- 13 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:06Dragon's Den is open for business I don't often say this but your pitch was awful you've got to
00:13be quiet for this a little bit Peter if that's all right ouch a place where budding entrepreneurs
00:18are given a once-in-a-lifetime chance you have this most bizarre way of answering questions
00:27to present their wares to five captains of commerce you wanted to see how credible we are
00:33so I'm about to show you show me some will succeed and go on to make millions others will fail
00:43and
00:44leave with nothing making the counteroffer tell him to shove it where the Sun doesn't shine with
00:49the occasional visit from some wealthy VIPs I can't not give you money I can't not make you an offer
00:55I didn't want it anyway the hunt is on to find the next big money-making idea dragons are going
01:08tonight where's my child I took Peter's away because he was gonna make himself sick I do can
01:12I can we have a break I do feel a bit queasy this is really surreal ignore him please so
01:17sorry I'm
01:18getting a bit emotional you've just got to say I accept dropping you can check out our trust pilot
01:22reviews you can see how happy they all are you've only got five customers mate I would just ease off
01:26on the trust pilot you are literally so boring I couldn't agree less with Peter oh thank god for
01:33that hi I'm Jasmine I'm 37 and I'm from Brighton I'm super excited today to bring a new
01:48concept to the den and something that people shop for all the time but we're giving them a new and
01:52fresh way and we hope the dragons are gonna love it the messages of the brand are so simplistic that
02:00I
02:00don't think that it's going to be a challenge for them to understand what the brands all about well
02:04that one over there it's called tired that one's called sweaty what do you think it is Peter I think
02:10it's face cream definitely not the one I use I've been using the same cream for 24 years or 25
02:16now
02:16I've forgotten to add the year on hi my name is Jasmine and I'm the founder of face I'm here
02:30today to
02:31ask for 60,000 pounds for 3% of our business we are on a mission to simplify skincare routines
02:38as we
02:39understand that when you're tired or you've been working out or you're on your period that whilst you
02:44might know you should do a full skincare routine that actually in reality you might not have the
02:49time or the energy and that's what we're there for I've worked in beauty for the last 16 years but
02:55when I decided to create something meaningful for myself I just become a new mum and when some nights
03:00brushing my teeth even got bumped off the list due to sheer exhaustion I realised that what was out
03:04there and what I was doing previously in my routine wasn't speaking to me as a time-poor tired mum
03:10also at that time I worked in an all-female office and we were period obsessed obsessed with how we'd
03:16all be in sync how it would impact our skin so we've created a range of really easy to use
03:21and understand
03:22products that directly target our skin problems and could be applied with minimum fuss fast forward
03:27three years and we had no idea that we would be stocked in major retailers featured by countless
03:33press publications and multi award-winning I would love to give you some products to try a line of
03:43skincare products for problems ranging from perspiration to periods is the offering from
03:49Jasmine Wick Stevens so yeah in your bags you'll find our hero products so periods and menopause and
03:56then stress face dull face and tired face and sweaty face are gender-neutral products jasmine is
04:05seeking 60,000 pounds in return for a three percent share in her business the scent is amazing oh
04:12thank you and as ever Peter Jones has a nose for a product which could capitalize on a current zeitgeist
04:24Jasmine this is very topical at the moment particularly on the menopause side because even
04:30at home I've got I've got Davina McCall's book yeah menopause and it was enlightening for me to yeah to
04:36recognize what actually happens yeah well lots of things obviously there's loads of bodily changes but
04:41if we focus specifically on the skin it might be for example you're getting spots again for the first
04:46time since your teenage years but then also you're going to be getting super super like intense
04:50dryness so we've considered that in terms of all the actives that we've included within the product
04:55and does your product really counter it and then secondly are there other products that
05:00that you're competing against in that space yeah I think our tone of voices is all about being real
05:05and realistic we will never over claim and over promise you know there's only so much skincare
05:10product can do on a surface level and we're really really real about that so I think we're trying to
05:15be
05:15refreshing in that approach that you know yes if it will help you but we're also not going to claim
05:20to give you a complete transformation because that would be untrue obviously we've recognized
05:26skincare saturated there are other menopause brands but you know we are ticking boxes in that
05:31you know we're founder-led we're independent we're taking kind of some of the more eco-conscious boxes we
05:37you know it's just hard to get that message across with a sort of a product like that isn't it
05:48Jasmine so when did you get started so we launched in 2020 and how did that first year go yeah
05:55so in
05:56the first year we did 68k in revenue minus 98k net profit and then that we did 140,000 and
06:05minus 152k net
06:08and then this year so far we've done 69,000 revenue and minus 48k net profit
06:18where's all this money coming from that you're losing yeah so we won an investment competition
06:23which was our first chunk of investment 185k yep and then following that we raised another 100k
06:30through an angel and then we also did a crowd fund so we've raised 450,000 pounds today so in
06:38terms of
06:38the shares that I now have left yes I'm going next yeah it's um uh 40% of the business
06:45so you still
06:46have 40% of the business and what will the business speed you envisage by the end of this year
06:52sorry
