Show Notes:
I would be so honored if you could Rate and Review Elaine’s Kitchen Table on iTunes!
You can watch the full episode of Easy Daysies on Dragons’ Den at www.easydaysies.com:
In this 3-part series, we recount our journey with Easy Daysies to the Dragons’ Den (the Canadian version of Shark Tank). This episode is about what happens after the taping of the show – signing the deal, the airing of the show, and all the craziness that surrounds it! Hopefully this will provide motivation and inspiration to anyone who is thinking about applying for a business reality TV show.
Be sure to also check out episodes 11 and 12 – about our experiences before and during the Den!
Resources:
Links to all 3 Easy Daysies appearances on Dragons’ Den
Jim Treliving’s Book – Decisions which includes Easy Daysies.
Kevin O’Leary’s Book – Cold Hard Truth on Family, Kids & Money, which also includes Easy Daysies!
www.EasyDaysies.com – this is my company! “Daysies” is spelled with a “y” because we are all about helping kids have easier days.
If you know any kids (and especially moms of kids) aged 3+ who could benefit from easier days brought about by Easy Daysies Magnetic Schedules for Kids, shop now and use this promo code at checkout:
shownotes15
to save 15% on your entire order!
Find Elaine’s Kitchen Table on Twitter @chatwithelaine, and Facebook @elaineskitchentable.
Transcript:
Elaine: 00:04 Hi, welcome to Elaine’s Kitchen Table! I’m so honored to have you here with us today where we talk about the business of real life. Elaine’s Kitchen Table is a podcast show to inspire, equip and empower women and moms through lessons learned off the kitchen table about business and parenting and life so that we can be that person we want our children to grow up to be. Now these lessons come from experiences our own and those of our awesome interviewees about lessons they have learned and have been passed on from those they admire so that we all can realize that we aren’t going through any of this on our own, but we can grab a nugget or a eureka moment that we can take and be inspired in our own life and in business. So today is part three of our journey to the Den. And when I say the Den, I mean Dragons’ Den, which is the Canadian version of Shark Tank. And with us today is Ron Comeau, my business partner and husband.
Ron: 01:14 Greetings!
Elaine: 01:17 He is a man of many words. Oh dear. Okay. Well we have had quite the journey and it’s not over. We’re still on our journey with our Dragon partners now after the Den. That means that last moment when we were in that studio, that TV studio in Toronto filming Dragons’ Den on the ninth floor of the CBC building, that was an amazing, amazing experience. As we taped at 6:30 in the morning and left with inciting a bidding war between all five Dragons. I’m doing a quick recap here. And we did choose two of those amazing Dragons to be our partners. And who were they Ronald?
Ron: 02:07 They were Mr Boston Pizza. Jim Treliving and Mr. Wonderful, Kevin O’Leary.
Elaine: 02:12 That’s correct. So people often ask us, so what happened after that?
Ron: 02:20 And so yeah, basically they, they’re probably guessing, so you went into a little room, you signed the deal that you shook hands on, so your deal’s done and then it probably went on TV that night or the next day or something like that. Right. So deals done, it’s on TV. Moving on.
Elaine: 02:34 Yes. What most people think we’ve moved on to a yacht onto a big ship where people are fanning us and serving caviar. And that our work is done. That is not the case. Oh dear. No, it’s very funny. People say oh Elaine, we know that, you know, you used to work at your kitchen table until three in the morning, but now that you’ve got it on Dragons’ Den, you probably can sleep. And it’s funny because people were asking me this like maybe three, six weeks after it aired.
Elaine: 03:06 And uh, I said, well, I’m not going to bed at three I’m actually going to bed at 5:00 AM because we’re that much more busy. And it was a little crazy. I would say probably for a good month and a half or two. I was actually going to bed around four or five in the morning with three little children. So quite fun. Very different than a yacht. But right after the Den.
Ron: 03:32 So when does it actually go on TV? How does this, can you tell the people how the taping works?
Elaine: 03:38 Yes. So when we were at the taping of the show, the producers had informed us that just because you’re invited to the taping of the show does not mean that it will air. And, uh, they said there’s about 260 pitchers come to be invited to pitch in front of the Dragons and then probably about 180 of them will air.
Elaine: 04:03 And then you sign your life away because they own all the footage of the filming and the taping and you, read the contract, it says it could be used to, uh, I guess, and yes, it can be used to, destroy your reputation or, or that of your business. And it’s not quite worded like that, but that’s the gist of it. And then you just sign it and say, sure, let’s do this. Which we did. And so we were really blessed that it did not go that way. And as many people know that often people go on the show for the exposure and not necessarily to get a deal, but the exposure is very amazing and absolutely priceless.
