Episode 6 Be Your Own Boss

That is awesome!

Richard Reed chose three businesses to put to the test.

-Nice one, mate!

-The race for investment was on.

You're not even worth the 30 seconds it would take to say,

"No thank you."

It's not guiding the lap strap the way it should be.

Only one impressed enough for Richard to buy in.

I want to give you the shot of doing it. I'll invest £25,000.

Thank you.

Which three ideas will he gamble on this time?

Meet Richard Reed.

The smoothie behind Innocent Drinks.

He's Britain's hottest entrepreneur and he's on the hunt for the business stars of the future.

It is a tough time at the moment to get a job.

Do not rule out the possibility that you could create your own. It could be the time for you to give it a go.

He has set aside up to a million to invest,

and went nationwide to get you to apply for a slice of it.

We will help a whole new generation of entrepreneurs set up their own business.

Now, 500 hopefuls will get the chance to pitch their ideas to Richard.

What do you make of that? It's just brilliant.

Each week he will pick the best three...

How good is the idea, and do I believe that you can make it?

..to put through their paces...

Would I be right in saying you're overcompensating for some of your team?

We can't run until we've learnt to crawl.

Everything I have done is gone and nothing works.

This is the dream.

..before deciding who is good enough to win a once-in-a-lifetime investment.

The business plan was pretty shonky.

I thought we'd agreed that you would build a working proto-type.

You are on a journey. I think you've come a long way,

But that doesn't make a business. I'm not going to invest.

An empty warehouse in East London is the home for Richard's expo.

500 hopefuls will pitch to Richard and try to win his business backing.

I go into that room excited

because it is people who have got things that they care about and who are passionate.

That is an exciting thing to be part of.

From the hundreds he will see, Richard will only select the top three.

It all comes down to their 60-second pitch.

I want something that I can believe is going to have some positive effect

on the people that set up the business,

on the people on the receiving end of the business.

I want something positive and successful as well.

These start-ups know if they impress Richard, they will be on the fast-track to investment.

With so much at stake, the prospect of pitching has sent some a little loopy.

I'm obsessed with rubber ducks.

Nama-nama-nama!

It does sound a bit weird.

We will make you money!

LAUGHTER

-Was I putting you off?

-I don't know!

SQUEAKING

-We're very much the same as you Richard.

-We're on the same path!

OK! Moving on! Time for a nice cup of tea...with chocolate in it?

I have been told I have to come and try your chocolate teas.

-I made you one.

-Perfect timing! This is...?

-Peppermint and chocolate.

I hope you like it.

It's good. It is loose leaf tea with bits of chocolate that melt, right?

Correct, Richard. Chocolate teas.

I'm guessing you might be sisters.

-We are, yeah.

-And you are?

-I'm Stella's boyfriend.

-Cool! You are going to do it as a threesome, are you?

I'm not going to go there!

We started off just us two, but Andrew is a salesman.

This will come down so much to the selling. Where will I buy it from?

Initially, it will be local markets. We want to grow the brand and the name there.

The name is brilliant given what it is. Have you got it trade marked?

Not at the moment, no.

If you are even half serious about it, tomorrow get yourself down to the trade markers

and get the application in.

If you want to make a chocolate tea business, get that name, Choclateas.

Get it trade marked as quickly as you can.

I'm taking my free sample with me.

-Nice to meet you.

-Well done!

Even millionaires like a free sample!

I hope Richard saw scope for our idea and business.

-We really believe it is a really good company.

-Yeah.

-Fingers crossed!

Whether they have done enough to bag investment is up to Richard.

He's already off chatting to a load of Muppets. I mean puppets.

Hartbeeps! Hello, hello. Hello.

Who is this?

-My hands have been dying to meet you!

-I've been dying to meet them too.

Start me from the top. What is your business?

We produce really fun and funky music for babies and young children.

-You're not selling any of these?

-This is our brand.

What is it that you are?

-Music classes.

-Got it!

Educational music class. It is very difficult to explain to people.

-I get it now. Does the music drive you nuts?

-No.

-Good answer!

Just makes you high as a kite.

You are like the Zumba of kiddy...

Exactly. You've got it!

I think he liked the brand,

-and when he said you are the Zumba of what you do, children's music, he got it.

-Yeah.

-Straight away.

He may have got it, but will he want it?

To give him hand in deciding the stuffing from the stunning,

Richard's brought along his entrepreneurial pals.

Between them they have more experience of launching new products

than you have had hot dinners.

They are the eyes and the ears on the expo floor

and winning them over could be a fast-track ticket to Richard's cash.

Which could be a good thing because this week he plans on getting wasted.

How alcoholic is that?

Look, Richard! Wine sorbet!

-I love wines and sorbets.

-Nice!

He's not the only one. Jo has it had too.

-We are looking to sell cocktail kits on-line.

-Can I try it?

-Of course!

OK, yeah.

With Pimms? Awesome!

Steady on, Richard. It's got booze in it.

-Mmm. Oh my God, that is amazing!

-Each serving is a shot of alcohol.

-Everyone loves ice-cream. Everyone loves alcohol.

-Specially you, eh, Jo?!

-It's quite giddy if you have a big serving.

-Giddy or drunk?!

-In that one we've got cherry.

-Alcohol, is that right?

-Yeah.

Has it got lots of alcohol in it?

