Page 346 - James Caan - The Real Deal

The Real Deal

had to be the day that I was going to make an investment. I had
a feeling that the time had come. On the car into the studio, I even
decided that I was going to invest in the first thing that came into
the Den that day. It was time to do my first deal.
As I went through the increasingly familiar routine of wardrobe
and make-up I was getting quite excited: I knew that today I was
finally going to get to say ‘I’min’. We took our seats, the director
said ‘Action’ and then a Labrador came up the stairs. The first
business in the Den that morning was a dog treadmill! Well, that
wasn’t what I’d been expecting!
Fit Fur Life is run by Sammy French, a single mum who had
modified the kind of treadmill you find at the gym to be used for
animal training and rehabilitation after accidents and operations.
My initial response was that it was a bit of a challenge to make a
business out of the product, but as Sam made a great presentation
I realised I would be able to come good on my pact with myself
to invest in the first deal of the day. As she talked, I realised that
she was somebody I could work with: I liked her and I liked her
business, so I just had to pay close enough attention to make sure
there wasn’t a really good reason why I shouldn’t get my
chequebook out.
As ever, I was looking to invest in the person rather than the
business, and Sammy seemed down to earth and very professional,
and she was handling the Den brilliantly: so many people fall apart,
but she was taking the pressure. Not only did Sammy stack up, but
her business did, too. I started to think of all the professions that
train dogs – the police, customs, RNIB, obedience schools – and I
could see that there was a market. And then I thought of all those
dogs kept in apartments in New York and I could even see that a
dog treadmill could become a designer accessory. I could see Theo
was thinking it was a joke, but I was starting to see the opportunity.
One of the things that impressed me was the margin she was
making on each machine: it was over £1000. This was a business

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