Tuesday, January 19, 2016

The Profit - Inkkas Shoes Update

Photo - Twitter
Tonight on The Profit Marcus Lemonis is in Brooklyn, New York with hopes of making a deal with Inkkas.  Inkkas is primarily a shoe company that makes their shoes with authentic textiles from South America.  While at Inkkas, Marcus finds that the CEO Dan Ben-Nun doesn't know the numbers for his company and has made some bad decisions on product development.

Let's take a look at some information related to Inkkas as well as what kind of deal was made on the show.


News and Links Related To The Company:
  • Here are a few preview videos of the episode from The Profit Twitter page - Video 1, Video 2, Video 3, Video 4.
  • Here is the Inkkas website, which notes they are going to be on The Profit
  • Here is the Inkkas Facebook page that has over 100,000 likes at the moment. 
  • Inkkas was founded by Dan Ben-Nun after a backpacking trip across Latin America, where he met local artisans making sneakers from authentic textiles.  The company also plants one tree for every purchase that is made from them.  The production of the shoes is primarily done in South and Central America.
  • A Kickstarter campaign that started in November 2013 totaled $77,031 for the company.  A Kickstarter campaign that started in November 2014 totaled $105,240 for the company.  A November 2015 Kickstarter campaign reached a goal in 1 hour and totaled $46,886, so it seems they do a new one every year.
  • Marcus has been posting a lot of pictures of shoes on his Instagram page asking for feedback.  He also posted a video message about the episode on his Facebook page (while at Inkkas in New York), and says the new shoes will be on the website around 8pm the night of the episode.  So it is pretty obvious a deal was made on this episode.
  • A press release announcing the partnership between Marcus Lemonis and Inkkas was put out yesterday.
  • Besides their website and many brick and mortar retailers, Inkkas shoes are available for sale on Amazon.com

The Deal From The Episode Plus Post-Show Updates (this will be updated continually):
  • Initial Offer:  $750,000 for 51% of the business.  Each of the partners will get a $60,000 salary, and money will be used to resolve the debts of the business, to buy inventory, and for product development.  Each of the partners would have equal partnership with the remaining 49%.
  • The Deal:  $600,000 for 40% of the company with a guaranteed 10% return.  The money would be used the same way, but the three partners would own 60% and have 20% each.  Marcus is 100% in charge.
  • Inkkas Shoes Twitter handle was changed to Inkkas Worldwide due to their Inkkasshoes looking a bit crude. (Link)
  • The Inkkas website was redesigned. (Link)
  • Courage b (season 2) and Inkkas are sharing the space in New York City that was shown in the episode. (Link)
  • 1/24/2016 - Marcus is asking fans to design a slip on shoe for Inkkas.  If they produce one, the designer will get a royalty on each shoe sold. (Link)
  • 4/11/2016 - Inkkas shoes are now available at Denim & Soul (season 4 of The Profit) locations. (Link).  They are also being sold at Whole Foods according to this Instagram post.

UPDATE 5/2017 - A CNBC story says that "Inkkas continues to grow, pulling in the company's best numbers since its creation. Since the episode, Inkkas has been folded into Marcus' ML Fashion Group, which helps with marketing and social media, and has also had a website revamp to better feature its products. Brothers Dan and Dave, unable to handle the pace and direction of Marcus' oversight, have since departed the company, leaving day-to-day operations to David."

UPDATE 8/2017 - An August 2018 story on INC.com said that Marcus Lemonis gave the Inkkas co-founders an offer to walk away debt-free from the company in August 2016, which they accepted.  Marcus now owns 100% of Inkkas.  A family friend of the Ben-Nun's, who was an investor in the company is suing Marcus Lemonis for "breach of contract, fraud, and unjust enrichment."


*To see how all of the businesses from The Profit are doing, go to the The Profit Updates page, and also Like us on Facebook or Follow Us on Twitter  to stay up to date with all things involving The Profit.  

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