[0:35]Hello everyone. My name's Amer Hassan and I'm here today with my business minicabit.com. We're looking for a 75,000 pound investment in return for a 15% share in the business. Every year, 10 million trips are taken by cab out of town, all pretty much booked on the phone. And yet every day, people across the UK are still having to sift through cards and phone books dumped on their doormats, having to gather phone numbers to call cab offices just to get a quote. Minicabit aims to make all of that a thing of the past. Now you can book a trip to the airport, a meeting, a concert, a night out, or even a visit to your grandma in just a minicabit moment. with our website and our mobile app. You can instantly compare real-time quotes from a range of licensed minicab providers across the UK. The cab providers set the rates on our system. The customer then pays for the fair in full on our site, and then once the trip is completed, the we pay the cab provider deducting a 10% commission and a 1-pound booking fee in the process. And that's why without any PR or marketing, we've already attracted 100 licensed minicab operators across the UK into our network. Last month, 10,000 pounds worth of bookings was placed through minicabit, and we will add a few zeros to that with your investment. Thank you.
[2:07]A confident pitch from former mobile phone technology man Amer Hassan. So you're going from Manchester to, let's say Stoke-on-Trent. His price comparison website and app promises to get the best deals on out-of-town taxi journeys. You just simply enter your card details and then you can book your cab. But with the meter running on Amer's time in the den, Duncan Bannatyne wanted to get straight down to business. You said we a few times. Was that their own we or do you have a partner or investors or? I own 84%. However, I'm actually setting aside 8% of that as an equity options pool for the current and incoming team members. Then I have Ed, who owns about 8%. He's like a commercial advisor. Yeah. And then I have a corporate investor as well. And the corporate investor owns how much? 7 and a half%. So who who's the who who are the corporate? So the the corporate investor, it's a major telecoms company. Um, they don't wish Would you have worked for them in the past? Um, possibly. Possibly. Okay. Um, and uh, or possibly not. Um, they they don't wish to be named. It doesn't matter if you've come in for investment, you've It's a bit like saying I I've got a promise of 200,000 pounds. Oh, who's that from? Oh, I can't tell you. Well, if I say it's one of the mobile operators, it doesn't help me. Um, you need to decide here and now if you want to disclose it and we can have a conversation, or do you want to withhold it and walk back in that lift? It's it's O2. Okay. Are they going to target their customer base with your app? It's actually working with them on a priority moments offer for their customer. And what does that mean? So customers, for instance, if they're going to a particular concert or a particular venue, uh, they can see an offer might be 5 pounds off your first booking through minicab, and they'll see that offer. What is your forecast profit this year? With investment, um, we aim to do 669,000 pounds of gross booking revenue. So that's a 52,000 pound gross profit. Yeah. Net profit? Net profit, so in the first year would be a loss of 48 and a half thousand pounds. Thank you.
[4:38]Relief for the entrepreneur as he survives a grilling from Peter Jones. But there's something troubling Kelly Hoppen. I have a bit of a problem with minicabs per se, because they have a very, they they have had a very bad um, reputation. How do you know that the companies that you're putting under your brand are going to match who you want to be in the market? Sure. So uh, first of all, you know, we check that they're licensed and and so on. And we have that opportunity for customers to rate the, the drivers and the cabs and so on. The other important thing is we hold the money. So if there is an issue with the booking, that really sharpens the performance of the cab firm. I'm not excited by it, and if I'm going to invest in something, not only does it have to be a business proposition, but I actually, I have to want to be involved in it. Thank you.
[5:40]You know, if I was going to invest in a business like this, I'd invest in you because I I I think you can do it, but it is a pun. So because of that and that reason only, I'm not going to invest, but I wish you the best of luck and I I think there's a good chance you make it, but I'm out. Thank you, thank you, Dan.
[6:01]Amer's two dragons down as Kelly Hoppen and Duncan Bannatyne take themselves out of the investment loop. Now, Peter Jones is ready to declare his decision.
[6:17]I think you are very good, and I think you've created a very lean business model, and you have a product that has an opportunity to make it. I think it's clever, you've brought a network and got a network involved. Um, I'm going to make you an offer.
