An entrepreneur who turned down an investment on Dragons’ Den has detailed her route to success - after securing a multi-million pound deal after the show.
Chika Russell, 36, appeared on the BBC reality slot in 2015 where she received offers from all five Dragons for her African-inspired snacks business.
But despite eventually accepting a £30,000 deal from tech titan Peter Jones, who wanted a 25% stake in her company, Chika later decided to go it alone.
She decided to turn down the investment off-screen - but her snacks range, called Chika’s, has gone on to thrive since her appearance in the iconic Den.
Most recently, the successful entrepreneur says she accepted a £9.8million investment last year to expand her snacks range.
Speaking to This is Money, she said: “As a result I've started paying myself a salary for the first time since I set it up seven years ago.
“Less than 10% of private equity funding goes to female entrepreneurs – and less than one per cent goes to women like myself who are from black, Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds.
“So it's a huge deal to secure such a significant investment.”
Chika, who donates a penny from every pack sold to charity World Vision, says she has always worked - starting with a job in her mum’s hairdressing salon at the age of 14.
By charging “ridiculous” prices for haircuts to avoid working every weekend, Chika found herself earning £1,000 for four or five hours' work.
At the age of just 22, she’d managed to save up an impressive £140,000 - and she now owns six properties.
Chika purchased three homes around 15 years ago and used this rental income while she couldn’t pay herself a salary from her business.
This includes a three-bedroom house in Norbury that she bought for £249,000, a two-bed flat in Clapham for £229,000 and a four-bed house in Mitcham for £349,000.
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Chika now also owns three other properties with her husband, one of which is their family home.
“It's an eight-bedroom house in London's Notting Hill that we bought six years ago and moved into three years ago after renovating it,” she explained.
“It cost several million pounds and we bought it outright, after selling another property we owned.
“I think it's risen in value by a couple of million pounds since we bought it.”
Chika says one of the secrets to her success is having “always lived within my means” meaning she has never struggled to make ends meet.
She also plans on saving into her pension now she is able to pay herself a salary.
Chika isn't the only Dragons' Den star who has gone on to achieve big despite not taking an investment offer.
We've reported on how a cyclist who invented the “world’s loudest bicycle horn” is now the owner of a multi-million pound business.
Tom de Pelet filmed the reality TV show in 2013 but walked away from the Den without an offer.
