Dragons Den

DepSol

DepSol

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Did anyone watch the dragons den prog on beeb2 last night?

The guy who came up with Square mile WiFi was on there scrounging up £150k for further development of the business ended up giving away 38% of his company for it.

He had all but one of the Dragons fighting over getting involved in his business. One of them who buys and sells software companies and who sails asked him if he went boating and he said no.

That guy wanted 45% of the company for 150k but had the experience with WiFi and also with boating andI reckon the better choice for getting the brand globally but he didnt want to give away so much of his business.

Good fun to watch as another woman wanted to get 100k for her idea with pants but her idea was as good as the pitch PANTS !!!
 
I wouldn't have taken the deal personally, but he also admitted he knew nothing about boating world. One of the investors is a sailor, both are experienced entrepreneurs. Good deal in many ways, if you don't understand the market, and have no experience. The reason they took him on was the way he presented intelligently, and he gets good advice and hands on

If he'd come here first, he might have found equal backing, and a lot more experience.
 
Can't see the point in it, marina (& many other waterside places) = yuppie flats, yuppie flats = yuppies, yuppies = wireless broadband, just hack thiers for free. , not that I would do it mind.

David
 
We saw it - the chap did a very impressive presentation, certainly had them believing in him. Interesting to see if their investment pays off. They do have some very strange business ideas on the program - good tv though!
 
Point that interested me and probably the investors,he stated he had signed up EVERY major marina in the UK .

According to some MDL marina users MDL hasnt signed with him for any of their marinas. If this is correct it must throw some doubt on any other claims he makes?
 
Here's the list of current marinas taken from the Square Mile web site.


Ardfern Yacht Centre FREE ACCESS
Bangor Marina Quay Marinas FREE ACCESS
Beaucette Marina Premier Marinas FREE ACCESS
Brighton Marina Premier Marinas FREE ACCESS
Burnham Yacht Harbour FREE ACCESS
Chichester Marina Premier Marinas FREE ACCESS
Clyde Marina FREE ACCESS
Conwy Marina Quay Marinas FREE ACCESS
Cowes Yacht Haven PAY FOR USE
Dunstaffnage Marina FREE ACCESS
East Cowes Marina Dean & Reddyhoff FREE ACCESS
Falmouth Marina Premier Marinas FREE ACCESS
Fambridge Marina Yacht Haven Group FREE ACCESS
Gosport Marina Premier Marinas FREE ACCESS
Gunwharf Quays Marina FREE ACCESS
Hafan Pwllheli Marina Yacht Haven Group FREE ACCESS
Hamble Point Marina Square Mile operated FREE ACCESS
Hamble Point Ketch Rigger FREE ACCESS
Hartford Marina FREE ACCESS
Hartlepool Marina FREE ACCESS
Haslar Marina Dean & Reddyhoff FREE ACCESS
Largs Yacht Haven Yacht Haven Group FREE ACCESS
Lymington Yacht Haven Yacht Haven Group FREE ACCESS
Mayflower International Marina FREE ACCESS
Neyland Marina Yacht Haven Group FREE ACCESS
Old Customs House - Gunwharf Quays FREE ACCESS
Penarth Marina Quay Marinas FREE ACCESS
Plymouth Yacht Haven Yacht Haven Group FREE ACCESS
Poole Quay Harbour FREE ACCESS
Port Edgar Marina FREE ACCESS
Port Hamble - Square Rigger Square Mile operated FREE ACCESS
Port Hamble Marina Square Mile operated FREE ACCESS
Port Solent Marina Premier Marinas FREE ACCESS
Portishead Marina Quay Marinas FREE ACCESS
Racecourse Yacht Basin - Windsor FREE ACCESS
Royal Clarence Marina FREE ACCESS
Royal Motor Yacht Club Poole FREE ACCESS
Royal Quays Marina Quay Marinas FREE ACCESS
Shotley Marina FREE ACCESS
Southsea Marina Premier Marinas FREE ACCESS
Sovereign Harbour FREE ACCESS
Troon Marina Yacht Haven Group FREE ACCESS
Val Wyatt Marine FREE ACCESS
Watermark Cafe - Port Solent FREE ACCESS
Weymouth Marina Dean & Reddyhoff FREE ACCESS
 
Oh, they cover a lot of marinas (although not MDL - which means the 'all major UK marinas' claim was a bit dubious). The 'Free access' disappears come March too - so his 2500 accounts may reduce considerably when that happens - especially if the only option is going to be an annual account.

