‘Shark Tank’ Season 11 Episode 9 review: Beardements makes Mark Cuban reflect on how the 'corniest ideas can also make money'
In Episode 9 of ‘Shark Tank’ the sharks saw four startup entrepreneurs presenting strange, funny, and quirky business ideas that seem to fit right in with the upcoming holiday season. The first pitch of artificial pre-lit Christmas trees did not impress the investors as much. Though it seemed quite functional, everyone thought that it is way too expensive against the price margin, so much so, that each one of them dropped out of investment.
But it was the second business pitch that intrigued the sharks. The Christmas ornaments startup ‘Beardements’ founded and run by Jason McOmber, makes tiny ornaments and other accessories for men with beards. The twinkling led lights, glitter, and more can be easily clipped to beard, hair, or even clothes to give a festive feel to yourself and carry the mood with you on-the-go. When Jason declared his sales figures, every one of the judges were shocked. In the first year, Beardements made sales of $ 80K, followed by $153 K in the second year, and $462K in the third year. Jason is seeking investments, not for boosting sales but to get sports licensing and simultaneously increasing his digital marketing efforts. He plans to scale up to $600-700K only with direct to customer model. For holiday accessories that cost $9.99 (for a pack of 10 lights), the sales figures do seem too good to be true.
While each shark had their own reaction to the numbers and the business model, Mark Cuban put forth his honest opinion. He was surprised nevertheless about how Jason could actually push such a simple and seasonal product to six-figure sales and said that sometimes, it is surprising how the most clichéd items can find a huge market. Although he found Jason’s idea interesting, he was not keen on investing in the same, mostly because Mark found the margin too high. Or perhaps, it was not original enough for him.
However, after a lot of back and forth, Kevin OLeary closed the deal at the agreed investment of $150 K for a 25% stake in Beardements. So, to summarize, no matter how cheesy and clichéd some innovations may seem, there is always a buyer and an investor for every big idea in the market.
‘Shark Tank’ Season 11 airs every Sunday 9pm only on ABC.