A Manchester-based sausage entrepreneur has revealed how she overcame being rejected on Dragons' Den to secure a major deal with a retail giant.
Delight Mapasure took her southern African sausage business K's Wors on the hit BBC One show in 2021 to pitch for investment.
However the businesswoman, who founded the company in July 2016, failed to secure the backing she sought.
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Introducing her range of products made with authentic South African ingredients that include the boerewors, she said: "The English love sausages. They love a great banger and this is enjoyed widely in southern Africa.
"So I thought I could create an amazing fusion of two different cultures in an amazing product."
Despite the Dragons praising Ms Mapasure for the product's taste, Deborah Meaden criticised the packaging, also claiming the product had been lost in translation and was a "South African Cumberland sausage".
Touker Suleyman grilled the entrepreneur on her firm's path to profitability, with Ms Mapasure telling him the revenue target for the next 12 months was £200,000 - with a gross profit of £76,000 and net of £20,000.
With Ms Mapasure not currently taking a salary, Mr Suleyman concluded that if she did, the business would lose money.
Sara Davies told Ms Mapasure: "There's nothing you've said that makes me think 'I can't let this one go, this is going to be a big money maker'."
Writing on LinkedIn, she said: "I remembered how I confidently walked onto the set of Dragon’s Den in 2021 with my big hair, big smile and bright blue and yellow outfit.
"I was watched by millions of people sharing my passion with the dragons. I introduced them to our award winning boerewors and even though they loved them, I could not convince them to invest in my business.
"Though I had faced rejection many times on this journey, this time it was different. It was in public, in front of millions of viewers.
"I had to dig really deep in order to comeback from this. As they say, the comeback must be stronger than the downfall and as a deeply spiritual person I had faith that I would bounce back.
"My soul searching led me to Costco, an unusual retailer, not known by many but whose market share is bigger than the supermarkets.
"On a normal day I would not have chosen Costco but this wasn’t any day for me and I knew that my products would fit perfectly in Costco due to their uniqueness and their quality.
"Long story short, we got our products listed in Costco during the pandemic without any sampling. The buyer did not even try our products because he was vegetarian. This was the reassurance I needed that my rejection was not in vain.
"When things opened up and we came out of lockdown, we were given an opportunity to have a roadshow in Costco and this gave us an opportunity to get direct feedback from the consumers.
"The event was billed as one of the biggest and most successful events in Costco and together with their team we won an award for Most Effective Tactical Campaign.
"To celebrate this victory, I wore the same outfit I was wearing when I was rejected on Dragon’s Den to the Costco roadshow. This was to remind myself that despite the major set back and pain of rejection, I had bounced back."
Delight Mapasure added that her company is now exploring overseas markets as well as pursuing leads in UK retail.
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