Meagan Bowman’s business idea was a deceptively simple one that she first came up with as a teenager. She made eco-friendly flower bouquets from upcycled materials like burlap, jute twine, old newspapers, bamboo, etc., for some pocket money during a tough childhood. Inspired by watching Season 2 of Shark Tank, she decided to turn her hobby into a full-time business by starting the company Eco Flowers.
Despite some setbacks, she began to gain many enthusiastic customers. However, she was interested in becoming a Shark Tank contestant. After four spirited attempts, one of which was covered by local news media, she finally scored an appearance on Season 8 of the show. But what happened to Eco Flower after Shark Tank? Let’s find out!
Eco Flower Shark Tank Update
Internal Drama
Although Meagan is still doing business in the faux flowers industry through Sola Wood Flowers, she had to quit Eco Flower due to serious conflicts with her investors. The internal drama that led to Meagan’s exit from Eco Flower and the company’s eventual shutdown started around when she appeared on Shark Tank.
The villains in this real-life story were the second set of investors in the company. In a blog post on the Sola Wood Flowers website, Meagan Bowman has explained the details behind her falling out with her Eco Flower investors.
Unethical Investors
Alex Ledoux was the very first person to invest in Eco Flower. Meagan sought an investor in the company’s early days because she had trouble putting food on the plate. So, she brought in Alex and sold 25% of the company to him for a mere $3,000 investment. In addition, Alex paid Meagan’s rent and bought her groceries for a year.
She later brought on two more investors, Ryan Westwood and Travis Johnson, who worked in the tech industry. They invested in Eco Flower through their investment firm, JW Capital, and purchased 50% of the company for $30,000. She intended to use this investment to ramp up production. But, this also left her as a minority stakeholder in the company.
Things were going well until Alex left the company for personal reasons, just a few weeks before Meagan appeared on Shark Tank. The 25% equity he owned in the company was then divided equally between Meagan and JW Capital, making the latter the majority stakeholder.
They soon began misusing their powers, ostracizing Meagan from the business and pushing for a CEO to manage it. To her dismay, the CEO who was brought in made the environment even more toxic.
Toxic Work Environment
Finally, she decided to leave the company for good. At the time, Eco Flower had grown to have 120 employees and made $7.2 million in sales. Soon after she left, however, the company began to struggle. The company’s CEO and general manager would push sales but spend no effort building inventory. On top of that, the company began to treat its employees horribly. Eco Flower finally shut down in April 2018 as this unsustainable business practice would only last for so long.
The blog post also explained that the Utah Consumer Protection Agency is investigating the defunct company for its shady business practices. Its former CEO, John Allard, is rumored to be wanted by the FBI.
Eco Flowers Net Worth
Meagan Bowman valued Eco Flower at $4 million in her Shark Tank pitch, which she supported by her solid sales figures and growth potential. Eco Flower had lifetime sales of $2.8 million at the time, which ballooned to $7.2 million when she left the company in 2016. She sold each handmade recycled flower bouquet for $59, with a bridal centerpiece costing as much as $139.
She had also experimented with weddings shortly before her Shark Tank appearance. Her experience selling Eco Flower products for weddings showed that faux flowers were in demand there. On top of that, Eco Flower had massive growth potential, which Meagan had to hold back actively.
She explained to the Sharks that a major reason she wanted their investment was to increase their production so that they could start meeting the demand. Just one day before her Shark Tank appearance, she had spent a mere $4,000 advertising her company. This one ad campaign brought her sales of $100,000 in a single day.
This was a massive increase over the $6,000 – $13,000 figures she made on other days. The experiment showed the true demand and growth potential of Eco Flower. Not just that, but $25,000 of that day’s sales came from the wedding industry, a big market that promised more growth.
Sadly, Meagan didn’t fully realize this potential at Eco Flower. Although she increased her sales to $7.2 million within just a year of the Shark Tank episode, she was forced to quit. Today, she has realized much of Eco Flower’s potential through her second company, Sola Wood Flowers.
