EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OUR DRAGON’S DEN EXPERIENCE
Our Experience On Dragon’s Den
Recently The Pop-up Chapel Co. aired on the premiere of Dragons Den season 16. This experience was equally exciting and challenging, and we feel so fortunate to share our planning process and what it was like to stand in front of the Dragons.
One of our most frequently asked questions was about the planning process and prelude to going on the show. The most significant part of our prep was gaining a complete understanding of our numbers! If we've learned anything from watching the Dragon's in other episodes, it is that they want to know the financial nitty-gritty about every business that steps into the den. Before even writing our pitch, we had a good look at our sales, individual operating costs, and about every margin under the sun. Once we had a good idea of our current financial position, we started thinking about our valuation and what we would ask the Dragons for.
An unexpected challenge while planning for Dragon's Den was figuring out how to explain The Pop-up Chapel Co. most simply and comprehensively to a room full of Millionaires- not typically our most common client! Lynzie had to spend a lot of time finding the right words which most concisely exemplified the uniqueness and ease of the chapel experience while also communicating how the wedding industry has a huge market for this service (and it does!!).
From there, planning became about establishing complete and utter confidence in the pitch. Lynzie practiced the pitch on about every single friend, family member and even went as far as hosting a "mock pitch" zoom call with her closest circle to ensure there wouldn't be any surprises when she went on the real deal.
Our other most frequently asked question was about what it is genuinely like pitching to the Dragons. Of course, the short answer is both exciting and exhilarating. The biggest shock from our Dragon's Den experience actually came once the episode aired. You only get to see about 5 to 7 minutes of a pitch on the show, but in reality, it is about 45 minutes to an hour in the Den. It's shocking to realize how much of the experience is edited to fit the purposes of the show. We were thrilled to have been edited in a positive light and feel so grateful to have gone through the emotional turbulence of the Dragon's Den experience.
Although The Pop-Up Chapel Co. didn't get a deal on Dragon's Den, we still feel the experience was completely worth it. Not only did we get to share our message with the Dragons and their viewers, but we also gained an entirely new perspective. We developed a whole other level of confidence in The Pop-Up Chapel brand, gained clarity on the direction we want to take our Chapels and feel so proud of the steps taken to perfect the pitch. Plus, we reached even more couples across Canada who saw the value in what we do right away and have already signed up to say their I-do’s with us! In our opinion, the Dragon’s missed out!
