Dirty business in the Den
Who are the bravest people in the UK? If you watch Dragons’ Den on Thursdays, you would say Britain’s entrepreneurs.
Week after week they go over the top and take withering fire from the millionaire panel of judges. My job in the Den is to find those entrepreneurs. Yesterday I chewed my knuckles in agony as I watched a poor man trying to demonstrate his business idea. It was called “The Knowledge”, a call centre with taxi drivers giving directions to people lost in London. Of course, when Dragon Peter Jones tried to call the number, he couldn’t get through. “I’m never going to call you again,” said Peter.
The Dragons compete with each other to produce the most debilitating put-down. “One of the worst business ideas I’ve ever seen!” pipes Richard Farleigh. But it is Theo Paphitis who wins as usual: “I would rather pass a kidney stone than invest in this.”
Their victims retreat down the stairs, bloody but unbowed. My job used to be to meet them at the bottom and, although some were in tears, they still had blind faith in their business. “They’ve just turned down the best business proposition of the century!” cried one.
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Some go on, determined to succeed just to spite the Dragons. Rejection? What rejection?