GoldGenie

I’d had two previous chances to go into the Den but always lost my nerve at the eleventh hour. Believe me, it’s incredibly daunting and watching the programme on TV can’t prepare you for how intense the pressure is in there.

I thought the dragons gave me a tough time and I got a bit flustered - making a mistake with my numbers and forgetting a detail, suicidal errors when pitching to the UK’s leading business people - but I managed to compose myself and put my story across with passion.

Look for Loneliness

Junior entrepreneur James Buckley braved the Dragons' Den and walked away with £5,000 for his budding business Look for Loneliness. 

Nine-year-old James faced the dragons in a special Children in Need edition and succeeded where many adults who enter the Den fail, by winning the backing of not one, but two, Dragons. James Caan partnered with Duncan Ballantyne to back the venture which aims to eradicate bullying and loneliness in primary schools.

ChocBox

Having meticulously prepared and rehearsed my pitch for the Den while on holiday, I was ready to face the Dragons. As my product was already successful, I wasn’t quite as nervous as some of the other entrepreneurs who were relying on investment to sustain their businesses.

Still, though I felt I was going to present my case with a distinctive approach, I couldn’t help but feel slightly apprehensive as I walked up the stairs.

Fit Fur Life

I'd kept hearing about Dragons' Den but I'd never actually seen it. I didn't imagine for a minute that my first experience of the programme would be in front of the camera and I'd walk away with James Caan as my new business partner.

It was after dropping out of university, then abandoning a career as a chief make-up artist that I started working with dogs. I already had one of my own when I began to train other dogs seriously. I felt I had finally found something I cared about doing.