15%.

OK.

Happily.

Ooh!

Am I going to get drunk? Is that what is happening here?

-That's what's happening, Richard.

-Lovely to meet you.

OK. She's finished.

Would you like to try some Pimms before you go?

One more, it would be rude not to. Oh, you lush!

Am I drunk? I think it is starting to have an effect.

Maybe. Nice moves, Dickie. He is loaded!

Now completely leathered, but conscious of his sleek physique,

Richard might be up for low calorie vino.

We are Skinny Vines.

We are a low-calorie wine business,

with 25% lower calories than an average glass of wine...

..that still takes great.

We have been giving out samples to all the other competitors so they can slur their words.

I think it's Richard who'll be slurring!

I wouldn't know that was any less calorie than a regular wine.

How will it be made? And where will it be sold?

We source high quality base wine.

We pass it through a filter by way of reverse osmosis.

That takes away the calories.

-In this country?

-New Zealand.

-Where's the consumer going to buy it?

Ideally, our vision is to walk into any Tesco any Sainsbury's and buy a full range of Skinny Vines.

So many businesses worry about marketing, when actually what you worry about is selling.

It is about how you get the listings in the big wine chains and supermarkets.

Who is doing that?

-We all are, currently, I guess.

-Yep.

Good. By the way, this is all positive.

I just need to know there is someone with that fire in their belly to get out there and sell this.

That is the life blood of any business. OK? Good to meet you. It's delicious!

Richard, what will your mother think of all this drinking?

We will have to stage an intervention. There she is. Hi, Mum!

From mums with drunk sons, to sons with inventive mums,

Grace has found one son who's brought his mum and a product that she thinks is worth backing.

A portable baby pen.

But can baby-faced William give birth to a winning pitch?

It is my mum's company.

Right.

She has gone for a wander around the stalls.

He looks terrified!

You're on the spot then!

Sell, my son.

It is all about a safe space for a baby

that you can leave, pick up with one arm.

It folds as you pick it up, and you can keep the baby in one arm,

carry the play pen in the other.

Is this your mum?

Yes, it is.

Hello! Sorry, I have got a handful of peanuts as a sample from someone I have just collected.

But has she got the nuts for the pitch?

This is very much a working model so you can see how it works.

The basic concept is for people who are busy looking after their children,

and sometimes they need a safe place to put them down.

Is it very portable as well, in that it concertinas?

You can do it while you're holding a baby.

This is a really good idea. I can see there is a need for this.

This is fantastic also if you are travelling or going to granny's house for the day

and you just want something portable.

It is a really, really strong idea.

Mother and son - what a team!

I am hoping that she doesn't use him to demonstrate the play pen!

But there are plenty of other young guns here

who have left their mums at home.

This is actually the second business that I've, er, started up.

I founded it in my dorm room at my university...

We're both students, third-years, at Loughborough University.

We're Young Ones, we're premium suppliers in the whole of the UK.

What I do is, I design and sort innovative products

and take them to market.

-And you are how old?

-I've just turned 18.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you!

Oh, Felicity! Get the mistletoe!

With only three places left and no-one on his short list yet,

Richard calls in the experts to sort the hot tickets

from the cold turkeys.

What's been everyone's top ideas today?

-The portable play pen.

-Yep.

-The idea's sound,

-it's patented, the technology...

-Yep.

..and the product idea absolutely stacks up.

She literally... It is a prototype which she knocked up for this show.

-Oh, so it's a prototype?

-Yeah, it's not...

-It's not the finished article.

-Right.

I think one of the consistent things that I saw is that

every single one of them was passionate about their business

-and their product and their idea.

-Yeah.

Wicked. Thank you so much, guys.

-Cheers, Richard.

-Little team hug before we go...?

He's not!

Oh, no, he is!

That's the boozy sorbet for you right there!

THEY ALL LAUGH

Richard has just a few hours left to pick his final three,

so he's out on the prowl once again.

These two think they've got it in the bag.

That's James on the left, being helped by James on the right.

That's not going to be confusing at all(!)

Nice blazers, boys!

-Hi, boys, I'm Richard.

-James, nice to meet you.

-How's it going?

-Hi, James.

-Tell me about it - what are we doing?

-It's called Elephant Branded, only

launched in the UK three months ago.

We get local people in Africa And Asia to hand-make

products from locally-recycled material.

-This bag, made in Cambodia out of recycled cement bags.

-Yep.

We also have wallets and purses.

It's one for one, so for every bag we sell,

we donate a school kit back to a child in Africa or Asia.

People know where it came from, the

-difference it makes to somebody's life by producing it.

-Yeah.

I'm loving the ethics, that's totally in our sweet spot.

-Any idea of numbers?

-We can only produce 500 units a month

at the moment - every month we sell out.

We're currently on a waiting list programme.

I'm trying to get my head round the scalability of it, though.

OK. We want to use the same principles

-as in our little co-operative in Cambodia...

-Yeah.

but apply those principles to new locations.

Is this your full-time thing or something you do on the side?

No, we're both at the University of Bath, studying architecture.

-Yeah.

-But it's sort of taken off,

and hopefully it will be...

What would I pay you to buy it as the punter?

OK, so, that is our most expensive product,

which is £27.99.

And our wallets and purses are £12.99.

-Well done, boys. Nice to meet you.

-Thank you very much.

