Entrepreneur Rachel Watkyn didn’t let a “brutal” time on Dragons’ Den hold her back, with her firm now turning over a whopping £10 million a year.
The businesswoman originally started her environmentally-friendly and recycled packaging company – named Tiny Box – in her bedroom at her parents’ home. Then in 2008 she took it on the BBC show, looking to secure an investment from the Dragons.
She did manage to convince Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis to dig into their pockets and back her. But she revealed to ITV Meridian that it was a tough experience nonetheless.
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When Rachel went on the TV show, Duncan Bannatyne was in the Den. He didn’t seem to be that impressed with one of her boxes and sniped that his eight-year-old could have done better.
(Image: BBC)
“I think it’s ridiculous that you’ve come along with what you call a business, that you describe as ethical and recyclable materials and you produce a box which my eight-year-old daughter Emily could make better at school, the ends don’t match up, the lines aren’t straight,” he said. “It’s pathetic, it really is.”
“They were brutal, they were absolutely brutal,” the entrepreneur told ITV. “On the show, I didn’t have any confidence.
(Image: BBC)
“Off camera, I just knew that Etsy was becoming more and more popular and Not On The High Street. There was a movement of a lot of start up companies and I knew that they would all need packaging, just like I did.”
Rachel said she has battled cancer three times and has suffered obstacles like a fire at her warehouse. However, Tiny Box has gone from strength to strength over the years and she is said to be one of the most successful women to have pitched in the Den.
(Image: BBC)
“I think what made me resilient as a person is you have two choices,” she said. “When you get hit with issue after issue, you can either back away and hide in a corner or you can say, ‘OK that’s happened, how can I make the best of this situation?’”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
