix
20:26hit the bullseye with a sweet toothed peter jones
20:32sean and john hello hello can i just say thank you so much for coming in today
20:39i just love it that applause us a little bit gonna make us cry already um do you do milk
20:46bottles
20:46i can't see we do yes we do yes peter look how excited you are oh this is like have
20:51you seen like
20:51five-year-old peter running into a sweet shop this is where i went wrong do you know what i
20:55went into
20:56retail and it's just i i wish it to be fair i wish i had a sweet shop wow this
21:01is your opportunity
21:02we're here i know so the 160 revenue you said you've done i want to focus on the last 12
21:08months
21:08what have you done in the last 12 months so we've turned over 159 000 pounds gross margin gross is
21:1578
21:18okay and net 28. i mean that's that's quite outrageous so how have you done that how have you
21:26opened a store paid yourself all the salaries and you've done all of that for 50k at the moment sean
21:32takes a salary i don't take the salary from the business at this minute in time and why don't
21:36you take is it because we because he's bigger and taller or yeah he gets the biggest we're a couple
21:42we
21:43live together and we just we live on what we can we've gone without things you know we've cut back
21:47on
21:47some luxuries because we fully believe in it we just literally kind of are investing back all the time
21:56into the business um hi i'm jenna hi um firstly beamish love it that's where i go from just like
22:02five minutes down the road um so i'm really interested what is this growth route like when
22:07you see yourself growing do you see just keeping one store do you see 10 stores like how are you
22:12going to give this energy and yeah in 10 stores when user rinse our shields like what's yeah what's
22:17plan there this can be rolled out and we will be really kind of selective i think on where we'd
22:22want
22:23to pitch mr swainston's for retail and it's those destinations where people are going on you know
22:28caravan holidays and they're going to these towns you know like the cotswolds and things but the people
22:33that we find we can recreate this over you know multiple locations with the shop itself no i agree
22:39mcdonald's with sweets yes yeah i think there's just so much more you can do from this experience
22:44perspective like yes the suites on a shelf there but actually people aren't coming for the suites
22:48because go anywhere and buy the suites so it's taking that experience and making it like the
22:52only experience that you can find so it's like have you got any ideas there how do you make that
22:57experience better there's all sorts we can do this that you see today we call our traveling suite shop
23:03so this goes out for events okay so we can take this to people's weddings and there's also
23:08we do a vintage suite cart so we have those available for hire for events so there's all
23:13sorts of different do you do like a jingle have you got a jingle or have you got do you
23:17do it have
23:18you got a bit of theatrics because it's clearly theatrical yeah have you got a dance or have you
23:22got he does he does a really great shimmy i saw you i saw him do that all the time
23:32in the shop as well
23:35i just want to be clear with it though because i want to find out just get serious for a
23:41minute i just
23:41want to find out what makes you different is there anything different apart from just the way you
23:47dress because i you know i could go and open my own shop i could go and do some traditional
23:56sort of
23:57get up and dress yeah and i could call it mr jones's yeah i mean totally it can totally be
24:03replicated
24:07i can guys let's let's talk a little bit about your product have you ever thought about making
24:12your own suites and your own and then you've got a great point of difference they can say to your
24:18customers these are freshly made handmade by me by this team last week yeah that could i'd be running
24:24to your shop yeah that that part can really add to the experience because we could have a window where
24:30the sweets are being made as people are passing on the high street or in the market town where
24:33they're seeing it happen you know it's definitely something we would look at we're always looking to
24:38add to the theatrical of what we do i mean let me let me tell you where i'm at guys
24:42like i think you're
24:43so much fun but for me i'm a product person and i'm not getting a point of difference if you
24:49came in
24:50today and said that you make your own sweets try this amazing new recipe that we created and we're going
24:54to be selling this in our shop with a little shimmy with a little jingle i will be there with
24:59you but
25:00because the innovation is not there i'm afraid to say that i'm out thank you