Elaine: 04:52 And they told us if we do air, they would let us know about a week ahead of time so that you can prepare and get the family together. And get all your friends together to watch. And that was quite frightful because you know, you taped the show and they, they told us you have anywhere between five to 45 minutes in front of the Dragons and we actually were in front of the five investors for about 48 minutes. And we all know that’s not what they show on television. No one gets the 48 minutes of the show, but it can be anywhere from seconds that they show on the show to, well we got just under 10 minutes, which was a huge, awesome, awesome, awesome opportunity to have exposure for 10 minutes on television with a commercial break in between. And you can absolutely find our episode on CBC Dragons’ Den, Easy Daysies or find our website at www.easydaysies.com and you’ll see our episode there or you can just check out the show notes at www.elaineskitchentable.com/013
Elaine: 06:03 Oh there you go. And so we didn’t know what was going to happen but we really, really would like for it to air. I remember I was thinking, oh, I really hope it airs. And the hard part of course is you, we did get that deal with the two Dragons and then we got whisked away after the pitch to sign documents of confidentiality and we weren’t allowed to talk about our experience in that studio for four years is what the contract said. So that was really hard. How long has it been? It’s been 4 years, a little over 4 years. So we can talk about it now. It’s funny because we did air and we were able to talk about it then. But what was really hard is you had to go home and not talk about your experience, whether you got a deal and who you got to deal with and you know, those parents of ours, were going to stare at us and break us.
Ron: 07:05 I thought I asked you the question before, how long it takes to get on the air. It’s usually like five, it could be anywhere from five to 12 months after you tape till it goes on the air because they’re actually taping before the season starts.
Elaine: 07:17 That’s right. We taped in April for the season that started in the end of September of that year. And then you would just wait to see if it happens. So from April to September, those, it was a crazy anticipation of not knowing. And, and the season goes until March. So you could be one of the last episodes to air if you get to air. And we actually did get a call about two months before our airing, because we’re out in Vancouver and the producers called saying that the Dragons were coming out to Vancouver for an event and they wanted to invite me as part of the event because it was going to be a Q & A session. And I was going to be on the panel with Bruce Croxon and Jim Treliving, at SFU, a university business school. And I was honored and I said, absolutely. And she said, well, actually she goes, I shouldn’t be telling you this because we don’t normally tell people when they’re going to air, but you’re actually airing then, I’m like what!? And we were so excited. It was crazy. And so then, we were told to plan an airing party and to get a press release out that we were going to be airing and it was quite, quite crazy, do you want to add to this Ron?
Ron: 08:51 Well we didn’t want to give anything away as to if we got a deal or who we got a deal with, but we booked a party at Boston Pizza.
Elaine: 08:59 Yes we did!
Ron: 09:02 Because we had like 80 friends, 70 or 80 people, friends and family, all loyal supporters. A lot of the people who had sat there and listened and critiqued your pitch before going on the show too. We invited all of those people to be part of the viewing.
Elaine: 09:17 Yes. And it was really hard because we could not talk about it and, and you know, people are always waiting for us to crack. I am pretty impressed we didn’t say anything, but you’re right we did book it at Boston Pizza. Well, it wouldn’t have been very appropriate for us to have it anywhere else I think.
Ron: 09:41 Well, yes. Given what we knew. And the crazy thing was the show plays, obviously it’s a national TV show, Shark Tank, same thing. So it plays in several times zones. And there’s actually, there’s the, what is there four major time zones in the US, but there’s five and a half in Canada.
Elaine: 09:58 Yes. And, and before this evening, our producers told us to monitor our website traffic. And so we had all that set up. We actually called our host provider and gave them a warning that something might happen so that our, we just wanted to give them a heads up so that our website would not crash because we, we want to make sure everything would run smoothly. And it was quite busy because we had a lot of media interviews from radio to local papers and that was awesome and a huge blessing. And we started monitoring that website. And what were you going to say Ron, about time zones?
Ron: 10:41 Well we were, we were busy, you know, being nervous about the show, going on the air and getting ready. But we knew that it would air in the Atlantic time zone first, which was four hours ahead of us where we are in the Pacific time zone. So that’s at 4:00 PM our time is 8:00 PM their time. And anyway, we started to see the uh, all the visitors pile in and then the next time zone over is the Eastern time zone, which is where the biggest population of Canada is. That’s Ontario and Quebec. And at that point, all of a sudden, boom, we were getting, we counted 12 visitors per second on average were hitting the site while the segment was on, which I don’t know if people were, I mean this was 2011 a lot of people had smart phones by then, but they’re, if they’re running to their computer or they got a laptop with them, it’s like not after the segment, but during the segment. Huge amounts of traffic.
