3 builders who never spoke to each other · contested
Enter the award for the exposure, not the trophy
Competitions pay in things other than prizes. A grocery business rejected by television investors came second in a national competition and won a marketing campaign worth six figures, on its way to becoming the largest clearance retailer in its market; another rejected product licensed to several manufacturers off the back of the interest the televised pitch created. A chair built for posture rather than looks won a European design award and took credibility its founder could not have bought. The dissent is direct: one shop owner won New Business of the Year and reports not a single customer cared.
Where this splits
Three founders count awards and televised pitches as credibility and distribution worth entering for, while another says a business award moved nothing with buyers.
3 claims against 1
Failory · Turner Osler
Enter competitions for the exposure and credibility
- 01Enter pitch competitions whose prize is marketing rather than cash. A campaign you could not have afforded is a better prize than the equivalent in money.
- 02Treat a televised pitch as a distribution event rather than a funding one. The exposure creates buyer and licensee interest whether or not any investor says yes.
Awards move nothing, buyers only care about themselves
Ignore industry awards as evidence of demand; buyers care about their own problem, not your accolades.
- 03Enter design and industry awards even when your product was built for a reason other than appearance. The win is third party credibility you cannot buy.
What it returned
- 2015
Approved Food, rejected by the Dragons for selling out of date groceries online, came second in Virgin Media's Pitch to Rich competition in 2015 and won a marketing campaign valued at £100,000. It is now the largest online clearance retailer with over £4 million of annual revenue and more than 3,000 sales a week.
- £3.5
The Dragons passed on Grillstream, whose founders then licensed the product to several manufacturers including LeisureGrow, partly on the strength of interest the televised pitch created. It went on sale in Canadian Tire and became one of the largest barbecue brands in Britain. Pasta Evangelists, also rejected, doubled sales after the appearance and later raised £3.5 million.
The Ariel chair won the A'Design Competition in Europe against a field designed purely for visual appeal.
Justin's retail shop won New Business of the Year and not one customer cared.
Sources
- How (not) to validate your ideaJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · How not to validate your idea · undated · dissenting
- The 13 Biggest Dragons’ Den Failures That Made MillionsFailory · failory.com · 8) Approved Food · undated
- Making $100k/Mo Designing and Building an Active ChairTurner Osler · failory.com · How are you doing today and what are your goals for the future? · undated
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
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