A look at their website shows a major focus on the wedding industry. Sola Wood Flowers also amazingly curates the shopping experience, offering its products in many exciting categories. In addition, the company has also expanded to a variety of products related to the wedding industry.
The company is producing a healthy revenue of $5 million annually. So, while Eco Flower didn’t see a long life, Meagan Bowman ensured that the idea behind it was realized to the fullest potential.
Eco Flower Shark Tank Deal
Armed with a can-do attitude and some confidence-inspiring sales figures, Meagan Bowman appeared with her upcycled flower bouquets on Episode 7 of Season 8. Her odd dressing sense drew some odd looks from the Sharks, but they were polite and receptive to her pitch. What she offered with her upcycled bouquets was freedom from what she called the “gift bouquet cycle.” In other words, while women love getting fresh flowers, they are tired of watching them wilt and die, and they hate having to set time aside to throw the wilted flowers in the trash.
Although her presentation entertained the Sharks, they could not connect with it. The question was the same across the board — since when do women prefer fake flowers over real ones? The disconnect with the sharks was troublesome for Bowman, who wanted to raise $400,000 in exchange for 10% of the company.
The debate for the Sharks was whether flowers made of recycled material are a profitable alternative to real flowers. Megan then shocked the Sharks by informing them that Eco Flower has a lifetime sales number of $2.8 million.
This information immediately changed the tone of the room. She also pointed out that Eco Flower is ready for massive, immediate growth in the short term because she has been unable to keep up with the growing demand.
Despite the Sharks’ disbelief in the level of success that Eco Flower had received, they were still encouraged by the numbers. However, things took another turn for the worse when she shared that she had partners who owned most of the business. She only owned 25% of the company she had started with her own hands.
Some of the Sharks dropped out early for other reasons. Lori Greiner stated that Eco Flower has a lot of competition because she sees faux flowers everywhere. Kevin O’Leary commented that Eco Flower doesn’t have a lot of scope in the wedding industry.
The remaining Sharks found it uncomfortable to invest in a company whose key founder and ideator was under threat of being pushed out. So, the Sharks each dropped out of the deal one by one. Some, like Robert Herjavec, didn’t want Meagan to be pushed out of her business. Others, like Barbara Corcoran and Lori Greiner, didn’t have confidence in the product.
In the end, it was Daymond John who saved the day. He agreed to invest $400,000 in Eco Flower in exchange for 20% equity — 5% each from the four different partners in the business.
Is Eco Flowers Still in Business?
Although Eco Flowers looked on a great trajectory during Meagan Bowman’s Shark Tank appearance, the company floundered just a few years later. The company even made greater sales for some time after Meagan’s episode was aired. However, there was a lot of drama between Meagan and her second set of investors, even during the Shark Tank period. Numerous incidents led her to quit the company entirely in 2016, the same year she appeared on Shark Tank. After the brains behind the company had left, it was only a matter of time before the company shut down.
Two years later, Meagan started Sola Wood Flowers, another wood flower company she still runs happily. She has expanded this business greatly and offers a much bigger product line than Eco Flower. This includes flowers by theme, many bridal flowers for every wedding decoration element, and a parallel line of products.
While Eco Flower has shut down, its founder Meagan Bowman has started another sustainable flower company, Sola Wood Flowers, which is still in business. While the new company caters mainly to wedding functions, they also sell individual bouquets for as low as $32.55 on their website.
FAQs
Who owns Eco Flower?
Eco Flower was founded by Utah mom Meagan Bowman, who brought in additional investment through Alex Ledoux, for which he received 25% equity. Later, she got an even bigger investment through JW Capital, which Travis Johnson and Ryan Westwood ran. Each received 25% equity in exchange for a combined $30,000 investment.
What is the revenue of Eco Flower?
Eco Flower made a revenue of $7.2 million within the first two years of its establishment before its founder Meagan Bowman left the company.
How much did an Eco Flower cost?
An Eco Flower bouquet cost started as low as $59 and went up to $139 for a centerpiece.