What is Dragons’ Den?

Royal Holloway Entrepreneurs’ Dragons’ Den is an idea pitching competition based on the hit BBC TV series of the same name. Students will pitch their ideas – for businesses, social enterprises, charities or individual projects – to a panel of ‘Dragons’ which includes:

• Jess Ratcliffe, a RHUL student who featured on the real Dragons’ Den
• Robin Bennett, author of Start-up Smart, who will be offering attendees the opportunity of up to an additional £5,000 business funding
• Rhiannon Horsley from UnLtd, the top UK social enterprise organisation.

The ‘Dragons’ play the role of potential investors in you and your idea. The competition takes place on Thursday 7^th October 2010 at 7pm in the Students’ Union.

How do I enter?

The competition is now closed, but you can still attend the event for fun!

What happens next?

All entrants will be given the opportunity to attend a pitching workshop on Wednesday 6^th October at 1pm in MX34. At this workshop you will learn how to pitch professionally and be given the opportunity to practise and hone your pitch. The final selection of students who will be put through to face the Dragons will be announced at the end of this workshop and emailed to any students who were unable to attend.

How do I win?

Winning ideas are likely to be those which are innovative, solve a genuine problem or meet a real need, and are likely to be achievable. Although you will not be marked on the quality of your pitch, a good pitch will help you put your idea across.

What is the format of the pitching competition?

You will pitch for just 2 minutes and will have 3 minutes to answer questions.

Who can enter?

Current students at Royal Holloway, University of London.

First broadcast on BBC Two on Monday 13^th September 2010, Jessica pitched for investment for her game-swapping website, GaBoom.co.uk. A passionate gamer and entrepreneur, Jess has been working tirelessly since January 2010, to develop and launch her dream game-trading platform, GaBoom.co.uk.  “We have developed a safe, easy and unique way of trading games online; providing users, not only with our automatic user-matching system but two secure and insured postage options to take the hassle and risk out of trading their games online.” says Jess.

Jess told the Dragons the support she had received at Royal Holloway, one of the UK’s top destinations for student entrepreneurs, had been a critical factor in helping her to build her business. As a committee member of Royal Holloway Entrepreneurs, the student enterprise society, she has also inspired other students to follow their dreams.

Jess believes that pre-owned games will remain the choice of many gamers across the UK.  “With approximately 12.4 million people in the UK currently buying their games second-hand, it is going to take something massive for all of them to switch to only buying their games brand new,” she says.

Doug Richard, who featured as a Dragon in the first two series of the show, thinks the current Dragons made a mistake by not investing. He told the BBC that GaBoom presents a “clear and wonderful opportunity… Jessica, wherever you are, there’s one ex-Dragon who believes in you.”

You can watch Jessica’s performance on BBC iPlayer here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/entrepreneurs/jessicaratcliffe.shtml

Gamers who wish to swap a game can do so now at www.gaboom.co.uk.

For more information about Royal Holloway’s services for student entrepreneurs, visit http://www.rhul.ac.uk/careers/students/entrepreneurship/home.aspx.

Dragons’ Den is a challenging place to pitch, but it’s also a genuine business opportunity to secure investment. In the most recent series, 15 entrepreneurs accepted offers of investment in the Den and plenty more have gone on to find success even without the backing of the Dragons.

The rules are simple: entrepreneurs ask for a cash investment in return for equity in their business. However, they must get at least the amount they ask for or they will walk away with nothing. The Dragons are prepared to listen to a pitch for any kind of business but they must be convinced that it will make money.

As demonstrated by the investments in the last seven series, ideas, businesses and products that meet some or all of the following criteria stand a good chance of securing the Dragons’ interest:

• A Unique Selling Point: a product that serves a need like nothing else.
• Scalability: something that can be up scaled to make real money.
• Route to Market: the clear way the product can be sold and marketed.
• Mutually Beneficial Arrangement: just what will the Dragons get out of it?
• Exit Strategy:  a plan of how the entrepreneur/Dragon will exit and make money.

The BBC is currently searching for Britain’s best entrepreneurs and will be auditioning throughout the coming months. We want to hear from anyone who thinks they’ve got what it takes to enter the Dragons’ Den.

If you would like an application form please send an e-mail to dragonsden@bbc.co.uk or visit www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden

Mark Blythe:

Oliver Mennell:

Ania Gavel: