Inspirational Entrepreneur Designs & Sells Furniture With No Experience | Dragons’ Den

Foreign My name's Juliet Thomas and I Incorporated Juliet's Interiors in 2005. I'm here today to ask you for 106 000 Pounds for a 20 stake in my business Juliet's Interiors is an online Internet Company selling French furniture mirrors And coordinating accessories worldwide I'm a single mother with four children Under the age of eight I started my business originally on eBay But quickly migrated to a dedicated Website now receiving some 13 000 hits Per month over the turnover of a hundred And seventy thousand pounds per annum We're looking now to increase our sales Interestingly 39 of UK households are still not Connected to the internet The way I would like to move the Business forward and increase our sales Output is in the two ways the first via A targeted mail order campaign with a Glossy picture-led brochure And the second is to offer a showroom Setting where customers can come and Touch and feel our products and I feel This would complement our existing Single Channel Bing the website I'm hard working and I'm prepared to Make the changes necessary to move the Business forward thank you very much for Listening [Music]

It's a precise pitch for a precise Amount from Juliette Thomas 106 000 pounds she wanted to give her online Bespoke French furniture company an Offline presence with a showroom she's Willing to give away 20 of her Equity James Khan wants to hear more detail About her business Hi Juliet I'm James hi James you Manufacture the furniture or you buy the Furniture just talk me through that Currently the furniture has been Purchased Wholesale in the UK okay so Give me an example of the pieces that You've got there Uh I will buy that item as a frame only The frame on its own will cost Approximately between three and four Hundred pounds I will then have it Upholstered and the upholstery can be Anything between Three and five hundred pound The fabric itself would be 170 pounds so Your cost on that piece is what about a Thousand uh yes roughly just under a Thousand and you will advertise that on The net for how much 2 700 Okay and how much stock do you have at The moment In value terms in stock we hold about Twenty thousand pounds currently in the Current Financial Year from July to June Of this year you've turned over how much 170

And what profit will you show on that I'm showing a twenty thousand pound Profit for the end of this year but that Is after it's all being reinvested Okay how much cash do you have in the Bank around 30 or 40 000 at any one time And final question the twenty thousand That you're forecasting does that show You having taken any wages from the Business I don't take away at all from The business okay Thank you Juliet Juliet has delivered some impressive Numbers for a startup business but as a Working mum with four children the open Fetus wants to know how she survives Without taking a salary How'd you live Okay Um Longer answer yeah I knew this answer I Knew this one was coming Um I get a lot of assistance from the Government and I'm very grateful for That Um well who owns the business I own the Business 100 percent You're gonna have to educate me then Okay there's a lot of help out there for Single mums when you have to go and find It Okay Um I originally had a very long career

In I.T and then at the age of 36 Um started to have a family I thought I was going to be a mum Forever but it didn't quite turn out That way And I found myself heavily pregnant with My fourth child three in nappies and no Income I obviously couldn't go back out to work And do what I did previously because my Personal situation had changed so Dramatically I was familiar with the Computer I had an office at home I love Interiors I'm passionate about furniture And I put it all together and just Somehow it just naturally progressed and That's what we continue to do today have You ever run a business before I did set up another business in case This one didn't quite work out because I've never done an Internet site before I've never sold Furniture before so I Thought okay I'm always using Au pairs Constantly because of my child care Situation so I set an agency up doing Au Pairs and I sold it last year which Helped to fund some of what I sold it Yes how much it for it not much eleven Thousand Juliet has been very Frank and open About her financial situation but it's Left Duncan Valentine perplexed Yeah I'm just amazed that could sell a

Business for eleven thousand pounds less Than a year ago and still be taking Money from the state now Because I took the money off the Business and I put it straight into this Business doesn't matter what you did With it you eleven thousand pounds you Sold the business yes you went to the The people who give you money from the State and you said I've just cashed in 11 000 pounds yes I've declared it you Are allowed to earn up to five thousand Without any any benefits being knocked Off or changed anyway per annum five up Front and the 11 the other 11 is coming On a 500 pound a month payment I have to Be very careful because obviously I need My income from the state to survive but Then the money that I'm getting from the Sale of the other business I have pushed Through into a director's loan onto Juliet's Interiors And it will sit there and I've declared It as an income so my benefits have Dropped off slightly or will drop off Slightly because we're about to do that On my returns this year Okay that's quite amazing Julie I I you're just too confusing for Me so I'm not going to invest well okay Looks away from the deal Is rival dragon's concerned I think I think you've got an issue here The business makes you own all of the

