Treasure Chest Pets was founded by Lisa Lloyd, who has a business degree and had the idea to create stuffed toys with compartments for children so they could hide their treasures in their favorite animals.
Lisa had showcased her products on Pitchmen and believed that she could capture her target market by delivering her unique stuffed animals, which encourage children to indulge in their imagination and collect treasures for safekeeping.
She knew that launching her products nationally would be a challenge, and she had already created a niche market where she was selling her stuffed animals in small stores but required significant investment to accelerate her manufacturing process to meet the product demand.
Lisa has been quite business-minded since her early days and has made several investments, which have set her back financially, and she is looking for capital to grow and expand her business.
She is also seeking a partner who is as invested in her mission as she is and wants to enter Shark Tank to try and win over the sharks to receive funding.
If she doesn’t manage to get funding, she will likely lose her business and home, which is a lot of pressure to take.
So what happened on Shark Tank?
Lisa wanted 150,000 USD for a 20% stake in her company and showcased her products to try and win over the judges.
She revealed the hidden pouches on the stuffed animals, which could be used to hide treasures, improving the relationship between children and their stuffed animals.
The sharks inquire about the manufacturing price and how much she plans to sell the stuffed animals for.
Lisa reveals that each animal costs 4.75 USD to make, and she’s selling them for 19.95 USD, which means the profits are fourfold.
She has made around 100,000 USD in sales by selling through boutiques and direct orders but has not reached out to any big retailers because she lacks the funding to take her business to the next level.
Kevin doesn’t like the idea of stuffed animals and toys, so he opts out of the deal.
O’Leary feels that toys are seasonal and only appeal to children at a certain age, making the market quite limited.
He also does not offer a deal and opts out.
With two sharks out of the deal, Lisa starts to feel the pressure.
Robert inquires about what Lisa will do with the capital, and she quickly explains that there are already many orders and she will meet the demand.
Barbara offers 50,000 USD for 50% of the company, which puts Lisa in a difficult position.
Daymond makes another offer of 100,000 USD for 60% of the company, despite knowing Lisa’s circumstances.
Robert offers her a loan without wanting any equity in the company, which is tempting for Lisa, but she ends up taking the other sharks’ offer due to their distribution experience and channels, stating that she needs their expertise to continue.
Our Review of Treasure Chest Pets
The deal with Barbara did not go through, which is not the first time that’s happened.
John reduced some of the equity in Lisa’s company, but it wasn’t enough to support her business, and she eventually folded under pressure.
There was too much competition from other companies that manufactured stuffed animals, and the market quickly became flooded by knock-off versions of her product.
Currently, Lisa writes about her business experiences in an attempt to help others learn from her mistakes and still works with Daymond John.
Eventually, Lisa started working for startup companies to license their products and went down a different lane involving temporary tattoo masks.
She stuck to her skillset of being an inventor and changed avenues, and Daymond finds it enjoyable to work with her.
After her business failed to gain momentum, Lisa’s mindset about failure changed completely, and she now uses it to learn from her lessons and make better choices.
Pros of Treasure Chest Pets
Some of the pros of Treasure Chest Pets are described below.
- Treasure Chest Pets offers stuffed animals with hidden pouches that make it more exciting for children to play with their toys.
- The stuffed animals are quite affordable and made using the best quality materials.
Cons of Treasure Chest Pets
The cons of Treasure Chest Pets are described below.
- Lisa was already in a compromised position by the time she entered Shark Tankand was swimming in debt, which made her incredibly reliant on the sharks for funding and support.
- The products weren’t unique and easily copied by copycat opportunists, who quickly created knock-off versions and flooded the market.
Who is Treasure Chest Pets For?
Treasure Chest Pets sold their stuffed animals exclusively to children and were limited to a certain age group.
Many children grow out of wanting to play with stuffed animals beyond the age of 10, which limits the market substantially.
However, the products were fairly popular because of the hidden pouch feature, encouraging children to use their imagination and hide their treasures in their favorite stuffed animals.
Are There Any Alternatives?
There are many kinds of stuffed animals available for children from well-established brands like Toys R Us and others.
Treasure Chest Pets offered a unique feature in their stuffed animals, which allowed children to hide their personal belongings inside their favorite toys, making the products stand out compared to the competition.
However, children find it enjoyable to play with all kinds of toys and not just be limited to stuffed animals, which means the target market was quite niched.
Our Final Thoughts
Treasure Chest Pets offered excellent products that catered exclusively to children and had a unique feature that made it possible for children to find more joy in playing with their favorite toys.
The company faced some challenges that Lisa could not overcome due to Barbara backing out of the deal.
Daymond John played his part and offered some advantages, but they were not enough to keep the company afloat as competition arose and knock-off versions of the stuffed animals flooded the market.
Lisa continued her mission by inventing new toys, but the company went out of business soon after appearing on Shark Tank.
