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The sharks were highly impressed by their brothers’ ability to market their products through social media.
Shark Tank India 4 premiered on January 6. (Photo Credits: Instagram)
A recent episode of Shark Tank India 4 saw two brothers, Devendra Kumar Tailor and Bhupendra Kumar Tailor, pitch their arming equipment company, RBD Machine Tools. Hailing from a small village in Rajasthan, the founders of the agricultural machinery startup revealed that they named the company after their grandfather. The brother duo also told the sharks that their USPs are their safe equipment, which is available at a much affordable cost and the usage of social media to market it to their customers directly.
The startup founders were able to impress the sharks with their ability to market their products and clarity of thought with regard to handling operations. This year, their company is projected to make sales of around Rs 23 crore. However, things took a turn when Namita Thapar inquired about their annual profits. One of them admitted to not fully disclosing their profits, saying, “We declare a different amount, but we make more than that.”
When the sharks realised their motive behind doing so, they immediately raised concerns, even questioning the brother duo about the same. They told the judges that they wanted to invest more money into their business and were following their chartered accountant (CA) advice. One of them said, “If we hire an expert, who we believe to be more knowledgeable than us in a certain field, we will believe them and go by their recommendations.”
Anupam Mittal, who was initially impressed by their usage of social media, pointed out to them that tax evasion could take away their chances of securing bank loans and many benefits that the government provides entrepreneurs with. His co-judge, Kunal Bahl, agreed with him, mentioning, “If you keep hiding your profits, sure, your company will grow, but it won’t develop an enterprise value.” He ultimately backed out of the deal due to the tax evasion issue, saying, “I can’t trust your numbers. If this issue didn’t exist, I would’ve invested.”
Aman Gupta also asked the agri-machinery startup founders to clear their taxes to ensure long-term business growth. On the other hand, Namita praised their entrepreneurial skills, mentioning, “Aap ne MBA nahi kiya, par aap bade bade MBA waalon ki chutti kar doge (You guys didn’t do an MBA but have the capabilities to leave behind top MBA graduates).”
While Aman, Anupam and Kunal backed out of the deal, Namita and Ritesh Agarwal went ahead with their offers, but not without a condition. They offered Rs 50 lakh for 1% equity and an additional Rs 50 lakh as a loan with 9% interest, payable in five years — provided the brothers cleared their tax dues. After some discussion, they accepted the deal.
