More Dragons' Den stuff... a bit more indepth though!!

Hi there,

Due to a phenomenal number of questions about our appearance on Dragons Den, we thought we would share our thoughts with you about the experience and what has happened since!

So Christian decided it would be a good idea to try Dragons' Den in order to allow us to expand our "Tiny" company. Good idea....except he didn't tell me! The first I knew was when I got a call from the BBC asking me what we would do with the money.

We desperately needed funds though as we had grown so rapidly, we were having to finance more stock, and we had started off with one small office and had spread over the farm we worked on, to 3 premises. These still weren't big enough and we were literally sitting on boxes - you couldn't get through the office door.

So a few months later we arrived at the "dragon" location at about 6:30 in the morning, both of us so nervous we appeared hyper. we sat in the "green room" twitching and fidgeting, waiting to be summonsed, in the meantime helping ourselves to endless cups of tea and chocolate to calm our nerves ... great idea as we were both then even more hyper!

The BBC staff had done my hair beautifully first thing, but the "green room" was so hot and humid, my hair just got frizzier and bigger as the day went on. So by the time we got in front of the Dragons it looked outrageous - one massive frizzball.

So finally we were called to the "den". How terrified were we?! We walked up the stairs wondering if it was anything like the experience shown on t.v. It was. The 5 dragons sat there just looking at us, waiting for us to do our pitch. So we did, and we got well and truly slayed! Both of us thought we had completely blown it, as apparently I was on a crusade and Christian's addmission to rehab was met with less than sympathy to say the least.

After about 20 minutes of questioning, out hearts just sank as some of the Dragons were clearly unimpressed. Duncan Bannatyne in particular, who had for the previous 20 minutes been picking at the paper on the box sample he had, then announced that the paper was peeling off! Christian and I stood there in disbelief. Any paper product if picked at for that length of time would not withstand being torn. So we were ready to leave the den dejected.

Peter Jones (who is lovely by the way) had not said a thing up to this point, and suddenly threw us a life line, but only if Theo joined him. The BBC then ran out of film, so asked for a short break. Christian and I retreated to the back of the room and saw Theo shaking his head at Peter. Could our hearts sink much deeper? Christian and I felt even more dejected and then just waited for the film to be replaced and then for us to be expelled from the Den.
But Theo said Yes!

We came out of the den absolutely stunned. All the BBc crew were congratulating us, but it just wouldn't sink in that we had 2 dragons on board - and definitely our favourite ones.
So what happened next ?

We went to London to meet all of Theo's team and Peter's team to work out the way forward. They were all lovely (especially Peter!) and we are now working on moving to much bigger premises, expanding our stock range to include 100% recycled wrapping paper, pillow boxes, mailing boxes and bigger square gift boxes. We are also updating our printing facilities and on a recruitment drive for people who can actually cope with working in our "tiny" offices! We have a regular flow of communication between our office and Peter's and Theo's offices and it's great because if there is any business decision now that we are unsure of, then we can just pick up the phone.

So all very good news so far. We will keep you posted on what happens next!

One last note - Deborah Meaden is nothing like how she is painted out to be on Dragons Den. The programme is heavily edited and although she questioned us lots to check we knew what we were talking about, she was actually laughing with us and was very amicable.
Bye for now,

Rachel.

The Aftermath of Dragons Den

Hi, So sorry for a major update following our Dragons' DEn appearance anyway Dragons’ Den for us in one word; Whirlwind! And it still is in our Tiny Box Company office.

After securing investment from Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis it all started and I mean right when we were still on the TV! At 9:59pm (the show ends at 10pm) the phone was ringing with orders coming in.

Christian was on BBC 5 Live a few hours later and I am sure you have read/heard or saw one of us in some newspaper/radio and even TV shows in the week post our DD appearance !!! I have perfected my stuck up 'showbiz' air kiss; 'Dahlink!!'

Our website (www.tinyboxcompany.co.uk) took so many hits that we crashed our server, actually we not only crashed ours but also our hosts too!!
After securing more investment than we had asked for on the show we had initial meetings with Theo and Peter, they are lovely. We have taken on 4 members of staff and are currently in negotiations with a few very big high street names, fingers crossed they want to change to eco-friendly packaging and use us.

We are still searching for bigger premises as we are growing out of the three separate warehouses we have at the moment, as I write this I am literally pushing a pile of recycled bags off the keyboard!

Our philosophy remains the same even after our TV appearance; to only provide eco-friendly packaging and with no minimum order. The ‘no minimum order’ is important to us and really sets us apart from all other Packaging Companies. A lot of retail outlets still believe that ‘recycled’ is of inferior quality. It most definitely is not.

I was recognised in of all places my local post office by a girl who set me up on some kind of businessperson pedestal it was like I was some Rock God, so embarrassing! She told me that the clip, yes just our clip from Dragons’ Den, was being used by her University in her ‘How to be a Great Entrepreneur” course. I frantically tried to hide my embarrassment behind my post pile but the queue were having none of it, before long the entire queue were discussing recycling and even packaging!!

Amongst the influx of new orders and enquiries about our eco friendly packaging, transparent boxes and how many colours we do in our 100% recycled bags I am even answering business questions from people that don’t even want my boxes or bags. They just want business advice!

Anyway we here at the Tiny Box Company welcome your calls and enquiries about anything, so do get in touch for a chat. 01342 322333, we would prefer orders though!!

Peace Out,

Rachel Watkyn - Tiny Box Founder