Series three, episode one, of the Dragons’ Den aired on August 3rd 2006. James Seddon walked into the Dragons’ Den asking for £75,000 of the Dragons’ ‘hard earned’ money, in return for a 10 per cent stake in his business. James started his pitch by describing how nutritious eggs are and how they make the perfect breakfast food, but continued by stressing how many difficulties one faces when boiling an egg.

Such problems were said to include five minutes to boil the water, five minutes to boil the egg and then however long it takes to do the washing up! Indeed, fifteen or so minutes to enjoy a boiled egg does seem like a rather long time. James Seddon then claimed that he had invented a way to make boiling an egg as easy as making toast (eat your heart out Delia!).

James presented his solution in the form of the Eggxactly (a play on words that all the Dragons found highly amusing). The Eggxactly is a water free egg cooker that was invented by Mr Seddon after he found himself frustrated when trying to cook his daughter the perfect boiled egg. Fed up with overcooking the egg (or worse, under cooking), James hit upon the idea of using a stretchy soft heating element, which encased the egg and used a microprocessor to control the cooking time and the heat setting. The unique heating element provided good thermal contact with the egg, regardless of the awkward shape.

After this eureka moment, James developed the process further, first by creating a prototype and then improving upon it. By the time he entered the Dragons’ Den, he had spoken to four major companies, one of which was Home Tek (producers of Ainsley Harriott’s successful cooking appliance range). The projections were that the business would turn over one million pounds in its first year and seven million pounds by year four – ambitious targets indeed.

The Dragons that day included Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Theo Paphitis, Duncan Bannatyne and Richard Farleigh. The first to question Mr Seddon was Peter Jones, who had a good look at the product and then, Peter being Peter, examined the prototype and asked for a demonstration of a four minute egg! Perhaps he was feeling peckish that day. Mr Seddon said he could provide a five minute egg but Peter insisted on a four minute egg! James decided to go ahead and cook a five minute egg anyway.

Whilst the egg was cooking, Deborah Meaden questioned the ability of the product to turn itself off. Meanwhile, the device started to beep, signifying that it had finished cooking and – much to James’ dismay and embarrassment – he realised that he had not actually put an egg in the egg cooker! This was enough for Deborah Meaden to declare herself out!

Another disastrous demonstration ensued, during which the Dragons continued to discuss the product. It was explained that Mr Seddon had patents which covered the unique technology contained in the Egg cooker. A further demonstration having failed (the prototype this time), Mr Bannatyne and Mr Paphitis declared themselves out.

Despite failing to successfully demonstrate a working prototype, Mr Seddon secured investment from two dragons: Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh, who both invested £37,500 for 20% each of the company.

So, where exactly is the Eggxactly now? Has Mr Seddon hit that one million target yet? The answer is no, not yet at least. The Eggxactly is due to hit shops during the Autumn of 2009. Originally, it was hoped that the product would be ready for Christmas of 2008 but this was not to be. However, the product is currently gathering accolades whilst still in development. As an example, in March 2008 the Eggxactly won best new green product in the E-On EnergyLab competition.

The Eggxactly website is, however, fully up and running – and what a very attractive site it is. It offers a plethora of egg filled information, from recipes to all the information you ever wanted to know about an egg but never bothered to ask. Most importantly it includes detailed information on the new Eggxactly product. By all accounts, the Eggxactly will be available in six different colours: black, green, yellow, red, blue and pink. Furthermore, interested customers will be able to pre-order it for just £25. Once you have registered your interest, the Eggxactly team will e-mail you with details of when ‘eggxactly’ the product will be ready for distribution.

It seems that while the public greatly anticipates the arrival of a convenient, no water, no fuss, no washing up, ‘non boiled’ egg boiler, we will all have to wait just that little bit longer. The episode in question is also a superb example of the need for thorough preparation and concentration when presenting and selling any form of product or service. However, it seems that this particular story may just be beginning.

