One of the reasons I love Dragons’ Den is because it’s so relatable. If you’ve dabbled in entrepreneurship, you will see yourself reflected in many of the stories that appear on screen. There were three great business lessons in tonight’s show.
The proof is in the pudding
Raymond Lim has dedicated his life to preserving his father’s legacy. BKH Jerky makes Singapore-style beef jerky that they sell from their store in Vancouver. Singapore-style jerky doesn’t mean much to me. I’m not a big jerky connoisseur, and I’m not familiar with Singapore-style. Neither were the Dragons. But none of that mattered when Raymond pulled out the product for the Dragons to sample. Declaring it was the “best jerky” they had ever tasted, Raymond landed himself a deal to try and get his product into stores. The superior quality of the product spoke for itself.
A business without a plan is like driving without a road map
Mompreneur Jen Blaikie was up next with her line of naughty novelty products. A graphic designer by trade, Blaikie has a gift for coming up with cheeky adult-products. She had the Dragons in stitches with her ideas. But Blaikie has no revenue – and worse – no plan. She was unable to demonstrate that she’s thought about production, operations, sales and marketing. Clearly, she’s got some great ideas, but the Dragons bowed out when it became clear that, right now, that’s all she’s got.
"A product is not a company"
It wasn’t good news for Ramiro Ariza who presented his prototype for a lime slicing machine. He proposed that he had found a better way to deal with limes in bars. Instead of bartenders having to hand-slice limes, Ariza’s machine slices them automatically. Now, I have no idea if lime-slicing is a real problem in the restaurant industry or not. Regardless, Ariza entered the Den with a clunky prototype, no sales, and no way to distribute his machines. It was Kevin O'Leary who said, “I understand the product, but a product is not a company.” By focusing only on developing a prototype, that may or may not address a need in the market, all other aspects of business planning were neglected, and Ariza walked away empty-handed.
So keep on business planning, deliver a superior product and you’ll be on your way. See ya next week.
Amy
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