Where Are They Now: Top 3 Secured Investments | Dragons’ Den

now let's make a start back in series 16 when sam perry kicked up a stink in the den with his immersive live dissection experience here we have the thoracic cavity sam uses synthetic bodies and animal organs to offer physiology demos with a difference to both healthcare professionals and the paying public i'm going to remove the heart specimen so we can see what a surgeon may do i was pretty sure that this was something that i wasn't going to enjoy being involved in actually i think i was already feeling a little bit queasy if you'd like to come up and have a look a little bit closer at some of the specimens and then after that i'd be happy to take any questions [Music] all but one of the dragons that's a smell we're keen to accept sam's unusual invitation heart rate i just loved seeing my fellow dragons to use this as an opportunity to play doctors and nurses they were acting out a scene from er [Music] while deborah meaden nursed her delicate stomach peter jones began to dissect sam's finances how does the business work where does your income come from okay we have three flagship projects that we operate we have what called direct bookings where institutions book events direct with us the typical charge for that on average is around about 2 000 pounds for one day experience and that's around between 60 and 100 students we then have what we call our ticketed approach so we market the events to the general public and to healthcare practitioners and to university students those events tend to be for 150 in capacity and they will raise around about 15 000 pounds in turnover per one-day event 15 000 15 day event yeah that's huge yeah what won me over was the way sam presented but of course the numbers you know he was already selling a product that had clearly had a huge appeal to people [Music] we then have the anatomy lab live that's 89 pounds a ticket for the evening that includes a two-course meal um and dinner and dissection so they get to dissect the head the brain and the practice surgery i just can't imagine me going home to say we're gonna go out for dinner and she's gonna go well that's great dying yeah lovely and then we end up somewhere for dinner where some body is being dissected we get the dinner and dissection has been really well received i mean we get um every venue was sold out across the country 150 tickets am i just on my own here well actually i agree because today people want experiences it's all about experiences the younger generation want to feel and do different things and something like this although crazy as it may seem uh it's an experience you can talk about right and so you've done but who's your audience so 80 of the audience are healthcare practitioners in general you don't get cannibals turning up to your event um vampire no i mean any vampires now does anyone leave we've had a couple of people that have said it's too much for them apart from that it's just very well received sam's pungent but profitable business has captured the attention of the dragons healthcare tycoon tejlvani wants to take a scalpel to the scalability of the business how many events can you run a year so at the moment we probably have around about 200 at what we call active days we hope to get that up to around about 330 active days in the next financial year but you could scale up substantially more than that if you wanted to yeah can i ask you about the us have you got any competitors there um as far as i'm aware i can't see anybody doing that in the states and this is kind of why i want to move quite quickly in terms of getting this product out there actually i agree because what i think is you need to grow quickly because you've got a unique idea you need to be everywhere yeah in the uk but i think internationally as well a standout product in an untapped market two things that have pricked up the ears of tajlalvani but tuka sulumen wants to flesh out the entrepreneur's motives for entering the den i'm trying to work out what does sam want from me he wants you to donate the body for research what i'm asking myself is what value can i add to your business that would encourage me to invest in you there um i think basically in terms of planning and executing this i was a teacher i have developed business skills because i've come from a family i've got businesses get to the point um so just some if you've got access to contacts in a sense of guidance so what sort of context would you press and media contacts in the states anything to make audiences in the states purchase tickets in terms of contacts i mean as you know i run a vitamin company a healthcare company we've got direct connections with over hundreds of thousands of doctors worldwide so what you need is to be plugged into that network as soon as possible and i believe i'm that partner to help you so i'm going to give you an offer okay i do believe you're going to need more than 90 000 pounds um so what i'm willing to do is offer you 120 000 pounds [Music] but i want 25 of your company tas lalvani makes an early play for sam's company offering up all of his medical connections and some extra cash but asking for a five-fold increase in equity in return with one offer already on the table jenny campbell is ready to give her view on the medical business and for me you don't need to do any more in terms of is this an investable business absolutely this is an investable business you you are fabulous um so for me it's then about what value could i add to that and much