It's a quasi social enterprise. He's partly in it for the money,

he's partly in it to do good -

he's my kind of entrepreneur, quite frankly.

He's impressed with Elephant Branded, but there's been

plenty of white elephants

in the hundreds of other pitches he's heard.

Porridge Power, yes!

It's like a word search, but where it differs,

there's only one word to find in the whole thing.

Open up the lid - need to be sick...

-We want to be a shop and cafe...

-Right.

-..where dogs and humans can kind of dine together.

-Yeah.

We're talking bubble gum-flavoured chicken, berry-flavoured,

-mango-flavoured chicken...

-It's an awful idea.

Richard's heard hundreds of pitches from some of Britain's

finest start-up talent. Like all good things, though,

their expo must end.

OK, ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid pitching is over!

HOOTER SOUNDS

But I want to say a massive, massive thank you

to everyone that's come down.

It's been for me, personally, an amazing, exciting experience.

Every idea in this room has had serious merit.

There isn't a person in this room that can't walk out

thinking that they definitely could make it.

A massive thank you to everyone for coming down,

and a bit round of applause for everyone in the room.

EVERYONE APPLAUDS

As the expo hall empties, these aspiring entrepreneurs

all hope they'll be on Richard's hot list.

For Richard, it's going to be a long night -

picking his final three is not going to be easy.

The reality is, there's no way at all you can fund all of them.

So, from the 500, I'm getting down to a few.

I've got my board over there that's got my favourites on so far,

so I'm just having one last look.

I don't want to miss a single person.

I've got to get my last three, and it's so difficult.

It's decision day for Richard.

From the 500 entrepreneurs

he's seen at the expo, he's already backed 15,

with up to £5,000 each in seed capital.

He's only got three places left.

I can give them up to £5,000 to kick start the business.

That's what seed capital is all about.

But with over 400 ideas still in the offing,

who's he going to pick?

First up it's architecture student, James,

and his ethical bag company, Elephant Branded.

James met business partner, Tim,

just a few months ago at Bath University.

I did a course called ethical marketing,

and at the end of that lecture,

James got up and did his bit about Elephant Branded.

It was a bit cheesy, but the rest is history.

Because there's only two of us

and it's going so rapidly, we do need help.

My housemates, I've got to give them quite a lot of respect,

especially sometimes when we have

in our living room, I don't know, 600 bags,

that have to go out the next day,

and we all muck in in getting them out.

I think we see far too much of each other.

-Definitely too much of each other!

-I've seen James more

than my girlfriend in the last couple of months,

which is always a worrying sign!

I think we both have different skills sets.

I'm more ideas,

and Tim brings me back and says, "No, we can't do that!"

James is a bit more of a dreamer, aims high.

Which is always important. Never knock that.

But I'm much more of a cynic.

Is there a way to make money out of this as well as doing good?

We do do a lot of good, but we do make a profit out of it.

-Yeah, and I think that's great.

-We have a good margin.

From what I remember,

you're at college at the moment, training to be an architect?

I think architecture has given me the skills

to be able to set it up.

To be able to deal with marketing and branding,

and to be able to think holistically,

-but also in the details.

-Yeah.

What I would like to do long term is this, really.

How much money is it you're asking for at this stage,

and what would you use it for?

We'd be looking for about £3,700.

Because we have so much demand,

I want to scale, basically, and use the same model

that we used in Cambodia,

but apply it to a new enterprise in Uganda.

How about...I'll do it for £3,500 at this stage.

-Yeah.

-You can work with that?

Yeah, I'm sure we can.

I need to see...

sales, you know? How is it selling?

And what I especially love is if that money

is going to go directly to change,

to bring on Uganda communities.

That's a brilliant sort of thing,

to understand what the money is going for.

-So delighted to put it in for that. OK. All right.

-Thank you very much!

-Done!

-Pleasure.

Absolutely thrilled.

Over the moon, as it were!

One down, two to go.

This is no time to call your mum, Richard!

Ah, it's his next entrepreneur, Catherine,

with her portable baby unit.

-'Hello?'

-Catherine?

Hello, it's really good to talk to you.

Welcome to Jersey,

where millionaires come to dodge their taxes,

and cows make lovely cream.

It's also home to mum of five, Catherine Curtis.

I started developing this idea, this concept, in 2007.

She might not be a millionaire yet, but a girl can dream.

I have dreamt about this, and lived with it, day after day.

Occasionally I have thought,

"Why am I spending so much time thinking about this?"

With Richard's help,

she wants her portable baby playpen to fly the nest.

I have to say, just talking to my friends who have got children,

the idea of a portable playpen really was sort of

getting big double thumbs up from everyone.

Great!

I would be prepared to put up £3,000.

OK, that sounds very good to me!

To go specifically to getting that manufacturer

that's signed up to make it,

some retailers that are up for stocking it.

-Yeah, OK, great.

-'Brilliant.'

Just one place left,

but who's it going to be?

It's Skinny Vines, with their low calorie booze!

-Hi!

-Hi!

Meet the Kiwis from Down Under, Nicole, Logan and Tania.

We are Skinny Vines.

Our story kind of tells a tale of three friends

who had an idea at the pub one night.

We tend to spend quite a bit of our time at the pub.

They're willing to take that leap of faith, give up their day jobs,

and really sell this wine that they believe so much in.