06:52around 250k so we're gonna get from the 69 to the 250 yeah so that's up this year yeah exactly
06:58so it
06:59sounds like a leap but actually um so we're just about to launch onto QVC we're launching into urban
07:04outfitters this year as well so we're going into a few of their key main stores and that's like
07:08all a signed deal and the plan is to actually launch into a target or a Walmart or an end
07:13kind of nationwide boots um opportunity I mean it's a great story but then the numbers on paper
07:20just look scary Jasmine you know when deals come into the den they kind of fit into a series of
07:28different categories sometimes you have lifeline deals where the founder comes in and says listen
07:32I'll give you a big percentage of my business because I realize we need a lifeline here and then
07:37you have the you know the swagger where founders come in super confident their numbers are kicking
07:41it out of the park often we have to pitch to them you're asking for 60k for 3% your
07:49valuation is
07:50giving me swagger but your business profile when I look at the financials is giving me lifeline
07:55okay there's a mismatch here okay can you give me can you give me a reason to invest because when
08:02I look
08:02at the numbers here everything's saying no um so we're finding the business at two mil based on the
08:10traction that we've achieved since our last raise and the things that are kind of coming up you know
08:15we've got retailer interest we've had press interest we've had customer interest what I've kind of what I've
08:21done today has been about me and my experience and that's kind of it we just haven't had the platform
08:27and the expertise but the dream is for this to become a global brand so everything you've done it is
08:36really good I think you're brilliant I really do and my overarching concern is I think you're going
08:46to be left with almost diddly squat because you're definitely going to need more money if you want to
08:53have a chance in this marketplace and my concern there is that you only have 40 percent of your own
08:58company left before you pitch how does that make you feel that you could end up with for this to
09:04be
09:04successful with only five six percent of your own company in time to come um genuinely this started
09:10off as a passion project we didn't have the lens initially of like we need to make X amount of
09:15money so for me success looks like this brand being successful and me achieving my goals of actually
09:22seeing it in the spaces and the places that I want to see it I do a lot of mentoring
09:26every week
09:27I have a call with someone where I give them my time and share experiences in terms of like my
09:31beauty
09:31background and so like whilst I give them my time I can't give them anything financially so sorry I'm
09:38getting a bit emotional my like dream would be up to like pay it forward and do that for other
09:44people
09:47what's made you emotional then I don't know just because I feel so passionate about this and it's so
09:52overwhelming to be here in a positive way and I'm just a crier if I'm excited or I'm stressed or
09:58anything that's the emotion that comes out listen you're talking to a guy used to watch Lassie and
10:03cries eyes out so I get it what is your beauty background you talked about you refer to beauty
10:09background so what just talk about your history of it yeah I've worked in beauty communications all my
10:13career since leaving uni and so I've helped countless brands kind of launch into different markets tell their
10:18stories and yeah just had the opportunity to work with lots of brilliant people within the beauty
10:24industry and we just thought it'd be really exciting to see if we could come up with something fresh and
10:27new so it sounds like you just love you can that's why you've got emotionally you love your community
10:31you love your business you're passionate about it I think you've done a lovely job with the branding
10:36I think your voice is bang on thank you however you have got a very high valuation so I would
10:46normally say
10:47I know what I think it's worth and I'll make you an offer but I'll make you an offer based
10:52on
10:52what I believe this business is worth I'm struggling because of something and Peter's absolutely right
11:03you've already given away a lot of your business and the last thing I want to do is get involved
11:10in a
11:11business with somebody who gets to the point where they're just demotivated and I'm afraid you've
11:17structured yourself in a way that means I just think you'd be too far diluted but I love so much
11:25about what you've done but I'm afraid I can't invest I'm out I think I have also made a mistake
11:34when I
11:34told you what my equities left I think I'm nearer 50% but I didn't want to interrupt you you
11:42should have
11:42stopped me before I went out anyway because that does change the picture
11:51Jasmine
11:52I think the product looks fantastic I mean honestly I would give that a solid nine and a half out
12:02of ten
12:02thank you however my concern is it hasn't translated into sales and as I sit and look at it I
12:11just can't see in
12:13any way shape or form how I could possibly invest so I'm going to say thank you for the offer
12:18fantastic job
12:18on this but I won't be investing today so I'm out Jasmine I've sat here whacking this ball against my
12:28head to be
12:29honest because I really love what you've done with the brand but the numbers are just a horror show you
12:36know they rip they when I see those numbers I think Steve yeah but when I look at you I
12:54see a lot of
13:02potential and so I am going to make you an offer and I think when I reflect on the amount
13:10of work
13:11that needs to be done here I'd love to go on this journey not just with you but with one
13:16of my fellow
13:17dragons so I'm going to offer you I'm going to offer you half the money for seven point five percent
13:26of the business okay thank you wow I have to say I think that's a pretty fair offer from Steven
13:41because that would still mean that you'd be left with 35 percent of the business I think the products
13:46you put together the sense really got me actually I think I think you've done a really you've done
