Entrepreneurs who make it into the ‘Shark Tank’ will have three minutes to pitch their business to the sharks.
During the pitch they will brief the sharks on how much money they are seeking, and how much of their company equity they are willing to hand over to the sharks. For example, a pitcher could ask for an investment of R100 000 in exchange for 10% of their company.
There are no limits on the investment requests but, in order to succeed, pitchers must secure the full amount they ask for although the equity split can be negotiated. If the pitcher does not secure the full investment amount pitched for they go home with nothing.
Historically on the show the most successful deals are with people that have a physical product that they are already selling.
For instance, they have designed a product but have not been able to sell it due to the high cost of manufacturing in bulk.
If they could secure capital from a shark they would be able to bring the manufacturing price down and make more product at the same time, securing better penetration into the retail market and becoming more competitive.
We are reaching out to business programs, business mentorship programs and incubators in order for them to alert their networks of this opportunity on the show. If anyone in your network would like more details they can visit www.facebook.com/mnetsharktankand entries are available online atwww.mnet.tv/sharktank
Shark Tank South Africa will be broadcast on M-Net in October and will be filmed in August.