Top 3 Times Entrepreneurs Spent A Massive Amount On Their Business | Vol.1 | Dragons’ Den

Next Into the Dead is Francis Kane An entrepreneur on a mission to change The face of the doll business The fact that product clearly looks as Good as it does I think the ethos behind it which is Different to a lot of the other brands That are on the market at the moment I'm hoping that that will come across But it may be a bit of a rocky road but We'll have to see when I get in there She's already taken her idea from the Playroom to the boardroom but will the Dragon's toy with investing in her range Of products Hello My name is Francis Kane and I am the Owner of a girl for all time which is a Range of toys designed to celebrate and Empower girls through creative Imaginative play I'm in the den today looking for 70 000 Pounds for 10 investment of my Four-year-old growing business I founded a girl for all time really Because of my own frustration at trying To find anything that was well designed And intelligently done for my own Daughter when she was much younger her Choices seemed to be limited to plastic Lipstick and pretend ironing boards so I Created a range of dolls that follow the Adventures of the first born girls of The fictional marchmont family through

500 years of time Stories that come with the range show The girls as Heroes of their own stories Currently we have five dolls here that You see And they have won a cachet of Industry Awards for uh top quality and design Including played all of the year two Years in a row uh 2015 for us uh had saw Sales of just under 90 000 pounds 2016 looks to be a strong year with 125 Percent growth in the first four months Of 2016. I do believe that our girls are so much More than pink and plastic lipstick and Pretend ironing boards and I think their Toys should be as well And I would actually like to show you Some product if I may Francis Kane originally from the American Midwest and now living in London is looking for a boardroom buddy You have the start of the family tree Matilda in exchange for 10 of her Company should like a dragon to invest 70 000 pounds in it To Jones has a confession to make I'm quite an expert in dolls oh right Because over the last sort of 20 years I've grown up playing McDonald's a lot Because my youngest daughter is now nine For my oldest daughter was 23. Um So I have to say something a bit Eerie

About the dolls Okay I don't know it looks a little bit sort Of not as friendly as I would have Expected well and I'm struggling Immediately struggling with the sort of The look Because I look into this doll's eyes and There's sort of like a Darkness there Well maybe slightly pensive maybe at Times or maybe thoughtful or Yeah And is that very much about you Francis Are you coming out in this doll Well I think what frustrated me when I Was looking for something from my own Daughter when she was growing up is I Just felt things were either divided Into kind of that very pink bubbly Plastic thing or being shoved too far I Felt into the Adult World these dolls Are supposed to represent 9 10 11 year old and we're not always Constantly smiling I feel are we um I Think having a companion who who looks As we usually look is is a positive Thing Foreign Which makes Peter Jones feel uneasy it's Not a great start to francis's pitch But on to the business itself antuka Suleiman wanted to know if there's Anything that makes this product stand Out in a crowded Market what is your USP

That could make this doll into a Multi-million dollar business Excellent point what we've created is a Whole brand behind the characters of the Dolls so as far as I know we're the only Brand on the market that does an entire Family series that does these kind of Stories with the dolls and creates a Depth of experience with each range Is it a nice story or are there any bad Things happen in that family well Well killed who in the family nobody's Nobody's killed but don't forget Matilda Is a tutor girl and Tudor was not always Happy times tell me about her books so Matilda is uh 13 years old and she is Sent as a spy to the court of Henry VII And to help Advance her cousin Catherine Howard's chances to be Queen and Matilda Keeps a secret diary hence the title of Her book Matilda's secret and it's about Her time at court which did not go very Well for Catherine Howard if you know Your history [Music] Francis proves there's more to her dolls Than your average kids play things with Talk of their unique backstories But is millionaire mum of four Sarah Willingham buying the product or the Business I wouldn't buy one and I am absolutely Your target market if you want to sell The story of trying to empower your

Little girls to believe that they can do Anything and be anything and I don't Think that's what you're achieving Through these dolls I really don't I think your objective you're saying is To make it very real through history I'm Not convinced that that's the way to Empower Young girls of today of course they need To learn history but I think the dolls Look like they've sacrificed a lot They've they've they are girls that have Suffered a lot So because I I am your target market and I wouldn't buy one I wish you all the Best but I'm afraid I'm not going to Invest so I'm out Sarah Willingham just can't gel with Francis's dolls and decide to pass on The business opportunity Can Peter Jones redeem things with talk Of Cold Hard Cash How much money have you spent so far Developing the business so over the last Five years having launched in 2012 a Grand total of about and its surrounding Era of 400 000 pounds oh wow If I if I could preface that with the Larger companies sorry hang on Francis You've spent 400 000 pounds on dolls It's been a it's been an investment a Little bit every year where'd you get That money from Um part of it has been from my own funds

