Many entrepreneurs have tried their luck in the Dragons’ Den only to be ridiculed by Duncan Bannatyne, rebuked by Peter Jones or barked at by Deborah Meaden. Indeed, it takes a brave soul to venture into the Dragons’ Den and ask for a portion of the “hard earned inheritance” owing to Theo Paphitis’ children. More often than not, the Dragons will declare themselves out of a proposed business venture and, in doing so, they will leave many entrepreneurs reeling from some fiery words. Therefore, when the Dragons sit up and take notice of a potential business opportunity, it is usually to the credit of the entrepreneur. Even so, moving a Dragon from a point of interest to secure a firm offer, which is in itself one that the entrepreneur would be happy to accept, is a completely different matter. Moreover, a divided Dragons’ Den is a fairly regular occurrence.

It came as little surprise, therefore, that Julie White’s pitch for £75,000 to fund a baby products company called Truly Madly Baby was given a mixed reception. Duncan Bannatyne and Doug Richard found themselves unable to fully understand the target market whilst being left unimpressed by Julie White’s financial projections. Indeed, for a company that had a turnover of just £2,600 in its first year of trading, it was certainly a questionable move by Julie to value the company at an estimated £6 million by year two. In fact, this was enough to end the speculative interest of Rachel Elnaugh, who had suggested that the business would be better placed as a mail order or online company. In any case, all but two of the Dragons had ruled themselves out at this stage.

Multi-millionaire Peter Jones, however, saw the potential in Julie White’s business. Often seen as the champion of the entrepreneurial underdog, Peter Jones will often take a punt on a business venture that targets a market he finds interesting. Speaking after the show, Peter Jones admitted that baby clothes and products were of interest to him and there was a worthwhile opportunity to explore in Julie White’s company. However, having offered the full £75,000 for a 50% share in the business, Peter Jones’ offer was countered by Theo Paphitis, who weighed in with the same figure for a 47.5% share. To Julie’s immense credit and testament to her nerves of steel, she was able to negotiate a better deal with Peter Jones, whose offer of £75,000 for a 45% stake in Truly Madly Baby was gratefully accepted. However, this share was still 20% more than Julie had intended to give up.

Nevertheless, the opportunity to work with Peter Jones and the desire to make her company a success were enough to see Julie agree to the deal. Peter later added that he could see enough potential in the business to convince him that it could become a nationwide force. Moreover, the fact that Peter had recently been made a father again obviously struck a personal chord with the Dragon. In hindsight, perhaps Julie White should have given more consideration to Theo Paphitis and his extensive influence in the domestic retail industry, which would have no doubt placed the Truly Madly Baby product at the forefront of its niche market in the UK. Nevertheless with Peter Jones’ revised offer accepted, the task of making Truly Madly Baby a household name could begin.

Founded in 2004, Truly Madly Baby was in desperate need of a cash injection. Visiting the Dragons’ Den in 2005 was a rewarding experience for Julie White, who described the adventure as “really fantastic and very exciting. a dream come true”. However, her deal with Peter Jones was later rescinded after Julie sought investment from an another source, details of which remain unclear. Nevertheless, the decision not to work with one of the most successful Dragons could be seen as either very silly — or a very gutsy move. Either way, the ties with the Dragons’ Den ended before they really began.

Currently, the Truly Madly Baby business has grown to include somewhere between 200 and 500 consultants in the UK, including Guernsey and the Orkney Islands. Whilst the health of this side to the business cannot be easily assessed, the online element of the company is flourishing. Indeed, the trulymadlybaby.co.uk website has become an important resource for baby clothes and related products. It would appear that Julie took on board Rachel Elnaugh’s suggestion that the online side of the business would be the most lucrative. The website now comprises a number of departments, including those selling products that can be attributed to Learning, Bedtime and Fun time.

The Truly Madly Baby website features a simple yet effective design. One of the most important aspects of e-commerce is to produce a website that is user-friendly and offers intuitive navigation. Without any doubt, trulymadlybaby.co.uk addresses these requirements and more – clean layouts, large navigation buttons and an uncomplicated checkout process make for a pleasant online shopping experience.

Starting up a new business is always hard work. Julie White proved her entrepreneurial skills by attracting investment from one of the most successful Dragons, whilst retaining enough determination to ultimately do things her own way. Whether she prevails in this extremely competitive category in the longer term remains to be seen but early signs are encouraging and Julie certainly seems to have the degree of focus needed to succeed in the current climate.

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