| Homemade Millionaire | |
|---|---|
| Presented by | Kelly Ripa |
| Judges | Huck Nicola Jennifer Cotter |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Production location | New York City |
| Original release | |
| Network | TLC |
| Release | November 19 – December 24, 2010 |
Homemade Millionaire is a reality television series featuring aspiring inventors and entrepreneurs drawn from public auditions. Each week, three entrepreneurs and their products are tested and advised by coaches Ed Evangelista or Wendy Robbins as they pitch their product to the executives of Home Shopping Network (HSN) in New York. One product each week is selected to be featured and sold on the network, which gains the inventors exposure, professional product guidance, and potential sales to over 90 million HSN customers.
Each week, three entrepreneurs and their products are tested. First, the contestants are introduced to either Ed Evangelista or Wendy Robbins, who will coach them through the process of refining their product and sales pitch for their final presentation to HSN.
The first stage consists of the contestant presenting their product in a three-minute pitch to a focus group of consumers, while Kelly Ripa and their coach watch from a separate room and discuss concerns they have with the contestant's product or presentation. Each contestant is given feedback by the focus group and by the coaches, and one contestant is eliminated based on focus group scores.
In the second stage, spread over two days, the inventors' products and sales skills are evaluated in a two task challenge. The particular tasks depend on the products featured in each episode, and the inventors are given additional feedback and guidance from a guest advisor from the field (generally someone with experience selling products from that field on HSN). The first task may range from staging a photo shoot for promotional materials for their product, to developing further variations of their product to build a marketable product line, and is judged by the guest advisor. The second task involves having the products evaluated for sales potential, which may range from pitching the product to potential customers in stores, staging a fashion show, or having their products tested and rated by Good Housekeeping.
The third stage occurs two weeks later after contestants have been given time to refine their product and pitches using the feedback received during the first two stages in order to increase their chances of their product being added to the HSN lineup. The inventors present their product to Kelly Ripa, Jennifer Cotter (HSN Senior VP, Television), Huck Nicola (HSN VP, Merchandising and Product Development), and a judge with experience in the field of product is targeting. The executive board selects one product to be added to the HSN lineup based upon product uniqueness, how well they expect it to sell, how profitable it may be, and how well the product is pitched (as the inventor will be presenting the product on HSN to potential buyers).