Part of it was from friends and family Francis has gone to Great Lengths to Bankroll a brand she believes is on the Brink of success But does Deborah meaden share her Conviction To me they're not joyous Um did you ever play with dolls never Played with dolls Spiders snakes all of those things never Told Um this is personal So please brace yourself Just don't like it you know they don't Make me feel good they don't tell a Great story to me [Music] So I'm really sorry Francis I'm out I Appreciate the comments thank you Um What's this one called Lydia Lydia right Lydia I bought you a doll one of those Over there you're excited about that No not really quite indifferent really Looks a bit sort of botoxy I'm sure you've done loads and loads of Research it's not a market I know Anything about I'm sure you've done Absolutely stacks of it and you've gone For something which is quite different But Um I I just can't get it at all Operate them out right okay thank you Very much

The dragon who made a fortune in Personalized gifts shows no interest in These bespoke dolls And Tuka Suleiman has also come to a Decision You've gone a long way Build a business There's no appeal In my view I'm giving my own personal View and I think you're probably a very Professional person you built this whole Business around the idea of this doll You spent four hundred thousand pounds But I don't see it going where you want To sit I'll be happy one day if you get Your money back But it's not going to be with my money I'm afraid And for that reason I'm out I've genuinely like the fact that you've Come up with a storyline behind what You're trying to achieve but I Personally think you've made some real Faithful errors There's a few things that scare me about This doll when you go to bed at night And you've put your doll down And you say good night and you sleep if You open your eyes halfway through the Night and your doll is still looking at You there's something really eerie about That and I think you need to change that In a very simple way of changing that is To make sure that the eyes closed when

You go yeah they're called yeah sleep Eyes sleep eyes I think that's important And I think you do have to go back to The drawing board I'm not going to invest Because I don't know whether that 70 000 Is enough to keep the business alive and Make the changes necessary So I'm going to say that I'm out Thank you very much thank you good luck Game over for Francis who couldn't Convince the dragons her dolls had Mass Appeal she leaves the den with no more Cash than when she arrived I think she's pretty investable oh yes She's got a good I think the concept's Right it's just it's sad that it's Looking like that Will I go out next week and start making New face molds for all of the Dolls Probably not So maybe the dragons might have missed Out on this one To take a deep breath Just to be clear was that two million Pounds two million pounds Hello dragons my name is Ajit Chambers I'm the chief executive officer of the Old London Underground company I have Invested five years in getting my Company in the position to open the First tourist Adventure into a disused London tube station in the station that I'm talking about is down street in

Mayfair we're putting three businesses Into this site the first business is the Experiential tourist Adventure if you Can imagine we're recreating what Happens during the second world war Where families have to disappear from Their houses and run and hide in these Sites as the bombs are coming down the Tourists that come in really feel the Fear and the noises outside and the Smells of the old station The second business is an events Business Some of these deep drop empty shaft Areas are fabulous to put in small Events and have just a little crowd of People in there for the launch of a CD Or a product itself and the third Business is a food and beverage area so You can see the picture here I'm here today to offer a shareholding Of 51 of the old London Underground Company in exchange for two million Pounds [Music] I need to take a deep breath Now gee you left that right to the end 51 and just to be clear was that two Million pounds two million pounds that's A lot of money isn't it It is a lot of money Is that what it's going to cost to do All of this work the capital expenditure On the site is one million six hundred

Thousand I've left 240 000 for pre-operations and An extra 200 slippage to bring it up to 2 million You're offering 51 yes true and who gets The 49 that the balance who where's that I own the 49 at the moment can I ask What you do for a living yes of course Um well I spent five years completely on This before that I used to work in Banking in Switzerland and London I just Want to know how much money have you Made and how much money could you put Into this I like questions like that I've um I've Spent my own money on this roughly 160 000 pounds over five years and four Months and how much money have you got Yourself personally Left yeah not a lot So not a few hundred thousand for Example I did sell my house recently to Fund the last parts of this Were you in a position to sell your House I mean have you got loads of other Assets and nope that's it So you have literally put Everything on the line yes If you don't get the money from us and You don't get the money at all yes What are you gonna do I'm sure someone Else will be interested in taking this Site so why have you come to us I I Would like us a set of individuals