Originally written by Lammo.net, a blog all about Affiliate Marketing

Dragons Den: Where are they now? – Eggxactly

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Many entrepreneurs have tried their luck in the Dragons’ Den only to be ridiculed by Duncan Bannatyne, rebuked by Peter Jones or barked at by Deborah Meaden. Indeed, it takes a brave soul to venture into the Dragons’ Den and ask for a portion of the “hard earned inheritance” owing to Theo Paphitis’ children. More often than not, the Dragons will declare themselves out of a proposed business venture and, in doing so, they will leave many entrepreneurs reeling from some fiery words. Therefore, when the Dragons sit up and take notice of a potential business opportunity, it is usually to the credit of the entrepreneur. Even so, moving a Dragon from a point of interest to secure a firm offer, which is in itself one that the entrepreneur would be happy to accept, is a completely different matter. Moreover, a divided Dragons’ Den is a fairly regular occurrence.

It came as little surprise, therefore, that Julie White’s pitch for £75,000 to fund a baby products company called Truly Madly Baby was given a mixed reception. Duncan Bannatyne and Doug Richard found themselves unable to fully understand the target market whilst being left unimpressed by Julie White’s financial projections. Indeed, for a company that had a turnover of just £2,600 in its first year of trading, it was certainly a questionable move by Julie to value the company at an estimated £6 million by year two. In fact, this was enough to end the speculative interest of Rachel Elnaugh, who had suggested that the business would be better placed as a mail order or online company. In any case, all but two of the Dragons had ruled themselves out at this stage.

Multi-millionaire Peter Jones, however, saw the potential in Julie White’s business. Often seen as the champion of the entrepreneurial underdog, Peter Jones will often take a punt on a business venture that targets a market he finds interesting. Speaking after the show, Peter Jones admitted that baby clothes and products were of interest to him and there was a worthwhile opportunity to explore in Julie White’s company. However, having offered the full £75,000 for a 50% share in the business, Peter Jones’ offer was countered by Theo Paphitis, who weighed in with the same figure for a 47.5% share. To Julie’s immense credit and testament to her nerves of steel, she was able to negotiate a better deal with Peter Jones, whose offer of £75,000 for a 45% stake in Truly Madly Baby was gratefully accepted. However, this share was still 20% more than Julie had intended to give up.

Nevertheless, the opportunity to work with Peter Jones and the desire to make her company a success were enough to see Julie agree to the deal. Peter later added that he could see enough potential in the business to convince him that it could become a nationwide force. Moreover, the fact that Peter had recently been made a father again obviously struck a personal chord with the Dragon. In hindsight, perhaps Julie White should have given more consideration to Theo Paphitis and his extensive influence in the domestic retail industry, which would have no doubt placed the Truly Madly Baby product at the forefront of its niche market in the UK. Nevertheless with Peter Jones’ revised offer accepted, the task of making Truly Madly Baby a household name could begin.

Founded in 2004, Truly Madly Baby was in desperate need of a cash injection. Visiting the Dragons’ Den in 2005 was a rewarding experience for Julie White, who described the adventure as “really fantastic and very exciting. a dream come true”. However, her deal with Peter Jones was later rescinded after Julie sought investment from an another source, details of which remain unclear. Nevertheless, the decision not to work with one of the most successful Dragons could be seen as either very silly — or a very gutsy move. Either way, the ties with the Dragons’ Den ended before they really began.

Currently, the Truly Madly Baby business has grown to include somewhere between 200 and 500 consultants in the UK, including Guernsey and the Orkney Islands. Whilst the health of this side to the business cannot be easily assessed, the online element of the company is flourishing. Indeed, the trulymadlybaby.co.uk website has become an important resource for baby clothes and related products. It would appear that Julie took on board Rachel Elnaugh’s suggestion that the online side of the business would be the most lucrative. The website now comprises a number of departments, including those selling products that can be attributed to Learning, Bedtime and Fun time.

The Truly Madly Baby website features a simple yet effective design. One of the most important aspects of e-commerce is to produce a website that is user-friendly and offers intuitive navigation. Without any doubt, trulymadlybaby.co.uk addresses these requirements and more – clean layouts, large navigation buttons and an uncomplicated checkout process make for a pleasant online shopping experience.

