A businesswoman who made £10 million a year after having her idea called “pathetic” on Dragons’ Den
One of the most prosperous women from Dragons’ Den is a Sussex-based businesswoman whose concept was deemed “pathetic” fifteen years ago.
Eco-Entrepreneur Rachel Watkyn makes $10 million a year from her company, “Tiny Box Company,” which produces recycled and ecologically friendly packaging.
During the BBC show, Rachel’s “8-year-old daughter Emily could make better at school” was shown in a box that Rachel had produced. Duncan Bannatyne called this a pathetic idea.
But Rachel is having the last laugh now, as she was awarded an OBE this year for her work in sustainability, ethical business growth and exports.
Regarding her time on Dragons’ Den, she said in an interview with ITV Meridian: “They were absolutely, utterly brutal.” I was very insecure on the show. Off camera, all I knew was that “Etsy” was growing in popularity and that it was “Not on the High Street.”
“There was a movement of a lot of start up companies and I knew that they would all need packing like I did.”
Even though not every Dragon supported Rachel’s idea, Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones’ £60,000 investment allowed Tiny Box Company to expand and become what it is today.
Currently, the company produces more than 1,500 goods for close to 200,000 clients.
However, Rachel claims that her journey has been difficult and has taught her a “lesson in resilience.”
It has been the most difficult journey of her life, she declared. In the past five years, I have battled cancer three times.
“We’ve experienced a couple of unfortunate incidents. We lost a significant amount of inventory when my first warehouse caught fire and burned down. We’ve experienced two very bad floods, website hacking, and bank account hacking.
Our bank accounts and website have both been compromised. Numerous business catastrophes.
“I believe that having two options in life has helped me become a resilient person. When problem after problem arises, you have two options: either retreat and hide in a corner, or accept the situation as it is and figure out how to make the most of it.
Fifteen years on from her Dragons’ Den adventure, Rachel finds it “hilarious” that not everyone gets the idea behind her business.
“It’s funny how people will ask, ‘What do you sell then?’ when they enter the warehouse and don’t know why they are here or are coming for something else. We’ll also say “boxes.”
When asked “what kind of boxes,” she says, “empty boxes,” to which she responds, but she claims that people “just don’t get it at all.”
“According to one of the dragons, environmentally friendly packaging would never become popular.
“However, since every product that people purchase comes in a bag, box, or other type of packaging, our task will be accomplished if we can assist companies in making the transition from plastic or other less eco-friendly to eco-friendly packaging.
“I think that more and more people are trying to be more sustainable and are taking it more seriously.”
According to Adam Herriott, Senior Specialist at the nonprofit Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), companies can always take more steps to ensure their sustainability.
“Over the last five years, some amazing work has been done,” he stated. It’s definitely headed toward mainstream acceptance, in my opinion.”
“There are certain things like whether your product is recyclable, whether you can recycle it at home, or whether you need to recycle it outside.
More needs to be done in this area because reusable or refillable products are growing in popularity.
“It must proceed more quickly in order for reuse and refill in
