‘Ridiculous’ Dragons Den pitch turns into one of | U.Okay.Finance Information
A Dragons’ Den pitch branded “ridiculous” by the investor Peter Jones has since turn out to be one of the show’s most profitable companies.
Neil and Laura Westwood, a married couple from Worcester, took to the Den in 2008 to current their product, the Magic Whiteboard, to Dragons Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne, Theo Paphitis, and James Khan.
It has since turn out to be a staple of stationery shops and ships to more than 20 international locations.
Explaining the brilliant thought on the BBC show within the late noughties, Mr Westwood stated: “Magic whiteboard allows you to create a portable whiteboard from a roll, anywhere, in seconds.
“It sticks to any surface without any tape, tack or glue. You can write on it like a traditional whiteboard, and it erases in the same way. Plain paper also sticks to it without the need for tape or tack.”
The couple were seeking a £100,000 investment for a 15% stake in the company. At that point, they said the business had been trading “successfully” for two years.
However, the now 58-year-old entrepreneur Peter Jones was quick to reject the idea, questioning: “This is almost ridiculous. Why would I use this?”
Ms Westwood tried to elucidate the product’s usefulness for a marketing consultant or coach earlier than Mr Jones interrupted: “So I would carry that round in my briefcase?”
He added that the product “simply feels ridiculous” before getting up to write “I am out!” on the Magic Whiteboard.
The fate of the pitch quickly turned around after Theo Pathetis, chairman of stationary and office supplies company Ryman, quizzed: “Why have not you been breaking down my patrons’ doorways?”
The couple then confronted a bid-off between 4 Dragons earlier than agreeing to a settlement with Mr Pathetis and Ms Meaden for the total £100,000 investment and a 20% stake every.
A roaring success, the couple was capable of repurchase all shares by 2014 after gross sales rocketed from £45,000 to £ 1.2million, in keeping with Enterprise Dwell.
The business has since expanded to promote something from magnetic whiteboards and reusable notebooks to black-out blinds.
Dragons’ Den returned for its twenty second collection at first of January, airing on Thursdays at 8pm on BBC.
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