as i would like to be part of this i feel that there is a better dragon in the room who's already in health and well-being so with regret but with my best wishes i'm out sam yes you are very investable and this is great however i can't see how i can add that much value in your business but you have a great business unfortunately i'm not gonna invest today and i'm out a double dragon dropout means tejla alvarni's position is significantly strengthened but debra meden isn't ready to throw in the surgical towel just yet well i think our dragons would turn into pussycats because because if i really like something i'm going to go for it it is fair to say of course i won't pretend that i've got the contacts directly into the health industry that taige has but i don't think that's all you need i think certainly in terms of growing businesses quickly taking them internationally you know i can absolutely add value on that it's a well trodden path for me so i am going to make you an offer and i'm going to offer you all of the money for 15 of the business thank you deborah deborah meaden sniffs out a business with potential and makes her move will peter jones want to join the post-mortem party i understand what you're doing it's very much focused on events yeah and from my perspective you need to have somebody who has experience with events and managing those events and obviously i'm lucky enough to have been involved with a couple of businesses that do that extremely well so i kind of understand this market of where you need to go i'm interested and i'm gonna make you an offer okay pizza so i'm gonna offer you all of the money yeah in return for 20 of the business puts me in a predicament sam while you're thinking about that yeah i actually entirely disagree with peter's school of thought i think that um you know if you want to run a circus and entertainment maybe that's the route but having that network where you have access to the top doctors internationally is key for you i don't in what way that disagrees with me well because we're talking about medical colleges hospitals we're talking about having the connection to the right doctors and that i believe could be what can accelerate your business can i ask if any of the three of you would be interested in doing anything together um sam look i mean this is my area yeah um i don't think you need another dragon i've just launched in america in over 7000 stores nationally i believe that if you want to grow i'm your guy for me i'm happy you know if i had 10 for half the money um deborah had 10 percent me too yeah then you have got two for the the price of one yes you know peter and deborah can join forces but sometimes more dragons dilute the focus yeah just so you know no one can blaze a peter alright diluting focus do they peter no let's give him a moment sam now has two offers to consider tasvani is asking for 25 of the company in return for all his health care connections plus some extra cash whilst peter jones and deborah meaden are happy to partner up for a slightly smaller 20 percent both deals mean giving up a sizable stake in the business but sam isn't done negotiating yet um okay uh after consideration would you consider 14 that's a nice try for me that's a no 25 is my final offer so i'm gonna stick to that i would personally be willing to invest half the money for 10 percent but when my funds are repaid i dropped to 7.5 but it would have to be that deborah would accept the same okay i'd be happy with that i didn't see that coming i didn't see peter and deborah teaming up i thought they'd be going individually but of course they thought you know they'll have to join forces to beat me on this one i'd like to accept your offer peter and deborah i'm sorry for that [Applause] thank you thank you really good yes pretty excited [Music] over a year on from the den his dragon investors have given sam's business a major transfusion having peter and deborah on board has made a massive improvement to the way that we operate the incision needs to come straight down essentially to the midline the investment initially was deployed into improving our equipment we've also spent some money converting our vehicles into specialist vehicles so our crew can actually work remotely the rest of it has been kind of put into being able to kind of move into two premises hi and that's me love live our turnover has doubled so we're now turning over well over a million pounds a year it's been phenomenal willie to have the dragons on board but in sam's latest venture cadavers have taken a back seat to courtrooms he's now offering members of the public a chance to act as jurors in a mock murder trial [Music] hi deborah how are you good how are you very good good stuff this is it the bus so what's inside 12 beds living rooms kitchens and all this show equipment so gosh should we have a look absolutely let's go thanks to this bus sam's cast and crew can now dispense justice in every corner of the country so listen when you came into dragon's den murder trial life didn't even exist no it didn't absolutely so this is just a massive example of where we've obviously been working with yourselves and it's absolutely worth to treat so it's it's been great it's had over i think 15 000 people that have attended this last 60 shows so what does that mean in terms of money so we've turned up just shy of three-quarters of a million off this concept on its own and we've got 100 shows just got on sale for next year so it's really exciting in this case it looks like crime does pay i