13:50it really nicely and I think you've got something so I'd be willing to go on that journey and match
13:58Steven's offer and offer you half the money for seven and a half percent as well okay thank you
14:06whoa I'm left you know I've heard so much today from you and the story is good
14:16you know you've created some great products so I would offer you a third of the money
14:23for twenty thousand pounds that's five percent for twenty thousand pounds if the two agreed with
14:30our free dragons each one doing their own little bit to help you this is like three musketeer territory
14:40ultimately we'd have five percent each of the company yeah for twenty thousand pounds each
14:45yeah or if you're saying no to that I think we still want it so it's whatever you want
14:55um I would absolutely love to accept the offer of all three of you that's it
15:11it wasn't looking good for the beauty entrepreneur but jasmine departs the den with sixty thousand
15:18pounds and a trio of new investors leaving one dragon to rule an opportunity missed do you know
15:27I would have done that deal I went out based on the fact she only had forty percent she should
15:32have stopped me there's something really special there and I think with a bit of focus she's great
15:36she's good she's a star and you three will kill it that was just the most amazing and you kind
15:44of
15:44also awful experience ever it's just a roller coaster in there definitely at times I felt like an
15:52offer was going to be out of the question I used to have like three individuals like them sorry to
15:59bring like their skill set as well which is exciting
16:16how are you feeling bud
16:21hi my name's Gemma we're gonna meet all of these people today and should we tell them about my crazy
16:29little idea hey so I came up with this crazy creation for dogs and I'm here today to pitch it
16:36to the dragons just to see if they love it as much as I do cards your dog can eat
16:43I didn't know the
16:45dog eating the cards was that big of an issue we've got two new puppies and they eat everything I
16:54I am feeling so nervous I've wanted to be sick all day but I'm here I'm doing it there's no
17:05turning
17:05back now hello dragons I'm Gemma from scoff paper and we make the cards your dog can eat today I'm
17:25here
17:25looking for a fifty thousand pounds investment for a 10% equity of my business together with my small
17:33team we make edible cards from potatoes the inspiration for scoff paper came from little
17:41legends like Leo here 10 years ago I was working in a highly stressful job I had a heart attack
17:48and
17:49now I've got a pacemaker that I call Jerry in order to recover I started to volunteer for guide dogs
17:58so I
17:59am what they call a puppy raiser I am that crazy dog lover I throw lots of parties it was
18:06at one such
18:07party that one of the doggy guests tried to eat one of the paper birthday cards hey presto the idea
18:15was
18:15born I started the business in December 2020 from my kitchen table and now we have our own manufacture
18:24facility in Lancashire that we call the scoffice I predominantly sold the cards direct to the pet trade
18:35so the cards are in lots of lovely independent pet specialists and also the likes of pets at home
18:41amongst others so Leo is going to leave me now to let me do the hard work and then I
18:50can share with you
18:50the samples that you've got in your special boxes goodbye Leo thank you oh yeah come on then
18:57despite the nerves Gemma Connolly gets through her pitch thank you she's seeking a 50,000 pound
19:08investment in return for 10% of her business which makes edible greeting cards for canines can you eat
19:17the envelope not yet try that are also proving irresistible to dragons dog owner Stephen Bartlett
19:25wants to find out more about the entrepreneur Gemma it sounds like you've been on quite a journey
19:33personally yes how are you doing today absolutely fine thank you for asking yeah I think it's um
19:40particularly inspiring that you've taken that incident you've turned it towards something that you love
19:45which is dogs which we all love and you've built a business out of it that's incredible
19:48so um sales today you started December 2020 yeah so let's just look at 2021 and 2022 could you give
19:55me
19:56the revenue the gross profit and the net profit on those years yeah sure so um year two we did
20:02um
20:02121,000 and we had a net profit of 25,000 year three to date we've done 55 and a
20:12net loss of 22
20:15a net loss of 22 yes but we do have a healthy pipeline um to end the year which what
20:23are you
20:23forecasting yep so i'm forecasting 136,000 and a net of circa 18 18. how does it how do you
20:34see this
20:34becoming a really big business just give me the couple of steps that this goes from making 130k this
20:41year to making maybe two or three four million in the foreseeable future what are those steps yeah
20:47so we see those steps being um supported by d2c growth what percentage of your sales are d2c direct
20:53to consumer yeah at the moment five percent oh really yes wow that's surprising because i would think
20:58this business would be 95 d2c driven by social media watching dogs all over the world eat cards yeah
21:04which is kind of somewhat compelling as a as content yeah absolutely and we do have um
21:10lovely user generated content but jemmy you talked about you you you've got some really interesting
21:16pipeline stuff obviously the consumer that's exciting because yeah it's tiny at the moment it could be
21:23huge exactly what are the big accounts that you've got i think you've mentioned some yeah big household
21:29yeah so so so we're working um we're working with pets at home we've done um circa 15 000 cards
21:36with
21:36across how many stores 200 stores and we did a trial in 50 pets corner stores just before christmas
21:42and they're rolling that out to 150 of their stores imminently we've also got a purchase order
21:50to go into 1022 aldi stores for one of their upcoming pet events and how much let's talk
22:00through what does that actually mean in terms of revenue um 30 000 pounds 30 000 so this is exciting
22:05for you jemma um i don't stop thinking about it so what money did you have to get this off
22:13the ground
