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