Everyone has thought of one — that idea of the century that could make you richer than Donald Trump — but few actually have the guts to turn their idea into reality.
This fall CBC will be airing a new reality show called Dragons’ Den. Entrepreneurs come with their unique idea to pitch to the dragons, a group of high power CEOs who are looking for a great business venture to finance, in their den. If the entrepreneurs can impress the CEOs they can walk away with the financial backing and the opportunity to turn their idea into the real thing.
“At one point or another, most people have dreamed of making millions, of creating the next great business or of taking their ideas to market. This show illustrates what it would take in reality to pull that off,” says Sean Wise, industry advisor and online host for Dragons’ Den.
The dragons include Robert Herjavec, owner of the Herjavec Group; Kevin O’Leary, co-host of ROB TV’s SqueezePlay and high profile investor; Jim Treliving, owner of Boston Pizza; Jennifer Wood, president and CEO of two cattle companies based in Western Canada and Laurence Lewin, co-founder and president of La Senza. These are the kinds of people that most entrepreneurs would be hard pressed to get a hold of outside the boundaries of this reality show.
“The Dragons are all great characters — successful and wealthy and incredibly smart. You get to watch the minds of millionaires at work and learn how they think about money-making opportunities,” says host Dianne Bruckner. “Plus there’s the drama of watching the hopeful entrepreneurs make their pitches. They have so much at stake. You’re really rooting for some of them.”
What’s refreshing about the show is the risks are real and the questions are sincere because the CEOs are looking for the right opportunity to invest their time and money.
So what are the dragons looking for? According to Wise, it has to be the right opportunity and the right product. Investing in startups requires a big risk that will hopefully offer a big reward. The product should also solve an unmet need.
When pitching an idea entrepreneurs have to be prepared to talk about every aspect of their business, which, according to Bruckner’s observations is where many of them fell short.
“The most common mistake we saw was entrepreneurs not speaking directly to the money-making potential of their idea. Many would ramble on about the general appeal. The dragons want to know how big is the market? What are you charging? How fast can this business grow? Who else is doing this? Really sharp, pertinent questions and sometimes the entrepreneurs just weren’t prepared with the proper info or they didn’t explain it succinctly enough.”
Hopefully this sneak peek into the boardroom will help quell some of the fear behind starting one’s own business perhaps your pitch could be a part of season two.
“Be prepared, do your research (both on your idea and on what investors want) and practice your pitch. After all, you only get one chance to make a bad first impression,” advises Wise. “Understand that it is more important to pitch what investors are interested in funding than to hawk what you are tying to sell.”
The Dragons Den premieres tonight on the CBC.
