‘Mumpreneurs’ prove dragons wrong with business

TELEVISION “dragon” Duncan Bannatyne may have to eat more than humble pie after two entrepreneurs whose business proposal he rejected on television succeeded in building a highly profitable company without him.
Amy Livingstone and Julie Wilson with their neckerchews. Picture: ContributedAmy Livingstone and Julie Wilson with their neckerchews. Picture: Contributed
Amy Livingstone and Julie Wilson with their neckerchews. Picture: Contributed

Edinburgh-based mothers Julie Wilson and Amy Livingstone were undaunted by their failure to gain backing on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den and launched the world’s first chewable bib, which they named a “neckerchew”, last February.

Yesterday they revealed that their company, Cheeky Chompers, made a gross profit of £104,892 in their first year of trading, a margin of 66 per cent on turnover of £158,928.

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The dragons didn’t think the pair would be able to sell as many neckerchews as predicted, with Bannatyne telling them: “It’s absolutely crazy to think you’ll make that sort of money.”

He added: “If you make those figures, I’ll eat 100 of your teethers and bibs without salt”.

But the duo, who met at an antenatal class prior to birth of their first children in 2011, sold 30,000 bibs to eight UK national retailers.

Customers included John Lewis, Jojo Maman Bébé, Kiddicare and Mothercare. They have also shipped neckerchews to 42 independent retailers in countries including Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Wilson said: “We were over the moon to have the opportunity to pitch our business idea on Dragons’ Den and whilst we weren’t successful in getting funding from them, it was an amazing experience and certainly helped raise our profile.

“We were delighted that we exceeded our projections, especially when the dragons didn’t believe we could do it – but we definitely proved them wrong.”

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