The seventh and the last entrepreneurs for this episode were the siblings Nuyin and Damilola, who came to raise 30 million naira in exchange for 40% equity in their “24-hour Electrical and Electronics Repair Centre”, that could provide solutions to every electrical need within Lagos once the customer dials their company. According to them, once the call is intercepted, a mobile- electrician within the vicinity of the call will be dispatched with a van containing ALL electrical spare parts that could be used to fix a wide-range of electrical and electronics products on the spot, without returning to their base to source for more parts. Despite the fact that they had more than 400 competitors in this field of business, the siblings were convinced that they could be number one in this field of business, because they would be able to provide on-the-spot repairs anywhere, anytime, with all imaginable spare parts stocked in their vans. John Momoh was able to prove to the siblings that it was impossible to have every bit of electrical accessories in the van. However, what cost them any interest the dragons might have had in their business idea was the fact that they had omitted a very crucial document in their business plan; they had omitted to budget for the marketing and advertising of this idea.

The dragons opted out, but encouraged the siblings to do more work, and the idea may become a huge success. Ibukun Awosika, Chris Parkes, and Tokunboh Ishmael offered the siblings an opportunity to return for more talks with them when they’ve prepared a more functional business plan-opening their doors to the siblings for more business talks.

The dragons did not invest, but there’s hope for Nuyin and Damilola that they could sway the dragons to part with the money they require.

So far, for 5 weeks, Dragons Den Nigeria has empowered young entrepreneurs across Nigeria with the business advice that spew forth weekly from 5 amiable, experienced, and successful business men and women selected from various sectors of the Nation’s economy. However 2 entrepreneurs have already secured investments from the dragons. In episode 2, Yusuf from Abuja got an investment of 10 million naira in his business “Naijacities.com”, a mobile city directory; while in episode 4, Alsu Odewinge received 3 million naira investment for her “Start-Up City” business, a company that sought to empower start-up entrepreneurs with the knowledge to successfully run their business.

Keep dreaming…the dragons are here to make your dreams come alive!

–The Den Sweeper.

Ibrahim Jairo was the fourth entrepreneur in the den, he came with a proposition to establish a computer gaming arcade in Abuja, and for some reason he was looking for 9, 995, 000 (nine million, nine hundred and ninety-five thousand naira). This figure elicited some chuckles from the dragons, but the idea raised serious copyright issues. Moreover, during Ibrahim’s presentation, he’d stated that Abuja was a very large city that needed an arcade like his, but according to him he conducted a market survey of this big city by distributing questionnaires, which ironically attracted only 50 respondents of which 20% of them were 10 to 15 year olds. But he was convinced he had a market, and that 50 persons were conclusive enough to base the feasibility report of his target market upon. He was targeting kids, and his price was to be set at 450 naira for ten minutes, while his unique selling point was based on the fact that his arcade will serve as a social networking centre for young people, and also encourage kids to compete against one another. His confidence was remarkable, but couldn’t withstand the legal loopholes in his business plan.

“What’s the copyright law governing the use of computer games for commercial purposes?” asked John Momoh, and Ibrahim had no satisfactory response.

The business may have been necessary for teenagers in Abuja, but it was also necessary to understanding the necessity of abiding by existing copyright laws.

The dragons opted out.

The fifth entrepreneurs, Frank and Erastus wanted 4.5 million naira to give up 20% equity in their business, “Nigerian Sales Genie”, a site where people can come buy and sell products and services. Basically, they were proposing to set up an online classified advert portal. But their demo was not impressive at all, and the dragons felt that had misrepresented the entire idea. But probing further the dragons discovered that the entrepreneurs had nothing on ground yet. They had no domain name. They had no database, and had not IT background to jumpstart the technology required to manage a business such as this one.

The dragons opted out, but John Momoh felt compelled to give them a few marketing tips, “you should have your website running…and offer free classified adverts for now to generate traffic and interest in your business…”

“I think you have a good business idea, but I don’t just think you guys can do it…” Alexander Amosu.