22:13did you have any investment to get started was it savings or what um no as a simple answer i
22:20basically
22:21leaned upon my expertise and my knowledge and being able to pick up the phone to somebody and sell the
22:29product and hopefully get them to buy into me as well so you have driven the relationships and the
22:37contracts that you've got with all of those big retailers that you talked about yeah i've done it all
22:42direct that is yeah for a business at this stage in its life that is outstanding you should be really
22:49proud thank you so much too because in the pet business he's very quiet there and pensive well
22:54were you being in the pet industry i thought you would have had a a lot of thoughts on this
22:58look
22:59if i have to be totally honest i love what you do right i've got reservations
23:09yep and the fact is a dog only has one birthday a year yeah you know so if you're buying
23:14a treat for
23:15your dog you're probably going for x packets a year in this case you've got to keep on reinventing
23:22yourself every month so in terms of believing that it's only a once a year product yep we also sell
23:30cards for valentines for easter oh it gets worse easter christmas we sell get well soon cards and we
23:40we are selling these cards all year round at the scale i've talked about but we are selling okay jemma
23:48sorry you've convinced everybody i think that you can sell okay that is for sure one last question for
23:55me before i think could you make proper treats rather than having occasional cards that you can sell on a
24:03regular basis to that same dog so in terms of existing technology we can do a lot of products
24:09that are flat that's right yeah so that's that's the machinery i currently have but is it is this a
24:16treat i wouldn't describe this as a trip i've just eaten it it wasn't a treat for me okay i
24:21give my dogs
24:21treats every night the taste is there for the dog yeah but when the dog eats this card yeah i
24:27don't know
24:27what they're going to get from that yeah so it is uh naturally flavored so we do bacon let's be
24:33honest
24:34though it's not a treat it's a treat for the owner it's more for the owner than it is for
24:38the dog
24:38absolutely yeah it's for the owners can post on social media and say look what i did i got my
24:42dog a
24:43card yeah and he can eat it that's the whole crux of the business ultra humanized product do you
24:49know what i can completely see the incentive to buy i mean your sales track record already shows that
24:53there is demand there you do need to pour fuel onto that fire to really make it a big
24:57business but with your passion with your energy i actually think you'll get there
25:04however
25:07i just don't know if i'm as barking mad as you are about selling edible doggy birthday cards
25:16and i think that's really important i absolutely love dogs but i'm not one of those dog owners
25:20that does all the kind of like novelty social media bits so i as much as i i know that
25:26those
25:26people exist out there and i think you're going to create a really great business i just don't
25:30know whether i'm the right investor for you because i don't think i'm going to be
25:32so crazy about building this business with you so i'm going to say that i'm out thank you thank you
25:41gemma um right um
25:47so i think you have got a good business here without a doubt
25:52but i think it's novelty and i'm not sure i can envisage a future where that finds its space
26:02permanently in the store because none of the numbers you've talked about
26:06uh they haven't i call it lighting up okay you know you put it there and it lights up yeah
26:12you
26:12know and and and none of the numbers you've done have said that so i'm afraid gemma i won't be
26:17investing i'm out no problem thank you so much
26:25gemma i'm sitting here trying to think where do you go next
26:30my instinct tells me to keep this business exactly where it's at and build this out with those
26:36partnerships to see how far this can go because if you've got the likes of aldi pets corner you've
26:42got all these big players you could have a really nice really nice business yeah and if you get away
26:49with a business that just is going to turn over a few hundred thousand a year which i think you're
26:53going to do potentially here it's going to produce a nice income for you but the room for an investor
26:59is tiny so i'm going to say that i'm out but i don't want to take anything away from that
27:07enthusiasm
27:09and i think because of you you'll make it a success so good luck thank you so much thank you
27:15it's interesting you've got a margin yes and it looks like you've got a very strong retail business
27:22yeah and you want to go direct to consumer yeah which um it's a different ball game
27:30cost of acquisition you need a team yeah let's see what i'm going to do i want to know more
27:37so i'm
27:38going to give you a little lifeline i'm willing to give you half the money that's 25 000 pounds but
27:46i
27:46want 15 percent i'm assuming another dragon will want 15 percent thank you so much that's really
27:52kind thank you jenna hey right i'm not a dog owner i'm the only one here that's not a dog
28:00owner but it doesn't mean i can't appreciate the commerciality of it yeah and i think you've
28:05done a fantastic job i think you've got a great business and i think you've done a brilliant job of
28:08your pitch thank you so much so i'm also going to make you an offer i would give you all
28:16of the
28:16money all 50 000 for 25 of the business with a reduction to 20 after if i get my money
28:24returned
28:25within the 12 month stuff will go down to 20 be partners at that wow jemma i'll just make it
28:33perfectly clear um you've got a good offer from sarah which she offered you all of the money i'm not
28:41yes um i'm very willing to share it with sarah if she feels that she needs some help in the
28:49um
28:50retail world i'm very close to a couple of big supermarkets yeah sorry what you're saying
28:58just waiting to see what she thinks
29:03doesn't want to share would you be open to sharing the investment with tuka
29:14and i've got a lot of investments with to get and we work brilliantly well together