In ten or 15 years time, I'm hoping

we'll be the number one UK low calorie wine on the shelf.

Logan is our voice of reason.

Nicole and I would like a jet

and all that kind of stuff, and Logan grounds us.

So, tell me, how's business?

You asked a really good question,

who's going to be the sales person in the UK.

-I'm putting my hand up.

-Good for you!

And I love the idea of surrounding yourself

by people who have got the experience.

That's just a brilliant idea.

For years I've been talking about

someone's got to do a low calorie wine,

so it was really exciting for me to come across you guys,

It exists. You've already got it.

So I definitely want to back you guys for the next stage.

Yes! Amazing.

I'm excited by the team, I'm excited by the product,

I'm excited by the opportunity.

It's now about real confirmation

-of retailer interest.

-Yeah.

I will want to understand the robustness of the supply chain.

To make sure that it's copper-bottomed as a business.

-Awesome, thank you!

-Yeah, well, thank you.

-Thanks again for coming in.

-Thank you.

-We'll speak soon.

-Good luck.

-Bye!

He just gave us such positive feedback, as well.

He totally understands what we're trying to do,

and he believes in the product, the brand, in us.

It was just such an amazing experience.

It's all fitting into place.

I'm really excited about the businesses this week.

They're all different, but they have something in common,

which is that they're very positive.

Success!

We've got ethically made accessories,

we've got wine being made more healthy,

and then we've got a product for a mum

to move her baby round the house more safely.

That's amazing! I'm so happy!

Can he this turn those good ideas into a real business?

Richard wants to see sales,

so, taking the elephant by the tusk,

the boys are flogging their bags in a trendy market.

See, it's got a pocket inside, a pocket on that side,

and one at the back as well.

We've got yellow zips,

slightly more fluorescent zips down there.

While James is working,

Tim has other things on his mind.

She was a bit of a cougar, really.

Very classy, business lady,

and I've got a bit of a soft spot for classy business ladies.

COUGAR ROARS

Yeah, maybe your imagination is running wild there!

There is a stampede! It must be down to their market technique.

-HE ADOPTS COCKNEY ACCENT

-Apples and pears, innit?

One of those, one of those, everyone's a winner.

That was so bad!

To celebrate, James skips like a gazelle.

Watch out for any more cougars!

Having cracked the city,

the boys try their luck with the toffs in the country.

Thanks! Gosh, look at that, proud owner of a new recycled bag.

Fabulous!

-Brilliant! Thank you.

-Thank you very much!

But Tim is struggling with his customer service.

Yeah, we have wallets, purses. We have other stuff.

Yeah, we have, all around the UK.

Have your opinion. I don't know what you want me to say.

Just a bit of "customer feedback."

She doesn't like the bags.

What's the point? It's a waste of breath.

Just go and ride a horse!

Also keen to show she can sell is Nicole.

Not leaving anything to chance,

she's wangled a meeting with

Richard's business partner and sales guru, Adam.

-Are you nervous?

-I'm nervous. Stressed.

Because it's the first thing I've done by myself without you guys.

Do you want to go over the questions?

Yeah, so I've got it fresh in my head.

We have committed so much to this over the past two years,

so to get a sale is crucial.

And for me to be the face of our sales is huge,

and it's a lot of pressure.

I was just wondering if maybe you could tell me a bit about

how you went from that point of having a product

and then getting the first sale?

We decided we would sell into little, independent stores,

cafes and sandwich bars, and coffee shops. That sort of thing,

rather than supermarkets, at first.

The most important thing was getting people to try the product.

We're at the disadvantage where we don't have the stock,

to get it out there and get people tasting it.

We're more the opposite.

We've got very few samples,

they cost us a lot of money to make,

so we're very careful with who tastes it.

The simple best way to get people to believe in you is for them to try it.

With no stock for buyers to sample,

their business could end up corked before it starts.

The team gets together to make a plan.

Keen to prove to Richard they're worthy of further investment,

they've flown over fourth member of their team, wine expert, Steve.

The four of us are together!

-The four of us!

-This is weird!

-It's very weird!

The key thing that came out of the meeting was,

I explained the fact that our samples are so expensive to make,

we only have so few here, and the main message was

you need to find a way to get those samples made and get them over here.

Not to be a damper on the idea of bigger volume,

but how much is that going to cost?

£6-7,000 easy.

Hang on, haven't you just spent a fortune flying Steve over?!

How many samples do we have left?

-Eight?

-Maybe eight bottles.

We've just got to make sure every time we talk to someone,

we're making a bit of noise for the product.

We don't have the samples to lead with some of these places,

but start getting that feedback and building the interest.

Let's get 'em out there now.

The Skinnies need to plump up their order book,

but without samples, are they plonkers to even try?

-Can I taste it?

-No, you can't taste it!

We've only got five bottles left!

I can't carry anything until we've tasted it.

-Yeah.

-That would be important.

-Nicole.

-Hi, Nicole.

-Nice to meet you.

We need to taste the wine, most importantly.

For us, tasting the wine is hugely significant.

We don't have large amounts of this wine.

I'm so sick of going to meetings and saying,

"I'm sorry, you can't taste it."

OK, so that's two of our teams, pounding the streets,

trying to drum up business.

Is Catherine, of Stumpydog fame, doing the same over in Jersey?