can't wait to see the show let's go honey let's do it [Music] what's brilliant about this so these are based on real trials don't ask me too many questions this is my first murder we've talked about this for so long i'm actually going to see it listen to the buzz in the room it's really exciting she might be one of the country's most astute judges but how will debra get on as a juror ladies and gentlemen the jury all rise members of the jury it's your responsibility this evening to listen to the arguments put forward by the prosecution and the defense to examine the evidence and then to try the case on the facts alone there is no evidence showing mr lane to be guilty with the fate of the accused and then walked in the hotel but it doesn't show that you killed her in the capable hands of her fellow jurors t-shirts mugs deborah's giving sam a hand at shifting some particular mug what merchandise that sir excellent proving a dragon can never resist an opportunity to rake in a bit of extra cash i love these do you think that's brilliant aren't they fantastic deborah has been really hands-on i'm not what i was expecting here she's on the merchandise stand so you talk to it like a duck to water we've got a queue of happy customers so uh we'll see what the numbers are like at the end of the night it's all done brilliant thank you so much from selling to sentencing the jury is back in and on the charge of murder they have found you [Music] not guilty you are free to go and when it comes to the deal struck in the den what's sam's final verdict so accepting deborah and peter's investment absolutely was the right decision for us we have been able to make massive progress in terms of offering events all over the uk the amount of hard work that's gone into producing this show was incredible to think just eight months ago it was just a concept and idea and to see it now is absolutely amazing really really pleased [Music] when i invested in sam i invested in a person who i believed had huge potential and could take a business forward boy has he proved that he can do that and that i couldn't be happier this year a brand new investor crafting queen sarah davies has taken her seat in the den at just 35 she's the youngest dragon ever [Music] as you can tell i'm pretty excited that i've got 50 million questions sarah walked into the den and straight away owned that chair howie shut it listen she's a canny lass sarah might be the youngest dragon but does she know a lot about business since joining she's already made well over half a million pounds worth of investments i want you and i want to work with you more than any of her fellow dragons [Music] i think i'd like to make you an offer all of the money i would like a 10 stake in your business the young dragon is hitting hard i would love to accept it tremendous congratulations you did a really good pitch yeah well done sarah hasn't been afraid to invest which is great i think having her in is shaking things up how is it being a new dragon i mean i knew going into it i was i was super excited about it then after day one i was like this is going to be even better than i thought it was going to be and i've just had a blast [Music] thank you cheers everyone do you think because you're the newbie there's a bit of you that empathizes almost more with the picture than with the dragons i'll watch those entrepreneurs walk through the lift doors you can you can read every emotion on their face their hands are gone the sweats dripping they're shaking a little bit but we're there to make commercial decisions so always let your head rule your heart what happened with mac talk then not that i let my heart rule my head long time ago there's a mama's boy a little fat cause food brought him joy his mama makes the best chili paste when he left home he missed all that taste what tastes sweet chili paste fried chili paste i'm so in love with your dictates you'll understand what's all the crap is this time to buy and invest in my toes chili pay okay hi my name is will and i'm the heart of motto at mato we make one of the best malaysian artisans in the uk and possibly the world based on a recipe i nick from my mom so what makes our chili paste so interesting number one it's versatile heavy acid dip cook with it or turn it into a curry sauce two is delicious try marinating with some chicken thai grill it in the oven once charred squeeze a tiny bit of lime over it and there you have it succulent chicken satay and three it's irresistible just like yours truly we've started in may 2017 and we saw more than 8 000 units to date we've recently launched into our first supermarket at spruce and we'll be exporting to the likes of germany austria and switzerland in the couple of months i'm asking for fifty thousand pounds in return for twenty percent of my little company and together let's bring mata to every kitchen and to every heart across the world i know we'll get there because my name is will and when there's a will there's a way well done well done great let me pass you something for you guys to try with a burning ambition to make a success of his fledgling chili paste company it's will choose thank you you're welcome oh it's got a bit of a kick hasn't it yep quite nice actually peter jones is no stranger to propelling sources to success he's the first to open the lid on this cheeky chaps condiment company the last person that entered the den with a sauce and playing a guitar walked out with an investment and today he's a multi-millionaire you're looking to be the second person