A product that was once branded “ridiculous” on BBC business show Dragons’ Den since sold millions across the globe and is considered a staple in most offices.
Married couple Neil and Laura Westwood headed to the Den way back in 2008 to pitch the Magic Whiteboard – the simple idea of a roll of A1 whiteboard sheets, which will stick to anything due to static.
They were seeking £100,000 for a 15 percent equity stake in their business.
The pair originally set up their company back in 2006, with Neil explaining to BusinessLive in 2013: “I knew I wanted to start my own business. One day, when I was carrying yet another heavy flip chart to a meeting it suddenly dawned on me there must be a way of making it lighter.”
And the product wasn’t mocked unanimously, as Theo Paphitis and Deborah Meaden both offered half the money each.
(Image: BBC)
Though Peter Jones didn’t hesitate to brand the product “ridiculous”.
He told the pair: “Laura, Neil, my first look at this – this is almost ridiculous. Why would I use this?”
Neil replied: “If you’re a trainer, if you do any group work…”
Peter still wasn’t impressed as he snapped: “Well, I have a whiteboard.”
(Image: BBC)
“But if you’re a consultant, for example, doing any training…” Neil attempted, but Peter replied: “What, I’m going to go and carry that around in my briefcase?
“So you’ll put that on the wall and write notes on it… it just feels ridiculous.”
In a bold move, he took the whiteboard pen from Laura and wrote ‘I’m out!’ in capital letters on the Magic Whiteboard.
That same product went on to sell more than one million products by 2016, with more lines launching in recent years – including a Magic Blackout Blind and reusable notebooks.
(Image: BBC)
It came after Theo and Deborah managed to negotiate a deal to provide £50,000 each for a 20 percent stake in the business – though James Caan and Duncan Bannatyne also offered to invest.
The company’s website states that they paid back their shares to the Dragons in 2014, and by 2017 were exporting the product to more than 20 countries across the world.
They began being stocked in various Rymans stores across the UK – but can now be found in all major office supply stores and even schools.
Peter did seem to eat his words in a later episode, as he told one entrepreneur that his sticky note product could be “bigger than Magic Whiteboard” – with the company later posting on their Facebook page: “It was nice to here Peter Jones giving us praise on our success on #dragonsden tonight – in the Den Peter said it was ridiculous!”
For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
