Perhaps the producers have saved the best until last – each one of the businesses in this episode has been built for scale. They have significant revenue and are out of the start up phase. All of them have come to seek Shark experience to truly Scale their businesses. Whilst I should not have favourites – this was probably one of the most exciting and interesting episodes to be a part of. It shows the diversity of markets, the scale of global aspirations and demonstrates what could be really possible for Australian innovators. These are very serious businesses producing significant results already.
Lil Fairy Doors – Sally’s pitch was impressive, accompanied by her very own Fairy Helpers her story was beautiful, her passion was clearly evident, and she had a strong sense of purpose – Sally’s business was borne out of a personal need and what a beautiful business she had created. More important for me was, she had built a brand in fact I have been a customer of her product and I know how much the children (and parents) love it. With significant traction and expected revenues of $5.1m next year Sally sees her product becoming a household name sitting on the shelves of the best retailers in the world. Will any of the Sharks get their hands dirty in fairy dust? – Plenty of fun and games as we working out if child’s play is serious business.
VegePod – Matt is what I would say understated – a bloke who just gets things done. An inventor with a passion – but he has also picked a growing trend – home grown vegetables. This is a product for those amongst us that are not green thumbs – and the product they were offering really was unique and different. I have been growing a few things at home – and every time I get my herbs, zucchinis or spinach to the point of ‘harvest’ the snails think exactly the same thing – and get to it first.. Matt has solved my problem. Playing to the rise of the apartment living market and that the other players in this space hadn’t perfected the design of the product, And Vegepod is set for launch in Bunnings (one of my favourite stores) in August just in time for spring. Has Matt got this deal sewn up?
Torque Safe – This pitch was all about under-sell and over deliver. Ogon Contracting has designed, engineered and manufactured a safety switch which has been designed for hydraulic torque wrenches, providing safety for the technician. Using a hydraulic torque wrench often requires 2 operators due to the positioning of bolts, and the weight of the hydraulic torque head and sockets. One operator controls the on/off switch and the other operator positions the hydraulic torque head. This device certainly had the attention of all of the Sharks – a man driven to making workplaces safer… deep commitment from the founder always peeks our interest.
One World Furniture – With 300 new products every 6 months, a nice looking turnover last financial year ($10m annually for the last three years) and a very impressive forecasted revenue across the next four years it was clear the Sharks wanted to learn more. There was a real business finesse from Greg and they truly were passionate about what they had created. The brand spoke of elegance, opulence and refinement. We just wondered about the vulnerability of having one retailer as their bread and butter – So exciting to see a business in Shark Tank here to help him truly scale his business… and this is something that all the sharks are experienced in.
That is the last of series 2 of Shark Tank Australia – we saw some 90 pitches and two-thirds of them were presented on air – if you want to see any of them go to Tenplay for a recap. Who knows who will come into the tank next series – but if you think you have an idea or would like to be a part of the program let the team know at SharkTankCasting.com.au