No, she just seems to be staring at her phone.

Unsure of how to stretch Richard's cash to get her business to Blighty,

Catherine does the only sensible thing,

and asks her millionaire mentor for more money.

This will be interesting.

Hello.

What's going on?

One thing I wanted to check with you about

was the funding you've put in,

because it would be better for me if I could have £5,000.

Talk me through what the money would be spent on?

Arranging to go and see all the retailers.

Every time I fly to England, it costs over £500.

Really?

"Yeah. There's two of us going."

For me to put in money for travel and costs isn't where I want to be.

I'm about investing in the thing that'll create the long-term value.

So, I can't fund that, I'm afraid.

That went well(!)

With no more money on offer from Richard,

Catherine stumps up the cash herself and heads off for her first meeting

with a major player in the baby market.

Just one small problem. She's not there.

Oh, she's here! Look! 45 minutes late.

Hi.

-Hi. Is it Katie?

-It is, yes.

And they've already read her pitch.

Time to wow 'em, Cathy!

Do you want to ask me some questions about it?

What are you thinking, as a recommended retail price?

I was thinking it would probably somewhere around £100.

But I'm hoping to not to go into manufacturing,

we'd prefer to arrange a licensing deal.

This is too painful, I can't bear to watch, I've got to go.

Hoping to help Catherine polish her patter is retail guru Grace.

She watches from a safe distance. What did she think?

She wasn't in control. There was no authority.

She came across quite nervous.

She was late. Why was she late?

Not a good presentation at all. At all. At all, at all, at all.

Oof, life's a "pitch".

And she's not the only one with problems.

James, from Elephant Branded,

should be booking flights to see a supplier in Uganda.

But it seems he's quite keen to make a detour.

I think I might book this flight to Hong Kong on the Monday.

And then that will get me into Hong Kong

for the evening of Tuesday.

What would you say, out of interest, if Richard said,

"Why are you going to Hong Kong?"

We need to work what we have in Cambodia at the moment.

We have a wicked relationship with them.

Honestly, I think you'll come across as a bit of bull, if I'm honest.

I think you need to be honest.

That leaves me in an impossible situation, what can I do?

I don't know.

Time to come clean, James.

So, my other commitment in Hong Kong,

which again was organised a long time ago, before this,

is that I will be working, doing an architecture thing in Hong Kong.

Busted!

Turns out James is spending four of the next six weeks

doing his "architecture thing" in Hong Kong.

He's leaving Tim to man the fort alone.

After that bombshell, James is feeling like a bit of a Nelly.

It's time to fess up to Mufasa, sorry, I mean Richard.

Very scared.

I think it should be OK.

It'll be all right.

I've got my lucky boxers on. Always work wonders.

It's time for the Elephants to take a step into the lion's den.

-Hello, boys.

-Hello. How's it going, mate. Good to see you.

This is Tim, my business partner.

-Haven't we met before?

-No, we haven't.

-No? OK.

Another piece of the jigsaw.

We feel it's important that you know that,

if you give us a call in two weeks' time,

I might possibly be out in Asia.

I had a commitment with doing a month of architecture in Hong Kong,

with the idea that I would work during the week,

and then take weeks out to go to Cambodia,

as, obviously, that's our nearest supply chain.

We felt it was important to come and see you,

because we want to be as open and clear and transparent as possible.

Yeah. The most important thing in business is trust.

You get trust by being honest and open.

You don't work for me, you work for yourselves.

You're your own bosses.

So what do you with your time is absolutely your business, not mine.

That's nice, everything out in the open. Crack on, boys.

I, in December, applied for a graduate job.

-And I got it.

-Right.

Uh-oh.

But I absolutely love Elephant Branded.

I would love to say to you I'd jack it all in and run with it,

but we don't take a salary.

We don't have...

I need somewhere to live. This is where, actually, it becomes a risk.

-This is where it bites, for sure.

-The real world suddenly hits.

-It does.

Don't look to me to validate which choices you make,

that's a big life decision. But you've got to choose.

All I ask is this.

Once you know whether you want to do it or not, let me know.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much, cool.

The biggest question will ultimately come down to,

what is it that they want? Do they want to do it or not?

If they can't answer that, then I can't invest.

I have something that's very concrete

and a very notable, obvious opportunity.

But, actually, there's a huge amount of opportunities that you have

that will also have to be parked.

I think we literally need to sit down and actually just sleep on it.

Yeah.

Nicole's also in London to see Richard.

He's got a surprise for her,

and he's asked her to bring a bottle of their precious wine.

Don't look so nervous, dear, it's only Richard.

And his friend, Richard.

You're going to meet a business today called Skinny Vines.

Their idea is low-calorie wine.

I like their name, Skinny Wines.

It works, don't you think?

Skinny Wines? He's already renamed it, what a maverick!

You get less drunk and less fat, but it still tastes delicious.

I'll definitely buy some.

Result, he's not even tried it.

I feel worried pretty much every time I meet with Richard

because, if he doesn't believe in me as a sales person,

he's not going to invest in us.

Nicole. Hello, hello.

-Hi!

-Lovely to see you.

-You too. Nicole.

-Nice to meet you. Richard, nice to see you again.

-Likewise.

-Grab a seat.

-Thank you.

So this is the mystery guest.

Two Richards for the price of one here.

-Very nice.

