How could a business owner benefit from the programme?

Mary herself comes across as very authentic and natural.  She doesn’t do consultant-speak, she is very unstuffy and wears cool funky clothes (I especially like the ankle boots!) , she gets up early cheerfully if she has to, and she is sensitive to others feelings but not afraid of confrontation, nor of saying when she feels down.  Above all the has a great energy and sense of purpose…and a sense of humour!  All very refreshing and a good role model.

She operated in the real world and was on top of the facts. She said that 5000 small shops closed last year, and that half the number of greengrocers exist now compared to ten years ago, despite the fact that in the UK we spend 8 billion on fruit and veg a year.  Plus the salient point that sales of local produce have increased by a third, and that the veg box market is worth £ 170m.

She enrolled others in the vision and kept going despite setbacks.  One sister was on board with the new ideas (so she suggested she be in change) one was resistant to all change, and one was on the fence.  I was particularly impressed that she commented on the lack of enthusiasm even while they were in Harrods Food Hall, and was happy to challenge.

The shop moved from undifferentiated to specialist. Doing one thing well (providing quality local produce to the local community) made the shop better and more relevant than the supermarket.  Dominating a niche as a specialist is more effective than being generalist.

The personalities of the sisters became part of the brand rather than simply being all about the fruit and veg.  It made the shop more memorable with the new logo and photographs compared with its previous incarnation or a supermarket.  Small businesses naturally have loads of personality.

The physical premises became more inviting. With Mary’s magic wand and money from either the BBC or her company the shop became  more contemporary and more values-based. Local prodice was not only sourced but also described more fully.  Customers were invited to come in to a welcoming space, to read, to come to the launch party, and of course to take action and buy.

The owners’ assumptions about their customers were challenged. The sisters were shocked by the negative attitude of shoppers in the supermarket “before” and couldn’t believe “after” that providing what they thought customer wanted would be acceptable.  A woman said she would pay £ 10 – not the £8 they had imagined, and one man on the step of his house said that he would enjoy receiving a surprise box of fruit and veg for the week.  Mary made the most of this by giving him a hug!  Sometimes businesses have to listen (and it can be tough) and sometimes take the lead, and this was a lovely example.

I am sure there were other aspects which will occur to me at some point.

Did you watch the programme?  What did you like about it?

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While it is obviously good television to have them be abusive to the hopefuls it does not do the image of business much good.  The dragons look cold and you feel embarrassed for the participants.

Last night was a shot of business inspiration.  The dragons were  full of praise for a professional confident women who had already achieved a great deal.

What was even more refreshing was that Sharon Wright was not arrogant about her success. In fact at one point she said that she was not very proud of what she had done in the last two years.  Deborah Meaden immediately told her that she was fantastic and that all the dragons thought she had done extremely well.

The dragons were impressed that:

• she had developed a product from her idea
• already made sales
• with additional orders in hand
• and big plans for global expansion
• she made a confident pitch
• was clear about who she wanted to work with

She was offered the money she wanted (£50,000) by Theo Paphites who described his offer as insurance, and by Deborah Meaden who wanted the opportunity for herself.  This allowed the programme to have some  inter-dragon rivalry which is the best TV of all.

Peter Jones decided not to invest.  Not because he didn’t want to invest, but because he felt that Duncan Bannatyne and James Caan would be the most appropriate dragons to work with.  Sharon herself had identified Duncan and James, so that made sense.  However I don’t remember seeing such altruism on the programme before. ..which was another spark of inspiration.

The drama was that James and Duncan had to go to the back of the room and work out a deal.  Of course they weren’t going to offer exactly what she wanted.  They are self made millionaires and are unlikely to do what is expected .

Another unusual part of this feel-good scenario was that they offered more than the original request (£80,000 not £ 50,000), but for that they wanted not 15% of the business, but 25%

It was then Sharon’s turn to go to the back of the room and decide between the three offers.

She came back with the wonderful comment that she was a businesswoman and would negotiate: she would take the money but only for 20% of the business.

Dragon’s counter offer: 22.5%.

Deal struck.

The satisfying aspect of this scenario was that the dragons were impressed with the numbers, with her clarity, and with her as a person.

Peter Jones suggested that the money was not needed, but Sharon wanted a better quality of life.  She was not afraid of working all hours but wanted more time off, and -even more interesting – she wanted somebody at the end of the phone to help her with difficult decisions.

Best of all as a viewer it looked as though she had achieved all this and worked round the clock BUT had a great relationship with her 12 year old daughter who she described as her biggest fan.

In fact when interviewed by Evan Davies afterwards she made the comment that her daughter would be so proud.

Wow.  Business success and good relationship- it was extremely moving to watch.

We saw all the life stages of a business through the programme.

Sharon saw the business opportunity (threading cable through cavity walls),  got the product made, got orders, had plans for global expansion and subsequent products, worked hard, and with huge support from those closest.

And finally she received more funding than she asked for from rich experienced businesspeople who wanted to help her succeed.   She was treated as a respected equal by the dragons.

Not only is she female, but she is a single mum.  What an inspiration.

This is business rather than endless stories about bankers.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

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