Starting up a new business is always hard work. Julie White proved her entrepreneurial skills by attracting investment from one of the most successful Dragons, whilst retaining enough determination to ultimately do things her own way. Whether she prevails in this extremely competitive category in the longer term remains to be seen but early signs are encouraging and Julie certainly seems to have the degree of focus needed to succeed in the current climate.

Originally written by Lammo.net, a blog all about Affiliate Marketing

Dragons Den: Where are they now? – Truly Madly Baby

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Charles Ejogo pitched for his company “Umbrolly” on the Dragons Den episode aired on the 4th January 2005. The idea he presented to the Dragons was that of a number of vending machines for umbrellas, including an LCD screen to display advertising of a very high quality, to be placed on the streets of London.

This was to include three hundred in the London Underground for a minimum contract of 12 years. The entrepreneur had come up with the idea whilst walking home in the rain, and wished a vending machine had been nearby so that he could purchase an umbrella and stop himself getting soaked! Each machine had the capacity to hold up to 45 umbrellas and was suitable for use both indoors and outdoors.

Although Charles requested £150,000 from the Dragons for a 20% share in his business, he accepted an investment offer from Peter Jones and Duncan Bannatyne of £75,000 from each of them for 20% equity for each Dragon. However, Charles never received the money for the investment from the Dragons. Both Peter Jones and Duncan Bannatyne had been under the impression that Umbrolly already had all the arrangements in place for the advertising that was to be displayed on the panels of the vending machines. It transpired, however, that this wasn’t the case and that Charles had been hoping to get the contract for the advertising at a later date once a deal with the Dragons had been negotiated.

Following the collapse of the deal, Charles was forced to look elsewhere for the investment he required for his business. However, the exposure he had received by going on to the TV show meant that after the deal with the Dragons had collapsed, Charles was inundated with offers of partnerships and investments in his company from other businesses, and soon accepted an offer, with the business moving into a serviced office in London.

In 2006, the umbrella vending machine was named “Innovation of the Year” by BT Redcare. Later that year, the Mini Machine (thought to be the most compact umbrella vending machine in the world at only 8 inches deep) was designed and prototyped by Seymour Powell, the same group of people who helped to design Richard Branson’s Space Plane. Later that same year, the Department of Trade and Industry named Ejogo as the Innovator of the Year.

In 2007, flaws were uncovered in the original prototype of the Mini Machine, so Charles ordered a complete redesign of the machine to be undertaken. Shortly thereafter, manufacturers for the new Mini Machine were recruited and production of the unit with its new design began. Umbrolly then began to build up a network of retailers who were willing to place the vending machines in their stores. Ejogo has been successful in gaining several high-profile contracts, such as in airports, shopping centres and train stations, where the footfall of potential customers passing the machines, and therefore more likely to use them, is at its highest. Later in 2007, the Mini Machine was named Runner-Up in Auto Vending Magazine’s ‘Product of the Year’.

Charles was then able to agree an exclusive servicing / operating deal allowing Umbrolly to position their machines anywhere they desired within the UK. After signing the agreement with the national service partner, Charles began to find customers who were willing to lease or purchase a machine from Umbrolly all over the country.

The company continued to grow in stature significantly throughout 2007. Later that year, Burlington Investment Partners took a significant (although minority) stake in Umbrolly, which allowed Charles to facilitate further growth not only on a domestic scale, but also globally. Interest from abroad grew rapidly, and Umbrolly began to listen to offers from potential international investors. The Mini Machine then received another award, this time coming second in the Vending International Magazine’s ‘Product of the Year’. After this award, Umbrolly became better known internationally, with machines being delivered to Germany and the USA later in the year and further overseas deals being negotiated.

The publicity Umbrolly received by going on Dragons Den was all important in getting the business moving and allowing it to grow, firstly on the domestic front and then over time on an international scale. Even though Charles’ deal with the Dragons fell through and he never received their investment or business advice, it didn’t prevent his business from becoming a global success. He has ultimately succeeding in turning his umbrella vending machine concept into a reputable, profit-making company. This is yet another entrepreneurial example of persistence paying off in the face of what may have appeared to have been an insurmountable problem at the outset. Affiliates take heed!

