Fashion designer Jackie Corfield negotiated her way out of a deal on Sunday's Shark Tank (6 November) when she made a counteroffer that caused the Sharks to flee.
They circled her with interest and made her two offers, which she declined by making a counteroffer that the Sharks refused to consider.
The deal
- Jackie entered the tank asking for R500,000 for a 20% stake in her fashion business Hermanna Rush.
- Sharks Gil Oved and Dawn Nathan-Jones each offered her R250,000 for a R25% stake in her business. Jackie wants to open a third boutique for her clothing range but both Sharks wanted her to focus on an online store instead and made this a requirement of the deal.
- Jackie made a counteroffer by asking for R300,000 for a 15% stake in her business, which both Sharks turned down by instantly declaring "I'm out".
Our take
Jackie should have counteroffered by asking for R250,000 for a 20% stake in her busness. She should definitely have embraced extending online and should have asked for a guarantee that the finances for this would be covered by the deal if it turned out that R250,000 wasn't enough to set it up.
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Here's a recap of the episode by the show, starting with the entrepreneurs who landed the only deal of the episode and ending with Jackie who entered the tank last:
John and Len Oort, the owners of GoZone Water, have always been driven entrepreneurs, having grown up without very much money. The two brothers mineralise their own water and distribute rental units for their water to retailers around the country.
They came into the tank asking for the necessary capital to open a special bottling plant. Their business acumen, coupled with some very impressive figures immediately piqued the attention of Sharks Gil Oved, Marnus Broodryk and Vinny Lingham.
However, when the Sharks discovered that the rental units were incredibly profitable, they argued that the brothers don’t even need the bottling plant, and that they should focus on distributing more units around the country.
Money was not a problem for the Sharks, they were all happy to invest way more than John and Len were asking for, so the ultimate question that Gil put to the duo was: “Which Shark do you want to partner with, regardless of the deals that you have been offered?”
After a short deliberation, they decided that Marnus was their man, much to the chagrin of Gil and Vinny.
Next into the tank was chemical expert Angela Petsi from Pretoria with her range of products under the banner of “X-Chem Chemicals”. Angela creates adhesives and sealants for households as well as for industrial use, and because she uses her own formulations, it gives her company the ability to tweak and improve products as they’re developed.
Despite a great distribution plan, Angela did not seem to have a grip on her own business’s figures when pushed for details by the Sharks. The final nail in her coffin was the fact that she was also not willing to share certain numbers with the Sharks because of the fact that she did not want her competitors to know this information, given the public platform of the show. With very little information to consider when potentially making a deal, the Sharks were swiftly out.
Last into the fray was not only a blast from the past for one of the Sharks, but there was also a surprise celebrity appearance. Jackie Corfield grew up in East London and went to high school with Vinny. He explained to the Sharks that because he and Jackie are friends on Facebook, he has been following her business success for many years.
He vouched for her, and for her business but could not in good faith take part in her pitch, so he recused himself and announced off the bat that he was out.
With that, Jackie began pitching her locally produced clothing line and boutique, “Hermanna Rush”. With two successful French-style boutique stores in Johannesburg, Jackie also recently started branching out, sending to-your-door sampling boxes for customers, which have proven to be a huge hit.
As if this was not enough to convince the Sharks, Jackie called on one of her oldest and most loyal customers to join her in the tank - none other than local songstress Louise Carver! Impressed by Jackie’s pitch as well as Louise’s sincere testimonial, marketing guru Gil raved, “I believe in backing the jockey, not the horse. My mantra is passion-fuelled optimism, it’s what I live by, and I see this in you,” he told Jackie.
Gil wanted to make her an offer but it was contingent on the fact that she grows her business online for now instead of opening more retail outlets, as Jackie originally wanted to do with the Sharks’ money.
Gil also wanted this at 25% equity, to “buy the right to do business as a partner.” Jackie seemed hesitant, at which point Dawn Nathan-Jones saw an opportunity to step in.
She told Jackie that she also believed that online was the way to go, and “as a woman who understands fashion, I can give you more.” That said, Dawn matched the offer that Jackie received from Gil.
Not convinced, Jackie counter-offered for a 15% stake in “Hermanna Rush” but sadly for her, both Dawn and Gil withdrew instantly.