The Umbrella Vending Machine, a Business for a Rainy Day

When Charles Ejogo appeared on BBC2's Dragons Den looking for a £150,000 investment for his umbrella vending machine company Umbrolly, he managed to convince two of the Dragons (Peter Jones and Duncan Banantyne) that his idea to sell umbrellas from vending machines on the streets of London was a winning idea.

Though umbrella vending machines have been around in Japan for several years, (in addition to vending machines that sell eggs, petrol and even live beetles!), Umbrolly claimed that their invention was the world's first self contained umbrella vending unit. The machines are powered by a 12V battery, (rather than mains electricity), which provides enough juice for 3000 vending operations, and therefore the machines can be easily installed in locations that might normally pose a problem.

However, despite being offered the full investment needed, and shaking on the deal, the money never arrived. Misunderstandings over the finer details of the deal were blamed; the dragons were apparently under the impression that Umbrolly had arranged for advertising to be displayed on the vending machines panels, when in reality, Ejogo had hope to be able to get the contract for advertising at a later date.

Following the collapses of the deal with the Dragons, Ejogo was forced to go looking elsewhere for investment. However, the publicity from the show proved to be well worth the intimidating experience of being grilled by the dragons, as directly after the shown was aired, Ejogo was inundated with offers of investments and partnerships, and like many business ideas, what began as a bedroom brainstorming session, soon moved to a serviced office in London and later to its very own premises.

Umbrolly now offer several different types of Umbrella vending machine, which range in size. The smallest (named the "mini unit") is only 8 inches deep, and is thought to be the smallest umbrella vending machine in the world. The company are now in the process of building a network of retailers who will house the vending machines, and they have been successful in winning over several lucrative contracts where passing pedestrian traffic is high, such as in airports, train stations and shopping centres.

So, it just goes to show how important publicity is when tying to get a new business off the ground; even though Ejogo's Den deal fell through, it didn't stop him from succeeding with his umbrella vending machine idea, and it proved to be the perfect business for a rainy day.