Dragons Den lastnight.....

[garyk]

I couldn't believe they invested in that 'covered washing line' last night.

Somebody should have told them that rain doesn't always conveniently fall straight down. I bet as soon as it rains with a bit of wind the washing would end up wet anyway. :|

Also the cover would also keep the sun off and restrict the airflow around the washing thus significantly increasing the drying time. :|

I can't believe they thought it was a good idea. And I cant believe I am making a post about washing lines! :redface:

Exactly my thinking, plus if it was windy the clothes would fly out and would be exposed to the elements anyway. And I didnt even consider your second point about restricting air for drying, good point! Still we have to put into perspective, some serious wealth there so its like one of us putting a tenner on a horse!

Gary

 

[tricknick]

Remarkable woman, terrible web design. It's like a sketch book of madness with some keywords relating to buying cars. (somewhere in there)

I think this lady stands out for her tenacious approach and for her differential selling style - very eastern "buy from me, I sell cheap, you buy, have a good deal".

Definately a clever marketing ploy getting onto Dragon's Den - but I can assure you that she wasn't the first and certainly won't be the last to pull this particular trick!

 

[vitesse]

I thought as much as anything they were investing in the bloke not the product, which I thought was pretty silly. They, or some of them, were clearly impressed that a 21yr old had done so much.

The infighting was pretty entertaining though.

Mark

I couldn't believe they invested in that 'covered washing line' last night.

Somebody should have told them that rain doesn't always conveniently fall straight down. I bet as soon as it rains with a bit of wind the washing would end up wet anyway. :|

Also the cover would also keep the sun off and restrict the airflow around the washing thus significantly increasing the drying time. :|

I can't believe they thought it was a good idea. And I cant believe I am making a post about washing lines! :redface:

 

[Tazuk]

I see potential for the washing line cover. I believe that if you fit a motor to it you could have a rainproof turbo dryer or an excellent helicopter training simulator.

 

[LINGsCARS]

Matt,

Thanks, just been to Birmingham yesterday for the Automotive Management awards. Won "highly commended" in Best Website (2nd place). Tut. However, that's in the whole of the motor industry. Must try harder.

Anyway, this is the kind of comment I am now getting on the "Automotive Management" forum www.am-online.com (in a thread I started about drug use in car dealerships):

"Ling ling ling. If it wasnt for idiots like you ruining the retail car industry maybe the staff at dealerships might not have the time to take drugs or need to cos their livleyhoods are dwindling fast. You think you are doing the public favours raping the margins out of dealers but the poor public have to foot the bill in terms of depreciation at some point anyway. Moral of the story. Parasitical brokers should have NO right to pass judgement to the dealer network even if they are injecting crack into their eyeballs all day long."


These are the managers in my industry. Amazing, eh? Must be rattling cages


- Ling

 

[theguvnor]

Ling,

nice result, gives you something to aim for next year! I was chatting to my mate who is setting up a 2nd hand car business on the side of his repair business, he said that the big car supermarkets make all thier money on the finance referals not on the cars. Dealers make it up on the rip off servicing and warranties that are basicly bog roll. I hope you continue to give those fat cats a good kicking, they've had it all their own way too long.

 

[pauldm]

That's terrible!!

Surely the moderators / am-online have to remove that kind of statement.

Some industries just don't like change (aka competition)

 

[garyk]

Matt,

Thanks, just been to Birmingham yesterday for the Automotive Management awards. Won "highly commended" in Best Website (2nd place). Tut. However, that's in the whole of the motor industry. Must try harder.

Anyway, this is the kind of comment I am now getting on the "Automotive Management" forum www.am-online.com (in a thread I started about drug use in car dealerships):

"Ling ling ling. If it wasnt for idiots like you ruining the retail car industry maybe the staff at dealerships might not have the time to take drugs or need to cos their livleyhoods are dwindling fast. You think you are doing the public favours raping the margins out of dealers but the poor public have to foot the bill in terms of depreciation at some point anyway. Moral of the story. Parasitical brokers should have NO right to pass judgement to the dealer network even if they are injecting crack into their eyeballs all day long."


These are the managers in my industry. Amazing, eh? Must be rattling cages


- Ling

Good for you! Sock it to em Ling, competition is great for the consumer bottom line is the dealers margins (esp. on parts and labour) are a joke and its about time they had a reality check.

