Deborah Meaden: ‘Just do your thing. Just be good at it’
Gender doesn’t matter in business, just ability, the star of Dragons’ Den tells Georgia Humphreys
There’s a moment in the new series of Dragons’ Den when Deborah Meaden unexpectedly sings the chorus of I Will Survive to one plucky entrepreneur.
“How bad is it?!” cries the investor, 59, when she hears I’ve seen the clip of her bursting into song.
“I have no idea where it came from! I was temporarily possessed by somebody, I don’t know who it was. By Gloria Gaynor, I suspect.”
It’s not the first time ruthless Meaden – who launched her first business straight out of college, and has several successful ventures in the leisure and retail sector under her belt – has surprised viewers.
After joining the BBC2 show, in which members of the public pitch their business ideas to five multi-millionaires, back in 2003, she became famous for her sharp tongue and no-nonsense approach in the Den.
But then, in 2013, she took part in the 11th series of BBC1’S Strictly Come Dancing, lasting until the fourth week.
“Strictly changed things, because people used to be quite scared of me,” admits Meaden, who spends her time between London and her Somerset home, which she shares with her husband, Paul, and their numerous pets.
“I used to see out of the corner of my eye, ‘There’s that woman off Dragons’ Den!’ But because of Strictly, they got that there was more to me than just the ‘scary woman in the chair’.
“More people approach me now, which I like – I would rather people said hello and talked to me.”
She’s also proud of Dragons’ Den – now in its 16th series – for making the world of business more attractive to the younger generation.
“I am staggered that the biggest group of people who engage with me on the streets are teenagers. I absolutely think the show has made it accessible and interesting. When I was looking at my career, I was never offered ‘entrepreneur’.
“Now, kids are talking about being entrepreneurs and I’m
absolutely sure Dragons’ has had a part of that.”
She has an important message for young women keen to go into business.
“I don’t consider myself a ‘woman in business’ because if I think of myself as a ‘woman in business’, whoever I’m talking to is going to take my gender into account,” she states.
“You don’t need to take my gender into account, I’m in business – full stop. And that’s the strongest message you can send. Do not think of yourself as ‘I’m a woman in business’ – just do your thing. Just be good at it.”
The other Dragons competing against Meaden for investment in the Den this year are Peter Jones, Jenny Campbell, Tej Lalvani and Touker Suleyman.
And Meaden agrees with Suleyman, who suggested the Dragons play mind games with each other when it comes to making an offer, and the ensuing negotiations.
“You can see through the eye contact of the entrepreneur who they want, and if it’s not me and if I want it, I think, ‘OK, how am I gonna win this thing?’” she explains, raising her eyebrows.
“I made an offer at one point – it was too high, I knew it was too high, I wanted too much of the investment. I thought, ‘I’m going to flush everybody else out’.
“Everybody else made their offers, and – I’ve never done this before – I went back in and I said, ‘Now I know what everybody else has said, I’m going to revise my offer’. And I got it! That’s the strategy.”
Meaden has found huge success with a wide variety of products pitched on the show, including Yee Kwan Ice Cream (in series 12), Gripit (the plasterboard fitting from 2014) and last year, there was Dock and Bay (the quick drying beach and travel towel).
In fact, she’s invested more than £3 million in the Den – and she reveals this series is her highest-investment series yet.
But she admits there are some business deals throughout her career which she’s ended up regretting.
“Listen, I’ve had three, four investments that just haven’t worked out. Something I’ve learnt in Dragons’ Den is, now I’m keen, to understand, ‘How are we going to work together? How are we going to get on?’. Because, actually, if the relationship doesn’t work, the business doesn’t work.”
She says she still loves being a part of the series, which will be presented by Evan Davies when it returns at the weekend.
“This is my hobby – I don’t mean it’s my hobby in that it’s frivolous, because I want these businesses to work, but I’m really lucky, I’m doing what I love in life, and Dragons’ Den lets me do more of it. That’s a fantastic thing.”
“Strictly changed things, because people used to be quite scared of me”
● Dragons’ Den returns to BBC 2 on Sunday, 8pm