Bala Bangles
Bala Bangles is a company from Los Angeles, CA, that said, "Hey... remember those ankle and wrist workout weights from the 80's? Those were cool, right? Should we bring those back?"
And... you know... they did. And they re-invented them along the way, making them velcro secured in a way that just rolls onto your wrist and ankle in an easy way. Their main product is a 1-pound weight which makes things even easier.
Guest shark Maria Sharapova states specifically that she likes the texture of the fabric that the Bala Bangles are wrapped in. Even Mr. Wonderful compliments the colors.
Daymond, unusually, is the shark that presses for sales information. The entrepreneurs states that in the previous year, over six months, Bala Bangles sold $260,000 worth of product. In the year in which the deal aired, Bala Bangles had already sold $1,200,000 and expected to finish the year with $2,200,000 in sales with POs from Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom's.
Since the company was founded, 60% of the business comes from retail sales, 30% through Amazon, and the remaining 10% direct to consumer through the company's website.
In terms of cost, the landed cost of each unit is about $12, which then wholesales for $25 per item and retails for up to $49 per item.
The entrepreneurs behind Bala Bangles are looking for a deal with a shark because they have found themselves merely treading water when it comes to inventory. They would like to have enough money to stay ahead of it. In addition, they would like to bring someone in from the outside to help "blitz" their marketing efforts.
Making A Deal
When guest shark Maria Sharapova asks what they might ask of her were she to make an offer, the entrepreneurs, not unreasonably, state that they'd like her personal endorsement, to which she says she'd need a much larger equity stake to do.
Kevin interrupts this to state that he believes the company needs money for inventory (which is what they actually said) and offers $400,000 as a loan over thirty-six months at 7.5% plus 5% in equity. It's not, you know, the best deal ever asked but, as Kevin points out, it does conserve their equity.
Maria isn't done though. She says the product fits squarely within her wheelhouse and that she used something similar when rehabbing from an injury. She decides she wants to make an offer but that she needs another shark to pick up the other half. She offers $200,000 for 15% with the hope that another shark will match her.
Daymond is the first to jump in and say that he would go $200,000 for another 15%. Lori also says that she would go there. But Maria probes Mark to see what he would do.
The entrepreneurs interrupt this small frenzy to state that it would be their preference that the total valuation not fall below $3,000,000. But they do state that they would go as high as 30% equity for two sharks at $450,000 a piece[1]
Sensing that she's being cut out of the deal, Lori offers $500,000 for 18% of the business on her own.
Finally Mark Cuban addresses the entrepreneurs directly, stating that when a deal is right, there's no sense nickel-and-diming, so he offers them exactly what they asked for, $900,000 for 30% of the business, split equally between himself and Maria Sharapova. While this represents a bite of $1,000,000, this was apparently priced in by the entrepreneurs and they accept quickly.
Updates
In the third episode of Season Twelve, Shark Tank aired an update about Bala Bangles in which they pointed out that the episode they were in aired just two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic really hit. Which sounds like a bad thing except that they then sold out immediately! In just five months, Bala Bangles sold $7,500,000 in product and had made $15,000,000 in sales by the end of the year.
The same update showed both Mark and Maria providing feedback to the entrepreneurs. Maria wanted a package redesign to make the product more retail friendly while Mark wanted Bala Bangles to develop more products. So Bala has followed through and, as of the update, has versions of the kettlebell and dumbbells.
Since appearing on Shark Tank, Bala Bangles has landed deals with Saks Fifth Avenue, Anthropologie, and Dillards as well as landing a deal with a more traditional sport store, Dick's Sporting Goods, and their 640 locations.
Notes
- ↑ This isn't much of a concession because two sharks at $450,000 and 30% of the business would be a $3,000,000 valuation. If their intent was to offer a discount for two sharks over one, they... failed.