The sixth entrepreneur, Babajide Oyeleye came to raise 18 million naira for “Emergency Kits for Cars” in exchange of 40% equity in the business. He basically came to sell towing ropes assembled in Nigeria, to help motorists when they experience vehicle breakdowns. But the business had no unique selling point, and had no trade secret that could protect the investors by preventing anyone else from producing the same rope. They also had no certification or testimonial from any monitoring organization like the Road Safety Commission of Nigeria. Babajide claimed to have been testing the market for the past two years, a ‘market-test’ that Chris Parkes felt had yielded no positive progress in the business so far.

“Anyone can do this business” the dragons exclaimed, and they all opted out.

Going over to the second entrepreneur, Martin who had come to the den to seek 50 million naira in exchanged for 20% equity in his business, we saw another good business idea which fell apart due to the absence of a clearly defined unique selling point. Yet another case of neglecting to take into cognizance the fatal hazards that could occur as a result ill-thought out operational standards;  “Doctor-on-Phone” sounded like an ingenious idea, actually it was; imagine a call centre that people can call during medical emergencies in order to have medical assistance dispatched to their distress locations, however Martin  presented his idea in such a way that made it seem like what his business was trying to do was just to route distress callers to doctors, without having given a thorough thought to the availability of doctors, the time it took for someone in an emergency to dial for the appropriate medical expert for his/her emergency, and most importantly the legal implications of failing to service the consumer, because according to Alexander Amosu, “it is almost impossible to diagnose the symptoms of what’s wrong with an individual by just having a telephone conversation with the patient…” His business idea was considered very risky. The prototype of the idea he presented to the dragons did very little to communicate the viability and necessity of this business.

The dragons had opted out.

The third entrepreneur, Oluwaseun Kayode needed 2 million naira for his business and was ready to part with 30% equity. He was proposing to design books covered in African fabric. His current unit production cost was estimated at about 550 naira, and he intended to retail the books at 700 naira. But his presentation was short-lived as Ibukun Awosika observed immediately, “the idea is good but the finishing is terrible…”, and Kayode went on defense trying to excuse the poor finishing of the books he presented to the dragons by saying they were just prototypes.

“If you’re producing small quantities and you can’t get it right,” Ibukun Awosika asked, “what will happen if you produce large quantities?”

“Don’t take badly produced prototypes to pitch investors…” Chris Parkes advised, and when the entrepreneur still attempted a lame defense for his poor finishing, Chris Parkes threw the concluding punch line, “when Mercedes Benz makes a prototype, they don’t forget to put the engine in”

–The Den Sweeper

Necessity is the mother of invention, for if you find a need and proffer solutions to that need, then you have begun a great enterprise that may yield you huge fortunes. But let the wise also know that even for the most necessary of product or service to flourish, the originator must create or find a unique selling point to meet the psychological needs of the consumer. Questions like: what makes you different from your competitors must be answered. The consumer must be assured of your products conformity to the highest standards of quality, safety, and durability. The consumer must also be assured that your product satisfies the three basic “A”s of want and need: AFFORDABILITY, ACCESSIBILITY, and AVAILABILITY!

On this premise, welcome to episode 5 of Dragons Den. Remember, the den is a place where good business ideas meet great opportunities.

Making her debut as a dragon on Dragons Den, Tokunboh Ishmael proved her mettle as an internationally acclaimed venture capitalist in episode 5.

The first entrepreneur, Idowu Oluwakayode 1, came to the den to seek a 15 million naira investment  (for 40% equity) from the dragons to pump into his product “H2Jo”- which according to him was a novel idea developed to fizzle out the production of water in sachets. He began his presentation by handing-over nice looking 50CL cups of “H2Jo” to the dragons, as he posited that this would be the first time water would be packaged in 50CL plastic cups. A statement that roused the dragons’ curiosity, as Ibukun Awosika inquired about the Nestle water, to which Kayode explained was no longer in production. Alexander Amosu raised a question which revealed that there were at least 200 competing brands in the business.

