By now, you may or may not know, that CBC decided not to air my filming for Season 3 of Dragons' Den. I’d like to share my experience with all of those who have followed my Dragons’ Den Ride. First off… No the Dragons did not invest. Keep in mind the Dragons are already rich, and have no interest in investing in anything that can’t make them big bucks in 2 years or less. With that in mind, I don’t think I aired because the Dragon’s couldn’t “beat me up”… I knew my numbers, I have sales and profits and a growing history. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make for exciting TV when you’re competing against people presenting hemp laced macaroons and serving upscale dog food to the Dragon’s!
Anyhow, this is how the day went as I remember.
I had to be at CBC Toronto Studio at 6am. Once I arrived (along with about 10 other pitchers) we were brought back stage to unload our props and meet the producer. All pitchers then had to quickly describe how we were going to pitch (and use our props). Once everyone got the thumbs up, we were all brought onto the Dragons’ Den Set (the one you saw on TV) They told us all to do the same thing…”come down the steps, walk to the X on the floor in front of the Dragons and begin your pitch. Your props will be ready for you.
Then we all went into a waiting room (where they fed us snacks and beverages). As you waited, they had a few investment advisors to assist you with your pitch and a TV showing last year episodes of Dragons’ Den.
I think I was in that room for about 3 hours, then they called me. I went to makeup and within 10 minutes I was at the top of the stairs waiting to walk down to the Dragons. I remember the backstage gal asking me if I was nervous…….yup was my answer!......then she said go!......I can’t believe I didn’t fall down those steps (I was so nervous)….I walked to the X and delivered my pitch… as I pitched I was boiling the bagged food in water describing the concept, telling them about growing sales and talking current profits. I remember once the food was ready having difficulty with dividing my food up onto 5 tiny little side plates as CBC wanted me to do. A lot of this is a blur, but I do remember the clicking of the plates as I brought them all the samples (my nerves). They really enjoyed the food and Robert said I could cook for him any day! Jim seemed really interested. I think he walked up to my table twice checking out the packaged food.
The funniest thing was from Kevin (go figure)….I was asked about the shelf life of the product and I told them what consumers want is fresh, fresh….not 40 days out. When I mentioned I only have 10 days, Jim talked about injecting gas…and I voiced my concerns about using preservatives, but said I was open to other means of shelf life extensions….Kevin then said “So what you are saying is you would put Rat Poison in your food to make a buck” I said I wouldn’t go quite that far Kevin!
Brett was pretty boring. … I really think he was judging me more then my concept...he asked about whether or not I was drawing a salary… at which I told him I was (there was some confusion there)… he then said I over evaluated my company…he was out.
Kevin kept saying there was no money in it for him….he was out. Robert said I had a good little business and wanted me to convince Jim, but otherwise he was out. Arlene and Jim were left… and I knew they were the ones I needed to sell this too…(I must admit I was shocked)…..Arlene said my pricing was too high… I narrowed my market with my price point. That is what confused me…when is the last time she bought a pizza, or just went out to dinner? With Just Jeff’s you could have ribs, chicken, rice and pasta for the kids at the same price as a Boston Pizza…for a mother of 4, I don’t think she got it…or I did a poor job of pitching it... she was out. Anyway, Jim really liked it, he mentioned he already had his people doing something similar, but really liked what I was doing. He was out, but did say he would have his people get in touch with me. I sure hope he is a man of his word.
And that is that… I walked away stunned, not because they didn’t invest, but because they didn’t get it. Being first to market is key…look at Tim Hortons… if I’d pitched a coffee shop with donuts 20 years ago they’d laugh….but Tim is laughing now….why, cause he’s the first one to market.
You have no idea how pissed I am at myself for not doing a better job at getting my point across. They didn’t try to take more of my company… there was no negotiation about it… They loved the concept, loved the food, liked the numbers, but all said no without a fight?????????
Hindsight’s 20/20… after looking back on it all, I know I sold them on the concept and product… maybe I didn’t sell them on me. Overall, it was a great experience, but I think I’d do things a little differently the next time – especially the way the show seems to be going. Unfortunately, as the show’s viewership grows, it’s become more and more about clown suits, rather than business entrepreneurs.
I truly appreciate all of the well wishes received – maybe we’ll get’em next time!
