Ecomowers

Andy Humphrey brings his Ecomowers to episode 206, in hopes of getting the Sharks to risk some green on his eco-friendly line of lawn care equipment.

Currently, Humphrey runs a successful online business, selling lawn equipment, including reel mowers. He’d like to add his Ecomowers to his line up, providing customers with a new choice in self-powered mowing machines and increasing his profit margins on his business. Will the Sharks bite on this new way of cutting grass?

Ecomowers Shark Tank Recap

Humphrey is seeking $90,000 for 20% of his company. He explains that the traditional lawn mower causes 80,000 injuries per year, and that lawn mowers cause ten times the pollution, per hour, than the average car. Humphrey’s mowers are silent, safe, and never need sharpening.

Daymond John declares himself “totally lost” shortly into the presentation. He’s not buying what Humphrey is selling. He calls Humphrey’s idea “romanticizing the truth,” and asks why are the Eco-mowers better than the reel mowers already on the market.

Humphrey admits that the only advantage of Ecomowers over conventional reel mowers is that the blades don’t need sharpening. He explains that there are “only a few products in Europe and Germany” that compare to his Ecomowers.

Who’s In?

John accuses Humphrey of “reinventing the bicycle.” He’s out.

Robert Herjavec calls the presentation a “branding play.” He asks why Humphrey’s competitors can’t simply slap an “ecofriendly” label on their existing products and drive him out of the market. Humphrey has not sold a single one of his Ecomowers. He’s only sold his own competitors’ products through his website.

He’s sinking fast, and the Sharks are circling. The Ecomowers just don’t have enough value in the marketplace to interest the investors. Reel lawnmowers are nothing new, and Humphrey’s improvement on an existing product isn’t strong enough to make it a successful business.

Humphrey points out the health benefits of using a push mower, but Herjavec responds that the market niche is already filled by the competition. He says that the “value is in the name, Ecomowers,” and that the only path to success would be to trademark the name and license it to existing mower manufacturers. He’s out. Barbara Corcoran says she doesn’t “have that much faith” in the name. She’s out.

Kevin O’Leary believes Humphrey is “a successful online retailer of mowers,” who wants to become a manufacturer. He says he’s “confused, and not that interested.” He’s out. Only Jeff Foxworthy remains.

Foxworthy says he can “see, in the future, more people doing this,” using the mowers, but he’s out. Humphrey leaves the Shark Tank with no deal.

Ecomowers Shark Tank Update

When Humphrey asks the Sharks what he could’ve done differently, Herjavec tells him “Don’t try to sell me something you haven’t sold one of.”

While Humphrey seemed unshaken by his failure in the Shark Tank, his business has not taken off as he had hoped. The product is for sale on Amazon and his website is still active, with the Helix Ecomowers as one of the product offerings, but his social media pages have not been updated since 2011. It seems that the Ecomowers have not been the wildly successful green revolution Humphrey had hoped for. Not all products that come into the Shark Tank will survive, but it looks like Ecomowers still has a little gas in its tank.

In a July, 2021 update, it seems the company has gone out of business. The website is down and the mowers are “currently unavailable” on Amazon. Humphrey currently operates The Sprinkler Supply Store.