I cried after being rejected by Dragons’ Den & was slammed for ‘appalling’ idea – now I’m set to become a millionaire
A WOMAN who was slammed on Dragon's Den for her "appalling idea" is now set to become a millionaire.
Nicola Wood, 52, appeared in front of the Dragons in 2017 and was left in tears after their ruthless comments.
After pitching the Easi-Weft hair extension holder, Nicola asked for an £80,000 investment for a 25 per cent stake in the business.
But Nicola was rejected and said she was left in tears.
She has continued to develop hair salon products in Bury.
Now, with over 40 products, Nicola is set to make a £1million in turnover this year.
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Nicola told Manchester Evening News that she cried when she left the Dragon's Den.
She said: "I didn't have a clue about business back then so it taught me so much, and it gave me a fire in my belly to make it work because obviously I didn't get any investment, but I'm quite stubborn!"
Her pitch to the Dragons fell apart when she said she wanted to use half the £80,000 to buy out her business partner.
Peter Jones said: "I don't think that's good Nicola, I think that's appalling, that's really really bad."
Nicola reflects: "If I saw Peter Jones today, I'd probably shake his hand and say thank you very much for NOT investing. If they had invested I don't think I'd be here now. I've achieved everything since without any external investment."
After working for 35 years in hair salons, Nicola said the aim of her business is to make helpful products for hair stylists.
At first, Nicola did everything herself out of her garage, but has now moved into offices in Bury and supplies 25,000 salons across the UK.
One of her most successful inventions was the Easi-Bond, a tool which helps easily remove hair extension tape.
After posting it to her social media channels, she sold 500 within the first few minutes.
She now sells 49 different hair tools and is looking to expand to sell directly to people at home.
Nicola said most of the business' profit has been reinvested back into the business, with the family only having its first real splurge this year - a first class trip to Chicago.
She now has five employees at her Bury office, including her 73-year-old mum who Nicola said is proud of what she has achieved.
Dragons’ Den’s biggest success stories after rejection
SCORES of entrepreneurs have left empty-handed after a verbal lashing from the Dragons - but some plucky contestants go on to have the last laugh.
Levi Roots, who was greeted by stony faces when he entered the Den in 2006 singing about his Reggae Reggae sauce, is now worth £30million and set to enter the Celebrity Big Brother house.
Back in 2004 Rachel Lowe asked for a £75,000 investment for her game The Destination, which sees players ride around streets and try to collect the most fares.
She was turned down, but Rachel's cab driver-inspired board game went on to outsell Monopoly in its first year, after she secured a deal with toy retailer Hamleys.
Shane Lake and Tony Charles pitched their online takeaway ordering business Hungryhouse back in 2007.
James Caan and Duncan Bannatyne saw its potential and collectively stumped up £100,000 in exchange for each getting a quarter of the business.
But four months after leaving the den, Caan backed out of the deal.
That setback didn't hurt Hungryhouse's fortunes, however.
The firm soon found £150,000 from different investors and, by 2016, it had 10,000 restaurants on its platform.
It was ultimately sold to Just Eat for a cool £200million in 2016.
