Episode 5 Dragons' Den

These are the Dragons,

five of Britain's wealthiest and most enterprising business leaders.

Over the coming weeks,

they'll make or break the dreams of dozens of budding entrepreneurs.

I'm amazed how well you can present an absolutely ridiculous idea.

But you can't, because if you could, you'd be making them day and night

and smoking a cigar on a Caribbean beach.

I'm asking you to compare the green apple with the green apple.

Not an apple with a banana. Not an orange with a grape.

I have no idea what you're talking about, Duncan.

I am out.

The multi-millionaire investors

have each built up their fortunes from scratch.

Retail magnet Theo Paphitis.

Hotel and health club owner Duncan Bannantyne.

Leisure industry expert Deborah Meaden.

Queen of logistics Hilary Devey.

And telecoms giant Peter Jones.

The Dragons have the credentials, the contacts, the commitment

and the cash ready to invest. But only in the right business.

Will any of these hopeful entrepreneurs walk away with their money?

Welcome to the Dragon's Den.

Over our ten series, we've witnessed many memorable deals in the Den,

but there's one great thing about business,

there's never a shortage of new ideas.

There's always another one around the corner.

And there's no shortage of entrepreneurs ready to risk all in the Den.

But as it's the Dragons' own money they're after,

only the best will succeed.

The rest will leave with nothing.

My name's Noora, and I'm here today to ask you to invest in me

and my products £50,000 in return for 20%.

Millions of women worldwide have a problem

with the application of eyeliner.

It's not so much the top line, it's the actual flicks

at the end that they have trouble in perfecting.

In the media, everywhere you look, on magazines, on TV,

girls and women are aspiring for this perfect flick tip.

This is a single flick.

This is the classic wing,

which you'll see on people like Cheryl Cole, Amy Childs.

This one here I created and Jesse J was in a magazine the other day

and she's got her flicks like this.

So basically what I've done,

is I've come up with an idea of these adhesive little black designs

that you just stick on the end of the eye.

So basically, they are reusable.

I'm just going to put that on the end of Kaylee's eyeliner

which we prepared earlier.

And I'm just going to pop that one on the other side the.

Let's have a look. Great.

So basically, this is a simple idea for girls to get

the perfect flicks in different designs.

Has anybody got any questions?

Noora Lewis, along with model friend, Kaylee,

might've brought the smallest-ever product into the Den,

but she still needs a hefty £50,000 investment

for her stick-on eye make-up concept.

And Hilary Devey wants to hear about it firsthand.

Have you worn them for a long period of time?

I've worked with Noora since the release.

I'm a dancer, so me and all my dancer friends wear the party range.

They're very good. You don't have a problem with them slipping off.

How do they come off?

You pull them off softly. You don't want to rip it off.

But they are self-adhesive.

You'd get one use and then you can reuse using an eyelash glue.

-They do look nice.

-Thank you.

I'm sure I've seen these for sale.

There is nobody in the world that has had this idea.

Sticker makeup is becoming a real big thing at the minute.

You've got the lip tattoos might you've got the nail wraps.

Nobody has thought about doing just the tips.

In fact, I had the idea three years ago.

When I used to do my glitter tattoos,

the middle bit would be taken out to put the glue in the glitter.

But then I looked at it and thought,

"This bit that I'm throwing out would be fantastic to make tips."

Impassioned responses from the likable entrepreneur.

I'll leave you guys to it. Thank you. Thanks for your time.

So what will Theo Paphitis make of it all?

Noora, I'm not going to go through technical parts of this

because I'm sure the ladies here will be far better than I at it.

-So how much are you selling them for a pack, retail?

-£6.99.

And you wholesale them at... £3.

-And they cost you...

-80 pence.

OK. How many have you sold?

Roughly half of it's been wholesale, so I'd say that's about £7,000.

Then there's been retail at shows, so I'd say that's another £13,000.

Actually, can I just say something else?

Sally's Hair and Beauty have taken it into 270 of their stores

right on the till point.

That's in the whole of the UK and Ireland.

I did a trade show in January.

There's great diversity in this product,

because not only have I created a range of the classic look,

-I've also done the party range as well.

-Noora.

You like to talk a bit, don't you?

It's just fantastic to be able to have the opportunity

to talk about it.

OK. What were you doing before this?

I was demonstrating my Wow Brow.

Wow Brow? You've got a product called the Wow Brow?

It's a stencil that you put over the eyebrow and you fill it in

with an eyebrow powder and it just gives you lovely shaped eyebrows.

And before you developed the Wow Brow, what did you do?

I did an all-in-one makeup, a compact that suits all skin tones.