[6:38]And I'm going to offer you all of the money, 75,000 pounds. But I want 40% of the business. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Telecom's giant Peter Jones's offer is on the table, but with a hefty price tag. He wants 25% more equity than the entrepreneur is offering. Which way will Deborah Meaden go? Well, I I have to say, um, I think I think there's lot there's certainly legs in this. I'm going to make you an offer, and it's going to put you in a predicament because I'm going to make you the same offer as Mrs. Jones down there. So I'm going to offer you all of the money, but I want 40% of the business. Thank you. Thank you, Deborah.
[7:35]Two identical offers on the table, both for more equity than Amer had planned on giving away. Now, Piers Linney is the last dragon in the race. Amer, I think you're going to need to raise more money at some point. You know, whether it's to accelerate growth or maybe things didn't quite go to plan, sometimes they don't. Um, maybe like huge amounts, who knows. So I think you need to be incentivized, so, and your team too. So I'm also going to make you an offer. So all the money, but for 30%. Thank you, Piers.
[8:19]I'll take a moment to think. Yeah.
[8:26]By going in with a better offer, Piers Linney has made a potentially game-changing move. Can the entrepreneur turn the situation to his advantage?
[8:46]First of all, thank you for your offers and thank you for listening to me as well. Um, I'd like to ask first of all, would you be open to all three of you co-investing in minicab it and bringing your range of expertise to what's going to be a very, you know, fantastic opportunity? I wouldn't, Amer, and I'll tell you why. Sometimes you can get too much advice in a business. You're going to have too many voices and too many people chipping in. So I personally wouldn't be part of a trio of three dragons. Okay. Would you be willing to come down on your percentages, Peter and Deborah at all? If there were, if we were to do something, I'm with Deborah, I would accept, but if there was something where I shared an investment with Deborah for example, you've got the power of two, then I would be prepared to drop to 15%. Yeah. In other words, I'd give you back 5% if you prove the business model in the next 12 months. So you're saying, uh, 15% each subject to hitting hitting a certain target. So you're saying 20% each, but if you hit the targets which you have given us here today, I'd hand back 5%, Peter would hand back 5%. Yeah. Do you have any thoughts on that, Piers?
[10:14]Uh, guess it's complicated, isn't it? Um, so my offer is is the same offer, 30% for all of the money. It depends, you seem to want more than one dragon, doesn't it? You want a boardroom full of people, don't you? It's not it's about building a coalition of experts.
[10:30]Right, so my offer is, is the same offer, 30% for all of the money fixed, no messing about whether you hit your targets or not.
[10:41]It's a tough one. Should Amer choose Piers Linney's financially better offer, or go for the power of two dragons? But the entrepreneur hasn't finished negotiating yet. My concern really is, um, I'll be open, I think 40% is very strong. Um, and I'm not that comfortable with ratchets, just because, you know, I'm so invested in there already. And I actually think it could do you a disservice if for whatever reason, we don't hit that that metric. You got a key man who's feels punished. So, I like your offer, Piers. Um, if you can both move to as close to 30% as possible with with without a ratchet, then I'll be I'll be comfortable with that.
[11:41]This is an unusual scene in the Den, an entrepreneur who's in the driving seat of the negotiations. Has Amer done enough to convince Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones to drop their conditions? I would uh, revise my offer and it will set between Piers' offer and my regional offer. And this will be it. So I will offer you half of the money, so that's 37,500 for 17 and a half percent of the business. Thank you.
[12:24]Would you be interested in matching that? Um, I would. I would match that offer.
[12:39]I'm not going to move for it, Amer. My 30% still stands. Um, but I do I do want to sort of I'm quite keen to invest with you.
[13:11]Piers, thank you for your offer. It's a small world and hopefully we'll do with each other again, but I'd like to accept Deborah and Peter's offer. Wow. Thank you. Thank you. Amer has done it. It took guts to negotiate with the Dragons, but it was worth it in the end and the plucky entrepreneur leaves the den with two well-connected business people on board.
[13:40]I saw Piers's real enthusiastic and I thought great. But you know, deep down, I always wanted Deborah and I wanted Peter and I thought between them they can cover more bases. Time will tell if it was the right decision or whether I should have gone with the sweeter deal that Piers was offering, but you know, being an entrepreneur is all about taking risks.
