LockerBones Before Shark Tank
Greg Cronin and Steven Coachys have just entered the Shark Tank, and are seeking a $175,000 investment in exchange for a 10% stake in their company, LockerBones.
LockerBones On Shark Tank
To demonstrate the necessity of LockerBones, Greg points to the side where a monitor is set up with a picture of a messy school locker, filled with books and binders and otherwise a disheveled mess. This can be called “disorganitus,” and comes with 3 symptoms – Lost homework, being late for class, and failing grades. However, since Steven is a legitimate M.D. and practicing doctor, Steven says that he has been fortunate enough to find a cure for disorganitus – LockerBones. LockerBones is a simple product which will eliminate the mess and reduce the stress, all while serving as the best! An organized student is a successful student, and with the help of the Sharks, Steven and Greg can create the ninth wonder of the world – again, LockerBones.
Greg says that he would like to take some time to demonstrate how LockerBones works, which involves removing the product from the locker it is assembled in for demonstration purposes. As he disassembles the LockerBones, Steven says that no tools are needed and the typical assembly time takes around 30 seconds. The Sharks ask about cost, and a single costs $29.99, while a double costs which is $39.95. The double is twice the size of the single size LockerBones product. At this point, Greg has finished disassembling the LockerBones, which turns out just to be a guide for where shelves can be placed, essentially making a nice shelf. The LockerBones has been patented, as well. To assemble, set the two sides in, and then place one piece in between the two guides. In addition, LockerBones is the first locker organization system to include a vertical divider for folders that may fall over, as well. Vertical dividers can also be installed into the LockerBones, as well. The LockerBones also includes a “nook and cranny” as well, diving a half section of the locker into a further two ¼ sections.
Greg explains how LockerBones began, saying that four years ago his daughter began middle school. It was her first year with a locker, and she felt overwhelmed and messy, so to compensate, Greg went and created a prototype of the LockerBones product which would become the first mark of the product’s existence. Since Greg is a contractor and developer, Greg had the tools to help in the development of the LockerBones prototype. However, the next morning, his daughter looked at it and said that she found it ugly and she would not take it to school. However, the telling sign was when the two were walking into school for the very first day and two girls asked about the product. From that point, Greg began to sell small LockerBones on a small scale, but eventually the district organizational director, the person who checks all the lockers, called Greg and said that he loved the product and that it worked. The director placed an immediate test order for 60 units. In addition, so far the pair has sold 500 units, which prompts Robert to ask how long they have been selling. Greg says that they have been selling for 2 years; this knowledge seems to deflate the Sharks, as the LockerBones otherwise looked like a very promising product.
Steven says that they have come to the Shark Tank to request the money to produce the LockerBones in plastic. Lori asks about the cost to create the LockerBones in plastic, which Greg explains they spent around $28,000 to acquire tools for the previous, wooden version – however, Mark interrupts and says that the product failed. Kevin points out that the LockerBones most likely failed due to the lack of distribution. However, Greg insists that the LockerBones was intended to fail since it was more of a prototype, and they did not have any of the strut support system. Two years ago, the pair came up with the design and in July of 2011 they filed a patent and since the airing of the episode (2013) have received their requested patent. Only the last school year was the LockerBones introduced to the school district – the Sharks begin to show signs of confusion, getting lost in the origin story and the low amount of sales and start to grow concern over the complete lack of sales.
Greg says that the pair has been in front of major retailers, who love the product but in plastic – they love the function, but not the form. The two have negotiated a contract for a 10,000 unit order from the largest online retailer that will fulfill the order themselves – obviously, Amazon. However, Amazon is fine with the wooden version – the contract has been exchanged, but not executed. Kevin asks why not, and Greg says that they do not have the proper capital to start the deal and begin production. Kevin asks about Staples, who sells 30% of school supplies, and Greg and Steven lose their thought for a moment and are forced to admit that they never called Staples, who are the back-to-school experts. All the Sharks are lost for words, and Kevin screams “Nooo, Noooo!”
Greg insists that he let the product stay in one pilot school for a purpose, but all the Sharks will not hear it – even Kevin spits out his famous line, “You’re dead to me,” but in a much, much more harsh fashion. All of the Sharks are unhappy, and the scene descends into complete chaos and rightly cuts to a commercial break before returning to a scene of all the Sharks berating Greg for his lack of wanting to sell it. He never called Staples, and never showed any sign of really wanting to sell the product – after all, he left it in one pilot school. However, Greg insists that the design patent is weak on the wood and that he would need the plastic in order to create a stronger product. Steven tries to say that Office Depot would want the product, but again Kevin points out the truth that the pair never even called Office Depot.
Lori says that she really wants to nail the product down, since the product can make a huge difference – she says that Amazon is going to buy an upfront amount of units, and then asks for a deal. Amazon will receive the product and ship it, then pay the two later as the distribution goes out – this is more of a distribution deal than anything, despite Greg’s incapacity to properly explain the terms of the deal he and Steven have with Amazon. Robert asks what happens if no units are sold, and Greg says that they would have to purchase back any unpurchased LockerBones; Mark clears the air and snaps that the term for that is a “consignment offer,” not a distribution deal.
Robert says that he loves the proof of concept, but in his heart, he feels that the two of them are at the very beginning of the evolution of the product. He does not feel that the company is worth the $1.75 million that they are evaluating their company at, since they are still in the process of growing. Despite there being so many schools, he wants to know what the $175,000 investment would do – primarily, would the investment get the product into Staples. With the money, Steven says that the proper tooling will be done to start producing plastic and colored sets, inventory will be created for Amazon, and then purchase orders can also begin to be sent out to Amazon.
Mark speaks up, saying that where the pair has killed the business is killing it in schools since the kids love it – however, there is no discussion of selling to the 110,000 schools on a reasonable sale. All the pair would have to do is take their product to various schools and sell their product, rather than signing to consignment orders which might not be sold; Mark says that the pair are “living in the dream, and not the green,” and is the first Shark to exit.
Kevin mentions all the huge states where the schools are, such as New York and California, and that all the pair need to do is sell 10% of their product to those big states alone. However, the two did not reasonably talk about getting their product into schools, and Kevin also exits the deal.
Barb says that she believes the two are on the right track, but ultimately have missed their best opportunity of hitting a low price; the price of $29.99 for the singular unit is too much, and for that reason, revitalizing the product will be hard for her.
Robert speaks up next, saying that he finds the idea of consigning to Amazon is nuts when Staples has 30% of the school market; since they have not followed the proper idea, Robert says he does not want to do the deal on his own. He believes Lori is interested in it, and he offers $87,500, half of the investment, for 25%, and says Lori would copy his offer. He insists that the two of them are at the beginning of their business, and need guidance; essentially, LockerBones is a start-up. Lori agrees to Robert’s offer, with the two of them offering $175,000 for a 50% stake in LockerBones.
The two agree to Lori and Robert’s deal of $175,000, finding two Sharks as partners for their business, LockerBones.
LockerBones Now in 2018- The After Shark Tank Update
LockerBones has absolutely exploded in popularity. When I did a Google search, numerous retailers and suggested buys pop up. There is, without a doubt, the natural success of the product (I want one and I’m not even in high school anymore) combined with the push of the “Shark Tank” factor, and LockerBones is doing insanely well. Unfortunately, there are no concrete sales I could find, but it is very possible that LockerBones could be featured on an update on one of the Shark Tank episodes. However, LockerBones is absolutely excelling and killing their market.