How far back would I have to go before I got to the bit

where you weren't selling a product that you'd invented?

I must say, I didn't invent the Wow Brow.

That was just something else that I did.

I've been out for ten years at the shows demonstrating different products.

The Dragons often tell us that it says much about the person

as the product they bring along, and they clearly like Noora.

Deborah Meaden looks at to have something on her mind.

Noora, you're quite right, for years people have worn eyeliner,

but the little flick at the end is the fashion bit.

The trouble is, when the flicks become unfashionable,

your product's gone.

Not only do I think that this is a fashion accessory,

I always think it's a necessity for women.

I really and truly believe that these could be as big as false eyelashes.

OK, but your only opportunity, I think,

with this is if you had a range of products.

No, no, no.

This is what I haven't mentioned to you as well, is I would actually like

to sell them with eyeliners and with lashes. That is the idea.

But when eyelashes go out of fashion

and flick tips go out of fashion, then what?

Can I just say one more thing?

If I can just go out there and make that hit on the flick tips,

I've got another absolutely fantastic idea.

-Is it here in the Den?

-No. No.

No. In fact, it's just here.

It's hard to invest in something that's just here.

But I just thought that that's, you know,

I just thought that it was about the flick tips

-and that's why I was coming in.

-Yeah.

The trouble is, I think that this is a very short-term product,

that I actually think you'll sell some.

But you're certainly not going to get me a return on my investment.

-You're lovely, but I won't be investing.

-Thank you anyway.

-I'm out.

-Thanks, Deborah.

It's a first dose of reality for Noora as she loses her first Dragon.

And it seems like Theo Paphitis has made up his mind, too.

Noora, your energy is fantastic.

That's exactly what I love to see in the Den,

someone who brings a product in, who is passionate about it

and wants to take it places.

But if I give you £50,000, I don't think I would get it back.

The reality is, it will be copied very, very quickly,

then you've got to carry on running to bring out the next product,

and in all of that, you'll require further investment,

further investment, further investment. Terrible!

Go on.

Because it is my creation, I am totally focused on this.

But with all the best will in the world,

I'm going to find it difficult to make money on this.

So, very reluctantly, I'm going to have to say I'm out.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

I've got a feeling you don't need us.

-You got this product which I don't know much about.

-What's going to happen now is...

-Is...

-Sorry, I apologise.

-I'm interrupting you.

-Sorry. I interrupted you.

-I'm sorry.

-Do you know what?

Working with you would be like working with 50 women all in one.

Um...

The product is OK.

It's just not amazing.

I just can't see the business opportunity.

-So, for that reason, Noora, unfortunately, I'm out.

-All right.

Thank you, Peter.

Three Dragons out,

and it looks like Noora's time in the Den is coming to a close.

Can Duncan Bannatyne find a reason to disregard his rivals' concerns?

The problem I'm looking at is, you've only sold £20,000 worth.

I've actually only just done maybe five shows since December.

-And how much revenue have you taken in the five shows?

-£13,000.

What did it cost you to go to those five shows?

-You know, that's where the profit...

-The answer is a number.

Well, for example, I'm doing a trade beauty show next week...

No, the five shows you did, I want you to concentrate.

-What did it cost you to do this five shows?

-£6,500.

So out of your £20,000, you haven't really made any money, have you?

That's right. The realisation is that that is eating up the money.

Noora.

I've been looking for a reason to invest because I want to invest in you.

But it's not the product that's worthy of an investment. It's not fantastic.

-I have to say I'm sorry, but I'm out.

-OK. Thank you.

Have you not thought about going to, say, Eylure,

who produce hundreds of false eyelashes,

and trying to sell it to them as part of the package?

I have, but then I think it's great that Sally's have taken it on,

because they are the biggest...

Are Sally's putting it in the States as well?

It's just the UK and Ireland now,

but they've actually put it onto every till point.

Um...

This is really hard.

I've got to say, I really admire your passion, your tenacity,

your willpower.

But I think this is far too easy to emulate,

and by the time it does get out there,

it'll probably be out of fashion. I've got to say, on this occasion,

I'm out, but come up with something else and I would.

I've got it. I've got it. You haven't seen the last of me!

Thanks so much for all your feedback.

Good luck.

Noora may have captivated them with her energy and enthusiasm...

-She was lovely.

-Yes.

But ultimately,

her tiny product didn't have big enough potential for these Dragons.

She leaves with nothing.

Entrepreneurs wanting to make their millions often come up

with inventions with safety in mind.

Retired taxi driver Ernie Griffin hoped his security device for doors

was at least worth a £65,000 investment.

Door Defender was developed to help prevent doorstep crime.

