- Hey everyone, I'm Emily Canal,
I'm a staff writer here at Inc
and I'm our resident Shark Tank expert.
I'm here to talk about Uniform,
which is a clothing company
that was on season 10, episode 10.
So Uniform is a casual clothing company
that puts an emphasis on quality,
but Uniform also has its philanthropic goal,
and that is to donate a school uniform
to a child in Africa every time someone makes a purchase.
- You see, all over the developing world
kids are required to wear a uniform
in order to go to school.
So this donated uniform can mean an entire future
for a child.
- Additionally, they also employ women in their factories
and say that their factories are very safe
and good working conditions.
So they have sort of two missions
at the core of their business,
along with selling really high-quality clothing.
- We are here today seeking $300,000
for 10% of the business.
- [Emily] So they make their pitch
and Daymond John stops them.
- It looks like in all areas
you are kinda covered, right?
What do you really think that
we can do for you besides money?
- They want to get involved in the business
more than just money, and that's when
Chad went down the line of investors,
starting with Daymond, being like,
"I wouldn't wanna partner with anyone here
"besides someone who had started a street wear brand."
And he turns to Lori and is like,
"You're the Queen of QVC. I wanna sell my products on QVC."
- Mark, there's so much that we can do with
the NBA, Bethany, I mean, legendary.
I think there's a million things we can do
in terms of capsule collections.
- He went down the line, he knew
all of their business backgrounds,
and how that could actually help his business,
which was genius.
Unfortunately, all of the sharks in the tank
were really, really hesitant
to get involved in a retail company.
And it wasn't because of this company in particular,
it was just the retail sector.
They all sorta said, "like listen, it's difficult", or,
"I've had experience in it".
- I don't think it's the right investment for me.
So, I wish you luck, but I'm out.
- [Emily] They all had their reasons
for being a little nervous, and really leaned on that
as to why they didn't want to invest in Uniform.
And that's when they ended on Daymond.
So all of the sharks were sort of looking at him,
being like "Okay, you're the king of retail,
"what are you gonna do here?"
And he looked like he was
really struggling with that decision.
- So guys, my number will be available
to you for mentoring, but I just don't think
that I can help you in this instance, so I'm out.
(dramatic music)
(Uniform presenters groan)
- And all the sharks were kind of disappointed.
- [Robert] I wanted him to be in!
- I wanted him to be in too.
- Here are the main takeaways from this episode.
So these founders did a great job presenting their company,
but they could've pushed things
a little bit further at the end,
and here's how I think they could've done that.
You need to respect the sharks,
and you need to respect yourself.
They were very respectful of the sharks' decision
not to invest in their retail company,
but at the same time, they should have respected themselves
a little bit more.
They weren't just kidding around.
They had the sales, they had the mission.
They had everything going for them.
So they should've pushed on Daymond a little bit more.
Because if they had done that,
they would've walked out with this handshake deal
that was a little more formalized
than Daymond just saying, "Hey I'll give you my number".
This is their one chance,
which is my second point I want to bring up.
That they only have one chance in the tank.
They're not gonna come back on this show, they're not
gonna get another meeting with all of these people.
- So I'm out.
(Uniform presenters groan)
- This is your one chance, you should have the Eminem song
playing in the back of your head as you're in the tank.
This is yet.
Mom's spaghetti.
You've gotta make this pitch perfect,
and you have to try everything that you can do
to get what you want.
Something else these guys could've done
is use their prior knowledge of the show.
If you're gonna go on Shark Tank,
you should study the last ten seasons,
you should study the investor that you're targeting,
and see what they've done in the past.
If they had done their homework a little more,
especially since they were targeting Daymond John,
they would've known that he had made this deal
with Mosiah Bridges.
- So, I will guarantee to mentor you,
but I will not give you the money at this time.
- Daymond, we would love to work with you as a mentor,
and take Mose to the next level.
- They could've brought that up,
been like, "Hey, Mosiah Bridges came in here
"and had this company, and he was wanting to build it,
"and what could you do for us?
"Could you do something similar for us?"
- [Robert] It's tough man, - It's very hard
- [Robert] I've learned that from you.
- Congrats guys. - All the best.
(Uniform presenters thank them)
- I'm Emily Canal, this was tips from the tank,
and in the words of Eminem, don't let it slip.