The founder of an eco-friendly cleaning and body care products business which recently appeared on BBC series Dragons' Den has warned the business may have to close down - but says she will not give up without a fight.
Social enterprise Bide was founded by Wiltshire-based entrepreneur Amelia Gammon to help to address unemployment among marginalised women, including refugees, carers and ex-offenders.
The B-corp, recently named by industry experts as one of the top 100 start-up companies in the country, pays workers to manufacture its products within their own homes at their convenience.
The company says it currently has more than 5,000 people on a waiting list looking to join its network of ‘home manufacturers’. It is also focused on building green supply chains, aiming to bring production of its goods to within 20 miles of consumption.
Ms Gammon appeared in an episode of Dragon’s Den that first aired on television in January, in which she attracted a potential £80,000 investment from Deborah Meaden, in exchange for 20% of the business.
In a video posted on the company’s social media account last week Ms Gammon said she had updated some of Bide’s 3,800 customers and 200 monthly subscribers that the business was "really, really struggling" financially.
Ms Gammon said that the Dragons' Den investment “didn’t go through'', following talks soon after the episode was originally recorded last May, but it had subsequently raised some funding from other angel investors.
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BusinessLive understands Bide later found out from the programme's makers on December 27, that the episode featuring Ms Gammon's pitch to 'the Dragons' would be broadcast on BBC One on January 26.
In the social media video, Ms Gammon said: “Unfortunately when we went on Dragons' Den, when it broadcast in January we had such an incredibly overwhelming positive response from people, placing lots and lots of orders from us.
“But it actually really made things difficult for us, because we suddenly had to buy lots of raw ingredients and increase production at a much faster rate than we had planned for. And effectively it just means that its burned through our cash.”
A tearful Ms Gammon said that despite attempts to reduce its costs, the company was in a “very, very bleak” situation and had only “a week or two” to raise the money it needed to stay afloat, or it “may have to close down”.
The entrepreneur, who said during the Dragons' Den episode she had given up a “high powered, well-paid” corporate job to run the business, added she “will not go down without putting up a big fight”, and was in continuing conversations with potential angel investors.
Ms Gammon told BusinessLive she was looking to secure £10,000 to keep the company going, while she tried to attract larger scale investment and new partnerships. In her social media post, Ms Gammon said Bide was in talks with “football clubs and other sports organisations”, as well as prisons over the launch of workshops schemes.
She also revealed the business had been planning to launch a crowdfunding campaign in May, but said “the Dragons' Den experience” had shrunk its cash flow to the extent that the business was “not going to be able to make it to May, unless something changes”.
When asked by someone watching the video on Instagram why the investment on Dragons' Den had not been finalised, Ms Gammon said: “I think it’s fair to say when somebody makes an investment offer under a television programme within an episode, it doesn't allow them or the brand to really explore if it's the right partnership, and that kind of conversation happens after the recording has happened, and it didn’t go through for us.”
BusinessLive has contacted the BBC for comment.
During the programme Ms Gammon told 'the Dragons' Bide had generated £56,000 in revenue during its first year, and she valued the business at £1.6m. She added the firm was in talks with Watford FC to supply the Championship football club with cleaning products for the team’s kit and stadium.
When asked by Ms Meaden on the programme how much Bide paid its workers, Ms Gammon responded the average hourly rate worked out at £15.27, adding this was uncapped. In her social media post the entrepreneur said the women Bide had been working with at its distribution centre have had to get other jobs, and were currently volunteering in its warehouse to help the company to "fulfil as many orders as possible".
Ms Gammon told BusinessLive that since posting her video Bide she had seen an “absolutely phenomenal” response, from people both expressing messages of support and placing orders with the company, with Bide currently manufacturing on demand. She has also posted an additional Instagram post thanking people for their support.
She added that did not regret appearing on Dragons' Den, calling it a “wonderful opportunity” to make more people aware of the business and inspire other ethical enterprises.
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