Elaine: 11:29 And what I loved is we saw orders pouring in as it hit each province. And that was really exciting to see. And I, I just was, it was crazy. And our phone kept ringing because we had friends from the eastern province has calling us, congratulating us and Facebook was going crazy as well. And it was a really overwhelming blessing and we were excited and we tried not to look at media too much because our party was going to be three or four hours after it started airing. And so that was exciting. And I remember sitting in the car at Boston Pizza and doing a radio interview before I could step into the restaurant. So definitely the exposure that being on Dragons’ Den provides is priceless.
Ron: 12:24 Yep. It’s everything that they say it is and that’s why some people go on to the show just for the exposure. And it’s actually a good strategy because it’s one of the most popular shows in the country and Shark Tank is quickly growing in popularity in the United States too.
Elaine: 12:40 Yes. And part of the thing that um, part of the contract that you sign when you get a deal on the Den is a “no shop clause”. And what that means is after or when you air, the exposure that is given to you will generate a lot of attention and you will get offers most likely from other investors and you are not allowed to proceed with any of those for a period of time.
Ron: 13:12 Yeah, a certain number of months. I don’t remember, but we didn’t, we weren’t going to entertain any of those anyway, but people do come out of the woodwork as part of the exposure. You know, people say, I’ll be your dragon, I’ll give you a better deal. And it’s, you know, people that you don’t know at all. So maybe it wouldn’t be wise to go with them anyway. But, yeah, it does happen. People try to snatch deals from out of the Dragons’ claws.
Elaine: 13:33 But we did get a lot of attention and very unique attention from illustrators of books offering to draw our family in part of a children’s book to several angel investors who wanted to step up and said, let me do this. I can get you in any store and I can, I can give you that money. I can, you name a store and we’ll get you in there.
Ron: 14:02 And it seems one thing we’ve learned over the years is the more specific the promise, generally the less likely it is to come true.
Elaine: 14:13 Now, we aired on episode three of season six, so it was quite early in the season and we actually, were still in the process of due diligence at that point, but we were moving far ahead enough that we knew that it was actually going to happen. And statistics will show you that less than, it’s a crazy amount. I think it was about less than 5% of the deals that you see happen on air actually happen because they are handshake deals that happen on air. And then you actually go through that due diligence of lawyers and accountants.
Ron: 14:54 And maybe we should explain due diligence because I know a lot of people think you shake hands on the show, you sign a piece of paper and it’s done. But really, as we mentioned before, neither of us, neither the people going on the show or the investors know each other, know anything uh, well we know a bit about them. They don’t know anything about us. They don’t know any of our numbers. They don’t know if what we say is true. So due diligence means checking to see if what you said is true and also checking your books, checking your numbers. So basically when you make a handshake, it’s based on a whole bunch of assumptions on what you’ve said. And due diligence is making sure that that’s all true. And we’ve heard that a lot of times, you know, that people will inflate their numbers in order to get attention and uh, or make, make promises or exaggerations just in order to get the deal. And then of course it’s going to fall through later when that comes to light. So anyway, we went through a period of due diligence and we actually heard that once we did get a deal, which we did sign the deal with both of the investors that we shook hands with on the show that we were the first one, first deal to close for that season. And even though that was only, what was it, four months later, it seemed like an eternity.
Elaine: 16:11 It did. And we were told that due diligence, usually takes about 15 months and we were done ours in five months because Easy Daysies was a simple, easy company and literally off our kitchen table and everything we had was very clear in black and white and there is nothing, nothing scary or hidden. And, and it was crazy. We were that first deal to sign through and then we did sign that deal. Ron, do you remember the date?
Ron: 16:42 Well I believe I could be off by one day, but I believe it was December 16th of that year, right?
Elaine: 16:49 Yes. It was very exciting. Very exciting. And then we were asked to do an update episode and we were like yeah! And more exposure and it was free and that was awesome. Dragons’ Den rocks. And so we were asked to come out and, and film this update episode where Jim and Kevin, were going to sign that cheque to us. And we did film that update episode and it aired I think at the end of that season. And it’s very cute. You can also find that on our website and also on CBC Dragons’ Den website.
Ron: 17:31 Or you can just go to the show notes at www.elaineskitchentable.com/013.