Be interesting to see if his business model works, or if there will be changes made.

Rick
 
In Swansea Marina Square Mile has been pulled - so cannot even try the free access bit.

I think that the problem with the model is the method of charging - a monthly fixed payment means you feel you have to have regular use - many would not use it for say 8 months out of the 12.

A better model maybe the option of free joining and costing on use with the option to transfer to fixed monthly later. I use a GPRS on board and it costs about £1.50 per Mb... expensive and slow but only used on the odd occasion, say a total bill of £60 per annum. - why should I swop to square mile with a basic charge of £120 per annum? They need to offer more flexible charging. Thats my pennysworth.
 
I am very dubious about the model. Mobile phones, telephones, internet access area all very fast moving environments and pricing is very much market led.

As a small business with a small niche market they are relying on marinas to 'sign up' to his service. To kick it off, he seems to be offering a free access service to try and get subscribers on board. I would have thought that it would be impossible to project any future business on that basis, as many will just be taking advantage of the free ride.

All it takes is for one business, outside the marina fence, to launch a rival service and he has immediate competition.

As to the boating portal. I belong to an industry - video games - that has more portals than you can shake a stick at. Most go down in their first few months because people just don't want to be bombarded with advertising pop ups and sales pitches.

Advertisers know that, so advertising revenues in niche markets tend to be low.

The only way to grow the business is by adding value in terms of security etc, but as owning a boat is already an expensive occupation, I would suspect that budgets for the majority are already stretched and do not extend to broadband access etc.

As the MD and the Dragons are not boaters, I think they have fallen into the misconception that we are all fabulously wealthy.

Well I am, but I don't know about the rest of you. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

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What would be nice is for the marinas to pay for the service - a bit of value add for their customers?

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And it would be cheaper for them to just buy in the service themselves, set up the network and let their customers get on with it.

To my mind, for Square Mile to succeed, they need to offer a permanently free service - no problem with a sign up fee - and make their money on the portal and additional services.
 
Yes- if square mile could convice them to offer it as an annual option they might sell more ... trouble is still left with standard charges and even more expense cutting the marina in. No chance of any marina adding it ... but it would be nice ...:-)
 
One of the dragons den that invested made the point that the guy knew nothing about boats and boatings. That particular dragons den serial entrepreneur is however a keen boater and a yacht owner, so not fair to say they are not boaters.
 
[ QUOTE ]
One of the dragons den that invested made the point that the guy knew nothing about boats and boatings. That particular dragons den serial entrepreneur is however a keen boater and a yacht owner, so not fair to say they are not boaters.

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Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis both admitted they knew nothing about boating. Doug Richard is a serious yachtsman, but he didn't invest in the end.
 
Re: Dragons Den - calling John Eades

Might (perhaps) MDL killem stone dead if they do a deal with a square mile compteitor? I mean, if there were a lots of not-free marinas nearby (as in sth coast and a bit elsewhere) it wd be a defintie plus, imho, swaying the not-bothereds to sign in one marina rather than another? But of course, then there wd be no traffic income...

john eades is head honcho of mdl, afaik.
 
I contacted Square Mile when we moved to MDL Chatham in 2004 and was told that MDL had negotiated with Square Mile but pulled out of an agreement at the last minute - one wonders why when MDL have nothing to offer as an alternative.

In MDL's survey of berth holders last year they asked who wanted wifi. I know many in Chatham said they did but not a word about this since.

I thought Dragons Den was recorded some time ago (certainly before Red Letter Days went under) and that the free access offered by Square Mile was a marketing initiative driven by the new investors?
 
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