If it's on the hinge side of the door, it's being activated inside.

You open the door a small amount, see who's there,

the criminal is going to try and push past you,

the Door Defender shuts the door. Feel safe, be safe.

Get yourself one of those.

After making such claims,

you've always get the same reaction from one particular Dragon.

Ernie, Ernie, Ernie.

-Is it Theo-proof?

-Yes.

That's been tested to take 750 kilograms.

-So it should just spring back?

-Yeah.

-I'd move out of the way, mate. So, at the moment it does that.

-Yeah.

If I went...

Not bad.

Theo-proof, tick.

But there are plenty more Dragon hurdles to clear

before investment is secured.

There's other devices on the market.

The obvious one is the chain on the door.

-It only fits this side.

-I know, it just fits the other side.

So you can't be on the side that the door opens.

So you have to re-hang your door to make sure it opens

-back against your wall.

-No!

No, you don't! The door would hang this side and work this way!

I have no idea what you're talking about, Duncan!

Despite some confusion, the Dragons were all agreed.

This was unlikely to be the idea that made Ernie his fortune.

Ernie, for practically the same amount of money,

someone can put a little intercom outside their door.

Technology has moved on.

-Please give it up, I'm out.

-Thanks very much.

Innovation in business isn't everything

but it is almost everything.

So, what will the Dragons make of Belarusian entrepreneurs, Artsiom Stavenka and Kiryl Chykeyuk.

They've added an innovative feature to a 200-year-old invention.

Hello. My name is Kiryl,

and we are here today to offer you a 10% share

of our company in return for £90,000 of your investment.

Hello, my name is Artsiom and our company, Old Bond Bikes, is introducing a real breakthrough

in outdoor advertising so let's demonstrate the product first.

Our company uses a high-tech, innovative system called Video Pro

to transfer video clips, images and advertising logos from a computer onto bike wheels.

Our target market is various businesses, shops, events,

private parties, nightclubs and we'll also pitch our product

to a number of large media buying agencies with a lot of clients.

Without advertising, we have managed to conduct two campaigns in London

for the companies who simply found us via our website.

Thanks, we would like to invite your questions.

An eye-catching demonstration from the two friends.

Kiryl Chykey and Artsiom Stavenkauk are looking for £90,000

in return for a 10% share

of their fledgling outdoor advertising company.

Peter Jones knows a thing or two about tech products.

My first reaction is the people that you are advertising to

are likely to be stationary.

You're on a bike doing 15 miles an hour,

I've already lost the message when you've gone past me.

It's fair to say this, but the purpose of outdoor advertising

is probably for people to be attracted to this,

to have a look at it.

This would be tested on the roads. All the people will come to us,

filming it on their mobile phones or on their cameras.

People are shouting, "I can't believe it's happening."

So, we know it works.

It attracts absolutely all the people's attention who see it,

and that's the purpose of outdoor advertising.

Do you own the technology?

We have the license for commercial usage for two years plus.

Basically, we need to buy 20 systems every half-year

and we will keep the licence.

What does each system cost?

At the moment, one system costs £700.

One bike needs two systems.

And you've got the exclusive licence in the UK?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Do you have the license with you?

-Yes.

-Could I have a look at it, please?

-Absolutely.

It's a good start from the young Belarusians.

Duncan Bannatyne wants to drill down into the finances.

-You said you'd sold two campaigns.

-Yes.

-What did you get for them?

The first one, we invoiced them for 1,800,

and for the second one, it is 2,200.

So, what's your ongoing costs, then, to change the advert,

maintenance of the equipment that you put on the wheel?

It doesn't cost us at all to install the wheels.

The systems on the wheel will transfer the images...

Is that because it's jumps out of the package

and attaches itself to the wheel?

-No, we do it ourselves. Initially...

-So, you do it yourselves?

-So, there is a labour cost?

-Um, yes.

-And you have to pay someone to ride the bike?

-Yes, sure.

So what profit are you making out of a £2,000 campaign?

In the beginning, we are not going to have small campaigns at all.

We are going to spend the investment only when we have an order secured

because we need to spend the investment only on the stock.

So, you're not going to do a campaign

unless the campaign covers the total cost of buying the product.

Absolutely.

Kiryl and Artsiom are handling the questioning with some aplomb.

Deborah Meaden looks impressed.

What you have got here is brilliant and it's very simple, and very straightforward.

So, can you just run through how you think this financially works?

Absolutely.

In the first year, we are planning to turn over £1.05 million

and out of that, £480,000 is net profit.

What's your background?

How come you are in a position to underpin some pretty racy numbers

like £1 million?

