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