I was torn apart on Dragons’ Den but ignored ALL their advice & now I’m a millionaire… with Obama & top royal as fans
THE stars of Dragons’ Den are considered some of Britain’s top business minds – but even they have to admit that they sometimes get it wrong.
And that includes turning down a pitch from Natalie Ellis, 54, from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, who invented the non-spill dog bowl Road Refresher – a product that’s now sold across the globe.
She failed to lure in the Dragons while offering £120,000 for 15 per cent of her business back in 2008 and was told there was no “huge profit” in her idea.
Worse so, after Natalie revealed her plan to target the US market, the bigwig BBC show stars scoffed and warned she would be “eaten alive” and her business would go to “the graveyard”.
Thankfully she ignored them, as she is now a multi-millionaire and has celebrity clients including former President Barack Obama, Princess Anne and even… dragon Deborah Meaden.
Natalie, the founder of Prestige Pet Products UK Limited, told The Sun: “Going on Dragons’ Den was the best thing I ever did for my business and the second best was completely ignoring all of their advice.
“The Dragons were so, so wrong with the comments they made about going to America and 100 per cent, I am relieved none of them invested because otherwise, I’d be working for them now.”
Unlike other businesses, Natalie was asked to go on the show by producers. It followed her winning three categories at the British Female Inventors Awards in 2008.
“The next morning, they asked me,” she recalls. “I was hesitant and I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it.
“I kind of sleepwalked my way on to being on the show.”
‘Devastating disclosure’
Natalie recalls it was a lengthy day of filming. She believes she was picked up from the hotel at around 7am and didn’t pitch to the Dragons until “eight or nine hours later”.
She tells us: “It was a long process and took a long time. I was the second from last person to go in.
“I was hungry, tired and fed up with waiting. I was ready to go home and nearly threw in the towel. I’m so glad I didn’t!”
In the Den she was greeted by Dragons James Caan, Duncan Bannatyne, Theo Paphitis, Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones, who she insists were “not intimidating”.
But Natalie’s pitch ran far from smoothly.
Peter, who was one of her dream Dragons, didn’t believe her company was worth as much as she claimed and Duncan felt there was “no huge profit” to be made.
After unveiling her plans to take her product to the US, the investors deeply disapproved – Theo told the entrepreneur “they will eat you alive” and James said it was “the graveyard of all UK business”.
She says: “Theo and Peter were the two Dragons I wanted but I just couldn’t gel with Peter. I guess they have to play good cop and bad cop but he really wasn’t my cup of tea.”
During a tough grilling from the Dragons, Natalie broke down in tears and revealed she had previously suffered a mini-stroke, known as a transient ischaemic attack (TIA), in 2007.
“That wasn’t part of my plan when I went in the Den,” she tells us. “I hadn’t even revealed it on the BBC’s medical forms because it wasn’t my intention to talk about it.
“It wasn’t something I had spoken about or disclosed to a lot of people, so I was devastated knowing I had disclosed it on national TV.”
After the emotional reveal, Natalie was told she could go to the back of the studio to take a moment to gather herself.
She recalls: “I was very aware of the cameras in my face and I didn’t want to be there.
“Someone from the production team came over. I told them I didn’t want to go back on. They suggested that I should try to finish it and assured me it would be ok. I’m glad I didn’t stop there.”
Dragon’s ‘regret’
Natalie walked out from the Den empty-handed but instead of taking the Dragons’ words to heart, she ordered “a container load of bowls” and headed to US trade shows.
There she started making deals and met a distributor who would get her product onto Amazon – a moment that vastly increased sales.
She said: “By the time the show aired, I wasn’t fussed about what had happened because I’d made big deals and my product was the fastest-selling dog bowl on Amazon.”
When Dragons’ Den aired she was inundated with orders and offers from distributors trying to work with her.
She recalls: “Two orders were coming in every minute and then my website crashed because it couldn’t keep up. Everything snowballed after the show.”
During that year, Natalie had a turnover of £1million and two years later in 2010, her business made its first £1million in profit.
To her surprise in a recap episode of Dragons Den, Theo revealed he was “constantly asked ‘Do you regret not investing?’” in her business.
He responded: “If I had to say there was one that I would have liked to invest in more than the others… I reckon this one might be it you know.”
But the biggest surprise for the entrepreneur came in 2009 when she received an email from her agent that revealed a Road Refresher had been purchased by The White House.
She recalled: “When I found out President Barack Obama had bought one of my bowls I literally nearly fell off my chair. After that, everything went mad and my business exploded.”
Natalie admits that was her “biggest pinch me moment” because he was “the most important person in the world at that time and he had bought my bowl”.
To celebrate, she decided to make a special edition White House themed edition of the Road Refresher – which she sent to the then-President for Portuguese Water Dog Bo.
Natalie believes the Dragons’ critical words about her not being able to ‘crack America’ did her a favour because people were “more determined to help”.
She said: “I wouldn’t have had such a reception and openness from people in America without it. It was a massive stepping stone and helped me a lot.”
‘Ignoring Dragons paid off’
Since the show, Natalie’s company has released a cooling coat to protect dogs on hot days and also a sound-proof kennel to prevent them being spooked by fireworks.
Speaking about the business, she said: “We’re doing very, very well financially. We are in a very cash-rich situation.
”Police in England use my product and emergency services in America including search and rescue dogs and the fire service. It feels like recognition for my hard work.
“I’ve had a few more celebrity customers too but nothing as major as President Obama – Princess Anne ordered one via a third party, Deborah Meaden bought a couple and Ant McPartlin too.
Natalie claims she became a millionaire around a decade ago but instead of spending her earnings on “flashy things” chose to invest in property.
The success of the company has allowed her to spend “most of the time inventing” and less time involved in the business.
She said: “I do what I want to do. I don’t have a timetable for my day and have a lot of free time. I spend a lot of time inventing and sometimes only an hour a day on the business side.
“It’s a really good situation to be in. I’d hate to have to work for someone else. It’s true when they say, ‘If you do something you love, you won’t work a day in your life.’”
Natalie, who is launching more products next year, is glad she disregarded the ‘advice’ of the Dragons now and followed her gut instinct.
“Ignoring them paid off massively,” she said. “Don’t let anyone tell you no or never because they’re not in charge of your life and will not live your future. It’s really important to hang onto what believe in.”