I obtained a Masters degree in radiophysics and electronics

from Belarus State University

and I'm currently in my last year of a PhD

in biomedical engineering at the University of Oxford.

I've obtained Bachelors and Masters degree in International Law

from the University of Manchester, and used to work

as an immigration lawyer, and have some marketing background as well.

What I'm getting from you is you are very, very brainy.

-You're clever guys.

-We are.

Business-wise, we also used to run our company in Belfast.

The company was in outdoor advertising.

It was based on advertising on the back of rickshaw bikes.

Guys, who were else has a similar system?

Nobody else.

-It's pretty amazing technology, it's not that easy to produce.

-OK.

I've had many, many years of outdoor advertising experience

mainly on billboards and signage.

This, as a concept, is flaky to say the least but...

..I don't think you two are flaky.

And sometimes, you make offers in the Den not because of the products.

You make offers in the Den because of the people.

-I'm going to make you an offer.

-Thank you.

The full 90,000 for 40%.

Thank you.

In a surprise move, Theo Paphitis makes an early offer of investment

but he's demanding four times the amount of the business

originally on offer.

Will the determined entrepreneurs be able to convince another Dragon

to lower the equity demand?

Let me get this right. Monkey Electric are the licensor?

-Yes. They are American manufacturers.

-They're from MIT.

-How did you find them?

-On the Internet.

Did you get a lawyer to look at this

because there are no restrictive covenants in it?

There are no conditions of plagiarism in it.

We understand it.

It's not in a perfect form but we'll amend it.

How easy would it be to renegotiate?

As easy as this.

Everything is negotiable.

I'm involved in another business, nothing to do with bikes,

that has got a similar type of advertising.

So, I'd like to make you an offer.

Full amount of money, 40%, and we will help you market this product.

Thank you, Hilary.

Guys, the reason I would buy into anyone else, is they can do something

I can't do, they've got a product I can't get, they've got a track record

that tells me I've done it there and therefore I can do it again.

My sense of review is that you've actually got a lot of it covered off so...

I'm going to make you an offer.

I'm going to offer you the full money

and I want 40% of the business.

Thank you.

Unusually, the three rival Dragons have made exactly the same offer.

The unconvincing license agreement and the early state of the business

has clearly increased the risk factor.

Will Duncan Bannatyne now agree with their assessment

and make it four offers in a row?

Right, the trouble with this deal is

that I think I would lose the most important thing,

something I could never buy.

That's time.

I think I'd spend a lot of time on this

and end up going completely bonkers.

-I'm out.

-Thank you.

You know, I get the gimmick. I'm seeing this as a gimmick,

but I honestly do not get the advertising on a bike.

The bike goes past,

you've missed the message the bike is supposed to be sending.

I can't invest in this. I'm out.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Can we possibly have a couple of minutes to talk? Thanks.

The Den is divided as two Dragons fail to see potential in the invention.

But the decision now facing the young friends

is which of the three identical offers to accept.

OK, I would like to ask if Deborah

and Theo would like to participate in this offer for £90,000...

20% each.

-Absolutely.

-Excellent!

-There we go.

-Deal done. Congratulations, brilliant.

Kiryl and Artsiom have done it. They may not have negotiated down

on the equity demanded but they did get the two Dragons they wanted.

There's money to be made in inventing solutions

to troublesome everyday problems.

Buckinghamshire-based couple John Bennett and Amanda Joseph thought

they had just the thing to solve a burning issue in their household.

They wanted £70,000.

With conventional pillowcases, you have one pillow and one case.

Ours, however, is one case that holds two pillows.

This solves pillow slippage.

Pillow slippage is when one pillow is placed on top of another

and it kind of slips and slides underneath.

We joined the two cases together with one central panel.

-Can I have a go at this?

-Of course.

-Yes, you can!

Come on!

While two Dragons gave the product a test drive...

-No slippage going on here!

-There's no slippage at the pillow end!

..we got to hear some unlikely confessions from the multimillionaires.

-I am a bit of a pillow freak.

-OK.

-I've got six pillows in my bed

with three different thicknesses and I like to change them about.

-The thing is I've never ever encountered pillow slippage.

-OK.

I'm also a bit of a bedding freak.

I like loads of pillows and I like moving them about.

If I want a cold pillow, I take the one from underneath.

I kind of move my pillows around. This is a terrible idea!

Having tested their creation,

Theo Paphitis had some bad news for the couple.

You need to go back and redevelop this, back to choosing your pillows.

This is not something that needs to exist.

Use your resources, your money, your grey matter on something else.

-I'm out.

-Thanks, Theo.

So far tonight, only one business has been worthy of a Dragon investment.

