First to come face to face with Theo Pepitas and his fellow dragons is Buckingham-based entrepreneur Deborah Lockhart Who's taken a giant leap of faith to get Her new Venture off the ground I left a highly paid job in the Corporate world to start my business But I'm very passionate about what I do And I'm determined to make this a Success And Deborah is hoping her wide and Varied product range your gin your water Sanitizer Will impress the five fearsome Interrogators she's about to meet I believe the dragons are going to want To invest in me and my business because The products themselves can span out in A multitude of different areas which Shows great potential for both the Dragons and for me [Music] Hello dragons my name is Deborah and I'm Here today seeking an investment of 50 000 pounds in exchange for 10 share in My business honest Blends a company That's striving to bring luxurious Plant-based products to the market that Are organic they're fair trade and They're packaged with the environment in Mind As you can see from the very busy table The product range is rather extensive
I started the business making my own Blend of loose leaf tea And the reason behind that is because a Lot of tea bags that are marketed at the Moment have plastic in them I then introduced my honest gin blends Honest Blends has only been trading for Just over a year but in that very short Period of time I've seen just shy of 90 000 pounds turnover of sales but like Many businesses the arrival of kovid Presented me with many challenges so With our Distillery we've been Manufacturing hand sanitizer That is the very short and brief Introduction to myself but I think we Should get down to doing some tasting [Music] Presented Who's passionate about the planet Deborah Lockhart Wow look at that it's a real goodie box That's too much Choice here He's offering 10 of her up -market Eco Products Company Talking about Posh Mr perfectus oh the Little thingy it came out on its own in Return for a 50 000 pound cash injection It is puregen it's 40 percent not too Early in the day The dragons have poured Squirted sniffed and sipped that's very Smooth like a dragon there Breathing fire
And now Sarah Davies wants to understand How Deborah is producing this Multitudinous mix of merchandise So Deborah Yes that's going to make me jump every Time somebody goes Deborah That's a lot to take isn't it there is I'm just wanting to get a bit of a Picture of kind of what it looks like at Your house so chaos yes I can imagine so You're buying in tea and Balkans so it Is coming over in bulk and then I'm Having it all Blended per my recipes up In Scotland and then we package it Individually the coffee already comes Packaged for us and the Gin is my recipe And that is made for us at the at the Distillery So clearly the environmental stuff is Absolutely at the heart of your business It is and I'm pleased to say this is Properly compostable yes so it's made Out of sugar cane but the lid and the Label is also compostable gosh this Totally at the end of the day can go Into compost yes 100 percent That's quite something A strong start to the pitch as Deborah's Planet friendly water bottle makes a Splash with the dragons Retail giant theoper fetus is curious to Know more about the brains behind this Ethical offering You're asking me to invest in you
I'm very investable By the way I am strangely enough I Thought you might say that So I'd like to know I want to know about Deborah the career woman So my background has very much been in The automotive industry very quickly Fell into the IT world and became a Global sales director and traveled the World Um and I fell back into automotive and Started working for Tesla and BMW what Was your role it does what the role was So I was starting new lines of Businesses for them so could we Categorize it in two words Business Development yes that's a great way I've Got the foundations to build from Nothing So in terms of the products that you've Got I think the bottle of water is Fantastic how much does it cost and how Much you're selling it for so it cost me 79 Pence if we upscale we can get that Down to about 50 pence okay the packs of 24 are being sold for just under 40 Pounds 40 pounds That price can come down if we get to a Stage where we are mass producing and That is your threat is that somebody Will Mass produce it Don't think that the big conglomerates Are not having their boardroom meetings
And saying how do we become eco-friendly In the year X and you'll be left behind Tuka Suleiman has concerns over how Competition from the water big boys Could dilute the USP of the business Now the other Deborah in the den wants To find out if the entrepreneur has a Standout item within her colorful Cocktail of goods If I said to you Focus on one product yes what would it Be Gosh the million dollar question So I think it's going to be the Sanitizer we have a very loyal customer Base and there's a real direct need for It so this is interesting because when I've asked you to focus on something It's something that we spent no time at All looking at at the beginning I know So you've done an awful lot of work on What you have over here in terms of the Gin and they're all very specific Competitive markets Because you're thinking that you're just Going to completely sideline all of that Now and then just focus on their hand Sanitizer Um I'd love to take the advice on that That's one of the reasons why I'm here Um my head is somewhat busy with all of The different products and where can I Go with each of them Okay so I'm just going to level with you