Elaine: 17:39 And then after that, last season, we got a phone call from the producers and they said that Ford, the car company is one of Dragons’ Den show sponsors. Ford had chosen nine companies they thought exemplified their four pillars of success and they chose Easy Daysies as one of those companies. And we were so excited. I did not win a car, but that’s okay. We were offered two 30 second segments of commercial time during primetime television and they told us that was worth more than a car and we were so excited. And so we got to be on Dragons’ Den for a third time and that was fantastic. And you can also find that on those websites that we stated earlier. So Dragons’ Den is an awesome, awesome opportunity to have that exposure, but even more important, it’s an awesome opportunity to learn about business, whether you’re watching it or preparing to pitch yourself to anyone. Watching that show gives you so many ideas of what to do right and want to do wrong. And actually auditioning for the show is probably the best business 101 crash course ever because you’re going to have to get those numbers and those ducks in a row. You’re going to have to know what your valuation is. You want to have a business plan and you want to be able to say what your business is in 60 seconds and nail it.
Ron: 19:12 Yeah. I recently read an article, it was about Shark Tank in a major national American magazine and there was a sidebar to the article and basically the journalist was saying, ahh you shouldn’t really do it because hardly anyone makes it. And if you make it, hardly anyone gets a deal. So it’s not really worth it. And I’m thinking to myself that this journalist really doesn’t know what they’re talking about, because what’s the worst thing that can happen is that you don’t get on air, you don’t get a deal. But what you spent your time doing and actually they had said, yeah, you could spend your time better just working on your business instead of trying to get on this TV show. But what you actually spent your time doing was getting to know your numbers and memorizing them and making them sharper and getting to perfect your pitch, two things which will do you very well in business regardless of whether you take them on a TV show or not.
Elaine: 20:03 But the exposure doesn’t stop there. Having Dragon partners is amazing. Our partners are more silent partners, because Easy Daysies is a small company. But I appreciate Jim and Kevin so very much and I never know when they’re going to talk about Easy Daysies but I’ll find out because people tell me that they just saw Jim talk about Easy Daysies on Financial Post or Kevin O’Leary on the news. And Jim kindly talked about Easy Daysies in his book called Decisions. And Mr. O’Leary had me interviewed for his book called Family, Kids and Money, great books and highly recommend both books as a good business read. They’re quick reads and you learn way, way, so much. Is way so much a word? I think so. And we’ll link to those in the show notes as well. So that so far is the after the Den and our journey continues…
Ron: 21:10 Yeah. We were supposed to talk about what it’s like having Dragon partners, but I think we’ve gone a bit long so we might have to do a different episode for that.
Elaine: 21:17 They’re great.
Ron: 21:19 But I did want to touch on like people, you know, you’ve done the thing, you’ve been on the Dragons’ Den and people come up to you and they still talk to you about it all the time, years later. And they’ll say, wow, you’re so lucky that you got on this national TV show and it made your business. And then you’ll say, well, do you want to go on the show? And they’ll say, no way. Like either they’ll say, I’m too scared to do it, or I don’t even have a business or something. And you’re like, well, it’s not like, it’s not like the lottery where you just, they pick you and build a business for you. You have to actually have a business to go on there. So that’s the first thing. And then you’ve got to have the guts to do it as well. And it’s all that hard work that you do to start your business up before you get there that’s going to ensure your success afterwards. It’s not just being on a TV show that does it for you.
Elaine: 22:01 Yeah, I think you actually work harder after the show actually, and it doesn’t stop people do come up and say, oh, did Jim and Kevin get you in, in that bookstore or in Staples? And I actually say no, I did the research and found out who the buyers were. And then I persevered and was persistent. I actually guessed at some emails and, a lot of prayer of faith went into it too though and got those appointments and flew myself out and had those meetings and got Easy Daysies into those stores. But I will say that the credibility of having Jim and Kevin as partners is a huge asset.
Ron: 22:47 Absolutely. And since I really want you to go to the show notes, if you do go to www.elaineskitchentable.com/013 and if you’re at all interested in getting yourself onto either Dragons’ Den or Shark Tank or another one of the many business reality TV shows that have popped up thanks to the success of these shows, we are going to have a special document there for you that Elaine has prepared with, I think it was 11 tips, you said of how to get yourself onto one of these shows. That’s right. Awesome, free information for you.
Elaine: 23:22 And I would be so honored to hear from you. So do you find me on Twitter @chatwithelaine or on Facebook at Elaine’ Kitchen Table and I would be so very honored if you could take a moment and rate Easy Daysies, goodness, not Easy Daysies, Elaine’s Kitchen Table on iTunes and I love to hear from you and to learn from you. So I do appreciate you listening to our podcast and we are learning as we go and as we grow. And so please do leave a comment and a rating, and if you do, I would be so honored to thank you on our next podcast and it just makes a huge difference for us on iTunes. Thank you so much for your support. Good bye!
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