To partner with me I tell you what give me ten percent And I'll give you all the advice you Want the part of the guidance of the Advice is not something I need at this Point I mean one of the beauties of this Project is we've done all that work what I need is an investor who will let us Get on with this Ajit can you show me how many square Feet that is for the tourist attraction 1800 square feet there 1800 square feet yes I'm slightly aghast Now because you don't get many tourists In 1 800 feet Let me um run through the numbers yeah We're looking at 10 Tours of 16 people per day so it's very Low number that are going through there We're also looking at making it a low Cost for the ticket which is 18 pounds So it's turning over 2887 pounds per day Now the events we've put in the business Plan that we'd have one event a month Um at 10 000 pounds an event which will Make 120 000 pounds with the events and Then we're looking at the above ground Section here which brings in 288 000 Pounds so when you add the three Business streams together the net profit At the end of year one is 1.16 million but the real point of Coming here today is that we're at the

Design Point we've got the team to Deliver it the only thing we're missing Is the investor I completely agree that there is massive Scope to use these sites Personally I don't buy into the the tourist Adventure down there I don't buy into The events and and you've just basically Got a random Outlet at the top [Music] If I took a site that was Central London I was going to spend 2 million pounds on I'd want a lot more than just over a Million pounds turnover a year out of it Can I go into the detail with the Turnover well you already have We've already had the turnover comes From 10 times 16 people a day coming Through the experience very very low Turnover let me just be clear with the Capacity so that's the number we've set At a very low level that's not our Capacity agit you've worked so hard on This For five years I can see that I just Don't think you found the right thing It's just not for me love I'm out The dens food and drink expert decides To hold on to her cash as she becomes The first dragon to walk away from the Deal As Peter Jones prepared to stump up the 2 million pounds to bankroll the

Business Are you not building the very experience That no one would ever want to Experience anyway Well I mean I don't think for one minute When those Air Raids were going off that People got very excited that they were Going to go down into that area for 45 Minutes if I said to my child I'm going To take you down To experience what your Great-grandfather experienced in 1943 And you're going to be riddled with fear I just see it as a a pitch for cash Where we roll over the cash where you Walk up and have no risk so I'm not I'm Not getting the sense that you've got Anything at risk apart from the last Four years of your life well those four Years have gone by the time you've Walked into here this is now a future Opportunity I'm not going to invest and say that I'm Out Thank you very much My view is it is very ambitious okay I'm Very concerned for your well-being I Believe 1.6 million will probably get 30 Of it finished You'll run out of funds they'll be Locked on the door right and then it'll Probably stay there like for another 50 Years okay So I hope you have plan B set up on that

Basis I must say I'm out okay thank you Very much A Jeep bid for investment appears to be Going off the rails Can Deborah meaden who made her millions In the Leisure industry get his business Dream back on track The issue for me is you are not looking For anybody to add value to you you are Looking for an investor you don't want Somebody who wants to be all over it I Would be all over it it's not that I Don't want your input here listen maybe It was just the worst but you actually Said I just want your money I'm not sure why I would ever walk into Something like this that is halfway Through I've had absolutely no input in Whatsoever and just hand my cash over to Somebody who's actually done the bit Where I believe I can add value You might find an investor but you're Not going to find an investor in Somebody like me who spent my life in Tourism Because I know too much about this Business It's extremely disappointing you would Say that because I would love to have You on board with something like this With your experience I do I actually don't think I'm the Right investor for you I know you think I am I don't think I am okay so I'm

Afraid I won't be okay thank you very Much I'm out Only Nick Jenkins is left He's already raised concerns about the Capacity of the venue now he wants to Know about the agreement Ajit has in Place with the owners of the site What about the lease we're in Negotiations for a two-year uh Non-payment period and thereafter what's The what's the release how much uh Eighty thousand pounds a year My concern is that actually what do you Really have If someone more credible comes in with a Couple of million queries and says Actually we'd like to take the lease Could they do that You don't own this opportunity True yeah that's the problem you don't Own this opportunity you're selling Something that you don't own no the Opportunity is the opportunity to delete This place so that's up for grabs Someone else could knock on the door and Come up with another idea like this and Do it and then they're in 100 of it True I'm not prepared to Value it at two Million pounds and for that reason I'm Out okay thank you very much [Music] Ajit reaches the end of the line in the Den with doubts being raised that he has Exclusive access to his disused station