25:08um what you're doing is giving a lot of people a lot of joy with your personality and i think
25:11that's
25:11a great thing but as we've understood what this business is it's clear that the closest thing that
25:16you have to a patent is your personalities but that for me isn't proprietary enough
25:20uh it's not business for me so i'm going to say that i'm out but i wish you the best
25:24appreciate
25:24thanks steven okay i'm going to tell you where i am i feel like you haven't quite found your point
25:32of difference and because you haven't quite found it it's going to hinder you when you go online and
25:39also on your physical retail space okay so i'm afraid i won't be investing i'm out thanks thank you
25:47deborah john john hi there's a lot i like about this talking to you really really candidly though
25:53though i i think you can do so much better because a uniform is not a good enough advantage to
26:04make
26:04this business investable okay so please go away really think about it and find your differentiation
26:11so i'm not going to invest and say that i'm out but i'm going to say good luck to you
26:15thank you very
26:20much hello hello i've just been taking it all in i agree with what the dragons are saying i think
26:27it's not quite a brand and that is what is going to sell these sweets because right now they are
26:31just
26:32sweet in a jar that i can just get the product just isn't quite there but i think you've proved
26:39he's a pretty good at business to make that much money thank you it's a short period of time some
26:43massive well done thank you um i don't know how much you know about my experience so this reminds
26:48me a lot of my first business i turned glitter into a multi-million pound company had people flying
26:54from america to the uk to get their hands on it and the product did start off like a bit
26:59like this
27:00so it is it's got potential it's just how hard are you willing to work together there because it's not
27:06really easy we're ready to work hard we're making roses out of astro belts i was like when did i
27:12ever think i'd make a rose out of an astro belt but there i was like yeah that's what you
27:15gotta do
27:16yeah okay so this is where i'm at i think you need a lot of brand experience but i am
27:23an expert in
27:24brand building and i think you need help with product i'm a product genius um not to blow my own
27:30trumpet but i am and i think with them two things and two incredibly passionate people
27:36this could be really huge um so i am going to make you an offer because i also love south
27:43shields
27:43so if you marys weren't from south shields i love south shields it's been a lucky day yeah so you
27:50asked
27:50for 50 000 for 10 i'm going to offer you all of the money but i would like to start
27:56with 20 of the
27:57business um but when i get my money back i'll drop down 12 percent okay
28:09um i can breathe now i know jenna we would love to yes we'd love to absolutely love to
28:15sweet success for john and sean thank you very much thank you thank you thank you bye
28:25bye yay yay the wannabe willy wonkers leave the den with 50 000 pounds
28:35having bagged a dragon with the expertise to help them earn hundreds and thousands
28:42what the hell just happened it's it's just mind blown like for jenna to see what we were doing and
28:49actually to have belief in us and we can't wait to make her proud absolutely bye girl
28:59well done well done jenna yay yay i knocked that one for ages
29:07see you later everyone well done
29:12you
29:21want a glass of water no no no no thank you thank you my name is shashi and i'm co
29:28-founder of spice
29:29kitchen and this is my amazing son sanjay can you believe you're finally here
29:34go on give us a hug as a mother and son team i think we've done incredibly well but
29:38i think now is the time to take it to the next level wouldn't you agree yes you said my
29:44lines
29:48i can't honestly believe that i'm here so i've got to really pinch myself
30:04hi there dragons my name's sanjay agawal and this is my incredible mum shashi
30:10we've turned a kitchen table idea into one of the uk's most exciting spice companies spice kitchen
30:17we're here today seeking 75 000 in return for five percent equity in the business
30:22it all began on christmas day 2012 i had been retired for a few years and i told sanjay i
30:30want
30:30a little project to keep me busy so he said mum why don't you sell yours homemade spice blends he
30:37listed it online and we haven't looked back since we operate from a dedicated unit up in liverpool
30:44with a small team of 10 and a product lines focused around really high quality spice blends
30:50but also these traditional indian spice boxes the spice blends have been created with mum's deep
30:56rooted knowledge of spices but also through travel inspiration chef input and other family recipes
