Pasta by Hudson
The problem with pasta, according to the entrepreneur behind Pasta by Hudson, from New York, NY, is that it isn't usually fresh or even warm when eating out.
Pasta by Hudson wants to solve this by being a fresh pasta bar in the Columbus Circle subway station in New York City. The idea is that people can pick their pasta type, pick their sauce, and then pick their extra (shrimp, garlic, or toast) and then go eat somewhere else. For the Europeans out there, Pasta by Hudson essentially wants to be Vapiano.
The difference between Vapiano and Pasta by Hudson though is that Pasta by Hudson has no problems serving its food in Chinese takeout containers.
All menu items start at $8.95. Some, though, can go as high as $12 or $13 per. Thus far, in the year this deal was filmed to date, the business has earned $590,000. A meatball created by Pasta by Hudson costs $0.45 to make and sells for $4.95.
The first Pasta by Hudson location is 390 square feet in the Columbus Circle station. The business' overhead in this location is $55,000 per year.
Pasta by Hudson is not yet profitable but the business plan had it becoming profitable in the next year. Then, projections have the business earning between $1,200,000 and $1,300,000 in gross sales.
It cost $350,000 to open the first location. However, the entrepreneur predicts that the next kiosk would cost onlu $250,00 and that it would get cheaper as the business grows.
The entrepreneur states that half of the business is through delivery and that takes 50% off the margins.
Making A Deal
Daymond says right away that the deal gives him acid reflux and that he's out despite him loving the idea.
Mark says that despite the poor delivery margins, he believes that the future is delivery. He then says that he'd order every night if Pasta by Hudson had spaghetti squash. He then wants to know if the entrepreneur would be open to "cloud kitchens"[1] and the entrepreneur says that he would be for expansion.
Kevin says that he doesn't think the idea is ready for a franchise yet because he thinks the business would need to demonstrate at least 15% margins and they don't have it yet.
But Barbara thinks the Pasta by Hudson meatball is the best meatball she's had. Lori asks for the cost of the meatball and the entrepreneur recites the the $0.45 cost to $4.95 retail numbers from above but specifies that they also freeze well.
Lori then says that she would go in with Mark. They decide to split up the deal so that Mark Cuban will do $100,000 for 20% equity in the business while Lori will do $50,000 for an additional 10% in the business.
The entrepreneur says yes but this deal bites an even two-thirds off the value of the business ($1,000,000), leaving it worth just $500,000. However, the entrepreneur now has two sharks, Mark and Lori as partners, so we shall see how it progresses from there.
Notes
- ↑ "Cloud kitchens" are a bit like "cloud servers" in that someone else builds the infrastructure and the customer only pays to use it. However, the cost of spinning up a server with an operating system is vastly different than the cost of building out a full commercial kitchen and renting it out by the hour...