Posts Tagged ‘PedigreeCattle.ie’
Update on Toilet Pipe Cover & TanOrganic
Herbie Porsce
Herbie, my very best friend is in contact everyday and cheers me up no end. These days it is all good news. He is really excited about having his distributors in place, North & South and he and Maire and his local team in his much loved Ardara are packing morning, noon and night in the workshop beside their home.
Noelle O’Connor
Noelle is the genius creator of TanOrganic and, even though it may be commercially sensitive information, I am also conscious of the thousands of you who are loyally and regularly following this blog, so I am going to reveal my inner most thoughts on TanOrganic.
The question that needs answering is, “As a Dragon why have you not ensured the product was in the shops to coincide with its appearnce on TV?”The Toilet Pipe cover goes around your sewer pipe at the back of your loo. TanOrganic goes on your skin so I make no apology for further clinical trials to prove the efficacy of this breakthrough product.
TAKKER
I had the same problem with Takker last year. The retail chains were screaming for it but we went through further testing in the UK and did a redesign tweek before we launched and have never looked back. Remember you only get one shot at a national retail launch.
109,000 Unique Visitors to www.TanOrganic.com
There is unprecedented demand for TanOrganic and in just 12 hours after its appearance on TV and the following morning on Ryan Tubridy 109,000 people made enquiries about where could they get the 100% natural, organic, tanning lotion. But we have to make sure it is with the right distributor, it is packaged properly and most important launched successfully. So, sorry, we are not going to rush it.
ANIMATAZZ – Lessons Learned
Last year we had equally strong demand for Animatazz which is now going on to be an international success. Watch this space and we will be telling you about its launch in Harrods in London. But I leaned a lesson last year. We should have put more advertising behind this toy animation kit. (Michael Connolly, its inventor, assures me he does not believe this that we were after all the number 1 selling craft toy in Ireland last Xmas and after all, he says, we successfully sold the international rights of it to one of the Toy Majors.)
Advertising
So this time Noelle and I may spend up to €250,000 this Summer promoting this product. I believe if we get to Xmas having had “off the richter scale” sales in an awful Irish recession that has hit retail harder than most, then the International market will break down our doors.
Trials & Sampling
However TanOranic is available in all the top beauty Salons at the moment. There are three salons close by to me who are offering it as a spray and I am in touch with them daily to get feedback. It is my own way of researching and test marketing. One little issue. There is a lot of alcohol in nearly all tanning lotions which makes it a little easier to apply as a spray. But alcohol on your skin could NOT be good for it so TanOrganic is a little thicker in its application so we are addressing its viscosity, i.e. its liquidity currently.
It Doesn’t Smell
The major feedback is a lot of people saying it doesn’t smell but actually it does a little but compared to that awful burnt biscuit smell caused by the synthetic chemicals in all its competitors the reports are it doesn’t smell. TanOrganic is like you, 100% natural so of course it is going to be kinder to your skin and because it is natural it wears off naturally not in blotches which is another big plus.
Late May TanOrganic Launches
TanOrganic will launch in Pharmacies in late May. I simply love Dragons’ Den. It is so exciting to be involved in such a revolutionary, breakthrough product, and Noelle, Catherine, Joe and her team are a delight to work with. We all believe we are at the start of something really big.
Do You Like Noelle’s Product More Than Herbie’s?
That’s a fair question considering I have just one paragraph on Herbie’s Toilet Pipe Cover and a lot more about Noelle’s TanOrganic. But here’s what is special about Herbie’s brilliant idea. We make it for a few cent and sell it for a few Euro and that is always the favourite product on any investor. But I am excited and proud of all my Dargons’ Den Investments. Check out Kate Hyde and the continuing explosive success of www.henpartyuk.co.uk never mind her original www.henparty.ie And of course I just love the great grafters Donall and Michael of www.Pedigreecattle.ie and their success.
Also remember the series is not over so I may have one or two more investments still to come. I would say watch out for this Thursday night when four of the Dragons invest in a great idea and another Dragon plunges into a hedge fund.
NEXT BLOG THURSDAY AFTER THE SHOW
My next blog, as always will be up at 11:15pm as the credits roll at the end of Thursday night’s show and also I will be on line for a chat at www.allaboutbusiness.ie from 11:30pm for about half an hour if you have any questions.
Between Recording & Broadcast
When speaking at conferences, the question I am often asked is what happens after the promoter(s) have left the Den? When does Due Diligence take place?
TanOrganic, which featured last Thursday night, was recorded the first week in January. As soon as I have made an investment I am in contact with the promoter straight away. They are often surprised to get a phone call from me at about 6am the next morning as I drive to Rathfarnham from my County Meath home. Within ten days I will have organised a strategy workshop aimed at establishing the best way to achieve the product’s full market potential.
This will be attended by all my other DD investments. There is a lot to be learned from meeting people like Donall O’Connor, Michael O’Donnell, Kate Hyde, Michael Connolly and Damien McGrane, my investments from Series One. They have some great advice and insights to offer as they have all been through the DD experience, successfully bringing their products to market.
