'Shark Tank' contestant owns only 25% of her company — still gets $400,000 deal from Daymond John
Entrepreneurs often make deals on "Shark Tank," keeping the equity they can keep in mind, but sometimes game changing ideas matter more than numbers. The founder of EcoFlower, Meagan Bowman, vowed to change the world with her sustainable flowers, but owned only 25% of her company at the time of her appearance on the show. However, she managed to impress the panel with her incredible sales, and in the end, she even got a $400,000 deal from Daymond John.
Bowman entered the Tank seeking $400,000 for 10% of her business. She explained how people grew tired of gifting fresh flowers as they wilt too quickly, and throwing them away is messy. Thus, to give the world something lasting, she created Eco Flower, a sustainable solution that offers long-lasting decorative flowers made from wood and recycled materials. She then went to each Shark and personally handed a bouquet with a special message to each.
While the Sharks were impressed by Bowman's mission, not everyone found the product amusing. After complimenting his special bouquet, Robert Herjavec turned to Lori Greiner and Barbara Corcoran to ask if they would like a wooden flower bouquet instead of real flowers, as a gift. Both the Sharks agreed that they would prefer real flowers.
Nevertheless, the Sharks got down to the numbers, which is when the impressive details came out. Bowman revealed that a typical bouquet costs about $59.00, and she had done $2.8 million in sales in a year and a half. She further added that she does $6,000 to $13,000 in a day, leaving the Sharks in awe.
Then, Kevin O'Leary asked if Bowman had taken any investors. To everyone's shock, the entrepreneur shared that she only owned 25% of the company. "I tried to get on Shark Tank, got denied, and the business was booming at this point. Like, I could not keep inventory in, so I needed another investment. So we found a local investment firm that gave us $30,000. Two guys, and they each took 25%," she shared. "That was hard times," she went on to add.
This shocked Herjavec, who couldn't believe that the founder didn't have much equity to give up. When O'Leary asked Bowman if she was concerned about being pushed out by the sharks, the entrepreneur said her investors had agreed to kick in a part of their profits for her, and she intended to buy the company back as well. Despite her plans, the Sharks weren't convinced.
After O'Leary dropped out, citing concerns of high competition, Bowman was left with just John. Luckily for her, the Fubu founder was interested in making a deal, and he offered her $400,000 for 25% equity, which was all she had. When he expressed interest in buying out the other investors, Bowman countered the offer with 20%. After some back and forth, John agreed, and a deal was struck.
According to the "Shark Tank" Blog, the deal with John never materialized for EcoFlower. Furthermore, the company went through great turmoil and controversy before finally shutting down in 2018.
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