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On this International Women’s Day, we celebrate Margaret Nyamumbo, a Kenyan woman who has taken the Coffee industry by storm.
Nobody saw her coming, but Nyamumbo, a humble Kenyan woman, has arrived, putting an African face to one of the most African products in the world–kahawa.
After gaining a $350,000 investment in her Kahawa 1893 brand on Shark Tank, Nyamumbo promoted her brand on The Today Show, where the hosts enjoyed her coffee and praised it as smooth and delicious.
Nyamumbo has been celebrated for her success in Shark Tank. She is viewed as a role model for black women, unafraid to pursue their dreams and even go into fields where big players such as Starbucks have dominated for decades. Starbucks was founded in 1971.
For her her vision, determination and daring achievement, Nyamumbo is our International Women’s Day Hero of 2023.
Did you catch us on the @todayshow this morning?! ☕️ pic.twitter.com/gO6gkCbwKT
— Margaret Nyamumbo (@maggycoffee) March 8, 2023
How Nyamumbo’s Kahawa 1893 Won Shark Tank
Poised and in command, Margaret Nyamumbo, Kenyan Coffeprenuer and Kahawa 1893 Founder, scored big in ABC Shark Tank Show, Season 14, Episode 14, aired on February 17, when Shark Emma Grede agreed to invest in her company in exchange for 8 percent in equity.
“We did it, we got a deal,” Nyamumbo Tweeted.
Nyamumbo pitched sharks to invest $350,000 for a 5 percent equity in Kahawa 1893, but she received a counter from Grede. At first, Grede offered $350,000 for a 12.5 percent stake, but things got complicated when Robert Herjavek joined the gravy train, matched Grede’s offer, and said he’d join the venture if Nyamumbo accepted Grede as the lead shark.
Herjavek argued that Nyamumbo’s business needed a lot of money to scale and conquer new markets. But even though his offer added on Grede’s gave Kahawa 1893 $700,000, it meant Nyamumbo would have to give up 25 percent of equity, which didn’t sit well with Nyamumbo.
She masterfully deflected, keeping Herjavek at bay without outrightly rejecting his offer, while not antagonizing Grede into rescinding her offer.
Nyamumbo, a Harvard Business School graduate, brought receipts to show her business was worth the sharks’ investment.
“Last 12 months, we sold $2 million,” Nyamumbo said, as the sharks exclaimed, “wow.” “Year-to-date, we’re at $1.3 million, hoping to finish the year at $4 million and next year we’ll do $10 million.”
“What?!,” Greiner yelled, impressed by the solid sales and bold projections.
“How are you selling?” Kevin O’Leary, also known as Mr. Wonderful, a snide acknowledgment of his cutthroat business mentality, asked with Herjavek chiming in.
“Margaret, tell us how you’re selling. How did you sell $2 million? And how will you do $4 million?” Herjavek asked.
Nyamumbo, who maintained command of her presentation the whole time, was ready for the question.
“Our business is 85 percent right now grocery and wholesale and 15 percent to consumers,” Nyamumbo said. “Last year, we launched in Trader Joe’s. We actually became the first Black-woman-owned coffee brand to ever launch in Trader Joe’s or in a national chain.”
“Good for you,” Grede, a Black Englishwoman, said, clearly impressed by her future business partner.
After the deal with Trader Joe’s, Nyamumbo said doors to other giant retail stores, such as Target and Sprouts, opened, giving her more opportunities.
Nyamumbo explained that she projects making $600,000 in profits if her business hits its $4 million revenue goal. The previous year, she made $150,000 in earnings from revenue sales of $2 million.
O’Leary was not impressed by her profit margins, but he acknowledged Nyamumbo’s business was on solid grounds and complimented her as “a very impressive woman.”
“The good news is the product and the story is good,” O’Leary said. “To scale this business for an investor to get a return, when I give you $350,000, I want 10X. The only way that happens is you scale to pass $50 million in sales and a bigger brand with distribution buys you.”
O’Leary tore into Kahawa 1893’s valuation of $7 million.
“You’re not worth $7 million today,” O’Leary said.
“You can tell which one of you two has the MBA and went to a good school,” Mark Cuban shutting down Mr. Wonderful.
“You’re worth more,” Mark Cuban retorted, Giving Nyamumbo a timely assist and effectively countering Mr. Wonderful.
“I’m just looking at it as an investor, you’ve asked for too much money. That’s the problem. Too much money,” O’Leary continued.
But the other sharks were not having it.
“Too much money? She has asked for enough money,” Herjavek shot back.
Before Grede joined in and backing-up Nyamumbo and Herjavek.
“No, she hasn’t asked for enough,” Grede said.
O’Leary tried to make his point some more, but the other sharks sharply disagreed with him, with Cuban taking a dig at his fellow shark.
“You can tell which one of you two has the MBA and went to a good school,” Cuban said, shutting down O’Leary, who soon gave up and took himself out of the deal.
“The good news is you get to make the offer, because I’m out,” O’Leary said, reached for his glass of Kahawa 1893 coffee, and took a sip.
Once O’Leary was out, Grede went to work.
“You’re gonna need a lot more than $350,000. And if I get on board with you, we’re going to be raising money immediately,” Grede said, capturing Nyamumbo’s full attention.