31:02and behind all the spice tins is a lot of story tradition and care the tins are perfect gifts for
31:11food lovers and they come beautifully gift wrapped also these have all been handmade by mum and a team
31:16of seamstresses from upcycled sari fabric to date we've sold 130 000 of our tins and last year we turned
31:24over
31:24just over 900 000 pounds and we're now stocked in over 500 uk retailers including selfridges john lewis
31:31and booths underneath your chairs you've got one of our spice tins and we've also made some samosas
31:37for you as well so which is mum's handmade
31:42a range of crafted spice blends as well as tins for gifting comprise the offering from shashi and sanjay
31:49agarwal so you've all got different spice tins actually we do indian middle east and a world one
31:56the mum and son are seeking 75 000 pounds in return for a five percent share in their family business
32:04we just made a little mango salsa but we put some harissa in it as well so it's got a
32:08slight kick
32:10shashi and sanjay have already brought fire to the den oh wow delicious but can they like the blue touch
32:18paper on a deal jenna meek is first to find out hi congratulations this is such a beautiful brand and
32:31such a beautiful story as well um i love it so i can see what's different i can see like
32:37this handmade
32:38you can feel the experience definitely when you actually get into the spices what what makes them
32:43different to like a spice i can buy in a supermarket so we source really high quality raw spices like
32:50the highest quality we can buy and the blend of spices that goes into a spice blend is obviously
32:54really important um but also we make them in small batches we make them fresh so i'm really big on
33:01experience and brand and you can see that this is the start or the already the start of something huge
33:06how big can you take this experience so that when i get it i feel
33:10so much more than just the product like how big can we take this experience
33:14i mean i think the possibilities are endless i'm currently within each of the tins you get a recipe
33:19guide um from there you're also going to be able to go to our website and get inspired from a
33:25whole
33:25recipe section online so that's really as far as we've taken it because we've not really created any
33:30video content yet which is kind of crazy yeah i was just going to say if i went into your
33:34social channels
33:35now would i see the two of you or would it be more picture content i think it's probably more
33:40picture
33:41content really but i think definitely that's the future is getting me on camera and my mum on camera
33:46sorry so um yeah you wouldn't see a lot of that sadly let's talk about numbers you did 900k sales
33:54last
33:54year sure what was the profit on that so the gross profit was 550 and the net was actually 33.
34:02okay and what about the year before year before was 800k turnover and the net was 35
34:08yeah the year before was 790 and the net was 40. okay the the growth has been a little bit
34:16flat
34:17because if i look at the last three years
34:19yeah um the business has kind of trundled yeah trundled along but for an investor to get a return
34:24here there's going to have to be uh quite substantial growth to say the least yeah massively
34:29so where's where's that growth coming from so what i would say in the last few years we've had
34:34really key investments because in three years ago i moved into our own premises which can basically
34:39operationally do much more than we used to um but i think the big thing now is really refocusing on
34:45direct consumer channels which we haven't really focused on and i think if we can just sort of if
34:50spice kitchen from a gift perspective can be in the sort of psyche of people when they come to buy
34:55those food gifts i think we can really scale the brand there but also i think it's going to be
35:00quite
35:00tough in a direct-to-consumer environment okay um specifically if you're thinking about social being
35:06the channel driving the attention okay because there's not there's not a really really clear point
35:12of difference versus this spice brand and another spice brand unless i get to taste it yeah
35:18i'm trying to think like if i had to market this business and i had to make you stand out
35:21what would
35:22i do can i add to what i would do and i think this is where i went wrong in
35:27my first business i saw
35:28retailers uh tick next tick next and i think that's what you're almost going to fall into the trap of
35:33doing being like we're in selfridges we're in you're in some amazing retailers in the uk and you're like
35:38tick next get back in that retailer get back into selfridges create theater in them stores yeah
35:44because this 900 this 1 million could be 10 million in the uk alone with the retailers you've already
35:50got you don't tick and go out the next one that's great it's focused and become the best in that