29:18yeah and um tuka's right he's got a lot of ins with a lot of retailers however that's the bit
29:25you're absolutely nailing yeah so i i don't i don't think that's something that you need
29:33and so on that basis i think i would say my offer stands as it is for all the money
29:41thank you so much
29:46this is really surreal
29:52i'm sorry i'll put my money i swear you've just got to say i accept your offer if you accept
30:00it
30:01you put the words in my mouth of course i do
30:04thank you so much well done well deserved jubilation for jemma who leaves the den with not
30:19only the 50 000 pound investment she was seeking but also the backing and validation of a dragon
30:28what has just happened i me jemma got investment from a dragon
30:37sorry do you know what well done business i think her character and demeanor
30:41yeah is fantastic yeah well i looked at it and i thought you know what i'm going to really enjoy
30:45working with you yeah oh my goodness she said she was like she she believed in me and like
30:52wanting to back me so yeah proud so proud
31:13ah glass water sir oh definitely
31:17hi hi i'm mike i'm ben i got an electric car in 2021 and quickly became frustrated with some
31:25certain issues around it this is a really really bang on dragons kind of idea and uh the timing is
31:32perfect oh oh right shall we the problem is so clear and i imagine some of them will personally
31:39relate to it with their own experiences
31:43the dragons that we love to work with are those that are very interested in sustainability and
31:48technology so we've got to focus there you ready ready i think the dragons are really going to like this
32:03dragons my name is mike and i'm ben
32:06in 2035 the government is banning the sale of petrol and diesel cars but 40 percent of uk households have
32:16a problem they live in houses without off street parking and they can't easily charge their electric
32:23car at home so if you are someone that doesn't have a driveway and you want to charge your electric
32:28car you can trail a cable over a pavement like this and risk tripping somebody over or use a
32:35public charge point but the trouble with public charge points is a convenience and b cost public
32:41charge points cost a lot more than charging at home so we have created a way of solving this problem
32:46to
32:47make it easy and safe to charge your electric car at home if you don't have a driveway ben
32:52so the product is a polymer channel which is professionally fitted into the pavement
32:58outside your home using this you can take the charging cable from your charger on the house
33:05lift the end and it snaps close automatically there's now no trip hazards high heels safe
33:12also it's only three centimeters deep which means we can fit it very quickly into the pavement in under
33:17an hour most people only need to charge their car once or twice a week the rest of the time
33:23they can
33:23use our app to share their charger with neighbors and other passers-by making a few extra quid every
33:30charge for them and for curbo charge dragons we've got strong early momentum so we have six trials
33:38confirmed in writing with local authorities across the uk and a live trial right now in milton keen's city
33:44council uh today we're asking for 50 000 pounds for two percent ownership of the company we'd like
33:52to invite you to come and take a closer look at the products if you like sarah i want to
33:56see what
33:56happens with a high heel and i haven't got any high heels i can sort that out a home charging
34:03solution
34:04for owners of electric vehicles who lack off-street parking is the proposition from mike gulden and ben
34:11whitaker i'll do it from the side deborah so you have a good look yeah the techie twosome are seeking
34:18fifty thousand pounds in return for a two percent stake in their business no trip has it at all
34:24sarah davies has managed to keep her footing but can mike and ben avoid embarrassing stumbles
34:31tucca sulyman is first to find out
34:37mike and ben i have an electric car and i am fortunate that i could plug it straight into my
34:43house but let's assume that i wasn't privileged enough to have a charger and i wanted to install
34:49this let's say i've got a three meter run well from the front of your house to the paper yeah
34:54let's
34:54assume to the curb so a free meter run of your um contraption what does that cost fitted that's going
35:02to cost you uh it's 999 including vat the consumer price so do you think that after people have paid
35:09a fortune for electric car they're going to be thinking about spending a thousand pounds
35:15on a little free meter run well put it another way people have said they don't want an ev unless
35:23they
35:23can charge at home so we've got a uh list of signed up users have seen the price and said
35:28yes
35:29i want this but it's quite fixed in its location obviously yeah yeah if this is required and you've
35:37got a street full of electric cars you'd need this all the way down the street well that's the nice
35:43thing with the sharing app you can just use one of your neighbor's houses for a few extra pence per
35:47kilowatt hour yeah but you then got to coordinate with a neighbor at what point are you going to
35:51charge i want to charge now we could end up having like street fights over who's charging their cars
35:57i want to charge no no no i'm just going to take it out the the the app says when
36:01the charges are
36:02available so you don't need to speak to the neighbors you look on the app see that there's
36:04available and go and charge immediately well if my car's on the street and i see that plugged in
36:08the first thing i'm going to do is unplug it and put it in mine you can't uh yeah it's
36:12locked in when
36:13you're charging and you can only activate the charge you can only do it by your ignition
36:18but what happens if i've got that i've paid for that but i've come home at night and i've had
36:22to
36:23park 700 yards down the road and i've got mr noddy who's just plugged in well mr noddy wouldn't be
36:29able to plug in so um if you don't want anyone else to be using your charger you just turn
36:33that off in
36:33the app and what happens then do i have to get a longer cable to go all the way down
36:36the street
