Soap Company of Nova Scotia

Leigh McFarlane
Sherbrooke, NS

The pitch

Leigh McFarlane from Sherbrooke, NS, pitched Soap Company of Nova Scotia in Season 20, Episode 15, asking the Dragons for $400K for 20% of the company.

Asked for$400K for 20%
Valuation$2Mimplied by the ask
OutcomeNo deal

Offers in the Den

Dragon	Offer	Result
Joanna Griffiths	Concerns about differentiation and scattered pitch	Out
Tara Bosch	Founder did not know current revenue and unclear shelf differentiation	Out
Jay Klein	Too many SKUs, too early stage	Out
Barb Stegemann	Lacks network/resources outside Atlantic Canada	Out

Leigh McFarland, founder of the Soap Company of Nova Scotia from Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia, asked for $400,000 for 20% of her company, which sells allergen-free soap, skincare, and pet care products under 298 SKUs. Products are sold in 86 Sobeys stores and 26 Lawtons stores across Atlantic Canada, with soap bars retailing for $9.99 and face and body creams at $19.99; average Sobeys sales are about $300 wholesale per store per month. The company did just over $501,000 in sales last year after rebuilding from a house and business fire in November 2021 that cost about $60,000 in lost sales; the founder was unable to state this year's total revenue during the pitch.

Jay Klein, Joanna Griffiths, Tara Bosch and Barb Stegemann all declined to make an offer, citing concerns including too many SKUs, unclear differentiation from competitors, not knowing current revenue figures, and lack of resources or network outside Atlantic Canada. No deal was made.

Pitch details from CBC’s Dragons’ Den pitch page.