35:55retailer yeah that's probably the best advice i would do that's really really great advice yeah
36:01sunday and sashi what are your best selling products and how much they retail for
36:07sure so these spice tins are definitely our best selling products they're 35 pound retail
36:12have you approached any of the supermarkets i know you i know you it looks like you're targeting very
36:18high-end retailers but have you looked at the mainstream supermarkets like a sainsbury's or a
36:23waitrose um so historically we only sold around tins the individual blends have only been launched
36:30really in the last sort of 12 to 18 months so because of that reason there was no real interest
36:35from
36:35supermarkets historically because they don't really sell gifting in that way
36:42it is that issue isn't it you need to find a way to increase this business
36:48um and its sales because it's flat
36:51and it's a very competitive market as well yeah
36:54yet when if i received your gift and i love your spices i can't buy them when i go to
36:59the supermarket
37:01so you've missed a massive opportunity there and i and i and i wonder this is a question for you
37:06sashi
37:07because you mentioned that this was a hobby for you and obviously as dragons we want to hear
37:13that you are obsessed with this business you want to make millions of turnover and tons of profit yes
37:19that's tell me tell me what really this means to you guys and really speak from the heart here right
37:26i to be honest i want my knowledge which i have inherited from my grandmother my sisters my mom
37:36i want to pass that knowledge on to the rest of the i don't want to take this knowledge with
37:40me
37:41and that's beautiful sashi i i love that and you know for that i really don't feel that you guys
37:49need
37:49a dragon i really feel that the pressures that the dragon would want to get their investment back
37:55is going to really spoil this lovely family dynamic that you have and you know if your son is feeling
38:03the pressure you're going to feel be feeling the pressure as his mother i'm quite relaxed to be honest
38:08coming here wasn't i wasn't sort of really nervous or anything i didn't inherit her cool calm i'll
38:16tell you that her did a lot of other stuff but not that one what is it what's it like
38:19working with
38:20your mum i mean she's amazing i mean really is amazing um i think it's a really good relationship
38:25to be honest with you genuinely we we kind of love each other we're really passionate about the product
38:29but we think very much alike um do you know what i think but i think that encapsulates what we've
38:35got
38:35here um we have the perfect family business that ultimately would probably be torn apart by
38:43investment at this point because when you get an investor we're going to want returns much faster
38:49yeah um so i'm not going to invest and say that i'm out but it's a pleasure to meet you
38:56thank you
38:59so so it it looks so you've got it you're producing lovely things um but i don't i don't i
39:06kind of don't
39:07want you to get an investment i'm really not being mean um i just think that you've got a lovely
39:12relationship you haven't got those outside pressures um and i think you've got a lovely business that you
39:16could be really proud of but it isn't an investment and i don't think you need it
39:21so i won't be investing i'm out thank you so much
39:27i think these two are absolutely amazing and i think if you start a cook show i'd watch it every
39:32day like i literally would and i think you're in three major retailers in the uk get in store both
39:38of
39:38you create theater in them stores yeah because if you're walking past and you've got that i'm
39:44stopping i'm eating it you create a crowd before you know it selling one tin a week you're selling
39:48a hundred tins in a day and that's literally all the advice i would say and so i am out
39:54but
39:54yeah just wish you the best of luck thank you so much that's great
40:01i am i think it's beautiful what you've done but the best predictor of one's future is always one's
40:08past so when i look at your past i think this is going to remain a family business and for
40:15that
40:15reason i'm going to say that i'm out thank you stephen
40:21sanjay and sashi first of all i just want to congratulate you on this brand
40:25it's beautiful um and it really speaks to my heart because i started my business with my mom
40:30as well with one product in our kitchen with my grandmother's recipe um you know sometimes in
40:35business it's not always about massive growth it's about the journey and it looks like you two are
40:41really enjoying the journey yeah i love what you said about just sharing your knowledge and
40:46sharing your love for food with more generations and more people and you're doing exactly that
