Last Thursday night, Yaletown Roundhouse hosted An Evening with the Dragons’ Den and I once again had the pleasure to be part of an audience that no doubt left the theatre feeling inspired to do what they are passionate about: running a successful business.

Photo: Jim Treliving, surrounded by fans of Dragons' Den

The evening, similar to last year’s, began with a conversation between executive producer Tracie Tighe and main Dragon Jim Treliving, who, due to exposure on Dragons’ Den, is now well known to the public as an ex-RCMP that is today the owner of Boston Pizza International Inc.  Although sometimes, he is known to a younger generation as “Mr. Pizza Guy.”  This was in reference to a story that Jim told when asked by Tracie why he continues to return to Dragons’ Den.  On his flight from Toronto to Vancouver, Jim recalls a 10 year old boy on the plane who greeted him with “Hi Mr. Pizza Guy.”  He later found out that this boy watches every episode of Dragons’ Den with his family.  As long as he is inspiring people, Jim says, he will return to the show season after season.

Dragons’ Den is all about inspiration.  Many people have ideas.  Some people have the financing to make something out of those ideas.  But what I believe is sometimes lacking is the inspiration and belief that they can build on their ideas and become a success.  This is why I tremendously enjoyed the evening because as I looked at the faces around me listening to two successful entrepreneurs describe their Dragons’ Den experience, I can feel the sparks ignite within the crowd.

Photo: Panel discussion with Tracie Tighe (L), Jim Treliving (C), and Brad Friesen (R)

The evening’s two special guests were Brad Friesen and Margot Woodworth.  Brad Friesen is the owner of Last Call, a hangover remedy served in a unique, patented bottle and with a delivery system like you’ve never seen before. The ingredients are stored in a twist cap that only gets released with a twisting action.  I admire Brad’s innovative idea.  For the lack of a better word, it was cool and environmentally friendly.  The whole idea is to ship the bottles that contain only the ingredients in the cap.  Bottles without water mean less fossil-fuel required to deliver them.  Plus, the cap can be recycled once used.  In his segment, Brad offered these tips for a successful pitch on Dragons’ Den:

• Know your numbers.  Know all aspects of your business because the Dragons will only invest in people who know what they are doing.
• Practice your pitch before appearing on the show.  You will likely be steered off your pitch but you still need to deliver.
• Be prepared for absolutely everything.  With a 5-person panel, you never know where the discussion will take you. 

Next up was a business owner with a unique party favour. Margot Woodworth is the owner of Evergreen Memories, a business that offers tree seedlings as wedding favors, gifts for corporate events and many different occasions.  These little trees are packaged in bags that act as a greenhouse, allowing them to survive for two weeks without being planted.  Here are some of Margot’s tips to survive a face-to-face meeting with the Dragons:

• Know your numbers. Just like Brad, Margot hired an accountant to make sure that she has her numbers right. 
• Be prepared and practice your pitch. It’s a good idea to come up with an opening line to capture the Dragons’ attention.  For Margot, hers was “Money does grow on trees.”
• Show your passion and be proud of it. 

What I took away from the event was that you really need more than just an idea to be successful. You need a prototype. You need to do your research. You need to make sure that what you have is what people want.  And you also need a business plan and map out how you want to make your business successful.  Most important, you need to have courage to do what you are passionate about.  Starting a business of any kind is daunting but as Margot says it best, “Sometimes you just have to do it.”

Brian Chan has been with TELUS for more than five years and specializes in small and medium business.