Pricing also became a concern for the dragons, as they wanted to know how possible it would be to fizzle out the production of sachet water by introducing a product that cost 4 times the present cost of sachet water. But give it to Kayode, he was a smooth-talker who cleverly wriggled his way out of every corner he was boxed into, until he dug his own grave by bragging about the entrepreneurial initiative he’d developed to handle the disposal of the cups, which was to dispatch ‘pickers’ who would gather and return the cups in exchange of money. But what would he do with the cups after then? That was when it happened: he said, “I’ll wash them and use them again”

The beauty of his idea instantly fell to pieces. Tokunboh Ishmael was prompt in declaring an out on the basis that the entrepreneur had not even bothered to consider safety and the hazards involved in packaging unsafe drinking water (in already used plastic cups). Yet he had bragged about presenting “the best quality triple filtered water” to be packaged in a previously used cup. Water is necessary but the entrepreneur forgot to research the necessity of a safety assurance!

–The Den Sweeper

The seventh entrepreneur, Ms. Alsu Odemwingie, was confident, brutally honest, and very relaxed in the presence of the dragons. She had a strong personality that seemed to be on the cocky side. She was looking for 3 million naira (for 10%) to invest in a business she called “Start-Up Sity”, a company that would guide and mentor start-up businesses, and start-up professionals through the challenges of starting a business. She presented impressive statistics on the number of start-up businesses that fail within their first year of operation; statistics that Ibukun Awosika noted were almost accurate. Ibukun Awosika also identified the need for what she was trying to do, but failed to see the business sense in it, Alexander Amosu seconded Ibukun Awosika’s point-of-view, opining that it was going to be difficult to get someone who was starting up a business to part with 80, 000 naira in order to receive guidance. At this point, after Alexander Amosu, Ibukun Awosika, and Femi Tejuoso had opted out, this entrepreneur went into an emotional overdrive in a subtle manner, where she revealed that part of the reason why she was in the den was to experience first- hand what start-up companies and entrepreneurs go through when they go in search of investments, and secondly, she confessed that she was in the den for the publicity her appearance would give her business. This revelation did not settle well with Alex Amosu who opined that this entrepreneur was manipulative, and expressed his disapproval to being used as an experiment. But Ms. Odemwingie stood her grounds, and this character trait must have impressed the duo of John Momoh and Chris Parkes who invested 1 million naira for 10% equity, and 2 million naira for 20% equity respectively.

She got a deal, shook hands with two new successful business partners. And she went down in the history of Dragons Den Nigeria as the first lady to slay the dragons.

Obv: What do you think was responsible for her ability to win John Momoh and Chris Parkes over? Her eloquence, confidence, or cockiness; was it her audacity or brutal honesty to confess to the dragons that she had come to the den for an experiment with the dragons, and as a publicity gimmick?

**Alexander Amosu disapproved of her ploy to conduct her ‘start-up’ experiment on the dragons, and felt strongly that she should have given way to other entrepreneurs more deserving of some ‘dragons-attention’ and not merely appearing in the den as a publicity gimmick.

The sixth entrepreneur had the most interesting idea in this episode, but had the most bizarre and ridiculous motive for being in the den. He presented the idea for his product EIPMS- Electronic Intelligent Power Management System, and the dragons seemed impressed, but when he was prodded to present the prototype, he revealed to the dragons that the idea was a research-in-progress…no, a research-yet-to-begin. He had come to the den to get money off the dragons to research this idea, and afterwards look for other investors who will invest in the product after the research had been done.

Chris Parkes quoted him, “to begin a scientific research a without reliable capital base may be likened to attempting space travel on foot…” and after that quote, Chris Parkes summarized, “Investing in your idea may take more time than it took to get a man to the moon before an investor can make a profit…”

That said…he lost all the dragons. But he received very good advice: he was encouraged to seek organizations that give out research grants and not business men and women who were looking to make an investment to make a profit.

