The Westoods’ benefited hugely from the dragons’ contacts

Neil and Laura Westwood’s sales were £45k last year – next year they’ll be £1.5m.

Magic Whiteboard, which was founded in Worcester in April 2006 as a stationery company, has now expanded into five other markets. Anything is possible when Theo Paphitis and Deborah Meaden are your business partners.

Neil, 38, and his wife, 32, received £100k investment, mentoring and contacts from the retail magnates after a successful pitch on the BBC’s entrepreneurial talent show Dragon’s Den.

Krystena Petrakas: What inspired you to start an import/export business?

Neil Westwood: I’d been thinking about starting Magic Whiteboard for a few months and when my daughter was born it triggered me into gear. I felt motivated, it does motivate you when you’ve got a family, and you want to do the best for them.

It’s odd to think three years ago I was working for the NHS and now I’m a business man.

KP: Was finance an issue?

NW: Initially we financed the business start-up ourselves with our savings, starting off small with only £1k.

We started selling stock and put the revenues back into the business. We developed the web page, went to trade shows – all the things entrepreneurs should do.

We started selling stock and put the revenues back into the business. We developed the web page, went to trade shows – all the things entrepreneurs should do

KP: How did you establish your relationships with suppliers and distributors?

NW: We just rang them up and we approached buyers direct. It can be quite a challenge to convince buyers because they’ve got thousands of products they’re buying for.

Don’t expect things to happen overnight; you must be patient. We write to buyers and send them samples.

Also, developing more products has really helped. We’ve now got a range for buyers to consider.

A lot of companies don’t like taking one product because it’s expensive. They prefer it if they’ve got 5-10 products on the back of each other.

I’m glad we developed new products quickly. Within six months of going on Dragon’s Den we got three new products, which gave buyers confidence our business was successful.

We’ve also gone into markets other than stationery. For example, the Magic Blackout blind sells in the nursery/baby market and schools.

KP: And how long did it take to go into these different markets?

NW: Not long because we spotted a gap in the baby market. New parents often get sleep deprivation and children wake up when it’s light – I know because I’ve lived it.

We used to stick the Magic Whiteboard to the windows and I thought if we make this thicker and black we’ve got a new product – and so we did.

Magic Whiteboard is everywhere: Viking Direct, Staples, WHSmith… Some took the product quicker than others. Many companies like someone else to take the product first and see the sales for themselves.

Theo Paphitis got us on the map – he put our product into 240 stores overnight.

KP: And how did that feel?

NW: Even though we we’re delighted we too busy to think about it. It’s hard work arranging everything.

KP: Did you have to arrange it all yourselves?

NW: Well, yes. We got a contract with a haulage business, and base ourselves at the depot.

Here’s a good bit of advice: partner with an established company, it helps keep the cost down and you don’t have to employ anyone. The workers are paid per pallet to ship the stock out, so we’re effectively using their facilities, but they benefit from our growth – so it’s a sensible, money-saving tip.

KP: Any more tips where that came from?

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