Gary

 

[LINGsCARS]

That's terrible!!

Surely the moderators / am-online have to remove that kind of statement.

Some industries just don't like change (aka competition)

Hahaha, the forum is not like this, it's a poxy in-house javascript which hardly if at all gets moderated. Typical of the industry. They scream whenever I suggest anything, but spend their lives with aggressive racist/sexist rubbish. I quite like the fact the moderator doesn't care to moderate, as it shows them up. Reading the threads is very enlightening.

- Ling

 

[eddieriby]

Congrats on the award Ling.....really good when you think of the big boys who were also in with a shot!

 

[Mr. Mu]

is that the cynic in me

No, it's the entrepreneur in her!

 

[robbie williams]

hi Ling - I cannot believe the way that people are posting on that other forum!!! shocking - but you handle it well! It seems they do not like the way you are loosing them money by being honest and passing on the savings to the customer.
The one I read about the chap who has run 'several' different businesses and sold his last one for a lot of money and is so much better than you makes very good reading...

 

[JustOneUK]

back to Dragons Den,....

Despite having (I would imagine) a nice healthy bank account and a positive 6 figure revenue stream, how nervous were you about going on the program?

Were you relaxed as you knew you didn't need the money? or were you disappointed that you didn't get it because they wanted too much?

thanks
James.

 

[Fit To Defend]

Got to say shes a brilliant business woman however I dont think she would of accepted any offer..Good marketing exercise and good exposure..I might even have a go myself!!

 

[HC-Martin]

Got to say shes a brilliant business woman

I don't quite see how that could be - She is different, has her own style and in unique which is making her sucessful, and good on you Ling. But this isn't an excellence in business, just a different way of doing something!

 

[LINGsCARS]

Robbie: That forum is quite disgraceful, but I do not complain because it serves me better to leave it up and let them make idiots of themselves. Remember AM-Online is "Automotive Management", it should be the senior people in the business... shows they really are vicious, threatened and horrible, eh? The whole industry hate me and try to take me down often.

Just One, bank account is healthy because (mainly) hardly any overheads, but I do spend heavily like my bus £7k, painting it £3k, missile truck £3.5k, noodles £1k this month following TV. Also my suppliers pay well, no bad debts, luckily. I wasn't really nervous on the TV, I don't get too nervous - plus the BBC are really very, very good. What I was worried about was the editing as the BBC can make anyone look anyway they choose. However, I guessed that to make them laugh was the key - I am so glad I decided on that approach - and also to be brutally honest with them. If they catch one hint of an untruth, then you are dead.

Fit to Defend: And MORE exposure... the BBC are here tomorrow (Monday) to do the follow-up end of series film (after 1 week after I was on DD - it's a joke huh? How has my business changed "since the programme"? Not much really, but I can't say THAT!). So I will wheel my London bus out now I have 3 things in mind (as TV is visual) - start in nuclear truck, to me packing noodles, to my bus driving over the Tyne bridge or whatever with me hanging off the back platform.

I say this for fun, so you can see how much control I actually have on the filming. Will it happen like that above, or will it be totally different in the end? I don't wanna bore people talking about cars on TV, everyone knows what cars are, Top Gear does that for me. I want my logo smacking people in the face, and to try to get a couple of jokes in, and promote my free noodles. You can't beat a dose of food-poisoning to help someone remember you, hehehe.

It's a crazy world when a nuclear rocket, a London bus and a thousand packs of FUKU brand noodles sells brand new cars. NOW you understand why the people in the industry find me hard to deal with, and they have just given me a bloody award!!! Got to laugh...

ps. I've just done an interview for BBC World Service - in Mandarin Chinese! As soon as I can grab a copy I'll post a link, so you can have a laugh. If you listen I really struggle, because I never discuss my business in Chinese I just cannot find the words and have to keep throwing English in to get me unstuck . The word that sounds like "******" (hey, no offence, that's what it sounds like) is like saying "erm, that, that..., erm, that.. erm" in English. You hear "******, ******, ******" all the way through. Jon was rolling on the floor as I was talking, it was so bloody embarrassing.

 

[LINGsCARS]

Design Wizard - I couldn't agree more!

 

[LINGsCARS]

Special thanks to [FONT=verdana,geneva,lucida,arial]eddieriby[/FONT].