Excellent! Congratulations.

To get an insight into the psychological pressure

the entrepreneurs face in the Den,

press the red button at the end of the programme.

Have you been stay-cationing in recent years?

If you have, former policeman Glen Brady believes

he has the perfect product for you.

But will it be the perfect investment for the Dragons?

Hi, my name's Glen, pleased to meet you.

I'm the managing director of Oakenclough Buildings.

I've come here today looking for a minimum investment of £250,000

for at least a 30% stake in a new business that we are creating called Camping Bugs.

The Camping Bug concept is simple.

We design, we manufacture, we deliver and install buildings.

Then we lease them to campsites,

hotels and also lease them as garden offices and beach huts.

By lowering the manufacturing costs

by the careful sourcing of materials and by use of waste materials,

I've managed to get the cost of the building down so we can now

get it out to the end-line user at very affordable lease rates.

The buildings are lined, insulated, double-glazed and manufactured for all-year-round use.

Following the growth of the glamour camping business,

the Christmas market trade and the number of festivals, there's now a ready market for this product.

Any questions?

-Glen, can we have a look?

-Of course you can.

Former police sergeant Glen Brady believes his new take on the "glamping" craze

is about to make him his fortune.

-That's not bad.

-Pretty solid, isn't it?

The Lancashire-based entrepreneur needs a cash injection of £250,000

to get his new start-up company off the ground.

But the hefty price tag does not seem to have put off Hilary Devey.

-Glen.

-Hi.

-I'm Hilary.

Tell us a little bit about how it's made, the cost of making it,

the retail price, etc.

I own a timber building manufacturer and as part of that business,

-we have a machine that makes log cabins.

-Right.

And as a result of that production process,

I end up with a lot of waste and scrap wood.

So, if you look at the way the building is done,

we've done the front and back panels from short offcuts of timber.

So, these are the bits that are left from manufacturing of the log cabins,

and basically, the production cost will be somewhere between

£800 to about £1,500.

< Right, OK.

Have you leased any yet?

All the ones that have been manufactured

have been allocated to campsites or to places.

-And how many is that?

-We've got about 50 manufactured so far.

A good start, as Glen settles easily in to Den questioning.

But leisure industry expert Deborah Meaden knows this market well.

So, you say you are making these or similar for between

-£800 and £1,500.

-Yeah.

Which I think is incredibly good value.

So, can you break that down in terms of labour, and materials?

At the moment, we make all the arch sections in a small workshop I have in Poland.

So, it's roughly about £750.

The floes are about 100 quid, the shingles are about 120 quid.

And then there is the labour, which brings us to about the £1,000 mark.

-You're telling you can make that whole thing for £1,000.

-This whole unit.

-That's amazing.

That's fantastic.

Glen - £250,000. What are you going to do with quarter of a million pounds?

Well, the initial part of the investment will be to upgrade

some of the production facility we've got,

but that would only account for £20-30,000 of the investment.

The investment would be to build a lot of them quickly for specific events

that we know we can lease them out.

-The money would pretty much sit in situ if we didn't do that.

-Right.

If we don't lease any, if we don't put any on campsites,

your money will stay in the bank and not get touched.

Impressive product and a persuasive argument for investment.

Glen is doing well. But what of his other company?

Peter Jones wants to know.

-Glen.

-Yeah.

-Your current business, what do you do?

Manufacturing timber buildings, sheds, log cabins.

What's the net asset value of the business at the moment?

We own the land, the factory,

we've got the machinery, the equipment - probably a couple of million pounds.

So why would you not just do this yourself?

The motives for the investment, look at leasing the product

or getting this product to the market quicker than we ordinarily would do, making two or three each week.

OK.

So, I put a quarter of a million pounds into NewCo,

NewCo spends my quarter of million pounds with your company,

your company gets a return on the money invested

because I've given you work,

and also, you own 70% of NewCo.

Normally, people have a bit more of a complicated process,

so there's a bit more smoke and mirrors,

but you've just gone, give me quarter of a million and give it to my company which I own 100% of!

The position we're at now is it's ready to be taken as an autonomous business.

Your people are producing all of the stuff that the company needs, with my money.

It's a major setback for Glen,

as Peter Jones uncovers a serious flaw in his investment proposition.

And it looks to have incensed Theo Paphitis.

Glen.

What makes you think that anyone is going to give you quarter of a million pounds

for something that's got hardly any assets in it,

and all it is is building some sheds,

and then if you do get orders for your sheds,

the money's going to go to your other company and to Poland.

My money's going to disappear. Please, please give me the answer

why you think that's credible.

