17/02/14 - Dragons' Den

So I've been to the Dragons' Den...

http://www.yogabugs.com/blog/?tag=dragons-den

 ...well maybe not the real one...ours looked more like this...



...but it was the same principal.

In the beginning...
...We were randomly sorted into groups of 6, and told to produce a business idea. I didn't know any of the people in my group well, and was a bit nervous to begin with. I don't have a business head, and the idea of coming up with a new business idea, with strangers, and then getting assessed on it, was daunting.

Fortunately, we were given some starter ideas for businesses, and my team turned out to be very good. We quickly chose to develop Treborth Botanic Gardens as our business, and all came up with some fun and exciting ideas.

Promotional Video

After lunch, we had to produce a 20 second promotional video for our business. With only 40 minutes to prepare, this was a hard task, but we managed it admirably. We produced a video, using hand drawn pictures, that followed one family using Treborth throughout their life. The parents got married there, the kids went to summer school and went on class trips there. They then went to Botanical Beats and used the grounds during their time at Bangor University etc. Although the sound quality didn't turn out well, it was a fun experience to come up with, make, and produce a video in 40 minutes. This exercise really helped us bond as a team and get to know one another. Although the time pressure was stressful, I think we pulled through really well.

Pitch Presentation

The rest of the afternoon was spent preparing for the "Dragons' Den" part of the assessment. We had  to come up with a presentation that would outline our business and then pitch the idea to investors so that they would help us get the whole thing off to a good start. 

We split into 2 teams; 3 of us dealt with the introduction to Treborth and our plans to initiate and expand the business, and the other 3 dealt with the finances, projected income and outgoings, and investment needed to get the business off the ground.

We then presented these ideas to the rest of the class and the 4 "Dragons". I think the presentation went very well, but we should have focused on one business idea, rather than multiple ideas that could all raise money. The combination of the ideas would be too much to handle in practise, and so it would have been better to concentrate on one idea and develop this - maybe the summer camp idea.

All in all it was a very enjoyable day that allowed me to practise the art of good communication, time management and my presentational skills. I'm not sure I leant too much about actually setting up a business, but I can see how these skills would be applicable in any career.