agree excellent idea and there were a lot of people agreeing that there was a gap in the market for this but she went wrong going for the elite rather than the mass market as very few people are going to pay that much for tights they wear 260 days a year for work if she had lowered the price she could have been on a winner

That's what I struggled with when it came to Bianca. She must have done some market research beforehand and known that her original price of 35 pounds was just absolutely insane for one pair of tights. Her plan, whilst a good one, had a lot of flaws in it. She wanted to offer far too much, it was only last week that she decided to drop the shapewear idea as that had originally been part of her plan too.

If she had won the investment she would have needed someone with knowledge of the industry to come in and help her set it up properly and that would have cost a fair bit of the 250k from the get go. Mark's business probably won't make as much as Bianca's would have BUT his might start turning over money quicker and he won't need someone to hold his hand in the process of setting up, that's how I saw it after tonight anyway.

That was her fatal flaw, she picked the wrong target market to go for. She would have found it difficult to find places to stock her tights with the price she was charging, I can't imagine any high street chain being willing to stock them as they'd be far too expensive for their clientele. If she had gone for mass market she could easily have found numerous places to sell them from supermarkets, online companies and high street stores. I think she didn't want to back down because she didn't want to be seen as weak by admitting that she'd made a mistake when it came to pricing. That being said, it will be interesting to see if anyone out there might be willing to take her on and run with her idea as the idea is great, she just needs help with the execution and pricing.

How much of a tiny market would it be, if she intended it to only be for upper-class professionals aged 30+ with minority skin tones?

I've invented a colour-mix dye machine which after scanning your skin tone adds the appropriate hues to 'blank' tights.

It is not dissimilar to how paint is customised in almost every large hardware store in the UK.

All is needed is a few 'base' injected dyes mixed into an alcohol solution which evenly spreads the colour.

I'm making this shit up, but it sounded good.

Edit:- If I see this happen I'll see you in court.

Apart from thick opaque tights, I've never had a pair of sheer tights that I haven't put a finger through within a couple of wears, and often the first time I put them on, in a hurry.

For that reason, there's no way I'd pay even over a tenner unless it had more than one pair in the box. Not unless they were kevlar-coated. That's why you get a few pairs in a box.

She didn't address that at all. Telling us they're "high end" and unique, doesn't say if they're, for example, run-resistant or more durable than cheap tights.

There's a market for darker skins, which really aren't catered for at all. And yes, it'd be nice if tights didn't make me look either anaemic or like a pro-ballroom dancer. But not to the tune of £20.

It was a flawed idea, and a flawed price, from a woman who's made some real howlers this series.

Very few women indeed would fork out £15-£20 for a pair of tights. I did laugh at Bianca backtracking in the Boardroom saying they could be sold at £5-£6 a pair as she knew she had overpriced. I still remember the dreadful "American tan" tights of my early teen years and am quite happy with black thanks.

In this day and age you would have thought that the technology might be out there to invent transparent tights which have no colour but allow the colour of the skin to show through.

That's exactly what I thought.


I don't know that much about the mechanics of colouring, but I could envisage a machine that could colour the tights in any shade or colour whatsoever, on demand. Then send them out by first class post.

As she'd be selling direct to the customer, then more profit too.

The plan simply needed tweaking by someone with some business acumen .

She made the final with this. Think of that for a second.

The brains of Britain ladies and gentleman.

Acording to the People paper this woman Ella B gave her the idea 2 years ago http://signup.ellabladiestights.com/

Yes but she's not offering an exact colour match, so she was a bit miss leading using the densitometer, she was only offering 30 shades and that got cut down to 15. I said last week her product line was going to be massive, but not sure how LS got it to 740

Fully agree with the sentiment of this. Made the final with the idea of a colour of tights and precious little else. Nothing else in fact. Makes a mockery of the whole show.

Not really - different devices (laptops, tablets, phones etc) will show different shades of the 'same' colour, which kind of knackers the whole point of the product. It might work if the company were willing to send out sample packs to prospective customers and/or retailers, but that would be hugely expensive...

I said this last week, in the print trade we use a pantone swatch, this is an internationally recognised system, and uses a unique number associated with each colour, so no matter how your screen displays a colour, all you have to do is check the swatch, you can then use this to convey a colour to anyone in the world and it will be correct.

I think there is a demand. I'm fairly pale so only ever buy the lightest shade of tights, and sometimes even the lightest shade on offer is too dark for me. I tend to be brand-loyal now because I know which tights work for my skin tone. I can only imagine how difficult it is for women with darker skin.

That said, I wouldn't spend more than £5 on a single pair. Bianca's idea was good but she's clearly lacking in business sense.

This would only work for dark skin colours. What white woman wants tights to match her winter white legs? Surely they wear tanned looking tights for a reason.

I guess the idea is good, but she seemed somewhat clueless on understanding the market, pricing, the numbers around how many products she would need to produce etc. This is very basic stuff! How on earth did she get to the final??

Best of a completely terrible bunch. That said, she wasn't even the best. All last night proved was that she was carried along by the process and only ended up there through massively good luck. Would have been interesting to see how credible the other's business plans were.

even if that business could have worked it wouldnt be under Biancas supervision, she demonstrated that she is incredibly slow at adapting her views, even after that whole process of market research, companion advice etc she was still adamant of selling it at £24 to the very end, clueless, cant stand people who cant take criticism

She is an absolute idiot. I cannot understand how she ever made the final

^^ are you guys serious, they only dyed them for samples.

I agree, I think she's a snob. I think she's a bitch too- the way she sent the rest of the team away- I watched her face, and it seemed that she enjoyed it. Even if necessary, I think she went about it in a bitchy, demeaning way. Overall, I think she has a superiority complex- can't listen to market research ("This isn't helpful") and can't take advice because she is sure she knows best. I think she fluked her way to the final due to there being 'a gap in the market'- but if a gap exists in such a lucrative market, you have to ask yourself why?

Snobby person who thinks she's better than others. For me personally, Lauren was a much more credible candidate- not so full of her own importance.

Hanes is a mass market brand in the US. This is a typical example of their products.

http://www.hanes.com/hanes/women/int...ntyhose-1a0014

Bianca seemed to know nothing about the market for which her product was designed. I was amazed. The packaging was so dull, the commercial was bland, the presentation was whitebread. The price was off the charts. I was expecting a brand catering to people of color, who often I think are often shortchanged in the color selections. Then I'm seeing light skinned white English women everywhere in her commercial. Are those women really lacking color choices in hosiery?

The only element I saw that was different was using the skin color measurement machine. This would obviously only work in high end stores where staff had time to give this personal service. Of course at her price point, the product could only sell in high end stores.

As for the comparison to Sara Blakely, Sara came up with a unique product, the footless pantyhose, then later came out with shapewear. It probably would have taken off on its on, but she got lucky and got a free promotion on Oprah, and the rest is history.

Very disappointing all in all.

I ket thinking this I'm afraid. The others got so much stick for their CVs and business plans, what must her plan have consisted of? An idea and a finger in the air price tag?

Surely tights are a 'throw-away' item after a couple of times of wearing? They snag and never look good enough to keep after that.

£35 was utterly ridiculous. No wonder LS turned her down