The reason why it's credible, for every £1,000 we draw off in investment,

we will manufacture a building that we can retail for between five and £7,000,

even as garden offices...

But you can't, because if you could, you'd be making them day and night

and smoking a cigar on a Caribbean beach.

There's no business model that makes any form of sense,

except for yourself.

-I'm out.

-Thank you.

Theo Paphitis delivers a stinging analysis,

and Glen's earlier confidence takes a hit.

Now, will Duncan Bannatyne agree with his rival's concerns?

-I want to take you back to a question Hilary asked you.

-Yep.

She asked if you'd leased any out yet.

And your reply was you'd allocated a number.

And I don't know what that means. Have you leased any out?

No.

-Have any ever been leased out?

-We leased half-a-dozen last year.

OK.

I'm out.

Okey-doke.

Right. I'm going to let you know where I am.

It's a little bit insulting to come in here and ask for £250,000

on a separate business without a track record,

and no basis on which anybody in their right mind

would ever consider investing. And you don't look stupid to me.

You won't be at all surprised to hear I won't be investing. I'm out.

-I appreciate that. Thank you.

-Glen, I think your pitch was outrageous.

I think your business model is preposterous. I can't say any more.

I just can't say any more.

I am out.

Short shrift from three Dragons,

and the bewildered entrepreneur's investment dreams look to be all but over.

But Peter Jones seems to have something on his mind.

Glen. Would you be interested in a conversation about

investing in the whole business?

Erm, to be honest, I wouldn't want to go down that avenue, really.

Why?

Erm... If you put...

For every £1,000 you invest in these, the end line product...

Glen, there's one thing about a guy that's been in business for 30 years,

you ain't going to be able to diversify my train of thought

by giving me some woolly story about this.

If you've got a business that has a net asset value of two million quid,

you're asking me to put £250,000 into a company that has no assets.

Why would you not entertain a conversation about me coming into the whole?

What would you bring to that business that would...

LAUGHTER

Oh dear me!

In terms of... No, I just...

I don't quite know what to say.

You really should be coming in, pitching the whole business.

But you didn't want to do that, because you want to keep it for yourself.

This is definitely not investable, so I'm out.

Thank you.

It was a promising start, but it takes more than that

to part these canny Dragons from their cash.

After my experience in the Den, I have to say I've had better days in the office.

I wasn't expecting to get quite such a severe reaction.

I wasn't prepared to give part of my current business up,

and by doing that, effectively, I put the nail in my own coffin,

but that was fair enough.

I'm now looking forward proving them wrong.

Others who tried and failed in the Den included Egyptian-born painter

Ash Hussain, who's invented a multi-angled paintbrush handle.

By attaching the brush to the extension, as you see,

to reach to the high and difficult area

without need for ladder or scaffolding.

A simple idea, and one which intrigued the Dragons.

What's your background, how come you ended up doing this?

I was working as a property developer and interior designer, and I was painting.

The ladder slipped and I fell off.

I was diagnosed with a broken neck, back,

hips, as well as dislocated shoulders.

I dedicated my life to preventing others suffering like me.

A heartfelt story.

But it wasn't long before the Dragons got down to business.

If you bought a brush the same quality as this, same size,

-what would you pay for it?

-It depends of the bristle.

-Same bristle.

Same as this, with the plastic handle, what would cost?

-Depends of the quality of the brush.

-I'm asking you to compare

the green apple with the green apple. Not an apple with a banana.

Not an orange with a grape.

This is confusing enough as it is. Apples, grapes, bananas?

What are you trying to do to him?

In the end, the debonair decorator got no cash,

but he did receive some advice from Peter Jones.

Take this product to some of the companies out there

and say to them, "I want you to take this over and give me a percentage of the sales

"if you can sell that product to the market."

-I'm out.

-Thank you.

Next in the Den was 25-year-old Daniel Martin from west London

who hoped his dot-com business could help people stuck in lengthy mobile phone contracts.

Anybody with a mobile phone can become contract free regardless of their contract length

without paying any termination fees whatsoever.

This is perfect for people who have poor credit history.

A complicated concept, but Theo Paphitis was able to sum it up neatly.

All you're doing is putting two people together.

-That's all it is.

-Like a dating site.

-With a phone.

Really your market is students, isn't it?

Who struggle to get credit.

When those students and those youngsters start to default on payments, what then happens?

The network themselves will be chasing them up for the payments

-and that will affect their credit check.

-What you're doing is making that credit default far easier.

Slightly easier, yeah.

In the end, it was left to the Den's telecoms expert

to deliver a business lesson.

Networks will not allow it. Why?

They've already signed you up, they've got you there, you're a paying customer,

they won't take the risk with transferring that to somebody else.