At this stage we do NOT have any footage from the Den so I have to tell the assembled experts how the pitch was made and how strong I think it will come across on television. So, for example, I told the group on the day we were focusing on Herbie (of Toilet Pipe Cover fame) that he would be the star of the series and it has turned out like that. Not only is his product brilliant but everyone loves Herbie.
One of the Best ever Den Presentations
The show kicked off with Dee’s Vegan Burgers. If you want to learn how to make a good investor presentation, watch this pitch again. This was first class. A great Entrepreneur with all the necessary qualifications and experience. A grafter, she had gone out and market tested the product and got her vegan burgers into shops and Dunnes Stores.
Just a tip. Being in Dunnes is fantastic because they have 1.8 million customers in their stores every week, but it doesn’t always impress an investor. Dunnes EPOS system means you supply on a sale or return basis. I am always more impressed by a food product if it has a good distribution deal with prompt payment terms.
Dee was one of the best ever presentations in the Den. I put her up there with Kate Hyde of Henparty.ie, Tim Conway of Surfseeds and of course Donal O’Connor and Michael O’Donnell of pedigreecattle.ie. Hard to say which was the best overall, but Dee was certainly up there. I wish her all the very best in her venture.
Episode 1, “Money for Herbie”
Hi hope you enjoyed the first programme in series 2 of Dragons’ Den. On my blog here each Monday Morning and Thursday night I am going to give you my story on what you are seeing on the show.
Herbie Porshe
The best moment in the show tonight was when Herbie Porsche came out with that phrase “Money for Herbie”. Earlier today, Thursday the 25th, I had a celebratory lunch with Herbie Porsche (what a name) in his favourite restaurant, the Unicorn, off Merrion Row, in Dublin. Herbie used to be in the restaurant business years ago and is good friends with George one of the proprietors. Herbie had just seen the show at a press preview earlier in the Shelbourne. He later headed back to Donegal to watch the show live with family and friends.
Bad Boy Sauces
Ok onto the show. Jenny Lind Lee of Bad Boy Sauces was a superb presenter but I can’t believe she didn’t take my offer at the lower percentage equity. But her reason seemed a good one. She felt she was getting the expertise of two Dragons rather than one. Sounds like a good reason but my experience is that when two Dragons are involved the mentoring falls between the stools. However Niall and I have worked very well together with www.henparty.ie and Sean and I have also had good joint success with www.pedigreecattle.ie. But if you are in the Den and you have an offer from one Dragon versus two or more my advice is always go with one who will be focussed on you.
What to present
Next up was the Marilyn Air Drier. On the edited programme this one appeared to get a rough ride but in the Den it was given serious consideration by myself. I thought it was interesting. The mistake made was bringing in the clothes horse. Had Daniel Bradfield just come in with the device that blows ambient temperature air through the clothes I believe he would have got a better reception. It is always difficult to decide to use a concept prototype or a production prototype. The former is usually a lot rougher but I believe gives you more wriggle room when you are being questioned. You can always say,”Yes we are going to address that issue in the next prototype or in the production model.”
Don’t have information dragged out of you
If a pitch is featured on the programme it gets between eight to ten minutes. However the pitcher may have been in the den answering questions for an hour and a half. The lads who came to pitch www.greenflame.ie seemed to be holding something back. The Dragons had to drag it out of them after a guts of an hour that they had 35 shareholders. Had they come in and said, “we are a famers’ co-operative but we’d love to have a Dragon on board to assist our marketing and invest capital of €200k”, then I believe they may have done better.
Others that featured
Poor Gerard with his website for B.E.R. Cert’s got short shrift and actually that was no reflection on his presentation. He pitched it very well. It is simply down to the fact that none of the Dragons like this whole B.E.R. thing where we all have to go out and get cert’s for buildings. Business people hate this type of compliance for compliance sake.
Eezitfit Blinds the idea presented by Cathal McKinney at first very much grabbed Niall and Sean’s interest. I went back and checked my notes during the programme tonight and I see I was not sure there was robust enough patent protection on this product and I feared it could be easily copied so I passed on it as the rest of the Dragons did.
Urfavrit wasn’t Sarah’s favourite. When she doesn’t like something she tells you straight.
Finally we had Herbie.
Herbie Porche – www.toiletpipecover.com
All I can say is I was so right to invest in Herbie. I just thought it would be fun and he would be great gas. Well I have been working very closely with Herbie and his wife Maire, who is the real brains of the operation, and they are a delightful couple.
Listen out for Herbie on Ryan Tubridy tomorrow morning on RTE radio 1 at 9:05am. Check out the www.allaboutbusiness.ie website to get to see unseen footage from the Den.
On Monday, in my next update, I will tell you a few amazing stories about Herbie Porsche and how we are going to make MONEY FOR HERBIE.