His bid for a two million pound Investment goes down the tube the Ability to sell something like this to a Group of individuals that I'd like to Have worked with is very difficult and In reality I didn't get that across my Pitch wasn't good enough I simply move on to other investors and There are very many of them especially In that area of town London-based fish and chip shop owner Rashpal Dillon is here with her two sons Arminder and gaminda if we pull it off The rewards will be amazing Hi I'm gaminda hi I'm arminder hi I'm Rush Park With a boot buddy We're here today pitching for 60 000 Pounds in return for 10 equity in our Company So here in my hands I have the homemade Prototype of the boot buddy the idea Came one day after football training When I decided there had to be an easier Way to clean my muddy football boots so When I got home that day I fiddled about With some items we had the first being a Brush the second being a plastic water Bottle and the third being a plastic Knife when I stuck these three items Together we had a prototype which sort Of worked now we have our own proper Boot body in one compact portable gadget Okay so the scraper here is to take up

All the big chunks of mud so what you do Is you Unscrew it you fill up the water Take the boot body with you wherever you Might be going whether it's a football Walking the dog or playing golf Then when you wish to use it Unlock the head And then that's it away you go so as you Can see here what you have is a really Simple and easy method Of cleaning your boots in seconds right Today we've turned over 100 000 pounds In the last year and we sold six and a Half thousand units Thank you for your time and I hope Together we can leave the outdoors Outside Hoping to clean up in the den are the Dylan family who are asking for sixty Thousand pounds in return for a 10 stake In their company boot buddy how are you Finding it Nick therapeutic Surprising how little water goes a long Way so you can maximize cleaning product Demonstration over and it's time for its 15 year old inventor to leave his mother And older brother to face the dragon's Questions You've turned up a hundred thousand Pounds yes what is the retail price they Sell for 12 pounds 99 Okay and costs costs right now it's About seven pounds

Seven pounds yeah I have to say until you said that you've Sold a hundred thousand pounds worth of Product Um I was a little bit in shock because It is just a a water bottle with a brush On the end The product works it does exactly what It says it is going to do and you know We get mums emailing us all the time Saying look our kids never used to clean Their boots my husband's nephews clean Their boots and now they do because They've got a cool fun Gadget but as you Can see when you're cleaning the boot You run out pretty quickly Um and you'd have to refill to do your Second boot I think that that is a Design fault And I didn't want to say it in front of Arminda because the last thing I want to Do is not praise and encourage clearly a Young entrepreneur in the making but my Biggest issue is the fact you've got to Continue to refill it what's the Structure I mean you're working out of Home yeah we are we work out of our home Office everything is done from there Right It had the distribution as well is out Of the basement of one of our shops so What's your real business fish and chips Fish and chips oh I love fish and chips Yeah but I've got my own business what

Is your business Again it's just fast food Fast food what's what chicken chicken And what's your share structure I mean Who owns the business Well obviously mum's the boss she put The money in so mum's got 60 and uh uh Everybody else has 10. right and how Much time to put in Um Total just below 250 000. How much Sorry 250 000 pounds yes Wow Um oh wow good There's a lot of fish and chips you must Have sold Disbelief across the board as the Revelation that the boot product has Already been funded to the tune of a Quarter of a million pounds leaves the Dragons reeling Serial investor Nick Jenkins wants Answers Did you spend it on uh tooling Tooling costs for something like that Just below 40 000. yeah the intellectual Property below 150. Sorry did you say you spend 150 000 Pounds on the intellectual property Below just below the Design's registered In 22 countries Foreign Amount of money to have spent on

Something quite simple enormous Understand why so much he thought it it Was the best thing to do just think you Could have done it for a hell of a lot Less Fraction of that That money you put in is it alone Yeah it's a director's loan so basically The company owes you the money Yeah but it's not like that it's Interest or I'm not in a rush for it you Know it's I don't want to stifle the Growth of their company are you in the Position To look in a bigger picture and say I'd Wave my director's loan On the basis that by bringing their Dragon on board I might get some actual Dividends back if it helps the company Move forward and it's the right decision Then yes Rash Pals calm demeanor and a suggestion That she might wave the quarter of a Million pound loan has raised a few Dragon eyebrows Can she snatch Victory from the jaws of Defeat When it gets to the point that most of The people playing football would need To buy this in order for this investment To break even It's a bit frightening To make any sense of this as an Investment you would have to sell more

