Autistic Entrepreneur Turning Over £3.5M In Sales! | Dragons' Den

[Music] I'm really proud to be here today having autism it takes a lot of guts to be here but I'd like to inspire others and show them where there is a will there is a way and we should not be held back for having these slightly different ways of thinking when it comes to a choice of business partner Ben has a particular investor in mind looking at the history and expertise of the Dragons I think U would be the one but I'm not rolling anything [Music] out hello dragons my name is Ben Pearson I'm the owner and founder of big clothing for you from a young age I was diagnosed with autism and several other disabilities I've spent the majority of my life in Social care young offenders institutes and homeless I became nearly 30 Stone from having mental health issues but I took a lot of counseling and overcame these barriers but there was one thing I couldn't do and I couldn't find clothing on the High Street there wasn't a thing that fitted me so in 2015 I started big clothing for you from my bedroom sewing on eBay and Amazon in 2021 we turned over 2.9 Million in 2022 we're on track to turn over 3.5 million I'm here today to picture 150,000 for 10% stake in big clothing for you but why I might look like I've done it but I haven't I'm stuck and I can't expand I can't get into the international markets and that's what I'm looking for so please do have a look at our range and a couple of samples in your boxes thank you can I have a look of course please do Tuka a plus-sized clothing company with plus-sized International ambition is the proposition from entrepreneur Ben Pearson hope you like what you see he's seeking £150,000 in return for a 10% share of his business good fashion Tycoon Tas sulliman has already got handson with Ben's products but now he wants to get a feel for his business Ben Tuka hi Tuka well done ah thank you I'm very impressed you know the funny thing is is that this is a market that has been ignored so your size starts from where so we start at 2XL and we go right up to 8 XL 8 XL yeah so that shirt that Deborah's got probably takes about 2 and a half m y and how much does it cost you uh that was £680 great and we sell what you sell it for $29.99 wow and nicely have you looked at them they're really so that's great value no wonder you're cleaning up over here on the turnover so you don't do Formal Wear do you yes we do we have a collection that covers yep formal shirt suits and how much were we selling the suits for around £50 W you're cheaper than my brand look to me there's a there's a big opening here how have you funded the business so far so when I was 1 years old my grandfather left me a big trust fund and when I was late teens uh the trustees uh decided that that could be released to me wow and when you say a large amount was that substantial in the hundreds hundreds of thousands of pounds sure so just take me through last year you said you turned over 2.9 Million yeah what was your profit on that the gross profit was 69% and the net was 200,000 and the next year we're looking about 5 million and how are you going to start selling overseas do you have an international website capability good point no we don't so this is one of the reasons why we need the investment we actually need a dedicated resource to display correctly in these countries Ben this could be quite interesting CU I happen to own one of the world's leading e-commerce software companies that takes Brands to Global markets could be interesting Peter Jones hints at a potentially lucrative tie-in that could see Ben's garments Go Global now Steven Bartlet is Keen to find out more about The Man Behind The Men's Wear I have to say I'm I'm really really inspired by your journey specifically because you mentioned that you were in a young offenders Institute at some point yeah but I wanted to get some more detail as to how your life has has shifted in such an inspiring way sure so I found there was a gap in the care system and it rendered me homeless so I hit rock bottom and I thought I got nothing but I got nothing to lose so while I sat on the streets food banks I thought yeah I can pick myself up and I just started plowing forward okay and is that Harvey price it is indeed how did you get to to meet them um he was struggling to find clothing and 18 months of persistency knocking on Kate's best friend's door I got to meeting with Kate and uh we never look back and so is is he a brand ambassador he is okay yeah what would you say that you I'm not good at very good question I often ask people in interviews this so there's many things I'm not good at I guess controlling my anxiety because I've got autism so um coming here today I'm not very good at interacting with people or I don't think I am in my mind it takes a lot of Courage for me to do it we've just demonstrated how good you are at controlling your mind for for the benefit of yourself which is absolutely exceptional you're one of the best pictures I've ever I've seen since I've been in the den oh thank you very much Ben's temperament and tenacity are winning him plenty of admirers in the den will his business's numbers make a similarly positive impression when you started in 2015 how much Capital did you put in to start the business 680,000 so is the director's Loan account still sitting at 680 uh no the director's Loan account is about 1 Point three I