Originally written by Lammo.net, a blog all about Affiliate Marketing

Dragons Den: Where are they now – Umbrolly

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Danny Bamping pitched for his company “Bedlam Puzzles” on the Dragons Den episode aired on the 22nd November 2005. The product he was trying to sell to the Dragons was called the “Bedlam Cube”.

The Bedlam Cube was invented by Bruce Bedlam, who hadn’t pursued the product commercially, and instead Danny had spent two and a half years prior to the show developing the product and planning for its success in the UK. The Bedlam Cube comprises of 13 unique geometric shapes, has 19,186 different solutions, no packaging, and is a British invention by a British company. Theo Paphitis and Rachel Elnaugh decided to invest £50,000 for a 15% share of equity in the business each.

However, after the show had been recorded, Danny decided to pull out of the agreement with the two Dragons, opting instead to take out a bank loan for the amount of investment he required for his business and to go it alone without the help of the Dragons. He did this to avoid losing any equity to the Dragons so he kept full control of his business. The bank loan was used to start sales of the Bedlam Cube through retailers online and in one of London’s best toy stores, Hamleys.

Within two years and with the help of the TV exposure received through Dragons Den, the Bedlam Cube had been dubbed the next Rubik’s Cube of the toy world, and had become a phenomenon on a worldwide scale. In 2006, Danny said he believed over 100,000 Bedlam cubes had been sold since the middle of 2005, and turnover of the company was approaching £1 million per year.

The Bedlam Cube became a success in the retail toy, promotional merchandise and corporate gift market through Danny Bamping’s entrepreneurial skill and marketing of the product. In 2006, it was being sold through many major companies, including Argos, John Lewis, Tesco, Debenhams and WH Smith, and was highly popular during the Christmas period of the same year.

To meet the ever-increasing demand for the Bedlam Cube, Danny decided that the business would have to expand. In an eight to ten month period from early 2006, the company grew rapidly, increasing the number of employees to seven and moving to new premises. With the help of the cube’s inventor, Bruce Bedlam, Danny was able to launch a cheaper mini version of the cube in late 2006 to boost retail sales, and also decided that the business should start to operate internationally. A new distribution deal took the cube to South Africa, with approximately 120,000 cubes manufactured in China and then exported directly to South Africa. The cube was also distributed to Australia, New Zealand, and 17 different European countries.

In terms of the cubes appearance in the corporate and promotional gift market, the Bedlam cube was produced for major names such as O2, Siemens, PwC and BP. In the UK’s promotional marketing industry, worth about £20 billion per year, Danny became the winner of the first ever BPMA Entrepreneur of the Industry Award in 2006. In the same year, the company also won the award for the most innovative product.

Danny has always said that he aims to be as green as he possibly can in business, and has continued this promise to himself through Bedlam Puzzles. The Bedlam Cube has no packaging and all wooden versions of the cube are created from sustainable rubber wood. In 2007, Danny announced that production of the cubes would move to the UK and would start to be manufactured from recycled plastic. He believes his very brave decision to move manufacturing of the cube out of China and into Britain has paid off, saying he believed it showed that there had been a real shift in consumer trends in the toy sector of the retail market, as he was selling 4 Bedlam cubes produced in the UK for every one that had been produced in China. Costs in China for production and transport were increasing, so Danny decided to move production back to the UK, as he then could just order the cubes to meet demand rather than sitting on a large and costly inventory.

Danny has now set up another firm called Crazee Thingz, which is primarily used to develop toys and puzzles for markets on an international scale. In early 2009, the ‘Flagship’ toy of the Crazee Thingz brand was introduced, the Crazee Carbon Cube, which Danny claimed is the smallest ‘Green’ Toy in the world. The story seems set to continue.

Originally written by Lammo.net, a blog all about Affiliate Marketing

Dragons Den: Where are they now – Bedlam Cube

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