 

[stugster]

"You can't beat a dose of food-poisoning to help someone remember you, hehehe."

I love you!!!!! (again!)

 

[JamieM]

Ling,

As I have said before I love your website and the way you conduct your business. You mention that the motor industry "hate" you and I am just wondering if this concerns you with regards to your existing business relationships? Don't you worry that healthy relationships may break down?

 

[Fit To Defend]

Ling pure genius...utmost respect..how do i get a link on your site lol..

Seriously, anyone that can get that much exposure on a BBC tv show...is amazing...anyone who says other wise..is talking out of their backside..or just jealous...well done and keep it going..

 

[LINGsCARS]

Ling,

As I have said before I love your website and the way you conduct your business. You mention that the motor industry "hate" you and I am just wondering if this concerns you with regards to your existing business relationships? Don't you worry that healthy relationships may break down?

There are specific people who I can work very well with. I generalise when I say they hate me. But Mazda UK chopped me off, and so have others. But there are too many desperate dealers out there who cannot resist my orders. Some other dealers are just very good, but they are few and far between. Even the biggest dealer group (Pendragon) only has 10% of the market, so there is plenty of choice.

- Ling

 

[LINGsCARS]

I don't want to turn this forum into "The Ling Show" (really!! I am just a normal person who has found a niche), but I have just grabbed this output from the BBC. It's in Mandarin Chinese, which may be my first language but I'm very rusty at it as I don't speak it much.

BBC World Service mp3 here, (3.6Mb), if anyone is interested.

I have suggested to that Automotive Management forum that I can now claim I am "World Famous" That should kick the sour and miserable car sales managers off, hehehe.

- Ling

 

[fr00tloops]

Hi ling! Im VERY SURPRISED to see you here. I just googled UK Dragons Den, just to find some streams of the show or something, and I just saw you here. this is really cool.

If you have MSN messenger, or hotmail, and you would like to share it with me, PM me sometime, and we can have some chats. its REALLY cool to talk to someone whos been on the Dragons Den, and this is probably the closest il ever get.

 

[LINGsCARS]

Frootloops, this is a very old thread. Happy to chat, but suggest a current thread.

Thanks for comments.

 

[Matthew.Carr]

did anyone else notice the main flaw with the "step lock"

It wouldn't work on doors that open outwards.......

Does anyone know where I can get a hold of a ''step lock''?

I've seen it twice now (repeats ftw) and am highly interested. The dragons comparing it to a Mortis lock (freaking deadlock... who calls them mortis locks?) is totaly wrong and did throw the guy for six. If you have a bolt/chain on your door and leave the house... you can't put that on!

Just how many bolts do you have in your house/place of work? I know theres one in the bathroom, one in the carport, one on the fence for the dog/pig/horse, one in the bedroom.

Okay maybe not all that... but alot of the time you do need to shut a door from one side and not have people coming in. The design looked rather robust and if it works how i belive it works then it's as strong as a mortis (deadlock...) lock but twice as easy to install.

The stoplock can easily be installed to provide a 'safe room' incase your house is invaded... I know Americans would buy them by the shed load... People do invest in security and a lock that can be installed in 5 min by drilling 2 holes and putting in 2 screws is almost too good to be true...

If anyone can give me any direction to the creators of DD (BBC just sends me round in circles and has done for a while) or the inventor of the Stoplock I'd be rather happy... and someone might want to take a second look and see that it is the diamond in the rough that the dragons have indeed overlooked.

One main use of the lock would be Student accomidation... in Nottingham alone there are 70,000 students. 40,000+ are living in privatly owned houses. Those 40,000+ houses have from 4-8 bedrooms in them. thats maybe 160,000 locks sold in Nottingham to students alone (could maybe double that number selling them to locals on the crime-ridden estates). Sell them for 8-10 quid each and your laughing. They seem rather easy to mass produce, just a box with a plate on and the A-frame. (however I'd like to have a look at one myself to make sure)


Please someone. If you can help please mssg or reply!

 

[AdvantageMedia]

Ling has a very different approach to most of us...if she is turning over as much as she claims perhaps we are doing something wrong!? lol

 

is it me or are lings cars a lot more expensive than other sites

ive just looked at her deals on audi a5 and see her quotes are all 100-150 dearer than others


is it me ?

or are they not including VAT in there prices (illegal) or dumping last years models or a few hidden charges.?:|

Earl