-Your business is about going up

against some really big, established companies.

And Sir Richard, more than any other entrepreneur,

has taken on big businesses, and won.

It's an opportunity to pick his brains on how to go about it.

-Right.

-Plus, he's got a big wine company,

-so it is definitely worth getting him to try some.

-Brilliant.

OK.

-I have a bottle here for us to taste.

-Perfect.

Finally, someone gets to drink it.

Could people tell the difference?

We have compared it with other low-calorie wines,

with other Sauvignon Blancs, without lower alcohol,

and the feedback is it tastes as good.

-Good luck.

-Cheers.

-A lovely idea.

-Thank you so much. Cheers.

-Delicious.

-Excellent!

If you had your eyes shut, you'd think it was normal wine.

It's fantastic.

The most important thing is to stand out from the crowd.

You've got to somehow come up with some ideas

to get the name of the wine in the press,

even if it means making a fool of yourself.

I was driving through a vineyard in America one day,

and suddenly this helicopter came down right next to my car,

with these guys with sub-machine guns.

They forced us down this dirt track road, blindfolded me,

took me into this barn, took the blindfold off

and there was three naked ladies.

I was told to help them bounce up and down to help press their wine.

Oh, fruity!

It worked for me. It's the only wine I've bought ever since.

I bet it is!

And they...

So...

I don't know whether you've got any great ideas on that?

We've definitely been trying to capitalise

on the online, social media trend. It's something we feel

the wine industry isn't doing particularly well at the moment.

We don't think they've caught up to speed with social media.

If you can get people to tweet about it.

It's key.

-Will you tweet about it for us?

-Yes!

You're one of the most followed guys in the UK.

I will certainly,

if we can think of some little angle.

Good luck anyway, nice to see you.

Thank you so much.

-Well done, Nicole.

-Thank you.

After a double-Dickie experience, Nicole is speechless.

I cannot believe what just happened.

I was not prepared for that at all.

I can't wait to go home and tell the other guys what happened.

They're not going to believe this. It's going to be insane.

Oh, get it down you, girl.

Back with Stumpydog, and determined not to be defeated,

Grace has taken on the challenge of turning Catherine

into a pitch-perfect performer.

Her husband Marvin has come along for moral, if not silent, support.

When I do presentations, you use key words, it's there as a prompt.

But, can Catherine get top marks?

My name is Catherine Curtis.

And, um, I'm really pleased to be here today,

and show you my great new product.

You can some of the lovely visuals.

Can I interrupt you really quickly?

"Catherine Curtis," brilliant,

"I'm really excited to tell you about this new product, the Baby Hub."

Take two.

So, hello, my name is Catherine Curtis,

and I'm really pleased to be here today.

I want to show you my great new product which is called Baby Hub.

Take three.

My name is Catherine Curtis...

You know what, this could be a long night, let's leave them to it.

Next morning, and it's the day of the big pitch.

Has Grace's business boot camp worked?

Right.

I want to tell you about the great new product we've got,

which is called Baby Hub.

Her confidence is up, but will it last?

The whole thing is designed to be completely portable.

When I was working as a nanny,

and went on to have five children of my own.

Wow. No stopping you!

Smiles! That's got to be a good sign.

I think it's a great invention.

I think you've got something you should really look at to develop.

You've got it all.

You can choose to manufacture with us, or distribute, or choose both.

Instead of licensing to someone else,

Catherine's been offered the chance to manufacture her own product.

This is a massive change to the business plan.

You are a changed performer.

-Well done, cheers.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

In the south west,

James and Tim have had a chance to consider their options.

Richard gives them a call to see if they've made a decision.

"After our last conversation,

"I need an answer from you, whether you are in or out?"

As it stands, I think my opportunity with my employer is enormous,

and I think it's too big a risk for me to take,

and I think the business is too young.

I'm totally fine, don't worry about me,

this is about what you want to do.

Over to you, then, James.

I still have a concern.

How will you close the gap between where you are now,

and those things we've just outlined, if you are working in Hong Kong?

Yeah, so... If I'm out in Hong Kong, I'm going to be doing some work,

but also I'm going to be in the village in Cambodia.

And then Tim is going to be based in the UK,

and is going to deal with the brand,

but also deal with our on-going talks with resellers in the UK.

-"OK, talk to you soon. Goodbye."

-Cheers. Bye-bye.

-Bye.

So, let's get this straight.

Tim's got a graduate job lined up, which starts in two months,

but will spend the next four weeks working for the business.

In the meantime, James has taken an architecture job in Hong Kong,

but will also visit Cambodia, not Uganda, to look at the supply chain.

Clear as mud. But everyone's happy, right?

I'm not going to get the reward of any work I do over the three months.

And potentially over six month.

It is going to be a huge amount of work.

And then...

I'm going.

It's not the fact that I'm going to have to spend hours on a computer,

I couldn't care less about that, I can do it.

But I have nothing, that's the problem.

I don't understand... what's basically... I...

I've known you for the last four months,

and I'd hope, by this stage, we can both trust each other.

I trust you, but what would kill me

is if I dedicated six months of my life to something,

and then, in September, Richard, or whoever it may be, says,

actually James, this is incredible, I'm going to give £1 million.

And then I lose six months' work. Like that.

I don't agree because

I can write you something on paper to say we have a commitment here.