think so you've got personal cash invested in this business of 1.3 million correct when do you plan to take that out I don't rather than drawing a salary I've been taking some out of the director's Loan account as and when I need it okay so what is your stock on hand what's your balance sheet looking like at the moment basically a balance sheet I think stocks about 2.3 million you've got stock of 2.3 million given that the high proportion of your businesses Trend you're sitting on a lot more stock than I was expecting I don't know in a fashion business tole but what's a normal Well normally your stock cover should be about 6 700 Grand so you've got too much stock2 Million worth of stock offsets a large director's loan money Ben could withdraw from the business at any time his books appear balanced but for one of the Dragons things simply aren't adding up Ben just take me through so where you are today what's what's your sort of retained earnings in other words the profits that you've plowed back into the business and you've retained in the company where would where would they sit out today yeah I think they're just short of 800,000 and how much cash in the bank have you got 143,000 and creditors I think it's about 250,000 and debtors under 5,000 ,000 okay and your total stock is 2.3 is that 2.3 cost or is that retail price uh that's H the retail valuation by deits yeah retail not cost yes that's the retail oh that explains what's the cost the cost of that stock 600 when you first come in and say you got 2.3 million of stock you're going wow you've got some serious cash behind this this business but when you deduct the reality of Life youve put such a large amount of capital in and you're not taking any salary at all and any money you do take out you're taking and reducing your director's loan is that a perfect summary of the business it's a a good way of looking at it certainly yeah I'm good with numbers you certainly are you say you like honesty so I'm going to be really honest I was going to make you an offer y but I'm sadly going to say I'm not going to invest because of that only reason is that the balance sheet just demonstrates that the business isn't quite there so I I've got to say that I'm [Music] out a Peter Jones probing reveals the Ben's balance sheet is nowhere near as healthy as it first appeared and he's lost his first dragon will Sara Davies see sufficient promise in the business to make its CEO an [Music] offer I love you you are the most straight talking person I've ever met in business and it is so refreshing but on the flip side that 1.3 million still Ed out to you on a business that's been highly profitable for so many years that is just ringing really big alarm bells for me so I'm going to say that I'm out Ben you are brilliant it's a real pleasure to talk to somebody who you ask a question they answer it and you believe it you know I can work with that any day of the week but I've been sitting here battling with the balance sheet I'm afraid that side of me is one so I won't be investing I'm out Ben I've wrote a lot of things down here and there's a couple of words that I wrote over and over again seemingly and that is describing you smart inspiring Relentless dogged and trustworthy and then I wrote I want to love and be inspired by this industry in business as much as I am by the entrepreneur I'm not incredibly passionate about this industry both aspects are incredibly important for me to want to make an investment cuz I'm really really compelled by one of those aspect aspects but not by the other that is the reason I'm going to say that I'm out four dragons down and the clothing entrepreneurs prospects of a deal now hang by the slimmest of threads only tuas Suliman who was originally Ben's Most Wanted is yet to declare his position you know I am sitting on that fence because when you came out with your B sheet just thought deflated it's not in the same healthy State as you you pretend it to be unfortunately you know silence in the den if you don't make an offer for this one t I don't know what you're going to make an offer for just got your name written all over it yeah look I I'm going to make you an offer sure all the money 150,000 but I want 35% I'd love to accept your offer great absolutely brilliant well done fantastic so pleased brilliant thank you brilliant it's a perfect fit as Ben sews up £150,000 worth of investment and the backing of a dragon whose skill set is ideally tailored to his company's needs I've never been so pleased somebody else won an investment congratulations T well done thank you having Tuka on board is going to be a fantastic addition to our business just what we need if anybody else out there has autism what I would say especially if they're young never give up don't let anybody stand in your way [Music]

Channel: Dragons' Den

Views: 316,901

Keywords: Dragons' Den, Dragons' Den UK, Dragons' Den investors, Dragons' Den success stories., TV business pitch, TV show pitch, business funding, business innovation, business investment, entrepreneur community, entrepreneur spotlight, entrepreneurs on TV, fashion for all sizes, fashion industry innovation, innovative clothing line, investment for equity, men's fashion line, plus-size clothing, successful clothing brand, thriving business, venture capital

Id: ZoWFYXpElVk

Length: 13min 13sec (793 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 26 2024