‘Shark Tank’ review: How Do You Roll?, Pretty Padded Room, SMARTwheel, Gotta Have S’More

For “Shark Tank” this week, we literally had a little bit of everything: food, restaurants, safety devices, and a website designed to facilitate online therapy. We also had Kevin O’Leary ripping someone with an elaborate story to make an example out of every future business owner who comes in without knowing the numbers.

Were there some worthwhile products here? While we can’t say that any of them are products that we would use or visit regularly, none of them are necessarily horrible ideas in theory. They’re just either failing in execution or in strategy. As always, we’ve also accumulated the links for all for the products shown below to their official websites, that way you can go and check them all out with ease.

Gotta Have S’More – When it comes to revolutionizing campfire food, how do you do it without actually camping? This is apparently where having S’Muffins comes into play. They are basically desserts designed to look like muffins and taste like s’mores … and to be honest, they look delicious.

But how do you run an entire business based largely on one dessert? There were a plethora of issues here, whether it be a silly decision to go national (and spend money) despite being in a great local market or a ridiculously high price point for something you can make for a few dollars at home with the right equipment. Ultimately, though, the question at the start of this paragraph is what we really come back to. Who’s to stop other people from doing similar things?

How Do You Roll? – This, meanwhile, was a much more interesting idea: a make-your-own-sushi bar that is put together well, and already has found success across America. Really, the only real issue with the product here is the nature of the beast: restaurants are high-risk, since you’re asking people to travel to you, have a great experience, and spend money. It’s so many more variables than just something a consumer can order while sitting in their PJs at home.

Just based on the type of business this is alone, everyone pulled out other than Kevin O’Leary, who was willing to offer them $1 million. The two sides each negotiated from there, and this ultimately is a partnership that can really work. Kevin knows a good deal about this space, and gave them real, honest answers to some of their questions. This is the sort of deal-making that we love about “Shark Tank,” as you see someone getting an opportunity to make their dreams come true in a way that is not dumbed-down for the audience.

Pretty Padded Room – First, we feel bad that this woman’s name is Bea Arthur. We also feel bad that their name sounds a little bit like an insane asylum. The idea itself is rather interesting, since it allows more people the opportunity to enter a safe environment to speak with a licensed therapist, but from the comfort of their own home without the intimidation of going into a doctor’s office.

We do genuinely feel as though the idea is not bad, but there are two major issues here: you are obviously getting a therapist who is either new or cannot afford their own practice, and the numbers were all over the place on the business side. Even if they do not use this site, we do hope that more therapists out there do decide to take this strategy to heart when helping people. Bea really has her heart in the right place, but her business mind is all over the place.

SMARTwheel – This was the subject of our preview piece, and we said then that this was a pretty intuitive idea to encourage safe driving. At the same time, how do you know for sure that this steering wheel attachment is not going to startle you and get you into a car accident? We still feel like the best way to avoid distractions while driving is to, quite frankly, avoid distractions while driving. We also don’t think kids are going to be that interested in their parents checking up on them all of the time.

Now, the positives: these teenagers know President Obama! That is the greatest endorsement ever! Most of the sharks weren’t interested still in the product, but they did pull off a two-person deal with Robert Herjavec and Mark Cuban. Personally, we think this was an investment on potential just as much as the product in its current form.

Which one of these products was your favorite? Be sure to share some of your thoughts below, and you can check out some other highlights from this season over here.

Photo: ABC