When founder John Tabis brought The Bouqs Organization to ABC’s “Shark Tank” in 2014, it seemed that all the “sharks” hated the solution.
“We all passed on it,” shark Robert Herjavec told ABC News.
Watch the full story on ABC News “20/20” — “Shark Tank on 20/20” — THIS FRIDAY at 10 p.m. ET
The Bouqs Business disrupts the flower delivery method by selling straight to customers. It cuts out the layers of middlemen usually in the process.
“Flowers are largely sourced in the U.S., out of Ecuador and Colombia and, as a result, have a extremely long and convoluted supply chain. They go from farmers to exporters to importers to wholesalers to florists and then you buy them from some site,” Tabis explained to ABC News.
“He began skipping all these layers, and he started shipping straight from his family’s farm in Ecuador to a florist. And he loved it for the reason that he got superior margin, the florist got fresher merchandise for less income and he got paid a lot much more quickly than if he waited for all those layers to spend him,” stated Tabis.
Montufar asked for Tabis’ help to get extra men and women to care about the method and educated him on how it could be valuable for customers, florists and the atmosphere. They launched The Bouqs Company in 2012.
But when Tabis entered the Shark Tank in 2014, Herjavec says he believed Tabis did a “bad job” with the presentation.
“And they had astronomical numbers. They had been carrying out $two million a year, and they said, ‘Next year, we’ll be $12 million, and then we’ll be $30 million.’ And we hate stuff like that,” Herjavec recalled. “We’re like, ‘Oh, it’ll never come about.’”
The sharks also disliked that buyers had to wait six days for a flower delivery, and shark Barbara Corcoran mentioned she hated the name of the organization.
“I thought I did quite well. B-plus?” Tabis stated. “I surely didn’t bomb it.”
Regardless of not acquiring a deal with the sharks, The Bouqs Corporation has thrived. In the run up to Valentine’s Day this year, the company reported sales of more than $1 million in a single day.
“We did in 24 hours extra than we had completed in the entire year top up to the ‘Shark Tank’ look. So, the company has grown a lot,” said Tabis.
Three years just after Bouqs appeared on “Shark Tank,” Herjavec mentioned he was shocked by the cost of flowers though buying for them ahead of his wedding to his “Dancing With the Stars” partner, Kym Johnson. Herjavec reached out to Tabis and asked him why flowers were so expensive.
“[Tabis] stated, ‘Come and see me. I’ll explain the flower small business to you.’ [He] draws it out for me, shows me what they’re undertaking. I’m like, ‘I like it,’” Herjavec said. “So I took component of their final round. We just raised $24 million.”
When shark Mark Cuban discovered how thriving the Bouqs Business has develop into, he expressed his regret for not having in the deal when he had the likelihood.
“That’s the one I regret not undertaking, ‘cause that is a deal I would’ve loved,” said Cuban.
“And most importantly, I saved a ton of funds on my flowers for my wedding,” Herjavec joked.
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