36:37you don't need to be look but you can basically park one app straight outside one down and one up
36:42so when you drive home at night um you often won't need to charge straight away and you'll
36:47wait for one of the three spaces outside your home to become available and then move over
36:51that's i think that's a major major flaw in this and i just don't see the bigger opportunity here
37:00um so i couldn't agree less with peter because i think you've got a ready group of people who are
37:08desperate to solve this problem to help their revenue local authorities have an impending massive
37:15problem that is going to cost them a fortune unless they find themselves a very cost effective way
37:22of dealing this driving issue and there is a lot of cash around for solving these problems you have a
37:32legislative drive you have a lot of cash available you've got a perfect storm the only question for
37:41me is is this the answer so your local authorities what is the most information that you've got in
37:50terms of your trials sure so it's milton keen's city council um we went live there in february we have
37:56five installations in the ground so the information that we've gained gathered so far is that the
38:01the residents that have got it love it one person has got a hybrid petrol and he now consumes 65
38:08liters less of petrol a week you can check out our trust pilot reviews you can see how happy they
38:13all
38:13are they've only got five customers mate i would just ease off on the you can check our trust pilots
38:18but we have got five you know it's still independent reviews but i get i totally hit to take your
38:22point
38:22sarah now i get to me it's the council piece yeah that is the is the biggest barrier you can
38:30forget the
38:30whole thing if local authorities and highways are not going to let you do it so talk me through what
38:35that looks like so one of the exciting things with the councils is they've looked at this and gone
38:41oh thank god for that you know finally something that's really quick to install isn't going deep
38:47and can deal with all the wobbly wibbly pavements of different sorts well they loved it so much to the
38:52to the extent that you just described ben and yet they ordered five i get that you're on a trial
38:58they're going to want to know how long does it last does it settle has it caused any trip hazards
39:03i completely get that mike ben um so when i break this pitch down into its core components
39:11um i see so many things that i think are incredibly investable and then i see a a problem that
39:18will be
39:18solved inevitably in one way or the other and then the question becomes is this that's the solution to
39:24the problem and now i don't know and usually in this situation where i don't know there's enough sort
39:30of business data to validate your hypothesis either way in this situation you have five customers
39:37so it really comes back to my own beliefs um and i don't know because i've not experienced this
39:44problem personally so i've not developed my own sort of thesis on how it will be solved um
39:51so i'm gonna say that i'm out
39:56so electric vehicles is the hottest topic when it comes to environmental issues one of the barriers
40:03the biggest barriers range anxiety the next barrier is where do i charge at night you know so so this
40:11is solving an issue and you have very little competition um what i can bring to you is contacts
40:20beyond anything i'm sure you have hoped for so i'm going to make you an offer guys oh this is
40:26brilliant
40:27brilliant brilliant brilliant and i'm going to offer you all of the money but i want seven and a half
40:36percent of the business um thank you deborah we're going to have a chat about that no no no talk
40:44to
40:44the rest of the dragons but we'd love to see if any other dragons guys peter i think you're definitely
40:48interested by what you said you might have read the room wrong guys i i i am i'm beyond shocked
40:56um
40:57so nothing surprises me in here but i just find this incredible that we're even having a conversation
41:03about something that is averagely innovative a tube underground with a self-sealing clip on the top
41:09that's going to hide a cable across a pathway um i think you have so far to go
41:16and you've got an offer which i think is mad i'm gonna say there's no interest for me and i'm
41:23out
41:27now he's out we don't have to listen to him yeah grab it on about how he doesn't like the
41:30idea anymore
41:31i'll tell you where i'm at guys i think this is a brilliant product i think you are as deborah
41:38said
41:38right in the middle of a perfect storm listening to what you are doing and what you need help with
41:44in all honesty i just don't think i am the right fit for you yeah and i think you've got
41:49one
41:50fantastic offer the only bit of advice i want to give you is do not screw this up not this
41:57business
41:57this negotiation because this here could be absolutely massive and you are going to need
42:04all the help you can get to do this so don't mess this up good luck with it but i'm
42:10out thank you very
42:13much guys there will be certain um properties that this would be fantastic for and and i'm exploring
42:25all the avenues of how this could work
42:33look i'm going to make you an offer great
42:39wow so i'm going to make you the same offer i'll offer you the whole 50 000
42:43for seven and a half percent thank you tuka thank you do you want to go to the wall and
42:48yes thank you please have a chat you've got two great offers thank you let's go
42:54deborah meaden and tuka sulliman have both offered 50 000 pounds in exchange for seven and a half
43:01percent of mike and ben's business would you take would you take six if you went six because that's
43:08are the duo poised to risk everything by seeking more favorable terms
43:20all right delighted to get two offers um tuka our feeling respectfully is that deborah's the dragon we
43:27would love to have on board fine okay um but thank you um deborah we would love to work with
43:34you
43:35and we can't take seven and a half percent or give seven half percent and the reason is
43:39that um investors have already invested at a one million valuation which would be five percent
