MEMBER STORIES

How Tuk Tuk Chai turned down a deal on Dragons' Den and crowdfunded £275,000

How Tuk Tuk Chai turned down a deal on Dragons' Den and crowdfunded £275,000

Posted: Thu 29th Nov 2018

Rupesh and Alex Thomas appeared on Dragons' Den with Tuk Tuk Chai and secured a £100,000 investment from Peter Jones.

But after the show, the couple turned the money down and went on to raise more than £275,000 through crowdfunding. Here, Alex tells the story.

How did you come up with your idea and turn it into a business?

The idea came from Rupesh witnessing my obsession for authentic chai while we travelled in India, but realising that the only versions of chai available in the UK were inauthentic and did not taste like the real deal.

We also realised there was a demand for chai as chai lattes have become very trendy in large coffee chains.

In addition, whereas iced coffee is available from multiple brands there is no equivalent for milk tea, yet milk tea is the nation's favourite beverage.

We therefore realised there was a huge gap to create an entirely new category and launch the first ever ready-to-drink iced milk tea brewed with tea leaves.

What start-up challenges did you face?

Where do we start?! First of all, finding a factory that could brew tea with milk was a huge challenge. We eventually found the only factory in Europe capable of doing it.

Scaling up was the next challenge, as to get the same authentic taste of the chai when made on a large scale was extremely difficult. It took us two years and countless trials and errors to reach the perfect taste.

The sheer determination to launch the product that we believed in and we were certain customers would love kept us going.

 

Free downloadable guide from StartUp UK: How to start a food business

Looking to break into the food industry?

Imagine owning a successful food business, attracting loyal customers and watching your passion turn into a thriving enterprise. With our guide, this dream can become a reality. Get started with our free guide

 

Why did you decide to go on Dragons' Den and why did you end up rejecting the deal?

We launched at Sainsbury's and delivered our marketing activities with zero budget. Moreover, we needed to buy equipment for the factory to improve the production process and therefore increase profitability.

We saw Dragons' Den as a great opportunity to secure investment, receive useful feedback from successful businesspeople and at the same time increase the profile of the brand.

We mutually decided to part ways with Peter Jones as we needed more funds than £100,000 agreed on the Den.

What was not shown on TV was the discussion we had in the Den where we explained that we wanted to do crowdfunding as well to raise more funds and raise awareness of the brand. Deborah Meaden was very supportive of the idea and said it was a great way for us to build an army of brand ambassadors.

It was because she thought this was a better route for us rather than receiving traditional investment and so she didn't make an offer.

Peter made an offer on the premise that it would be an equal partnership. However, after meeting with his team, we realised that crowdfunding was still the best route for us. It paid off as we raised three times the amount offered on the Den.

Finally, what tips would you offer other entrepreneurs for getting stocked in large retailers like you have?

Be very confident about your product and its USP. Getting picked up by big retailers is a real challenge so be prepared for people to say no.

It takes more than one conversation to get listed. Determination and persistence are key factors so never give up!

 

Join a community of over 500,000 small businesses: Become an Enterprise Nation member for free!

Become part of the Enterprise Nation community

We're proud to have entrepreneurs like Alex and Rupesh as members in our amazing community of small business owners. Join today for the full range of member benefits!

Enterprise Nation has helped thousands of people start and grow their businesses. Led by founder, Emma Jones CBE, Enterprise Nation connects you to the resources and expertise to help you succeed.

You might also like…

Get business support right to your inbox

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive business tips, learn about new funding programmes, join upcoming events, take e-learning courses, and more.