So, you acting as a middleman are providing absolutely nothing.

I'm amazed how well you can present an absolutely ridiculous idea.

I'm out.

Former barrister Dupsy Abiola is next into the Den.

She's obviously used to arguing her case in court,

but the question now is whether that will have provided a useful training

for her encounter in the Den. Let's see how she gets on.

Hi.

My name is Dupsy Abiola and I'm the founder of InternAvenue.com.

It's an online platform which is going to revolutionise the way that

employers find qualified students and graduates for their businesses.

I'm looking for £100,000 today, for 10% of my company,

and I'm really excited to tell you about this opportunity.

As business owners and employers yourselves,

you know that hiring is hard.

It's also expensive.

It's also incredibly difficult to identify the candidates

with the qualities and skills that you're looking for.

InternAvenue allows you to directly search for and find the students and graduates

with the qualifications that you're looking for

without having to post an ad and then hope and pray

that Mr or Mrs Right will come waltzing through the door.

We believe that having a Dragon on board would be a real benefit

to the platform as we drive forward and launch this into the public.

So without further ado, I welcome any questions that you have for me today.

A precise pitch from the poised entrepreneur.

West Londoner Dupsy Abiola needs £100,000 to launch her new take

on the graduate recruitment business.

In return, a 10% stake is on offer.

Deborah Meaden is eager to learn more.

I'm Deborah.

So just so I know where you're at at the moment,

is this fully built?

I think, in any technology site,

it would be a mistake to think that you've got a finished product.

I think we'll constantly be improving and seeing what people do

-but we're ready to go, basically.

-OK.

What led to you this? Was your background in HR or...

I was a lawyer. I was an employee barrister and my firm said,

"Help us out with hiring our trainees."

We had two positions and we were just flooded by applications

and it took up so much time.

At the same time, my little sister was leaving university,

and she's a superstar. You know, one mark of her first, really dynamic.

She's going places. And she was whining to me

about how difficult it was to get in front of anybody,

and I was like, "You're going to be embarrassed when I find a website

"that you can go to", and I spent hours and I just kept on thinking to myself,

"No-one is served by this current system. This is a huge problem."

And I developed this platform and I'm really proud of it, really proud.

A composed start from the young businesswoman,

but what of her competition?

Hilary Devey wants to know.

Dupsy, hi. I'm Hillary.

We employ a lot of graduates in very many areas.

We've got quite close relationships with a lot of universities and that doesn't cost us anything.

Why would an employer, if they've got that facility,

want to subscribe to that?

Many employers do attach themselves to either universities,

favoured universities, or locational hubs,

but that doesn't give you, I think, the breadth of the market.

You might not be getting the candidates that actually best suit your business.

The way that we work is,

in addition to taking all the standard data and information

that you might get on a CV and standardising it

so you can search very robustly against it,

we can also benchmark people. So we rank...

Without getting too technical,

we have matching algorithms that rank candidates,

not just give you a blank list of every person who happens to be there.

So, you put in your criteria, we score each candidate

against one another and rate them, the best ones at the top,

who are also available. Does that help?

I bet you was a good barrister, wasn't you?

I think, yeah, I was.

First impressions are always important in the Den,

and Dupsy has certainly made a good one.

But Peter Jones knows this market well.

You've got a very big competitor, that I'm sure you know,

in this marketplace,

a company set up by Raj Dey called Enternships.

I know a lot about Enternships. Raj was also at Oxford with me.

But Enternships doesn't do what I do.

Enternships is a niche job board, effectively,

and it's focused on the entrepreneurial marketplace.

What I am is a connecting platform.

And what makes you think that Raj is unable to do that

or he isn't currently planning to do that?

He's been running his job board for quite a few years

and he hasn't done it thus far.

The reason why, I'm not going to say it, but I know him very well

and I know the business very well and he is going to do it.

OK.

What I'm finding intriguing is that you could have

a first mover advantage over his business by what you've created.

Charm, confidence, and by all accounts a credible business concept, but as yet, no offer.

Will Deborah Meaden be first to buck that trend?

Dupsy, can I...

I still don't understand why you've come here asking for the £100,000.

At the moment our burn rate is about £10,000 a month.

If we continued at that pace, we'll run out of cash in ten months.

However, we're getting quite a lot of interest in this.

It's a real public issue, and so we may be overwhelmed,

and I think that one of the things that can be a real mistake

is going out there and not being able to support the demand that we might...

Dupsy, Dupsy. Look.

What happens if you walk out of here today

with no investment to the business?

I would be disappointed.

I'm sure you would.

But I'm a determined person.

What happens to the business?

