Why These 5 Brands Failed To Secure a Deal in Shark Tank India Season 3?

Shark Tank India has become a helpful hand for promising entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas and acquire investment from professional investors i.e. Sharks. Shark Tank India has successfully run three seasons till now. In Shark Tank season 3, many brands obtained their desired investment.

Many of them are running successfully till now and earning high profits. But there are still some brands that have to go empty-handed. Today, you will learn about five such brands that failed to get the support of Sharks and left the Shark Tank stage without any offer.

Road Pilot, Kiosk Kaffee, Bombay Closet Cleanse, Digital Paani and Competishun are the five companies that came to pitch the Sharks and get an investment to scale up their business. However, despite their compelling offers, Sharks were not interested in investing. In this article, you will explore the common mistakes these brands can avoid to grab the deal from the Sharks.

Brand 1: Road Pilot

Overview of the brand's product/service

Road Pilot is an app to ease up the lives of both truck drivers and fleet owners. As you know, truck operations are the backbone of Indian logistics. Road Pilot gives easy access to fleet owners to find suitable and trusted truck drivers for their supply chains. The truck drivers get a direct medium to obtain employment via a digital platform.

Pitch presentation summary

The founder of Road Pilot, Nitin Sharma and Neelam Sharma started their pitch by addressing the common issues fleet owners faced while supplying goods and raised the problem of truck drivers who don’t get a fixed salary every month.

Due to these unorganised operations in the logistics industry, it becomes difficult for fleet owners to get trained and trusted truck drivers on time. Right now, the total number of users on the app is 5000+, which is divided into 2780 truck drivers, 1367 fleet owners, and 1090 Dhabas and mechanics.

After this, they gave a demo of their app that explained its functioning effectively. In the Road Pilot app, fleet owners can easily register and upload vacancies for truck drivers. Also, truck drivers can easily access those job applications from any location, along with convenient access to nearby restaurants, and mechanic shops. Overall, their pitch was engaging and impressed the sharks.

Strengths of Road Pilot

1. Compelling Pitch highlighting the industry issues effectively.

2. Clear subscription plans for both Fleet owners and Truck Drivers.

Factors contributing to the failure to secure a deal

1. Limited market research

2. Lack of Product Market-fit

3. Unclear revenue model

Brand 2: Kiosk Kaffee

Overview of the brand's product/service

Kiosk Kaffee is a coffee brand based in Pune, Maharashtra, providing affordable coffee to coffee lovers. They serve a variety of coffees such as Black coffee, Latte etc. but their famous product is Kaffe Frappe. The Kiosk Kaffee was founded by Savan Oswal, Nilesh Pasalkar and Sangram Kamble together in 2020. It has 70+ outlets at present.

Their ask was 90 lakhs for 3% equity in the company. The vision of Kiosk Kaffee is to provide authentic and high-quality coffee at affordable rates.

Pitch presentation summary

The beginning of the pitch was quite impressive as the founders raised the issue of high-priced premium coffee. India has a vast majority of people who start their day with a cup of coffee. Usually, they spend 250-300 rs but Kiosk Kaffee came as a savior, offering coffee starting at just 70 rs.

They even invited Sharks to taste the coffee and give genuine feedback. Kiosk Kaffee was already a profitable company with its consistent revenue growth in recent years. They have also decided to launch more products such as Instant Coffee and Fresh Premium Coffee beans in upcoming years. However, even after highlighting the gap in the market for affordable coffee, they needed help to secure the deal.

Strengths of Kiosk Kaffee

1. Diverse product offerings by Franchise model

2. Entertaining and confident pitch

3. Vision For Expansion

Factors contributing to the failure to secure a deal

1. Lack of clarity in explanation

2. Generating low revenue per outlet

Brand 3: Bombay Closet Cleanse

Overview of the brand's product/service

Bombay Closet Cleanse is India’s first-ever thrift platform that tackles your wardrobe space issues by offering a simple solution. With the choice to both purchase and sell pre-owned clothes, it not only cleanse your wardrobe but also provides an opportunity to earn. You can effortlessly find the perfect outfit for every occasion without being overwhelmed by several old clothes.