40:51don't take on the pressure because it's a whole different ball game if you have investors on board
40:55um and for that reason i'm out thank you so much thank you thank you thank you
41:05sadly for shashi and sanjay they must leave the den empty-handed but while they might not have clinched
41:12a deal with a dragon good well done the pair still have each other he's taken my little hobby to
41:23the
41:23level which we are now and i'm very proud of him proud of each other sure that is a special
41:30relationship isn't it right there yeah imagine getting in between the two of them yeah go on go
41:36sell more get out there is that the way you work
42:02my name is louise truman i'm the founder of plot packers which is a group travel
42:09company for backpackers aged 18 to 25. i want to be there what's wrong with here i know i'm here
42:19i'm loving it here but but imagine if we could film this in somewhere warm with a beach we never
42:26leave our layer didn't they tell you that when you joined us
42:32for me my dream outcome would be for susie jenna or deborah to invest especially because i've built
42:38so much of my company around empowering women
42:57my name is louise truman i'm the founder of plot packers a group travel company that prioritizes
43:05low-carbon tours i'm seeking 60 000 pounds in exchange for three percent of the business
43:13for as long as i can remember growing up all i wanted to do was travel and as much as
43:19that's a
43:19cliche i'm now 25 and my most treasured memories are from my adventures around the world and all of
43:27the incredible people that i have met along the way
43:31but i am also no stranger to the dangers of travel from the environmental toll to the personal
43:38safety risks that i've faced following an extremely traumatic event when i was 21 on a solo backpacking
43:47trip i looked into group travel as a solution for my safety but felt that there lacked budget-friendly
43:54options that could deliver on sustainable ethical and exceptional customer experiences so in september
44:022023 i launched plot packers i aimed to create a way for people to travel freely whilst minimizing
44:09risk to both themselves and the world around them and in 2024 our first full year of operations
44:16i had turned my idea and just 3 000 pounds of personal savings into over 1.5 million in sales
44:231.36 million turnover as we continue to grow we keep sustainable values at our core with a focus on
44:31reducing the environmental impact of travel and supporting local communities thank you all for
44:36listening and let me know if you have any questions group trips for gen z's which prioritize safety and
44:45sustainability as well as adventure are the brainchilds of louise truman
44:51she's seeking 60 000 pounds in exchange for three percent of her company but will the dragon see the
44:58potential for big returns from budget-friendly travel
45:05louise um sounds great you said this came from an event that happened to you but you didn't explain
45:14whether is it do you not want to talk about that whatever happened or i'm happy to address it i
45:18don't you
45:19know if it's private and you want to keep it private please do but it was just if it's not
45:24too traumatic
45:25for you it's well it is obviously a very traumatic thing i was sexually assaulted very violently and
45:31consider myself very lucky to be alive but as much as i don't enjoy talking about the topic it is
45:37a big
45:37reason why i did this 70 of the people who travel with us are women and if you look at
45:43studies like
45:44women's primary concern when it comes to solo traveling is safety and obviously group travel
45:49i'm never going to pretend that this eliminates all risk but it does give you like an additional
45:53layer of safeguarding i'm so dreadfully dreadfully sorry and yet thank you sorry i'm a bit nervous
46:00talking about no no thank you for sharing that thank you for sharing it's inspiring that you
46:04of what you've done and turning that to this now you know well done yeah it could have made me
46:09never
46:09travel again but i'm glad it led to this louise um your pitch was brilliant thank you okay i had
46:17a
46:17couple of questions regarding the business could you run me through your numbers so far so for the
46:22first year we had a turnover of 1.36 million gross that was 570 000 and a net of 135
46:32000
46:34and how are you forecasting for for this year this year we're doing about 40 000 pounds a week average
46:40and we're on track to do about 2.5 million wow in terms of the marketing for this business what
46:49are
46:49the what are the most important channels for you at the moment um so our most important channel i would
46:53say is currently our organic social media um we have 27 700 followers on our instagram currently our
47:02tiktok is much smaller um and we also tap into influencer marketing and how are you doing in