I can't do anything until I know what's happening with Richard.

At the end of the day, that's where it all changes.

In six weeks' time, everything will change.

And I will be the one who will have to run it

and depend on it for a livelihood.

I do trust James, and hopefully

that will be acknowledged in the form of equity, disregarding what happens.

There's a difference between having it said and written, simple as that.

I will have to focus it and run it day-to-day as my livelihood.

We'll have Richard's involvement, potentially, if that happens.

He will also want a stake.

So, at this point in time,

it's very difficult to know exactly how that will be split up.

I, honestly, to answer the question,

have absolutely no idea how it would be.

They're going to have 6,000 miles between them,

and be working on completely different jobs.

So the boys will have to find a way to work through their problems,

if they're going to impress Richard.

As the Elephant boys start falling apart,

the Skinny team are all in it together.

What are they up to?

I need to get up on the roof, and make sure we have enough rope.

Did he say, "Get on the roof"?

It fits!

It's getting attention.

People are stopping, looking at the sign.

Reading it. So, it's good.

HE LAUGHS I totally missed that.

Oh! "Forget the juice"!

Oh-ho!

Good for you, man! Good for you.

Whose bright idea was that?

Richard Branson-inspired.

Get in the media, get people's attention,

hopefully make them laugh.

I like all of it, except "Forget the juice".

SHE LAUGHS

You can stick that up your Skinny Vines. But the rest is cool.

Ah, he's so cool.

And, that's a tweet.

To complete the stunt,

Richard Branson gamely retweets it to his 2.5 million followers.

Cheers, Dickie!

Impressed by the stunt,

Sir Branson sets up a meeting with the team, with his own wine company.

Nice to have friends in the know, eh?

Got one bottle to give them.

And we're not able to leave them any, we are taking it home.

-Got to teach you how to pour a tasting glass.

-Yeah, you do.

Too much?

Argh! The precious wine!

Do you alcoholise...

Oh, what a waste.

We probably want to look at the pricing structure as well.

We're looking at £24 per six pack.

What's your recommended retail price on that?

We see it coming in just under £10.

I think, as soon as you start getting over £10, it will be a hard sell.

-That's too tight, I'm afraid, at that level.

-Mm-hm.

It is a huge gap, what we can do it for, and what they're looking for.

It's pretty disheartening we can't get anywhere near their margins.

In a few days' time,

these budding entrepreneurs will be pitching for life-changing investment from Richard.

With the time they have left, James and Tim need to decide

whether they believe in Elephant Branded enough to stay at the helm,

or whether to succumb to the temptations of a career.

We've set up something really cool, really exciting,

it's something I'm proud of,

something I'll always have an interest in, because I've set it up with James.

Catherine has made drastic and last-minute changes to her business plan.

It could be the push her business needs.

But will she risk losing Richard in the process?

It would be a real tragedy if it didn't happen now.

I'm hoping that I get that investment from Richard,

because I really need it.

And, with an empty order book for Skinny Vines,

Nicole needs to prove she can deliver as the sales manager.

Sales is crucial. We've been working on this for two years.

Until we get a sale, we're not a real business in my eyes.

Will any of these have done enough

to convince Richard to part with his cash?

There are people that I'm going to see today that,

if I was a rational, logical investor,

I wouldn't even let them through the door.

So I am going to potentially give people a go

who, on paper, I shouldn't.

But, sometimes, you can't convey on paper

what's actually the true entrepreneur inside,

which is the person who's going to do whatever it takes to get this thing to happen.

It is D-Day at Richard's HQ.

After six long weeks, this is the moment they find out

if they've got Richard's backing or not.

We've got to the point where we're ready to go,

got everything arranged.

I need the investment, so it's very important.

It took me three days,

six flights, and some malaria tablets to get here today.

We know he knows what we do as a business.

He'll have an idea in his mind of what he wants to do.

We're going to say what we have done, and we'll see how he reacts.

This is really important to us.

We really want to get the investment, so we can grow our business, so we can reach our goals.

And we really want Richard on board. We think it's a really good fit.

We would love to go into partnership with him.

This is our mascot. We thought we'd lighten the mood a bit in the pitch.

I'm going to come in, wearing this.

They wait, while Richard takes one last look at their business plans.

I've got no interest in people that are just full of chat.

I can't invest in people who are caught in the detail of the day-to-day.

I need someone who can see the bigger picture, and then deliver it.

You are going to get so hot, aren't you?

HE LAUGHS

-Why should I invest?

-OK. We've got so much to update you on.

There's been lots going on since the expo, talking to our suppliers,

We've nailed down our end-to-end supply chain.

We've been meeting with distributors.

We've been talking about going out to events,

having a presence at Fashion Week, maybe, making that connection.

So, getting out there and trying to engage our social media and online presence, with PR stunts.

And we have a written expression of interest from Marks & Spencer.

And we have a follow-up meeting with Waitrose.

Which retailers have said, "Yes, I will stock Skinny Vines?"

This is the closest we have to the yes.

As you said, there's no such thing as a portable playpen.

I thought, I bet there is.

I searched on-line, and you were right, there was no such thing as a portable playpen.

There was a boat load of portable travel cots.

Your USP is the single-handed motion.

You don't have to put your baby down.

Yeah. You have to take it out, though, right?

We've talked to the cement company who own the bags.

We've had some really positive conversations with them.

