‘They were brutal’, cries Dragons’ Den reject called ‘pathetic’ by moguls who’s had her revenge by making £10m a year

A DRAGONS’ Den reject who was slammed as “pathetic” by moguls has had her revenge after making £10 million a year.

Rachel Watkyn, 52, is making millions annually from ‘Tiny Box Company’, which makes environmentally-friendly and recycled packaging.

Tiny Box was launched in 2007, but Rachel acknowledged that she needed help for the business to grow.

Back in 2008, Rachel appeared on Dragons’ Den to pitch her  business in a bid to secure funding.

On the BBC show, Rachel was told by Duncan Bannatyne that she had produced a box which his “8-year-old daughter Emily could make better at school” and called the idea pathetic.

However, she did receive backing from two of the Dragons’ at the time.

Rachel impressed Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis so much they invested £60,000 in her idea.

When she found she was getting the investment, Rachel said she “blacked out briefly” from excitement.

The backing saw her create a multi-million-pound brand with 100 staff.

Her company now makes over 1,500 products for nearly 200,000 customers. 

Speaking with about her experience on Dragons’ Den, she said: “They were brutal, they were absolutely brutal. On the show, I didn’t have any confidence.

“Off camera, I just knew that ‘Etsy‘ was becoming more and more popular and ‘Not on the High Street.’

“There was a movement of a lot of start up companies and I knew that they would all need packing like I did.”

Huge success for Rachel came in 2021 when she first hit £10million in turnover.

But it was not always smooth sailing for the budding entrepeneur.

It meant Rachel completed her journey from “rags to riches” after starting her business in the bedroom at her parents’ house.

She ended up living in 13 different houses and going to nine different schools.

And she was called “fleabag” at school as she had to wear dirty clothes.

Despite this start in life, Rachel was determined to be successful and to not “go back to a place of financial insecurity.”

Tiny Box Company is now one of the UK’s largest online green gift packaging firms and has changed Rachel’s life unimaginably.

And Rachel confirmed Peter and Theo still own their shares in Tiny Box Company and they “keep in touch regularly.”

‘RAGS TO RICHES’

Rachel added: “It has been the toughest journey of my life. I’ve had cancer three times in the last five years.

“On the scale of unluckiness we’ve had a few incidents. My first warehouse caught fire, it burnt down, we lost quite a lot of stock.

“We’ve had two severe floods, we’ve had a hacking of our website, our bank accounts hacked into. Quite a few business disasters.

“When you get hit with issue after issue, you can either back away and hide in a corner – or you can say ‘okay that’s happened, how can I make the best out of this situation?’”

Rachel shows no signs of slowing down and even runs a second business now, , which allows consumers to swap household items for a more sustainable version.

She previously urged other women who are wanting to start a business to take the plunge.

Rachel told The Sun: “If you have no money, start as a side hustle and work your way up. Or find friendly investors! 

“Tiny Box runs free clinics for people needing to talk through their business ideas or just want some advice on branding, marketing etc. The first question I always ask is ‘What do you want from your business? 

“‘Where do you want to end up?’ You need a plan – even if it’s a rough outline written on a gum wrapper. 

“You’ve always got to have the end in mind when you start anything. Once you have the vision, you can do whatever is needed to get there.”