Company in the share Capital yes At some point You can decide to keep that money in the Company yes but you need to make sure That the state is aware yes do you have A business yes that is making more than Five thousand pounds per annum of which You are 100 shareholder of well hold on Peter she declares she's employed you Declared she makes five thousand no no No no you declare your employee don't You oh totally Declaration is employed but she's not Declaring the amount of money that the Business is generating well the business Hasn't generated yet that's right he Hasn't finished at the end of this year She will have to declare Julian's Finances have sparked a fierce debate Amongst the dragons the business made Thirteen thousand pounds so with two did You clear that of course yes we're at Company's house we have to although She's adamant that her accountant's Advice is correct and agitated Peter Jones just won't let it drop twenty Thousand pounds profit let's be specific You've got twenty thousand pounds profit Coming a calm James Khan steps in but You'll be declaring that in your set of Accounts I have to when you do your Accounts for July that you file yes at That point you will show exactly a Profit and you'll have Assets in the

Business yes and at that point you will Not be able to claim your benefits yes What are you assuming you're going to Draw for wages to compensate what you May lose from the state if I could pull Out if I could pull out 60 I would be Off any government assistance at all Completely off and that is the aim of Where I want to be A remarkably composed Juliet has steered A dignified course through some very Tricky questioning from the dragons but She's not out of the woods yet Juliet hi hi Deborah um I'm going to Move slightly away from your backstory Um are you advertising in the back of Homes and Gardens that mirror not that Particular mirror at the moment the the Ad the guy that does my advertising is Working on that one now okay so what Have you got that's actually yours and Unique I do not know Deborah hand on Heart anybody else who is selling any of This furniture here today okay but Somebody is because that's appearing in The back of somebody's house there is One organization that do sell this Furniture I can say this is a competitor and there Is only one world reaction I didn't like That because when I first asked you you Said there's nobody and when I said Actually advertising advertising so you Know somebody else is selling this

Furniture but they don't advertise it so You have got nothing that's unique Anybody else can buy this furniture and Sell it They could do but they're not at the Moment Deborah meeden is unconvinced by Juliet's answers and James Khan is now Ready to show his hand [Music] Let me tell you where I am Juliette It's a bit too complicated if for Whatever reason the wind blows in the Other direction the mail order doesn't Work or doesn't achieve what you think The Profit could be let's say sixty Thousand and you would say to me look James I need that because I need to live I think you've done well you've got some Great products it should deliver you With a fair return but not enough for me And for those reasons Juliet I'm out all Right thank you Julia Um am I going to invest in you I can't Invest in you I put money into you and I Think you're going to need to take it Out which is my money some stage yeah And that's the only reason why I can't Invest in you and I wish you the best of Luck but I'm out all right thank you um I just want to clarify this situation The state benefits are there to do Exactly what it seems that you're doing And that is to get working mums back to

Work not to actually penalize you the Minute you attempt to go back to work And start earning your own money so well Done for that now let me get that one Out of the way the business That's a different color fish this Business at the moment Is not going to work for both of us as An investor unfortunately I can't invest In you but um I do wish the best of luck Thank you very much Theo I'm out Three dragons out in quick succession And Juliet's time in the den is running Out Will Deborah meaden throw her a lifeline I haven't found the hook okay it says to Me this is unique enough for me to Invest in what I would say Juliet is Well done for actually you know getting Out and deciding that I've got I've had A difficult background on parking that I Am now going to go on and make a Business out of this so good luck with It but I'm afraid I won't be investing All right thank you very much thank you It's been a roller coaster ride for Juliet who leaves the den with her Composure intact but no investment [Music] Foreign

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