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Dragon Slayer
16/09/2008
Andy Harsley, of Lincolnshire-based RapStrap recently faced the Dragons Den looking for £150,000 of investment in to his waste-free cable tie business. He emerged unscathed, with the investment he was looking for, and two new and well-known business partners.
After delivering a confident pitch and fielding criticisms from Peter and Theo, Andy accepted the offer of investment from Duncan Bannatyne and James Caan, with a view to a potential link up with former Den success Choc Box.
‘The three minute pitch at the beginning is a one hit wonder – get that wrong and it is going to be a real struggle' said Andy ' I had a live product demo to do and I was very tense but thankfully it all went well and I was then quite relaxed for the Q&A, which really helped.’
Andy has been working on the Rapstrap for the last 15 years and attended Connect InvoRed’s Amber Workshop in June of this year. Andy said ‘I would suggest to anyone who is looking for equity funding for their business to get in touch with Connect Midlands early on in the process. Don’t start looking for Venture Capital funding as a last resort. You can gain invaluable insight and practice through these guys and it is usually free.’
‘They’ll give your business a real grilling, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses, which is invaluable if you are going to try and gain funding through a VC.’
John Griffiths, director of Connect Midlands said; 'Andy did brilliantly well on Dragons Den and should be congratulated on his thorough approach and professionalism; it’s not something we often recommend without proper guidance, because it can go wrong and is then very public.'
'Our Connect InvoRed (investment readiness) programme has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs and high-growth businesses to learn what investors look for, how to put a compelling proposition together and how to pitch for finance. In fact, over 200 of them have already gone on to raise £135m of new investment.'
Submitted by Paul Jenkinson