“I’m willing to give you the $350,000, but I’d like you to consider that for 12.5 percent of your business,” Grede said.
That’s when Herjavek jumped in, matching Grede’s offer, saying having a female-run business gave them the advantage and endorsing Grede and the best shark for the opportunity.
“You have something magical happening, but It’s not going to last,” Herjavek said. “While you have this magic, you got to go. You got to pour fuel on this fire, now.”
If Nyamumbo accepted both offers, she’d have to give up 25 percent of her business in equity, a fact that O’Leary appeared to take glee in pointing out to Nyamumbo and appearing still miffed by Cuban’s dig about MBA.
Cuban and Greiner soon took themselves out. Cuban said it’s not his kind of business, and Greiner said the offers on the table were better than she could offer.
Grede dug in and reminded Nyamumbo the business world is even more challenging for Black women.
“When Mark’s sitting here talking to you about raising more capital, it’s really difficult for Black women to get access to capital,” Grede said. But Guess who’s sitting right in front of you? Me, who has done it over and over again.”
She got emotional when recounting how her village in Kenya raised money to pay for her college tuition in the US. But she excelled and went to Harvard Business School and later attended an internship at the London School of Economics.
As part of the mission, her company encourages customers to tip the women working the farms, and Kahawa 1893 matches the tips.
She said 90 percent of the labor in coffee farms comes from women.
“As Kenyans, we’re very proud of the coffee that grows on our soil, but there’s a catch, the farmers don’t always make enough for the delicious coffee that they produce,” Nyamumbo said before dropping her punchline that captured the sharks’ attention.
“In fact, 90 percent of the labor in coffee comes from women. But so many are not compensated because they don’t own the land,” Nyamumbo said, prompting Robert Herjavec to nod approvingly.
Nyamumbo said she built her company to find a new way to compensate the women farmers, and she has created a path for them to be appreciated by customers and earn more.
“At Kahawa 1893, we source our coffee directly from women farmers in Africa, but that’s not all; we go one step farther, our customers can tip the coffee farmers and we match the tips,” Nyamumbo said.
Lorie Greiner dug deeper to understand how the company tipped the farmers.
“On the back of the bag, there’s a QR code that the customer scans, and it takes them to a landing page, where they can enter their information and leave a tip,” Nyamumbo explained.
Nyamumbo explained to the sharks that kahawa is coffee in Kiswahili, and 1893 was the year coffee was commercially grown in Kenya for the first time.
She said her company offers 16 different coffee brands sold in Trader Joe’s, one of the US top retail stores.
Kahawa 1893’s goal is to bridge the gap and give back to the women working in the coffee farming industry.
How to Apply for Shark Tank Casting (Instructions directly from Shark Tank’s Website)
There are two ways of applying for Shark Tank casting.
Applying Online
Here are the instructions from Shark tank’s website for those applying online to meet the following eligibility requirements.
- You must be 18 years of age (or the age of majority in the state in which you reside) or older; or if below 18 years of age (or the age of majority in the state in which you reside), your parent(s) and/or legal guardian(s) must apply on your behalf and must also sign and agree to all documents related to your potential participation in the Series.
- You must be and remain legally present in the United States during your participation in the Series and legally authorized to participate.
- Neither you nor any of your immediate family members or anyone living in your household may currently be, nor have been within the past one (1) year, an employee, officer, or director of any of the following: (a) Finnmax LLC, UAMG Content, LLC, Sony Pictures Television Inc., American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., any television station owned or operated by American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., any entity owned, controlled or affiliated with each of the foregoing, or any direct and/or indirect parents, subsidiaries, affiliated or related entities of each of the foregoing; (b) any person or entity directly involved in the development, production, distribution or other exploitation of the Series or any variation thereof; (c) any known major sponsor of the Series; (d) any Shark or any entity substantially owned or controlled by any Shark; or (e) any person or entity supplying services to the Series.
- You may not be a candidate for public office and must agree not to become a candidate for public office from the date of the Audition Release until one (1) year after the initial broadcast of the last episode of the Series in which you appear (if any).
- You may not have been convicted of a felony in the previous 10 years (unless expunged).
- You must voluntarily submit to a background check.
Attending an open call
Here are the instructions for attending an open call from Shark Tank’s website.
Attend an Open Call where you will be given the opportunity to do a 1-minute pitch of your business/product/idea to a member of the Casting Team — just like you would as if you were on the show. Come prepared to wow and dazzle us.
Be advised: security may check your bag, and you are responsible for your own parking. We do not validate.
To apply at an Open Call you must have a completed Short Application. Download the Application HERE and bring it with you.
Please take the time to complete it fully and legibly.
All Open Calls are open to the general public. As long as you arrive during the allotted “Wristbands Distributed” time and receive a wristband, you will have the chance to pitch.
There is no need to camp out the night before. Please note there might be a long wait before you are seen/interviewed, and we sometimes interview well into the evenings. Please be respectful of the neighborhood in regard to trash and noise.
Please do NOT call the venue.
OPEN CALL NOTES:
– You will have time to go back to your vehicle after you receive your wristband to get any large or bulky props or equipment.
– There are no guarantees of access to power, internet, or any other A/V equipment.
– You may only pitch one business, product, or idea.
For those entrepreneurs with great ideas, Shark Tank is one place the can get their dreams validate and gain an opportunity of becoming millionaires.
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