We're now talking about some form of collaboration.

We've also been in discussion with a leading reseller.

We've got to the stage where they've placed an initial order.

-How big is the order?

-At the moment, it's about 500 units.

What's that worth? It's quite a big order.

-It's worth...

-Over £10,000.

Why no sales? Why haven't you got any orders?

We didn't have the stock on the ground.

If we'd had the stock on the ground ready to go,

we'd have had stock on shelves.

Initially, we didn't take that risk

of putting everything in, to getting a container-load over here.

In hindsight, that probably was a mistake.

You told me that essentially what you wanted to do

was to license out your idea. Is that still the idea?

That's changed.

Am I right in also thinking

that the amount of money you're looking for has changed?

It's going to be different for manufacturing,

because the funds I needed before were for getting the product ready for licensing.

So, for us to do this ourselves,

the amount of funds we need will be more.

Do you know what the new amount is, that you're looking to raise?

It's going to be somewhere in the region of £100,000.

I think you've sold something like 100-200 bags?

No, we have sold about 1,000 bags.

OK. And that's turned over?

Probably about £30,000.

So you've got a business that's turned over £30,000.

And you're coming to me and saying, today, it's worth nearly £2 million?

To me, when I first looked at it,

I assumed you'd mistakenly put a zero on the end of it.

I think we have something that is growing at a rate of knots,

that is really, really exciting.

Guys, it's just hard to take seriously.

I'm just going to take a few minutes, and I'll come back.

That was the question we knew was going to get asked.

I think they've got a good idea.

But...

they've got to find a way to sort their behind-the-scenes, how it gets made,

and how it gets from New Zealand to here.

They have to find a way to make that cheaper.

Ooh, this one's difficult.

This one's right on the line.

I think what Catherine is,

is an inventor, great.

Now she needs to find a really dynamic business partner.

We have massively, massively overvalued it. And that worries me.

I don't know, we'll soon find out. Wait and see.

There was something cool about the product,

and about the way the product is made.

They've made some good progress, they've actually got an order, that's great.

Several things have come out.

One is this sense of, are they really committed?

One of the two is giving up before he's started.

Secondly, they've got this insane valuation that the business is worth nearly £2 million.

That's just flat out greedy!

-Thanks for that.

-OK, no problem.

The business plan said you wanted to license this.

And actually, you've sat before me and said you're going to manufacture it yourself.

I guess I can only go on what I've been given as the business plan,

and what I've heard to date, and I'm left feeling confused.

I don't think you're at the investable stage,

-so I'm afraid I can't invest.

-OK.

The actual business relationships we set up during these six weeks,

they're not going to go away.

So, it's not going to hold us back for a moment.

She went from wanting to be a licenser, to being an entrepreneur.

You have to work out what it is you want to be, before you can start asking people for money.

I loved the product, the original bag.

I use it every day.

I've had more comments on that than virtually anything I've ever owned.

I'm facing a team that's... there's a big question mark over it because you're leaving.

As an investor, I'm looking at the team that is asking for investment is kind of fracturing.

Um...

On team, on strategy and valuation,

-it means I can't invest and I'm going it take a pass.

-OK.

Thank you very much anyway, for your time in looking through it.

-OK. All right. Good luck.

-Thanks.

-Nice one, boys.

-Thank you very much.

Thanks for your time. See you soon.

It's not the result we were hoping for, and that we wanted.

I would love to be part of Elephant Branded for James.

But I'm not, I am going to walk out there with my head held high.

I would love to support a business like that.

They've miscalled it. They're trying to run before they can walk.

That's a real shame, because you do have something good here.

Sorry to keep you guys waiting for so long.

Blimey!

Properly tough, actually.

I can really articulate the reasons why not to.

I think the nature of how you're getting this stuff made,

and getting from over there to over here, and bottling it,

is inefficient.

-The question is, are you going to be able to solve that?

-Yeah.

We understand 100% how to do it.

I do look at this, and I think it's a cool-looking thing,

that I think is on trend,

with health and quality.

But I did set you this challenge,

I said I wanted you to get one person saying yes.

As an investor, you have to invest

in teams and people you think have the potential

to solve the problems that every business faces.

Yeah, I think I would take the bet on you guys, so I will invest.

THEY SQUEAL

I will offer to invest £50,000.

Cool! Cool!

Wow. Fantastic. Thank you.

I think you should start dancing, Logan.

Thank you for having the belief.

And we will deliver, 100%.

You're wearing the suit.

THEY LAUGH

You know what? I'm looking forward to working with those guys.

Is it ultra high-risk? Yeah, it's ultra high-risk.

Some fundamentals give me some comfort.

Delicious-tasting wine.

Honest, trustworthy, hard-working team.

That's a pretty good place to start from.

It's such an incredible feeling to think that we were at the expo

with 500 other businesses, trying to get Richard's investment.

And now, here we are, at the final, and he's just invested in us.

Out of all these people, it's just phenomenal.

As an investor, I don't want to tell people how to run their business,

that's up to them.

I want to put money into support them

when they've got ideas that I'm excited by.

So, this whole experience,

of meeting literally hundreds of entrepreneurs,

has been a really exciting and, for me, inspiring thing to be part of.

And, you know what? All of us can do it.

All of us can have that wonderful, liberating feeling

of what it is to be your own boss.

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