High-flying B.C. entrepreneurs looking for some fiery investors in their businesses have the chance to descend upon the Dragons’ Den this winter as the reality series holds auditions throughout the West Coast.
The first Vancouver auditions wrapped Saturday (February 14) but return again March 7. The remaining stops in B.C. hit Surrey on Wednesday (February 18), Nanaimo on February 20, Victoria on February 21, Prince George on February 28, Kelowna on March 4 and Abbotsford March 6.
For anyone who makes it onto the show, former Dragon Robert Herjavec said there is one big mistake entrepreneurs should avoid when pitching their ideas to investors.
“Oftentimes people don’t realize before you sell me anything, you have to sell me yourself,” the CEO of the Herjavec Group told Business In Vancouver in January.
“We sit there 12 hours a day, days in a row, we’re bored, we’re agitated, we’re cold, we’re hungry, we all have big businesses to run — you have to capture our attention.”
Herjavec — who’s a panellist on the series’ American version, Shark Tank — said this lack of showmanship can be a common problem for young entrepreneurs, especially.
“It’s rarely taught in school today,” he said.
But Herjavec added he doesn’t necessarily have to like an entrepreneur to want to do business with him or her.
“Like is a strong word,” he said. “The word I would rather use is respect.”
The CBC reality series follows Canadian entrepreneurs as they pitch their business ideas to a panel of investors.
This season’s Dragons include Vancouver-based celebrity chef Vikram Vij, known best for his fine-dining restaurant Vij’s.
