Dragons’ Den frustrations for entrepreneurs

31 01 2005 United Kingdom

Winning bids for financial backing screened by the BBC sometimes ended in tears and rancour, according to a report by the Mail on Sunday.

But topenterprise reveals that at least one of the ‘losers’ is now set fair to hit the big time.

The winner in the first show of the Dragons’ Den TV series has ended up without a deal, after initially securing backing from two of the show’s multi-millionaire investors, claims the Financial Mail on Sunday.

Dragons’ Den is set in the world of entrepreneurs who are looking for wealthy individuals – the ‘Dragons’ - to invest in their innovative business ideas. In return for risking thousands of pounds of their own capital, the investors expect to take a share of the ownership of the business and make a sizeable profit.

To win a deal, the entrepreneurs each have to make a three-minute presentation or ‘pitch’ and persuade the Dragons, live on camera, to come up with the cash in exchange for a share in their business. They hope to attract an investor who can actively help them in bringing their product to the market.

The first winner had developed a unique vending machine for umbrellas and had to part with 40 per cent of his business in order to get the backing he needed. But the deal eventually fell through.

Another entrepreneur who bid successfully for £150,000 funding was in a legal dispute with one of the ‘Dragons’ who had agreed in front of the cameras to back his new enterprise.

A BBC spokesperson said to the Mail, “We ensure that both parties are aware that any deals made on camera are in good faith and subject to a process of due diligence.”

You can read more about Dragons’ Den here on the BBC website (page opens in a new window)

Happy ending to Dragons' Den ordeal

A 27 year old former taxi driver was turned down by the Dragons in her quest for finance, but has won over several major retailers to distribute her product.

Rachel Lowe, who is a student at the University of Portsmouth, faced a real grilling by the Dragons about her business plan, live on air in front of 1.5 million viewers. She failed to attract the financial backing she needed, but her drive and ability have paid dividends.

After 18 months of determination and hard work, Ms Lowe developed her idea for a new board game ‘Destination London’ based on her previous job as a taxi driver. She told This is Money about her appearance on the Dragons’ Den programme:

“It was a very traumatic experience. I cope quite nicely with my calculator but have never needed to know an entire spreadsheet of numbers from memory. I was in tears after they tore into me.”

But the Dragons underestimated her ability. “It has definitely made me tougher and more confident,” she said. “Being slated gave me the drive and ambition to succeed.”

Ms Lowe, a mother of two who is in the final year of her degree studies, went ahead and sold the idea to retailers Hamleys and W H Smith. So far she has sold over 5,000 copies of her board game, which at Hamleys toy store has been snapped up faster than Monopoly.

She exhibited recently at the London Toy Fair and has attracted interest from more of the big retailers in the UK. She has also established intellectual property rights to enable her company, RTL Games, to find distributors in Europe and the USA. Further versions for personal computers and mobile phones are in the pipeline.

She has just been named ‘Achiever of the Year’ in an award ceremony sponsored by BDO Stoy Hayward.

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