When Carley Stenson came onto the Den with her business, she clearly indicated who was in charge. Her fiesty presentation for a business with a low barrier to entry turned away four of the Dragons, but garnered her a deal from the fifth. Siams Pants, a comfortable, one-size-fits-all Thailand Fisherman’s Pant, retail for $32, and [...]
As Dragons’ Den crosses Canada in search of new entrepreneurs looking for investment dollars, and past participants with fresh ideas, this is a good time to review some of the rules for making a deal on the den. It is surprising how many people come onto the show, having presented their ideas to a panel [...]
When Carolanne Doig came on Dragons’ Den with her business, she was already on her way out. Having built up Seaforth Rain Gear over the course of almost 15 years, she had done all the right things, but had yet to hit a homerun. Her asking price was $100,000 for 40% of the business, which [...]
Barb Stegemann appeared on CBC earlier this week, showing that smart business can go along with social responsibility. Presenting herself as a savvy entrepreneur, she demonstrated that good business sense can also better the world we live in – and make a lot of money along the way. The 7 Virtues based out of Halifax [...]
It’s a rare occurance on Dragons’ Den when an entrepreneur arrives with a valuation that is reasonable and a business worth investing in. This week, that happened, and perhaps there’s a reason why these entrepreneurs succeeded where many others have failed. Bryan McCrea, Channing McCorriston and Evan Willoughby came pitching their business, 3twenty Solutions, which [...]
Doug Burgoyne came on the den this week pitching his business Frogbox, which supplies hard plastic boxes as a rental in place of cardboard boxes. His pitch, coming in with a valuation of $1.2 million, was that the business is profitable (though apparently not yet to a significant level), and is designed to scale. The [...]
There’s something interesting about the show Dragons’ Den that seems to appeal to a certain type of business person. People come on the show with their businesses, hoping to leave the set with a potential investment from one of the five dragons, yet in the average show, only 2 businesses will get lucky. Having watched [...]
Elie Kochman is the author of Advice for Small Business Owners and the founder of Optimal Upgrade Consulting. Using his experience working in the corporate world along with his exposure to the world of small businesses, he writes these articles to assist others avoiding common pitfalls of growing a business. His experience in the corporate world, building his own business, and working directly with other growing businesses has given him some perspective on the trials and pains of running a business.