The fourth entrepreneur, Sanusi Adekunle had a brilliant idea, and needed 7.5 million naira to start-up a sophisticated taxi operation he called Metro-Cabs, a cab company that will provide comfortable and convenient cabs for its clients. He described his unique selling points as his company’s intent to service customers with an organized price structure, eliminating unnecessary haggling with the taxi drivers; call-ups and pick-ups from airports, hotels, offices, homes etc for customers. To make his presentation a bit juicier, he offered the dragons 65% equity stake in this business. However, his business plan exposed the speculative nature of his business, and his unsuitability as a competent manager of the business,as it was discovered that he had miscalculated the amount of money required to lease the 30 cars with which he was hoping to commence operations. Sadly, this entrepreneur was convinced that 20% of 1,050, 000 naira amounted to 52, 000 naira as opposed to 210, 000 naira. Having based his entire plan on the amount required to lease the 30 vehicles, it was shocking for him to learn after being schooled by the dragons how erroneous his mistakes were. He lost all the dragons based on his incompetent presentation of figures, and his lack of experience in the transport sector.

The fifth entrepreneur faced the dragons asking for 15 million naira to invest in an idea he had tagged “Creative Legend Academy of Design” where he would charge students an average of about 190, 000 naira to teach them graphics design, and multimedia. He had no accreditation from the government, or any affiliation with any professional organization relevant to the courses he wanted to teach. He was not going to be able to issue the students any certificate after graduation. And the dragons felt that even if he could find students dumb enough to pay 190, 000 naira tuition, that their money would have been wasted because they were coming out with no certificate to show that they have acquired any education. The business seemed ill-cooked, and the dragons detest the taste of half-baked business plans. They all opted out.

The second entrepreneur, Bello Bisama was in the den hoping to secure a 7 million naira investment for a special-interest magazine “Fone Book”, which according to him would be a phone review magazine that will give Nigerians information about cell phones, phone accessories, product specifications, phone software etc. He was offering 20% equity to the dragons. During the usual Q&A, he posited that he intends to commence production and circulation with 20, 000 copies. Alexander Amosu observed that most of his content had been lifted off the internet, and that such a magazine served a very niche market. The entrepreneur and Alexander Amosu had a brief spar on the differences between the UK market and the Nigerian market, with the entrepreneur stating that there were more than 60 million cell phone users in Nigeria. Chris Parkes made an interesting rhetorical comment that examined what would be first on an average mobile phone user’s scale of preference in Nigeria: to spend money on recharge cards or to spend money on a magazine to read about, and ogle at diamond encrusted phones that the user cannot afford? More flaws in his business plan came to the fore, when it was discovered that he was expecting to generate 80% of his revenue from sales of the magazine, and 20% from advertising; to this effect Femi Tejuoso educated him that he stood to make more money from adverts, than sales, and the other dragons informed him that majority of the papers in Nigeria earn more revenue from the advert sales. On a concluding note for Femi Tejuoso, he stated, “I think more people are more interested in gossip (magazines) than something like this”.

The dragons kept their money firmly in the pockets this time.

The third entrepreneur, Nwogbo Michaels came in search of a 7 million naira investment in his company, North Pacific Ltd, to enable him foster his business of palm fruit processing, extraction of edible fat from palm, etc in exchange for 25% equity in his company. After his presentation, Ibukun Awosika asked, “assuming we give you the 7 million naira now, what next?” and Nwogbo declared to the dragons that they are guaranteed of 100% return on their investment, but probing further, Chris Parkes asked the entrepreneur how much salary he was willing to pay himself to run the business, and Nwogbo declared he was going to pay himself 40, 000 naira, meaning that with an initial investment of 500, 000, he was going to recover almost all the money he put into the business within one year while he had no structure in place to guarantee the dragons that they were going to recoup their investment any time soon.

This prompted the dragons to opt out, for lack of confidence in Nwogbo’s business structure.

Obv: Mr. ‘Fone Book’ had a good idea, but why did the dragons reject it?

Episode 4 of Dragons’ Den Nigeria progressed like a ricochet from the previous episodes, with the dragons as gallant as the veteran entrepreneurs that they are, mentoring young and ambitious entrepreneurs – schooling them in the art of business presentations. In this episode, the dragons succeeded in throwing more light on the concepts of creativity, imagination, personality, and the role they play in enhancing the viability of a business idea.  Let’s not forget that history was made  again today in the den? But at the same time, we’ll  have to judge  who crossed the borderline of confidence to the island of being cocky. Let’s traverse through the rejected business ideas to the idea that made  two dragons swoon-figuratively of course.

