An adorable bulldog; sweet home-brewed beer; glow-in-the-dark gloves; cheap modular housing for students and some hairy products. That’s the bait thrown at the Sharks in this week’s edition of Shark Tank South Africa, the highly-entertaining, new M-Net and Telkom SA reality show in which five business tycoons evaluate pitches from budding entrepreneurs. If they find the pitch an investable prospect, they dive deep into their own pockets to back the new enterprises financially.
The Sharks are hungry to bite – especially bean counter extraordinaire Marnus Broodryk who has not managed to clinch a deal to date – but the fish in the tank seem to be swimming in all directions with crazy ideas. Is there perhaps a lot of money to be made if one could streamline these plans? Or are they dealing with duds that will go nowhere?
While weighing up his options, Shark Marnus decides to have some fun in the tank this week. Unfortunately, some of his colleagues, which include marketing expert Gil Oved, tech guru Vinny Lingham, media mogul Romeo Kumalo and level-headed businesswoman Dawn Nathan-Jones, are showing more teeth than ever before.
In between all the harsh commentary, this episode will provide plenty of excellent tips for business owners who want to find out how to market and upscale their businesses. One of the entrepreneurs this week is a master of branding and another one urgently needs advice on proper distribution.
To find out more about the businesses, especially if you’re interested in supporting them with an order or purchase, go to www.mnet.tv/sharktank or follow the conversation about the show on Twitter @MNetSharkTank with the hashtag #SharkTankSA.
Shark Tank SA, sponsored by Telkom SA, is screened on Sundays between 18:00 and 19:00 on M-Net 101. This corresponds with the timeslot on a Sunday when all DStv customers can get a taste of what’s available on M-Net 101, so if you’re not a DStv Premium customer, you can also go to channel 101 to watch Shark Tank SA. The series will also be available on DStv Catch Up and streamed live on DStv Now.