Environment

Business graduate Rachel Watkyn and former radio DJ Christian Richardson appeared on BBC's Dragons' Den last month, securing £60,000 of funding for their start-up Tiny Box Company, which makes recycled gift boxes. Here they tell us about the month since their appearance.

Appearing on Dragons' Den was, in a word, a whirlwind for the Tiny Box Company, and our office hasn't been the same since.

It all started while the programme was still on air, after securing investment from Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis. The phone was ringing with prospective orders even before the show's credits were rolling, and our website took so many hits that our server crashed. Actually, we crashed our host's server, too.

After securing more money than we had asked for we had initial meetings with Theo and Peter. We are currently in negotiations with some very big high-street names, so everyone at the Tiny Box Company has their fingers crossed that they want to switch to eco-friendly packaging and use our products.

Since the show, we have taken on four members of staff and are searching for bigger premises, as we are growing
out of the three warehouses we currently have.

The Tiny Box Company philosophy remains the same even after our TV appearance: to only produce eco-friendly packaging, and with no minimum order. A lot of retail outlets still believe that a recycled product means inferior quality – we want to prove that is most definitely not the case. Having no minimum order is also important to the company, as it really sets us apart from other packaging firms.

Aside from the boost to the business, appearing on TV has had other unexpected consequences. For instance, I was recognised by a girl in my local post office, as if I was some sort of rock star.  She told me that the clip of our appearance on Dragons' Den was being shown by her university in lectures as part of a 'How to be a great entrepreneur' course. I frantically tried to hide my embarrassment behind my pile of post, but the people in the post office had other ideas. Before long, the entire queue was discussing recycling and packaging.

Among the influx of new orders and enquiries about our environmentally friendly packaging, transparent boxes and the range of colours we offer for our 100% recycled bags, since the show, I have even been answering business questions, from people that don't want my boxes or bags, but are instead seeking business advice. At the Tiny Box Company we welcome phone calls and enquiries about anything – we would prefer orders, though!

For more information, visit www.tinyboxcompany.co.uk or call 01342 322333