The first entrepreneur to face the dragons was Thomas Okoye, a calm and almost taciturn young farmer from Benin City who came in search of a 3 million naira investment in exchange for 60% equity in his farm business. He was hoping to expand his animal farm to include the production of organic manure, cat fish farming etc. He informed the dragons that he’d been in the business for about 4-5 years already, and that he’d made a turn-over of 1.8 million naira, and 2.2 million naira in the first and second years of operation respectively. Further explaining that in the first year he made a profit of about 800, 000 naira and in the second he made a profit of 900, 000 naira after a little plough-back.

However, during the course of his presentation, he stated that the business was owned by his mother, but controlled by him- this revelation was a bit unsettling for the dragons, “if we make this investment today, we’re investing in your mother, and not you?” Ibukun Awosika had pointed out. However, his power conservation mechanism sounded impressive to Femi Tejuoso, but Alexander Amosu decided to opt out early because he had no confidence in the business. Ibukun Awosika opted out because she felt that Thomas wasn’t 100% in charge of the business, coupled with the fact that she had no strong interest in the business he was proposing. The rest of the dragons soon opted out on the basis that the entrepreneur did not exhume the right amount of confidence required to attract an investment in his business.

The seventh entrepreneur, Jumobi Daniel and his “Jumoby Fruity Eatery” left a fruity taste in the den when he came asking for 5 million naira in exchange of 30% equity in his business, an outlet where fruits can be savored by customers all day long. This investment would afford him the infrastructure required to run this business on a decent middle-class scale. The ‘fruity’ packages he brought to the den appeared very palatable, but as his pitch continued, he posited that his retail price would sky-rocket once he secured an investment. Ibukun Awosika failed to see the logic in this line of thinking, wondering why his prices should rise unprecedentedly because of their investment, instead of minimizing prices and maximizing sales, and driving more profit as a result. However, the dragons seemed genuinely interested in this business idea, and this entrepreneur, having sensed their interest became more confident and ambitious with his figures, as he proclaimed that his monthly turn-over had been 85, 000 naira derived from a monthly expenditure of about 15, 000 naira…his profit margin was huge and impressive…he claimed to be making about 70, 000 naira monthly from just doing door-to-door delivery in his neighborhood, and on campus.

When the cross-examinations began, with John Momoh wanting to know how this entrepreneur intended to access quality control of his product, and what he intended to do if the market demands meant that he was going to double or triple his supply. And the entrepreneur still very ambitious, reeled out initiatives that seemed too bogus to be accomplished with just 5 million naira.

“With the way you’re stretching this 5 million naira,” Chris Parkes stated light-heartedly, “I wish I could use you for my weekly shopping…”  The entrepreneur lost the dragons on the basis that his business plan was not feasible, and his idea was not well-researched. They advised him to allow his business to grow from bottom upwards instead of jumping from start-up to becoming a conglomerate.

Chris Parkes offered him a million naira worth of business advice for free, by compelling his to approach the supermarkets in town with his product, offer them a deal to stock his products on a sales-on-return basis, cashing in on such delivery daily or weekly, supplying his products according to the market demands. It sounded like an extremely smart advice, and it is to be hoped that the smile on the entrepreneur’s face as he walked out of the den meant that he was willing to go to town with Chris Parkes’ advice.

The dragons seemed disappointed that they hadn’t found an investable idea in the den this week. But next week is another week for shopping for business ideas that will not only enrich the entrepreneurs but also empower the consumer and the society, while promoting moral and God-fearing business ethics amongst young Nigerians.

Obv: sometimes, we should take our own biological growth into consideration before daring to defy business-gravity. It’s okay to shoot straight for the top, but be sure you have the right tools to take you there, and keep you there. My question for this week is : who cares about starting small?

—The Den Sweeper!