43:46so that seven half percent would push the valuation quite significantly below what they invested at
43:50so we can definitely go to uh two five percent and and then we can start working together
43:58so this is what i would say if you get me involved the value of your investors investment
44:05is going to increase almost immediately
44:13so i think i'm worth more than your initial investors honestly but i also don't want to enter
44:18a partnership where everybody's feeling grit under the eye so i will move a bit but it is a bit
44:27i would do a deal with you at
44:33six percent
44:37um
44:45we'd be absolutely delighted to start a relationship
44:48so am i excellent no i'm sorry behind brilliant well done you guys i'm very pleased and i hope well
44:57i'm
44:57sure this is the answer well done for not screwing it up as well yeah yeah that was good advice
45:02delight for mike
45:04and ben who depart the den with 50 000 pounds and the backing of a dragon whose green credentials could
45:12turbo charge their business the momentum this will give us is huge he's going to celebrate by putting
45:19another turbocharged insulation in the ground um which is you know brings joy another three another three
45:24i'm flabbergasted you offered in an underground cable track yes i did yes you did and you are super
45:31excited about i am honestly i don't know what to say well onto the next install tomorrow yeah indeed
45:47i'm maria i'm from essex and i have put the nation's two favorite snacks together
45:56oh hey there's some samples down the bottom what are they what are they what are they it looks
46:01chocolate it's chocolate now we are talking what's the potatoes you're not going to get chocolate
46:07wow you're going to get crisps two of my favorite things imagine those in a sandwich
46:15when i first started making the product people thought i was either a genius or a little bit bonkers
46:23i'm hoping the dragons will really understand what i'm trying to achieve when they hear my pitch
46:28and then i think when they taste it they'll really get it
46:38hi dragons my name is maria and i'm looking for an investment of fifty thousand pounds in return
46:44for twenty percent of my business i am a proud chocoholic but to be really honest over the last
46:50few years i've been a little bit bored of what's available on the market it just seems to be the
46:54same
46:54flavors redone salted caramel chocolate orange and chocolate mint the bar of crisps is the new
47:00exciting chocolate bar that has actually got people talking i myself have been eating crisps
47:05and chocolate since i was a young girl in lockdown whilst eating this incredible combination and
47:11binge watching box sets i thought surely someone has made this into a chocolate bar before after some
47:16online research i found that there was nothing available so i created the bar of crisps the bar of
47:21crisps is a milk chocolate bar stuffed with crisps available in three flavors ready salted salt and vinegar
47:27and cheese and onion the cheese and onion does spark controversy but it just means that people are
47:32talking about the product this is genius finally someone has made this a product i've been eating
47:39crisps and chocolate my whole life and people always thought i was weird this is just a handful of
47:43comments that i get into my inbox on a daily basis today i have sold just over 8 000 bars
47:50since launching
47:50in january 22 it is stocked in independent stockists up and down the uk but i also think it has
47:58maybe even
47:59more potential when it comes to hospitality the travel industry and the gifting market i'm going to hand
48:05you out some samples oh thank god for that i was going to say hurry up we want your questions
48:08let's go
48:11chocolate bars with a variety of different flavored potato crisp fillings are the proposition from maria
48:18antonio thank you so much bloody brilliant it's so different oh it's cracking normally you're putting
48:27one crisp in there and a chocolate in there yeah now you've got it maria is seeking 50 000 pounds
48:34in return for a 20 share in her distinctive confectionary business tara mother has been doing
48:41this for years it's such a moorish combination this unique coming together of sweet and savory may
48:47already be familiar to peter jones you guys haven't lived but maria appears to have won a brand new
48:55convert to the joys of combining crisps and chocolate in the form of sarah davies
49:06do you know i was terrified before you came in because i thought you were going to be chocolate
49:10flavored crisps oh oh okay yeah i saw the chocolate i thought oh no it's chocolate flavored crisps it's
49:19going to be a disaster no i'm not that bonkers it's anything but a disaster i'm loving it oh good
49:24he's looking for crumbs
49:28don't mind you i'm serious about this i can see by the look of his face well so maria i'm
49:36going to
49:36do you a favor yeah i'm going to keep you talking long enough for him to eat most of the
49:39bars and then
49:41it should be an easy shoehorn to get you an investment to be honest we're fighting over it right so
49:46walk me
49:46through the fingers like get an understanding so from 2021 um turnover was um 22 000 and a net of
49:54four
49:54and a half thousand in 2022 turnover was 19 and a net of minus 480 pounds and year ending 23
50:05turnover
50:06was just under 40k and a net of 1500 who cares who absolutely cares about these numbers this is
50:17about the future of chocolate not the past yeah i agree i don't know what you've done i have never
50:23seen mr jones like this oh my god there won't be a bit just pause a minute i've got you
50:29got to try
50:29this you've got the runs try that how weird is that that's cheese and onion
50:35i've never seen him like it don't you done maria
50:38i forgot what i was saying sorry no second carry on
50:47so would you say it's a kitchen table set up at the moment or are you having these made
50:50professional so the bars you're eating today have been manufactured in the uk but i am changing
50:56manufacturer just because i need to get the price point lower currently it costs one pound 85 to make
51:05yeah and it retails at 4.99
51:09but the new manufacturer will be making them for one pound 17.