Where I'm at when you came in I was Really struggling to work out If it was the Tea Company a coffee Company where the Gin came in then all Of a sudden the whole proposition was Turned on its head yeah and you realize This is a water business or a hand Sanitizer business and I feel like You've kind of let yourself down here Because you've made me feel that you are All over the place It doesn't give me the confidence that If I put money into this you are going To make success of it So I won't be investing and I'm out Foreign Davy's doubts over Deborah's Entrepreneurial Acumen means she's the First dragon to exit the discussion And it seemed Tate lauvani has been Stewing over why her range of Eco Products feels familiar My question is on your brand name yeah Well you probably know that a huge brand Honest Company by Jessica Alba in the US And she's got the same ethos so isn't That a bit of a conflict Um I do know that Jessica's focusing on The household baby products that's not An area that I'm going to focus in that Being said I'm very open at looking to Change the branding without losing the Honest Blends message Is there another brand out there called
Honest Tea there is so there's a massive Brand out there called honest there's Now another brand called Honest Tea So that's owned by Coca-Cola yeah but at The moment they don't have any issue With us making our tea range well that's Fine when you're a tiny little brand but What actually happens is they wait until You've got enough money and then they Think we'll have some of that That then leads back into what tej was Saying about a slight Rebrand yeah but It starts knocking into what we're Investing in that's the problem But it also gives me an insight into Your judgment because you're aware of Those things and you still carried on With a brand that is actually already Owned you know a tea business So I did that before I knew Um but you should have known you should Have done your research before you Produce anything you go out and you see Can I get the domain name is there Anybody else there doing it that's like The a b which we did we got the domain Name we had all of this so you didn't Google and say oh dear there's another T Out there that says honesty Foreign I'd love to work with you please do There's too many errors in this I've never had to say I'm out to a Deborah this is the first time but I I'm
Sorry I won't be investing you Deborah I'm out Green Queen Deborah meaden pours cold Water on any hope of a partnership as She calls into question not only the Future of the brand but also a Namesake's judgment Already has an investment in a tea Venture will he Brew up a deal with the Entrepreneur [Music] Look I think you literally have enough Products for three episodes of Dragon's Den [Laughter] But as an insta It's a bit of a nightmare because you Haven't really got anything that I can Say that's working let's push that I really wanted to be part of your Journey but there's just too much Involved and I think fifty thousand Pounds gonna do it So I'm going to say I'm out Your Eco credentials are immaculate But You've come in the den with a very Complicated scenario My concern is you're a lady of all Trades and a master of none So for that reason I'm out Tuka Suleiman decides he doesn't have a Taste for the packed product line and With four dragons down Deborah's Only
Hope for investment lies with theopher Fetus Has she demonstrated enough Entrepreneurial Spirit to be in with a Shot You're a great talker you're very Passionate and I love you thank you But you forgot the most important thing Brand brand and brand that you've come With sooner or later someone's going to Shut you down which means you haven't Got a business What have you got You've got you And you're excellent and whilst it's Impossible for me to invest I would Offer you a job tomorrow So I'm going to say I am out but if you Decide You want to work with somebody pick up The phone and call me there's a job Waiting for you good luck Thank you I really appreciate it Focus focus focus I will too okay Deborah may be leaving without the Investment she was seeking but she walks Away with a job offer from newly Returned Dragon Theo perfeces I am feeling disappointed that I didn't Get the investment but I'm ecstatic and Elated with the feedback that I got from The dragons I didn't let myself down It was what I needed to hear and I'm Really really grateful from what I got
From them The ability to embrace risk is an Essential element of Entrepreneurship And next up is South african-born Bianca Rangecroft who's already taken one Chance giving up a lucrative career in Banking to start her own business [Music] Finance is a very good learning curve Because it's very very high pressure so I feel like it's a very good preparation For what I'm going into today it looks Just like a changing room to me Fashionista Bianca may have swapped Stocks for frogs but when it comes to Staying on Trend she believes the planet Needn't pay the price our mission is to Bring back a culture of caring for our Clothes And hopefully becoming more Mindful and Conscious consumers This is a rented dress and then I'm Wearing some amazing designer heels that I got in a thrift store [Music] Thank you Hi Dragons I'm Bianca the founder of Waring and I'm here today to pitch for a Hundred thousand pounds for four percent Equity In a past life I worked in banking and I Soon realized I had more clothes in my Closet than stocks in my portfolio and Yet the thought of picking an outfit