i don't want to be a second person because that will be a shadow of him but i think i can be my own person and with the help of you guys here i think we'll do great things so in essence then you've got a range of chili pastes yeah under the brand name of mac talk yes when i moved to the uk for my studies i was really homesick i needed to make my mom's chili paste so she posted really good quality interviews all the way from malaysia so that i could enjoy something that my mom used to make okay where are you selling it at the moment local farm shops and delis across yorkshire as well as a booth supermarket and where do you make them so at the moment i will make them in my friend's factory why did you smile when you said your friends factory i think that i'm very lucky because without the support that i've received from friends family i wouldn't get here seriously that's a very reflective humble thing to say my mom always taught me that just be nice yeah yeah i have exactly the same ethos i think that's why i'm recognized as the nicest dragon the happy-go-lucky entrepreneur's positivity seems to be having an effect in the den malaysian born will chew a new dragon sarah davis made an unlikely combination but will's sunny personality had sarah dazzled i don't understand anything about the chili jam margaret but i believed in the entrepreneur and i could see he is someone i could work with now tajlalvani wants a taste of the company's structure you've got people working for you so i have myself my co-founder who works in this part-time so did he get the listing of booths uh no i did that actually how's the share split then i hold 100 of the company okay and he has nothing uh he's my cousin probably in paper we should have those percentage being drawn out but in my culture in my family blood is thicker than water so the intention is to give him half is that right yes i would understand the sales you had from may 2017 and then the whole of 2018 and then 2019. right i don't actually have that figure in my head but um you don't have that figure in your head yeah unfortunately i'm sorry about that but that's a little bit disappointing tas lalvani is no stranger to the dynamics of a family business but he's not impressed by will's lack of knowledge about his sales and it looks as though peter jones is taking a trip down memory lane to mistakes from the past i've been involved in certain similar type of products and it was interesting because the product didn't sell as well in this type of containment moving forward yes we've thought about increasing the size of the jars another thing that we're looking into is we plan to actually license the product so that the big boys could actually manufacture our products why would they want to do that when they can actually make the same product and create something themselves and the thing is they don't have me i can put a smile in anyone's face will yeah hi what have you come here today for your expertise and your contacts because i suffer from social anxiety so i'm not the best person to go out there and talk to people and i'm not great at phoning up people i get really really scared to do that but what i can do is stand in front of people and tell people about my products and my little story and you're doing really well considering if that's what you struggle from you wouldn't know there's nothing but admiration in the den for will's honesty and his own special blend of charm hasn't gone unnoticed by deborah meaden will you ooze joy goodness fun and pleasure and that's fantastic but of course a product has to be able to convey that message and stand on its own describe you to me how do i say this i'm a person who loves to smile for whatever reason does that say that to you uh well it's quite simple and fun in the way the colors i'm not sure it's that much fun if you don't find a way of getting people to pick your personality off the shelf they're going to pick somebody else's personality off the shelf this to me looks quite similar to quite a lot of products out there i've really enjoyed your pitch it has led me to what you said a little bit of joy but unfortunately i won't be investing i'm out deborah meaden may be the first dragon to go out but will's smile shows no sign of wavering but is his pace to tasvani's taste for me if you believed in yourself a lot more a lot more people will believe in you and i actually think you can achieve it and do it i mean you got that listing in boots but i think this area is a bit too niche for me i think if you keep pushing at it there's a will there's a way all right unfortunately i'm out but good luck thank you will yeah i think you've got the makings of being a real entrepreneur thank you i have one problem this is an area that i'm not too familiar with there are better dragons that could help you a lot more than i can i'm not going to invest today and i'm out more sorrow for the source entrepreneur as two more bow out of the deal is the dragon with the most experience in this market ready to dish out his verdict this is very very early stage and what you've created a big investment into your business right now with your experience is very risky for an investor unless they're willing to jump into almost bed with you and run that whole project so that's not something that i can go on that journey with but i i say carry on but it's not for me and i'm out it's not looking good for will as peter jones becomes the fourth dragon out leaving just sarah davies will she be willing to take a risk on this young [Music] entrepreneur i'm sat here and i'm thinking there's a guy up there who's been there and done this who's seen an entrepreneur walk into here full of personality a bit of a product there and has made it into a worldwide global brand worth millions and he said no to this which tells me if i say yes surely i mean i don't know more than that guy knows when i came into the den i set myself some clear parameters and this is everything i said that i wouldn't do there's loads of chili peas but there's only one will and i think you are great and i just i love you and i and i really want to make this work with you i do and i just think someone needs to give you that break sorry here's what i think we should do i'll make you an offer i'll give you all of the money me you and your cousin i think we should have a third each can i talk to the wall yeah go to [Laughter] don't know what i'm talking to the world for sarah davies lets her heart rule her head as she offers the full fifty thousand pounds but for thirteen percent more equity than will originally wanted to give away i started my business because of my mom and she's always been behind me all the way and without her support and everyone else that's behind me i wouldn't be here today talking to you guys thank you all for your time and i will accept your offer wow she's going to be so proud of you it's you that's what i've invested in it's you thank you well done well will leaves behind an unusually emotional den and heads back to sheffield with an investment from seasoned business builder sarah davies i'm feeling confident and i think our future will be filled with joy laughter and a bit of chili in between how hot is that do you know what good people go places well if there's any help you want from me to make this journey you can pick up the phone and say tuka i need a favor i'll take you up on yeah and if you need any help from me call tuka yeah [Laughter] since leaving the den will with the help of his dragon investor has secured a national listing with okado and launched two new flavors and then this is the other studio and then with the mint junior today sarah drawing on her tv shopping expertise is giving will a crash course in the art of selling so the whole point of this video people are going to watch it because they think they want to learn to cook but actually you're going to give them a dose of will but a daughter will in their life's going to make them feel happy happy people by production right apron on in here big smiles i'm gonna go in the gallery and keep an eye on you right come on then how is he looking when you're ready let's go for a take hey everyone it's will from mato i'm oh gosh no it's okay you don't have to get it right first time okay take two [Music] what we're going to be making today is a very very very simple dish let's do that again not getting the eyes down the camera this is definitely going to be the one talk talk talk talk talk talk talk he's got it now [Music] hi everyone it's will from makto i am super glad that sorry invested in me because i'm learning a lot from it and today i'll be sharing with you one of my favorite chili pits and i think together we could actually bring this friend to the world and trust me your kids are gonna love them and that's a wrap that was awesome well done i'm so delighted to be working with will there's a ton of possibility loads and loads of potential there and i'm just really excited about the future [Applause] [Music] as we've all too clearly seen in the pressure cooker of the den emotions can often boil over but sometimes bearing your soul and putting absolutely everything out there can be what transforms a good pitch into a truly great one cue craig hill from cardiff he entered the den hoping to gain investment in his range of educational play equipment for kids my name is craig hale and i'm the owner of landscapes for learning limited i'm here today to ask for your investment of 50 000 pounds in return for a 15 share of my company landscapes for learning design manufacture and source outdoor educational resources and consult with primary schools with regards to developing their outdoor learning spaces we're increasingly living in a society where children spend a large proportion of their time staring at a screen my goal as a former teacher and father of three is to get children outside exploring the world around them and experience in life firsthand whilst facilitating learning through play we've been working hard to develop a product range often in collaboration with teachers that have educational benefits starting with our very first mud kitchen just 17 months ago we now offer over 90 different learning resources and we're continuously developing new and exciting pieces of equipment to add to our product range i believe that together we can grow landscapes for learning to become a sound investment in our children's future development thank you for listening to me you're welcome to come up and have a play on the seesaw or build a sandcastle um and i look forward to any questions you might have it's going to be fun it's a slick pitch from craig hill who's offering 15 of his business that produces outdoor educational playsets that's quite fun actually it's quite bizarre seeing sort of let's say older dragons on a seesaw but that aside when you look at the products you see what he put together and the craftsmanship see the point of this look but the different weights i thought oh this this is going to be really interesting with playtime over it was time to get down to