51:15oh it's quite a difference yeah so what do you are you going to just take the extra margin or
51:19are you
51:19going to pass that on to the customer i want to pass it on to the customer because i believe
51:23that the
51:23price point is too high where it is i do because as much as this is genius i could literally
51:29sit
51:29and eat a bar of chocolate and a packet of crisps at the same time yeah for half the price
51:32yeah
51:34has anyone seen matilda do you know that boy from matilda that eats all the chocolate oh i feel like
51:39i'm sat next to him honestly i've actually gone quite i've got like chocolate sweats
51:43well i think you've eaten it in record time i know i don't really get it i don't really get
51:48it
51:48you you wouldn't i don't really get i mean the chocolate was okay um putting the crisps in there
51:55was slightly weird it's not i mean it's not this it's not you are literally so boring
52:02the thing is when people have a reaction like that after they persevere persevere i turn into
52:11that they fall in love with it and they become addicted he's gonna throw up i don't want to be
52:15addicted but can i just buy normal chocolate and just a bag of crisps if i really had such a
52:21passion
52:21to have them both at the same time but this is so unique and so interesting that people people love
52:26it
52:29maria i'm the most important person in the room right now because i'm the one that loves it
52:33thank you genuinely i'm i'm i couldn't disagree more steven because weirdly i get it you don't
52:44have to go out and buy your packet of crisps and go and buy your chocolate you've just got it
52:47in one
52:47it's like when you have chocolate covered pretzels you can have two experiences you can have the crisp
52:51experience and then the chocolate experience oh no no no no you are missing the point i'm joining
52:56pizza they're better together they're better together i'm with you it's the nation's two
53:01favorite snacks is right together yeah it's like having a cheese toasty and eating the cheese first
53:07no it's completely different why is it completely different well these are these are two products
53:12that are found it's completely different they have two different markets combining the two
53:15it doesn't make sense it makes sense to a lot of people i like crisps when i'm looking for something
53:19a bit you know maria yeah ignore him please honestly you better get foreign for investments or
53:24for investment offers or i'm going to really interrogate some people in this room
53:28the ups the thing you have got in this business is you you're standing out of the crowd
53:32there'll be some people who will feel strongly against it and think it's for weirdos
53:38and then you'll see other people who'll be so passionate for it and that division itself that
53:42noise will drive sales so you do have a business for you the problem i have as an investor is
53:49i sit on the other side of that pole where i think it's for weirdos so i wish you the
53:55very very
53:56best well done on what you've done but i'm gonna say that i'm out maria i'm not in chocolate business
54:04um but because it's in a bar yeah automatically you're being uh put against other bars of chocolate
54:15yeah um and you've got a unique product but the moment you put it into a bag like that
54:23you're auto you're automatically told you're too expensive what would happen if you actually did
54:28put it into little squares with its own little wrapping in a little would that look more premium
54:34it would but i'm not sure if the product itself is classed as a premium product like it's more of
54:41a
54:41snack it's your business it's your baby maybe it's worth considering you might find that you'll get a
54:49better price for it it might be one of those things where after dinner a little box comes out
54:55you've got little flavors in there try this try this and then when they've run out so we must
54:59order one more of those unfortunately today it's not investable for me and i'm out thank you maria
55:10i actually think tuka was onto something i think he's absolutely right that you do need to look at
55:15the way it's it's packaged honestly yeah um i know you you don't see it as a premium product but
55:21i do
55:22see it as a novelty gifting product just think about how can we maximize margin yeah you know and
55:29make it look very very different i love what you've done but but i think it's a business for you
55:35um but
55:36i'd be encouraged by that we love the product it tastes fantastic we don't say to everybody it's a
55:42business for you we say to some people give up don't put any more money in it but i think
55:47you've got
55:47a really nice business here keep doing what you're doing and you'll make yourself some money but i'm
55:52afraid it's not an investment so i'm out all right thank you i'll tell you where i'm at my big
55:58concern
55:59is just your pricing i think unless you can come up with a format for the product where it's not
56:07being
56:07compared to buying a bar of chocolate and a packet of crisps and you can put them in together it's
56:13not
56:13going to work so thank you for the offer to invest in your business but i'm going to say i'm
56:18out thank
56:19you maria i i think it's bloody brilliant thank you i know it's an indulgent treat and i know you
56:30shouldn't do it but there are some days that you just go do you know what i'm gonna have a
56:35bar of
56:35chocolate and a packet of crisps and watch something on tv yeah it was only a matter of time that
56:42somebody
56:42comes out with it and you've come out with it um it's really really niche though this is the downside
56:57to your product there's no doubt that i think people will buy it but i think it's a considered
57:05purchase because of its price point and i don't think that you're going to find that they're going
57:09to buy it and then when they run out they're going to buy it again and buy it again like
57:13you
57:13do with a packet of crisps or a bar of chocolate so i think it's its uniqueness is actually its
57:21potential downfall in terms of building it into a business that could really make it after all that
57:27you're going out yeah because i would still buy it it's just not an investment so for that reason
57:33i'm out really sadly thank you thank you so much cheers thanks the mortal merging entrepreneur may
57:44have gained an enthusiastic customer but when it came to the crunch peter jones wasn't willing to part
57:52with his cash i did really think that peter might have invested but they gave me some incredible advice
57:59that's invaluable so i'll definitely be going away and thinking about what they've said do you actually
58:04think that tastes good yes genuinely like that yeah genuinely like that i'm gonna eat that where's my
58:09chocolate i took peter's away because he was gonna make himself sick you've eaten half the pack of
58:13each that's true in five minutes i do can i can we have a break i do feel a bit
58:16queasy
58:30next time on dragon's den cook you can talk can't you i have a tendency to waffle yeah don't waffle
58:35all right it won't end well it's condoms edible condoms no deborah well so you've lost a million
58:42pounds correct how the other half live eh it's weird to see your parents talking about stuff like that
58:48what did you ever what do you say what do you say don't repeat it
58:58you
59:05you