Every day was so daunting that I kept Re-wearing the same things over and over Again So I built wearing and with my clothes Now on an app in my phone I can put Outfits together from the comfort of my Couch I can also swipe left or right on Outfits recommended by our AI and it Refines its suggestions based on my Feedback it's like Tinder before your Clothes Wearing also helps me shop and consume More mindfully it suggests sustainable Pre-loved or rental pieces that I can Purchase to complement what I already Own Today we've got 20 000 downloads now We're looking to monetize by a cut of Sales from both services and products Join the Wardrobe Revolution now [Music] A smartphone app which helps its users To select outfits whilst promoting Sustainable fashion is the offering from Bianca rangecraft [Music] I'm just going to show you how easy it Is to digitize your wardrobe I take the Picture who is seeking an extra large 100 000 pound investment in return for a Four percent share in her business this Has recognized that it's a shirt it's
Bohemian we also show you what things You could combine it with The anchors app could help its users Dress to impress but will it prove the Perfect fit for a dragon Deborah meaden is first to try this Business out for size It sounds very interesting because you Can't go on any of these any of the Mainstream websites now you're going to Selfridges they've got rental sections You know people are moving into this Circular economy so how do you see that Interaction with people wanting to sell Their product to rent their product I Love that how does that work one of the Biggest and most beautiful things about The sustainable fashion Community is Collaboration so we've been building up Caring Partners the likes of trade Thrift plus Ox wash and all that happens Is we plug in their website to the app Are you pre-revenue we are pre Revenue So how have you funded it so far I Decided to take a huge risk leaving my Career in banking and so I use my Savings to essentially kick start the App so how much money was that seventy Thousand pounds okay so far how much Money are you spending at the moment It's six thousand pounds a month And how much cash have you got in the Business we've only got about 10 grand Left all right so you are up against it
Correct thank you Without a fresh injection of capital Bianca's fashion business could easily Fold Now Stephen Bartlett wants to discover Which bits of the technology Underpinning her app the entrepreneur Actually owns Bianca hi what's proprietary here Um great question everything within the App is proprietary that includes the Algorithm to create outfit combinations So for me Style is subjective so how does a Styling rules and recommendations Algorithm produce good results for a Million different people who have Subjective Style Very good question what we've done is We've just made sure that things that we Put together don't clash and we've done So you would never recommend Peter's Socks with that suit Uh-oh warning warning Bianca warning So Bianca I Thank you for saying to him that he's Asked some really good questions and I'm Quite impressed because it's the best Questions he's asked so far I've got one thing for you which Probably you won't like yes Yes why have you come in here with such A ridiculous valuation If we look at comparables for high
Growth tech companies but you're a zero Growth Company So I go back to my question why is this Worth Anywhere near the valuation you've come In trying to raise that Sorry to give you such a hard time this Is what you must have come in here Expecting that when you come in with Such a valuation so the valuation that We've picked is 2.5 Assuming very conservative levels of Purchases both products and services Within our user base in the app what you Have developed is very very simple I Could have this done in a quite a short Space of time yeah So where's the value I I see your point but we've got a very Strong management team we have secured Some early interesting Partnerships with The sustainable Community you could have A very strong management team but that Doesn't attract evaluation metric for You at the moment A disgruntled Peter Jones has failed to Buy into Bianca's explanation of how She's arrived at her Hefty seven-figure Price tag And Tuka Suleiman wants to find out more About exactly how she intends to convert Clicks Into Cash Why don't you just explain the actual Business model how are you going to make
Any money So we have a shopping service on the app Where you can browse through sustainable Products from ethical retailers if you Make a buy there we take a cut what Percentage We have negotiated deals between 10 and 15 and we hope that those will go up and Then we have a very high margin B2B Preposition where we can help by sharing Our data usage and stats such as Wardrobe composition Trends Etc with Retailers by the time you give me that Information Stars finished we've moved on Yes but most importantly you know what Our users are putting together you've Got insight into how genzis are styling Denim mini skirts you've got insight Into what they actually own Give me the forecast of how you see this Progressing in numbers so in the next 12 Months we're going to turn over five Hundred thousand and net profit we've Modeled on an avatar basis which is Minus 444 000. So therefore you're going to re raise Lots and lots of money we're going to be Looking to raise about a million pounds Hopefully you'll get a dragon Absolutely and your valuation will go up Indeed especially if you get me I agree But you know I have to think about this Thank you