business hi craig hello um so just so i'm clear is it you you or is it you and people in a workshop we spent the first 12 months working on the garage at the end of my garden that's me on my own it's me and one other now and we build from scratch and say 95 of the products we sell i offer to a certain degree a bespoke service to schools can you tell me what your average order value is per school yeah absolutely we tend to get orders between two thousand and five thousand pounds so what's the process you contact the school no the school i i haven't contacted any schools you haven't contacted any school no all the schools have contacted me through recommendations or referrals that's the first yeah that's pretty impressive and what's the success rate per visit by the time i'm in the school they've spent the money with me [Music] the notion that craig's products sell themselves has got all of the dragon's attention but deborah meaden wants to know if that means business really is booming craig when did your year end is it the end tomorrow oh tomorrow yeah yes great time to ask you what your turnover is for the year then since 2017 we've turned over 185 000 which is operating at around a 49 gross profit margin okay i'm presuming you haven't taken a salary out of those yes i do it's a thousand pound a month are you taking dividends out yes i left teaching after a period of depression i couldn't continue in there um so as mine is the only source of income we accu quite a lot of debt so i spent the last 12 months basically paying off my debt by taking dividends and and making sure that i get rid of my personal debt that was a priority for me [Music] craig yes just talk to me about you what happened yeah okay so um i mean i grew up on what was the largest council estate in europe at the time i qualified as an art teacher and then i worked in special educational needs um my daughter had an accident where sorry she fell into a fire she sort of ran at me on flames i had to put her out and both my hands caught fire so that just ruined me i couldn't cope with it so it was it was about either carrying on and being useless at the job or making the decision to be with my family and i made the second decision when craig opened up and you heard his backstory his his journey through and with depression you could clearly see and feel his strength the character for me i was almost in at that point because you invest in people as much as their product and craig was just a huge tick box for me i can't imagine what that must feel yeah yeah it's pretty tough um sorry guys really brought the move down she's in good shape now you know she bounced back she takes pride in her scars you know so there's a real touch of the educational piece here and i can see with your background why you've why you're doing what you're doing where could you go in terms of scaling this what's your dream where i'd like to be is the go-to company that like we need outdoor educational resources who do we go to landscapes for learning and it should roll off the town you kind of see actually what's the reason why this couldn't be in every school what's the reason why this actually couldn't be in a lot of homes i want to congratulate you oh thanks for reinventing yourself cheers man you are a great salesman and in a way you being the carpenter and building it is a waste okay what concerns me is how could a dragon help you you can do it on your own ah tuka i wish i wish i liked for you that's your bread and butter for me to take it from a company is quite craig centric to becoming a company where there's there's reps and there's national distribution network if you had two extra carpenters and you could go out and sell what would your turnover be i think i could probably get a 400 000 next year with a net of maybe 180. craig you said you're looking for for a dragon to understand the potential of the business but the numbers itself shows you the potential of the business the schools are coming to you so really it's about your time being put more effectively and just getting the manufacturing sorted out i'd love help with that why don't you build it up to a million pound business and then try and look for investors never built up a million pounds well i mean you're on the way to doing it right i mean i think in about three years you could be there i don't know if i've made this sound easier and there is it's been hardcrafted it's hard because that's what i'm saying you've done the different you've proved the model a lot of times businesses come into the den to have improved a business model that actually works what i would say is that i think what i'm looking for is somebody to recognize this potential and just point me in the right direction craig i'll tell you where i'm at i actually don't think you need a dragon but you know i feel like i want to help you you're doing a really good thing here [Music] so i'm just going to give you an offer out there i'm willing to share the 50 000 in any proportion with other dragons but for 25 percent okay a bid from taj lahlvani who's looking for a joint investment at 25 equity rather than the 15 originally on offer to seal a deal craig will need at least one other dragon to come on board is anybody willing to play ball [Music] okay i'll do the other half [Music] i can't let this pass for your future your legend chance to go they didn't feel that the business really needed a dragon they were wrong i knew i knew that they the business did i'm gonna tell you where i am you present really well and you are