Than I believe that you can sell in this Market Um so for that reason I'm out Guys I'm going to tell you where I am um I've got a house full of muddy boots And I'm still Still using the outdoor tap and the Scrubbing brush I I just don't think I'd use it You know and I'm a mum surrounded by Muddy boots so I'm I'm gonna say no but We really wish you all the best So good luck but I'm afraid I'm out A second dragon brush off for the Battersea-based entrepreneurs Now the chips are down where does Tuka Suleiman stand It needs a lot and it it needs Um to be focused To sell it somebody who's got the Contacts somebody can run the website Somebody who can give you some offices To work out of Tell you what I'm gonna do I'm willing to give you all the money But I want the 35 I like an awful lot about it I like the Story that it was invented by your son And I think you're a very very Supportive mum thank you I think you've Done an amazing job and I I think it's a It's a good product What's holding me back is that it's just

Not an area that I love [Applause] You know I'm not into football I can Always feel I can stand up and proudly Shout about the brands I'm involved with Because I feel it I just don't think I'm the right fit for You you know and that I suspect you're going to get a better Fit here which is kind of a shame Because I'd love to be involved with it But I don't think I'm going to do the Best job for you it's not just football That we can restrict it to that's the Beauty of it we keep the same like Design and just change the bristles very Easily Anyone can actually use this product and It's easy dog walkers Golf and also the People who work on building sites tarmac You know if you change the bristles make Them harder you know so anybody with Muddy boots Um she's persuasive your mother isn't She [Music] Well I don't normally do this because 60 000 Isn't a huge ask you know often I'll sit Here and say but it's sixty thousand Pounds I want it on my own but I'm not Offering the full package but I would I Would love to be involved so I'm going To offer you half of the money

And I would want [Music] 12 and a half percent of the business [Music] But what I would say is that I'd rather We parked your money we didn't write it Off so it said look when we've got our Money out or there was an exit but it Still sat there because it's the thing It's the thing that go the business off The ground With offers on the table from Tuka Suleiman and Deborah meaden the booth Buddy has found some Dragon friends in The den While seeing his fellow dragons make Bids incentivize Peter Jones to enter The mix Do you know what's really interesting is I can absolutely see Tens of thousands of these being sold if You can find a way to get that Manufacturing cost at a level I could see this being sold almost with Every pair every pair of boots that sold Tuka and Deborah have both given you an Offer And in my head instinctively I would Normally think I'm going to go and Compete with them I'm actually sitting here thinking I wonder whether Three Dragons Could give this exactly what this needs

With my contacts into some of the sports Places you know making use of Tuka he's Been trying to for for almost a year now To give away his office in any Investment and it will be it actually Made me happy to be part of that that I Would see somebody use his office for Once I think that this has a real chance of Success But do what Deborah suggests You keep your quarter of a million Because I think it's really important That you get your money back I agree With that now So I will offer you 20 000 pounds for ten percent If the other dragons agreed but you get Three dragons I I would I would certainly yeah I I'd like to do That okay the three of us will make a Fantastic team Do you want to go and think about that And have a chat Whilst armander nervously Waits outside His mum and brother have a huge decision To make Three of them In the united markets Peter Jones Tuka Suleiman and Deborah meaden are each Offering twenty thousand pounds for ten Percent of the business And it's your favorite number but giving

Away nearly a third of their company in Total three times what they were Offering when they entered the den is a Big ask for the entrepreneurs it's mum's The boss No I'm Not um yeah if we we would love to work With all three of you oh great three is My favorite number anyway so thank you Your lucky number is my lucky number Well done fantastic Foreign Do you think mum made the right decision It's been a remarkable turnaround From the shock revelation of rashpal's 250 000 pound investment into the Company To the dragons agreeing that it would Eventually be paid back The Dylan Clan leave The Den with a Dragon Dream Team on board that's Intense there's no words I can explain What I'm feeling it's amazing just have One Dragon but to have three is just Overwhelming

Your First Funnel Challenge
Quickly Launch Your Idea And Turn It Into A Business That You're Proud Of In Just 90 Minutes A Day!

(This Can Work Even If You Currently Have No Tech Skills, Don't Have A Product, Or Have No Idea What A Funnel Is Yet...!) 

(Challenge Starts Every Monday)

Leave a Comment