[Music] The jury is currently out for the dens King of Couture Though it appears that a gen Zed Gendered up Stephen Bartlett is ready to Deliver his verdict [Music] I think you are an exceptional Entrepreneur However my central focus is do I think You have created something that will Retain users so that you can keep them There and one day monetize that audience Yeah And I don't While I think you will have a tremendous Sort of entrepreneurial success in your Career I don't believe that it's this And so for that reason I'm out A blow for the young entrepreneur who Has lost her first dragon Deborah meaden may be in tune with Bianca's plans to put the brakes on Fast Fashion but is she prepared to Accelerate her business I absolutely love this it is bang on for What is about to happen and I love that You've done it Can you feel a butt coming yes I can but I'm optimistic okay I think your target Of the sales in your first year is Incredibly incredibly racy in a market That is not yet fully adopted I think there is a high risk of failure
Um I'd say you've got a 50 50 chance on This I won't be investing so I'm out Bianca I just think you have completely Over complicated the proposition I just don't believe that there is Actually an opportunity for this in as Big of a way you think it is So I'm I'm sorry to say it but wish you All the best of the business and I'm out Thank you Sarah I I love things like this this is it's Really really exciting now I would have Been really interested to have invested In a business like yours if you came in With a far more reasonable valuation but You haven't So that is the only reason why sadly I'm Not going to invest and say that I'm out Trio of time For this Trader in turn-ups only took a Suleiman is yet to declare his position So will he be willing to buy into Bianca's vision for the future of his Industry Ah Bianca finally finally Um you're great And you've had a hard time today You've got lots of ideas And you need somebody to sit down with Them and say what is commercial what is Not commercial And in a way Um you need me to help you
Was I an offer not quite I'm just but I'm just giving you the reality of it You're trying to make a movie Without a script So there's a lot of dreaming going on And some of it definitely will not be a Reality unless you get somebody to write You a checkout for 10 million So I'm not going to make it off for Today and I'm out Thank you thanks for your time Sadly for Bianca she must leave The Den With nothing He may have been stylishly turned out But it wasn't enough to prevent her Business from being turned down At least the fashion entrepreneur Appears to be wearing the criticism well Wow that was hard but it's really Important to get past feedback very Early on she's got something however It's very blurred I think she's first class if things Don't work out I would give her a job if You don't give her a job I'll give her a Job [Music] [Music] Oh my God I can't believe it [Music] Hi my name is Jake Heyman and this is my Business partner Joe and we're here to Pitch for a 60 000 pound investment in Exchange for 20 of equity in our
Business frame again I was at a wedding in Iceland and I was Taking my photos on my iPhone in Instagram when I got home I wanted to Get the happy couple a frame photo as a Gift and I realized pretty quickly that There were no cool frames out there Which were targeted at people like me And so I decided to design one myself Frame again is all about the product but It's also all about getting your photo Printed framed and delivered the very Next day Our website is really simple you go Online you see the frames that you're Going to buy you then get framing If I order these right now they're going To be on my doorstep tomorrow We did some polling when we wanted to Start this business and what we found Was that 30 of 18 to 35 year olds said That they'd buy at least one of our Frames a year if it were on the market With the service we describe and that Goes up to 50 amongst Instagram users We welcome your questions can we look at One of your friends yes Could I have Duncan's one please could I Have Peters A focused pitch from young entrepreneurs Jake Heyman and Joe Kenyon who are Seeking 60 000 pounds in return for a 20 Share in their online photo framing Business
But there's something about their Product which is troubling Kelly hoppen It's actually not a bad idea I just Can't bear the desire I can see what you're trying to do in Creating this slightly retro frame but It's so cumbersome we're looking to Iterate the design we're looking to Broaden the number of designs we have How many frames do you intend to have Because clearly you've got one design Which won't work for everybody there's No reason that we can't go on to frames That fit a six by four or seven by five Photo or do different designs but I Think just with this Frame we've got a Good way to get started What does it cost you to actually make This it costs us about eight pounds a Frame at the moment but we think with Um as we scale up we'll be able to bring The cost of the frame itself down to Less than four pounds a frame so I Decide I want to go and buy a frame and Choose one of my pictures how much is it Going to cost delivered uh is 21.99 Total right okay I think in our vision We can build a business around that Product are we satisfied and resting on Our Laurels absolutely not Confident comeback but Deborah meaden is Unconvinced that there's enough demand For photo framing amongst the smartphone Generation to make it a lucrative