inspirational to pick yourself up and to do this is blink and inspiring and i tell you what that also tells me that my goodness you're resilient you would do whatever it takes to get a business going but when i sit in this chair i'm a dragon and i think it's a good business but i don't think it's going to be a huge business i won't be investing so i wish you all the best but i'm out thank you craig my worry would be if we all went in um then you'd probably go yes i'll have all of you and then that would be a disaster because you probably wouldn't get the right focus and it wouldn't be the right thing at all so with respect and with all my best wishes uh i'm out deborah meaden and jenny campbell bow out of the deal leaving just one more dragon to declare his hand is peter jones in or out you're right yeah not too bad yeah um craig the products that you've created i think are great i mean a mud kitchen i think is brilliant a chalk board to create an outdoor table is clever i'm sitting here trying to debate you have an offer and how much do i really believe in the business that actually the money that i invest not only am i going to get that back because i'm an investor at the end of the day but also how much of me and my time and that actually will help you drive and make a different business i've made my decision now and i'm gonna say to you that i'm gonna make you an offer and i'm going to offer you all of the money but i want 30 of the business i must admit i was i was a little bit sweaty and anxious because i know that my deal on paper wasn't the best do you want to go and think about it oh yes okay cheers peter jones muddies the waters by asking for five percent more than teja alvani and tuka suluman's joint offer of 25 the expertise of two dragons or the wisdom of just one it's a tough choice for craig [Music] i i really appreciate everybody's offers [Music] it's a big decision to make and it's a life-changing thing i think it might be worth the 30 peter so if it's okay i'd like to accept your offer wow sorry tension tooks better luck next time gotta wrap your game boys well done peter he's more than an entrepreneur in waiting absolutely yeah diagram he's gonna make it and boy was i right he is now well on his way and i for one could not be happier and in south wales things have really picked up for craig since the den we are unrecognizable at the time i think i was working out with my garage we're now in a 3 000 square foot unit we're already looking to to move again because we've outgrown this we're a team of 10 boys now and yeah we're going from strength to strength we're on ordering from a chain of nurseries there's uh 370 sets required so having peter's investment has absolutely been life-changing for us it's helped us create a business that is way beyond what i thought it could be our projection for the 12 months following dragon's den appearance was 189 000 and we smashed that and we were just over 322. we only feel like we're going in one direction and the business isn't the only thing that's on the open up craig's youngest daughter ariane who as a toddler suffered serious burns is now 10 and well and truly on the mend so ariane's doing a lot better now she's grown and she's very accepting of her own experiences and um yeah she tells me regularly that she's proud of me which is you know it's a nice thing to hear and she used to do little drawings and tell stories to the teachers to seeing how her dad saved her life and that's just really really cool today craig is catching up with his dragon investor craig good to see you you okay yeah good wow what's this then this looks like some different designs i haven't seen we're now rather than selling individual items we're actually developing and designing um whole spaces it looks great but how's it gone in the last month even more things have happened recently we we secured a a contract worth sixty six thousand five hundred um on the same day we had an estimate accepted for forty thousand and then the next morning we got one for twenty seven so a hundred and thirty thousand pounds with a business in two days it was a good week yeah i've had worse days like you know so yeah and let's not forget an international business unfolding as we speak you've just signed a deal with distribution in america and europe yeah absolutely so um we've cultivated and nurtured a relationship with a a fantastic distributor we're on target now to do over half a million and next year we're going to hit the million yeah can we double it next year i think we could do more what's your dream where do you see the next three years sure it's it's difficult to say because i don't see a ceiling i think the market leader did 60 million last year and i don't look at that and think that's unachievable as a result of your involvement i can create a bit of a legacy for my family with the three girls all wanting to be a part of it hopefully in 10 15 years time like my three girls sarah carrie and erin at the helm wouldn't that be great it'd be brilliant wouldn't it so if you want to leave the den crying tears of happiness instead of just crying then what is the magic formula based on what we've just seen a bit of clarity candor and bags of commitment equals a dragon's cat and the first step on that journey from pitch to rich sounds easy i've actually got a great idea is there anybody still there you

Channel: Dragons' Den

Views: 391,788

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Id: tYBjocSpcKM

Length: 50min 32sec (3032 seconds)

Published: Sat May 29 2021