Dragons’ Den’s latest episode saw one hopeful leaving the den without securing any investment – despite receiving two offers from the selective Dragons.
Andrew Brownlie entered the Den with his adorable pooch, Buddy, hoping to convince the business gurus to invest in the dog swimming session business he runs alongside his wife, Jo.
“We run Canine Dip and Dive – a unique swimming pool for dogs,” he explained.
“And we’re here today to ask for £10,000 for five percent of the business. So Canine Dip and Dive came about after I spent a number of years teaching dog-diving to dogs, where they would take off and do a long jump.
“And, while I was doing that, I noticed that so many dogs are scared of water.
“So I started to develop various methods to help these dogs overcome their fear and get them swimming.”
Sara Davies also attempted to convince Andrew to take up their offer
BBC
The dog-lover continued: “And what started off as a bit of fun at the weekend quickly turned into six days a week. In 2017, we started our pool and developed five different types of sessions for the dogs.
“So we do puppy paddle, we do senior sessions for our older dogs, we do pool parties for dogs that just want to have a load of fun in the pool and just splash around with their friends.”
He went on to detail how they teach dogs to swim and hope to launch a franchise with more pools.
This immediately piqued the interest of Dragon Peter Jones, who admitted: “I absolutely love it off the bat,” before delving into some of the figures and statistics of the business.
Andrew brought along Buddy the dog for his Dragons’ Den pitch
BBC
He seemed impressed by Andrew’s answers, but he wouldn’t be the only Dragon intrigued by the concept.
While Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman and Steven Bartlett bowed out for various reasons, Sara Davies probed Andrew further before chiming: “I think, reasonably, I’d want about 25 percent of the business.”
“Andrew, I think 25 is a bit harsh,” Jones interjected, adding: “I think though, this is all about contacts and I think this is also about coverage. I think Sara and I would be a great team on this. So I would be willing to offer you half the money and share it with Sara.
“So I’ll offer you £5,000 for maybe 10 percent and we share 20 percent between us.”
“It’s a tough one,” Andrew confessed as he explained he’d agreed with his wife Jo, who didn’t want to come in because she feared the Dragons, that they would go for a maximum of 10 percent.
“So I would love to…” he began, before Davies interrupted: “With not one but two Dragons on board, you’ll parachute this monumentally.
“And then the other thing, again, with two Dragons on board, yes you only have 80 percent of the business, but you have 80 percent of a business with is 10, 20, 30 times bigger.”
Despite the eager Dragons putting forward a strong argument, Andrew couldn’t be convinced and explained: “I’ve been married twice, I don’t want to do it again, thank you very much.”
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“And I’ve loved talking to you, I’m going to have to say no,” he concluded brutally before leaving the Den.
“Wow, I wonder what she says,” Davies commented after his exit, curious about Jo’s reaction to the refusal.
“I think he was running a risk either way, wasn’t he?” Meaden replied.
“I think that, for what I was asking, 20 percent was probably a bit too much,” Andrew later reflected.
“And Jo and I, we’d talked about it, we’d agreed. I think we’re right doing that.”