Business proposition My experience is that most people Actually just kick them on their phones Or they keep them on or they put them on The screen savers or they you know There's an electronic way or a digital Way of viewing their photos actually They're very happy with Well I'd like to say personally that the Inspiration for the business came from One thing to print and frame more people Than ever are taking more photos than Have ever been taken this with well Combined now on smartphones and people Do actually want to do something with Them it's just they need the triggers to Be able to do that they do believe that The majority of people's photo Experience is now online but they really Cherish it when they do make that Commitment to buy For now at least Jake and Joe are making Light work of some heavy questioning From the dragons But something in their pitch appears to Have riled Duncan bannatyne You said when you pitched there were no Cool frames out there And I find that a little bit insulting Because I've got about 100 frames in my House I think they're all pretty cool And coolness is a batter a taste which Is subjective exactly and very well else I have to tell you I don't think these
Are cool at all I really don't I think they're quite Ugly actually So for that reason I'm up okay thanks Duncan Jake and Joe have lost their first Dragon Will Kelly hoppen be any more willing to Make them an offer Guys Um Great Yeah and um I think your idea is great you know what I feel about the design It's such an easy thing what you've Created that's 21 pounds That's quite a a high number I really Don't think that For that money I would want to spend On something as plastic and bulky Um I'm not going to invest in you so I'm Out A blow for Jake and Joe as designer Kelly hoppen declined the opportunity to Invest And P as Linney also has concerns The thing that jumps out to me is a Here's some very big companies you know Photo boxes and various people like that And they can easily add this service There's obviously nothing stopping Photobox bringing out a frame like this But photobox and its High Street
Equivalents are the companies that allow You to print your photos onto into into Snow globes and onto jigsaws and onto Mouse mats I mean when you I think if you look at The people we're targeting they don't Use Mouse mats they use touch screens I'm waiting to see what a certain Entrepreneur in the photo business is Going to say he's been very quiet What do you think of jessups Um we liked ourselves We love her we love jessops would be Better It's it's it's respectful competition For now but the aspiration for us is to To grow this business and see a clear Exit to one of those more traditional Bigger businesses And where do you see what sort of Revenue do you think you're going to be Able to achieve In the next year Well it depends if you invest or not we Think over the next year we're going to Be selling about 10 000 frames and so Um that's about 160 Grand we'll bring in It's not exciting to say that your Business is going to generate 160 000 in Income might be exciting for an investor Outside of it but for me sitting here Owning jessups We'll we'll launch Framing and we'll Deliver that sort of income in a week
Within three years we'll be looking at Selling uh 50 000 frames so 800 Grand And 600 of that uh gross profit if we Can create a brand that means we're the Go-to people for printing Framing and Delivery for the smartphone photographer Then we think there's a huge Market The pair have gone head to head with Photography giant Peter Jones and Survived But will their compose performance be Enough to sway Deborah meaden My big issue is every element of this Business will be under attack from Businesses that are better placed to Enter that market and dominate that Market than you you haven't got anything That is other than the two of you that Is going to is a barrier to entry So I'm afraid I won't be investing Um and genuinely I'm kind of Disappointed in that Um but I'm out [Music] Tricky with you guys because I think About you guys I really like the product I must not entirely convinced that you Know with the kind of money we're Talking about you're going to be able to Produce enough traffic to convert into Picture frame buyers to you know Generate an investment that's worth Getting involved in Foreign
[Music] As far as this one goes I'm out Four dragons have now walked away from The deal Only Peter Jones remains What do they you say they cost you to Make Um at the moment it's costing us about Uh eight quid but we can bring it down To less than four quid a unit There's a few things one You mentioned about the size of the Market I agree with you the market is Opportunity is big I'm sitting here thinking actually You've done a better version of how We are looking to create our online Piece in terms of the options because You've kept it simple Well I'm more I'm going to make you an Offer Do you want a job Is that you plural I Would you both like The sixty thousand pounds in the shape Of A hundred percent of your business But you get a job working to build The framing and photographic Marketplace Within the UK's leading Imaging company Um well we hadn't prepared for that one I think I think we'd have to Think carefully we don't ever talk about
Talk about that and Um Can we take a moment 100 yeah thank you Thank you very much the offer as well It's an astonishing development less I'm In and more you're hired Do you want to do this this could be fun Do you understand I don't know do you know I say we do it man [Music] Wich Throw the dice Over there Thanks for your patience guys sorry Peter um if it's okay with you we're Gonna turn down the offer in in a couple Of years time we're going to be knocking On your door hoping you buy our business For a much larger Sun good luck to you Well done thank you everyone thank you Good luck guys So Jake and Joe depart without the sixty Thousand pound investment they were Seeking But despite leaving empty-handed Peter Jones's job offer has turned their visit To the den into an occasion to remember My head's pretty light yeah I I'm not Entirely sure what just happened I Couldn't tell you what happened But I can't tell you no right I can't Tell you we made the right decision yeah Foreign