47:09terms of referrals we it's insane um so 60 of our revenue actually comes from returning customers wow
47:16and for them it's about community especially post-covid it's sorry i was going to say no i think there's
47:22something to be said for the fact when the world has gone so digital and we're living in a loneliness
47:27epidemic yeah we seek out our desire for community and in real life experiences yeah i was saying to
47:33my friend the other day like i've been thinking about and trying to find a scalable way to invest in
47:38irl community in real life community i think you found it okay louise hi hi uh really impressive um
47:48um can i can you take me through your words so ethical why can you say that um so we
47:57put a huge
47:57amount of our revenue into local economies um 57 um goes directly there um and we also look at things
48:05like there's a lot of like injustices around the world for example um we operate a mount kilimanjaro trip
48:11and less than one percent of the registered guides there are women so in our supplier contract we stipulate
48:18we have to have a female guide because we are bringing up demand for women to be working there
48:22because there's a bit of an embedded discourse around whether women are strong enough like to do
48:27that job um and we basically do a lot to just uplift communities sustainable sustainable so we are one
48:36of the only travel companies to offer no domestic flights which apart from one which is everest base
48:42camp because of safety you can't take the overland route it's the only one i promise
48:45um and so it cuts our carbon emissions on tours it's extraordinary thank you honestly it's you
48:54know i'm i'm kind of asking you questions expecting i know she knows the answer i know
49:02thank you extraordinary
49:08louise you're so impressive because you've clearly you know you've done something in 12 months that would
49:14take many people several years potentially to do i've been busy yeah um you might remember do you
49:21know active away yes yeah um very very similar what you're doing um i have to be really clear i
49:30couldn't invest in you um because some of the things we're doing with them is very very close to
49:38what you're doing yeah so it's it would be wrong of me to even make an offer so good luck
49:46to you
49:46thank you so much i'm gonna say that i'm out but wow you've got some exciting times ahead thank you
49:56louise um i just want to say i am so impressed with you thank you
50:01i've just literally wrote amazing and then circle and circle and then squiggly lines around and then
50:05circled it again and i'm sat here thinking like i actually don't know what i'd do to help this girl
50:10because my strength is like ideas brand concept i'm like you've got it you've got it and this business
50:18is going to be absolutely huge but i just don't personally feel like i could offer you anything
50:23because i feel like your strengths are they outweigh my strengths are amazing no i don't think they
50:27they absolutely do in this business they absolutely do and do not forget that you are the superpower of
50:31this business what i'm going to do for you today you can have my number i'll help you with all
50:36the
50:37like mentor stuff like i will help you thank you i don't need a piece of your business to do
50:41that
50:41so i am out but i guarantee you're going to get an offer from one of these dragons when you
50:47get offers
50:47if you're stuck ask me and i'll tell you what i think you should thank you so much thank you
50:51i really
50:55appreciate it louise you're a huge huge inspiration for so many reasons for taking that moment of
51:01um pain and trauma and turning it into something that really needs to be applauded
51:05but the thing that has my heart is not just your story but also generally that we need to do
51:10something
51:11about the loneliness epidemic in this world it's really really been hard to find a scalable way to
51:15solve this problem and i think it's you i think it's you so i'm going to make you an offer
51:22so you asked
51:24for sixty thousand pounds for three percent my offer to you
51:30is going to be the sixty thousand pounds you've asked for
51:37for six percent of the business thank you so much and i would like to extend the offer
51:44for you to come and work in our office that would be incredible because we have a hundred people there
51:48that are experts in all this stuff ticked up obviously podcasting as well that's something we're
51:53we're pretty good at so we can help you scale the community part of this business which will be
51:57central it'll be your moat it'll give you defense have we got a deal i'm open to offers absolutely
52:05another right answer yeah she's got all the right answers absolutely so louise you speak to me in so
52:14many ways i think you are an extraordinary entrepreneur your values align very much with
