'You made us cry!' Dragons' Den cast in tears at Peter Jones's response to pitch for £30k
THE DRAGONS' DEN cast were left emotional after Peter Jones's response to a pitch for maternity wear.
Alex and Jenny McFadden entered the Den earlier this year seeking an investment of £30,000 for a 20 percent return on their business Pretty Mama. Pretty Mama is a collection of maternity clothes, especially for breastfeeding mothers.
After Alex had struggled to find feminine and comfortable clothing when she was pregnant with her daughter, she knew she wanted to design and produce products to meet this need.
Since launching in April 2020, the sisters have turned over £14,700.
After they receive investment, their expected turnover after one year should be £81,000 with a net profit of £41,000.
In the second year they are looking at £189,000 turnover with £95,000 net profit, and in three years they hope for £400,000 turnover with a net profit of £210,000.
At first, things were challenging for the duo as the Dragons took issue with the cost of their easy-access breastfeeding clothing range.
When explaining the cost of the manufacturing, Jenny said it costs them £20 to make one jumper in China.
“What?” Touker Suleyman said in shock.
Jenny told them that the reason her costs were so high was because the quality was so good and she buys in small batch quantities.
She needed a Dragon on board to help her cut some costs.
As the pair both have full time jobs, Deborah Meaden told them they were “underestimating” the demand for the job.
Touker said: “This is not investable but I’m will to share with all five Dragons’ to give you girls that chance for a third of the business.”
Steven Bartlett came on board, telling the sisters the business needed a lot of work but adding "people sometimes need a little bit of support in life".
He was joined by Sara Davies, who added: “It’s not quite a business at the moment, it needs a lot of work however you do seem like great girls and maybe a little bit of work will help get you there."
But the whole plan seemed to have been derailed as Deborah Meaden told them she would not be investing, saying: "I don't think in this scenario that is going to work, I'm not going to be part of a five dragon deal."
Peter agreed with Deborah explaining that working with five Dragons is challenging enough, especially since they don’t really have a business at the moment.
However the was able to offer an alternative. He said: “I agree, mobilising five dragons and working together is hard enough. You don't need five, but I think you need four and I'm definitely willing to join the journey.
"I think you have absolutely knocked it out of the park and you deserve the opportunity to make something great. And I believe with four Dragons with the skills those individual Dragons’ have, I think you've got the Avengers.
“So you’ll have four Dragons’, all of the money that you wanted - £30,000 - for a third of the business.”
The pair happily agreed to these terms.
Sara responded: "Peter, you made the baby cry, you made the entrepreneur cry, you made us cry down here, what's going on?!"