Pitch presentation summary

Bombay Closet Cleanse was co-founded by two sisters Alfiya Khan and Sana Khan who were fed up seeing multiple unused clothes lying in their closet. To solve this problem, they both introduced an innovative solution by kick-starting the thrifting process. In the pitch, they introduced three ways to attract customers: Shop, Swap and Sell.

They have cleansed 5000+ closets till now. As evident from its name, Bombay Closet Cleanse is a Mumbai-based company with 2 offline stores in Versova and Bandra. They even operate their digital business through their website. They asked for an investment of 1 crore for a 2.5% stake in the company. Overall, their pitch highlighted their company's plus points very well.

Strengths of Bombay Closet Cleanse

1. Great communication skills

2. Engaging ways to address the problem

3. Strong online presence with more than 72k+ followers

Factors contributing to the failure to secure a deal

1. Lesser market demand

2. Inventory challenges

3. Scaling issues

Brand 4: Digital Paani

Overview of the brand's product/service

Digital Paani is a one-stop solution for wastewater management problems. As a Saas end-to-end service provider, it ensures the monitoring of water plants. It assists operators in identifying the technical issues that the plants may face while functioning. It offers automated features and gives timely updates on the plant’s health.

Pitch presentation summary

The founders of Digital Paani, Mansi Jain and her father Rajesh Jain began the pitch by touching on the customers’ pain points. They introduced the need to preserve water through treatment and recycling. It tells their deep understanding of the main issue and is ready to eradicate the problem from the root.

Their presentation communicated the issue effectively with a user-friendly app that made operations easy. The analytics dashboard showcases the growth and impact efficiently. They requested for 70 lakhs with 1% equity in the company.

Strengths of Digital Paani

1. Clear vision

2. Easy-going presentation

Factors contributing to the failure to secure a deal

1. Less profitable

2. Lower market-size

3. Weak sales strategy

Brand 5: Competishun

Overview of the brand's product/service

Competishun is an online platform established for IIT/JEE aspirants. It introduces a wide range of courses to cater to different needs. It gives convenient access to the studies from the comfort of your home. Competishun makes quality education affordable through websites and apps for everyone.

Pitch presentation summary

Competishun was co-founded by Niraj Saini, Mohit Tyagi and Amit Bijarnia in 2020. Their vision was simple- to provide better and more affordable education to students. The pitch highlighted the challenges students face with traditional offline coaching methods.

Strengths of Competishun

1. Strong online presence with more than 1M

2. Strategised course availability

Factors contributing to the failure to secure a deal

1. Lack of clarity in vision

2. High competition

3. Weak revenue model

Common Lessons Learned

• Proper Market Research: Understanding market dynamics and customer needs is important to gain success.

• Clear Revenue Model: Entrepreneurs must clearly explain all their revenue sources to the investors.

• Effective Communication: Engaging pitches and clear communication can make or break a deal.

• Adaptability and Innovation: Brands must be flexible and creative to conquer challenges and grow effectively.

Conclusion

Shark Tank India is a valuable learning platform for aspiring entrepreneurs. When the brands fail to secure investment, it's demoralising but provides priceless lessons for future goals. You can increase your chances of success in the competitive business by improving crucial factors such as market research, revenue models, and effective communication.

Shark Tank India contributes to the life of entrepreneurs and keeps on educating them. It inspires them not to give up by emphasising the importance of perseverance and learning from mistakes. An ambitious entrepreneur should always welcome challenges, refine their strategies, and persist on their entrepreneurial journey.

If you dare to dream big and seek inspiration and insights into the business world, look no further than sharktankseason.com. We bring you captivating stories of companies that made their mark on Shark Tank India and continue to thrive in business. Stay tuned for more inspiring tales of success and innovation.