52:21mine in terms of my business you can hear an office coming now what can i bring to the table
52:28i bring a wealth of experience in creating experiences for people because ultimately that
52:33is what you're selling all the stuff that steven was talking about we can pay people to do that stuff
52:38but what is the most important thing in your business the experience the travel itinerary that has
52:44to be better than everyone else's and because of all of my experience in taking
52:50our ambassadors to over 30 different destinations i think i'm in the right position to help you
52:56so i i'm actually going to offer you the same as what steven's offered i'm going to offer you all
53:01of the money that you asked for for six percent thank you so much
53:07so louise i think both of the offers you received are wide of the mark
53:17and i think the why is the key thing for you because honestly the how any any of us can
53:25do that
53:27so if you want somebody who's quite purist about this
53:32then i think i'm a very good partner for you add to the fact that of course i've been in
53:36the travel
53:36industry my entire life um and also that i have a lot of partners in a lot of countries in
53:44in
53:44wildlife and nature type charities and we always work through communities so i am going to make you
53:51an offer and i'm going to offer you all of the money and i want five percent of the business
53:57thank you so
54:03much do you want to go to the i do i've got to have this moment
54:11louise has a big decision to make jenna yeah
54:16the world yeah but she won't be making it alone i like that your own personal mentor
54:25and who better than a dragon well done thank you to help determine whether one of stephen
54:31bartlett and susie mars competing bids at six percent
54:34so it would be amazing because she's built to make her whole business community
54:38and what steven offers huge or deborah meaden's offer at five percent a right for her business
54:46i think what deborah was saying in terms of like the why is really important
54:50see if you can just take two people and join them together yeah you've got the why from you
54:56you don't need someone else to bring that because you're not lost you know exactly what you're trying
54:59to create okay thank you so much i take no responsibility you're not allowed to dislike me she doesn't pick
55:06you
55:11thank you all for your offers um i completely resonate with what you say deborah in terms of the why
55:17but i don't think it will go to the level that i want it to go to
55:22without stephen on board too and i was wondering is there any sort of way in which i can have
55:31two
55:32dragons on board i i think deborah is so perfect for this business for so many reasons
55:39so it's it's up to deborah but i would love to work with deborah on this
55:47if i was to share it would need to be at the six percent
55:52that's completely fair how about first of all could i accept both offers simultaneously
55:58what do you mean as in six percent for sixty six percent for sixty 120 total
56:04mm-hmm absolutely second question is could we bring it down a little bit closer to where
56:11i think the value of the business is at what about if i did 60k for five percent and deborah
56:17did 60k
56:17for five percent okay what do you think of that deborah i think that's fine sixty thousand pounds for
56:22five percent okay in that case susie thank you so much for your offer thank you and stephen and deborah
56:28i would love to accept your offer and work with you both it's been the trip of a lifetime for
56:41louise
56:41thank you i'm looking forward to working together yes she leaves the den with a hundred and twenty
56:46thousand pounds having onboarded a dragon duo who can make her travel business truly take off
57:02i genuinely don't have words for how incredible this feels deborah's someone i've watched on my tv
57:08since i was five and stephen is obviously just in a league of his own and i'm so excited to
57:14start
57:14working with them stephen deborah well done what a great great investment well that is great and jenna
57:21thank you so much for the recommendation i did not say any names anybody want to go backpacking
57:39next time i think i come to the den looking to meet people like you wow there are some things
57:44that
57:44really scare me about this and that scares me to death i quite like that in my bedroom would you
57:48deborah maybe not that is something i'm really passionate about right and you will not change
57:53my mind on where it is she's not making it in china too well gary you teed that up as
57:58if we were
57:59teammates and then wag that's the most guilty i've ever felt in my life yeah no it's great to have
58:04you
58:04be back gary
58:07so
58:10so
58:19so
58:20so
58:22so
58:34you
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