We will more than double our burn rate at present.

-So, four months left.

-Yeah. We'll have four months left.

That's a completely different answer than the answer you gave me.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

What we... What we... What...

If I didn't have the additional money,

I would try and reduce my burn rate,

so I wouldn't take on... You know, I'd try and graduate things.

I think this is very, very risky,

because I predict a future that,

without an investor on board with deep pockets,

you are going to run out of cash and you're going to spend your life

trying to fundraise, and I'm not convinced enough about this model

to be that person with those deep pockets.

So I'm afraid I won't be investing.

I'm out.

It's the first blow for the former barrister,

but still four Dragons remain.

Will Dupsy now be able to convince Theo Paphitis

that hers is a money-making opportunity?

I know what we recruit graduates from another site

-which costs us very little.

-OK.

How is your business so different

that these graduates are all not going to go on those other sites

and they're all going to go onto yours?

We have huge plans for additional things

that we're going to be doing to make it even better.

We also are going to integrate things like online assessments,

because people want to know about the motivations of a candidate.

We also are going to have things like video interviewing integrated,

so you can get a picture of who this person is

before you waste your time, cos that's super important.

Dupsy...

I'm really not getting to the nuts and bolts of this business.

You're a driven individual. I can see that a mile off.

Thank you.

But, I'm probably going to regret this,

but I'm going to pass on you and I'm going to say I'm out.

That's a shame but thank you.

Any other questions?

Dupsy, I've no questions.

I just think there is too many people doing this,

so I'm not going to get involved, and so I'm out.

It's a tough business to make money.

There's lots of businesses out there that do something like this.

But I haven't found anyone that has made a success of a model

like this that can be sustainable and generate income.

So, sometimes life is about risk.

I think it's one of those things where I'd quite like the challenge

of seeing whether this could become a business

that could generate income.

As a result of that, it's a risk factor for me

and I'm going to need a pretty decent return.

So I'm going to offer you £100,000.

But I want 40% of your business.

A dramatic change of fortune for the fledgling entrepreneur,

but at some cost, four times what she initially intended to give away.

And only one rival Dragon remains.

-Are you still practicing law?

-No.

Why did you come out of it?

I come from an entrepreneurial family.

My father was a big entrepreneur,

and I've always been passionate about business

and I just saw a solution and I thought,

"I want to do this" and I'm fortunate to have a family who backs me.

What does your father... What did your father...

My father.

My father was a very, very successful entrepreneur

and philanthropist in Africa,

and he was very passionate about democracy,

and at the time in Nigeria there was a military dictatorship

and he fought against that.

He was detained when I was 12. My family were terrorised.

They shut down a lot of his businesses.

We lost effectively everything and my mother had to look after me

and six of us by herself.

We had a really, really, really difficult time.

When I was 16, we thought that they would release him

and they wouldn't hurt him, but he died.

Sorry.

I knew something had happened when you was younger,

cos something has driven you, hasn't it?

But he's an inspiration to me. He was really passionate about business.

The determination when something this difficult happens to you,

I think it tests your mettle,

and whatever life has to throw at you now, be it business challenges,

I know that I've got the stuff that's going to make it happen

and I know that somewhere my dad's like, "Yeah!" (SHE LAUGHS)

I'm really impressed with you

and I think you will go far and fast.

Thank you.

I'd like to also make you an offer.

But all I'm going to do is match Peter's offer.

OK. Thank you both.

Can I just have a moment to have a little think?

Peter.

If I were to say...

..that if we met our target...

..we were to agree a 30% stake...

Erm...

I think that's a very good compromise.

-I'd be more than happy to do that.

-Hilary?

-So would I.

-OK.

I think...

Peter. I'd like to take you up on your offer.

Hilary, I'm terribly sorry.

APPLAUSE

Dupsy's done it.

Emotions were running high at the end,

but she leaves with the offer of the cash she needs

and an influential multi-millionaire Dragon on board.

Today it got emotional in the Den

as Dupsy revealed an extraordinary personal story.

But it was actually her confident approach

and passion for her business

that guaranteed she walked away with the deal and the Dragon she wanted.

If you'd like to know more about why Peter wanted to invest in Dupsy,

press the red button now to access exclusive post-Den reaction.

Goodbye.

Next week in the Den...

It must have been a hell of a jolly boy's outing that you lot went on.

-Do you knew their revenue?

-Er...

-Do you know their profitability?

Your knowledge is exceptionally weak.

I'm sorry. I think this is absolutely ridiculous.

I disagree entirely with what Peter, Duncan and Theo have said.

None of us said that, Theo.

I want more cos I think that I'm worth more.

Is it just for dogs?

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