The frustrations of Dragon's Den

I used to avoid watching 'Dragon's Den' because when I watch TV I don't want to be thinking about business. But having seen a couple of episodes over the holidays I think I'm a rather late convert. In fact, I'd make it mandatory viewing for any budding entrepreneur, even though its primary purpose is clearly to entertain.

One of the frustrations of this show is when people come on asking for money in order to develop their idea, but haven't done their market research properly. They're going about new product development the wrong way round - thinking up an original idea, then looking for people to sell it to.

Call me old fashioned, but I thought marketing was about identifying actual needs, then satisfying them while making a profit in the process. "Yes, but how do original ideas ever get developed in that case?" I hear the inventor say, "what about the stuff people may want or need, but they don't know it yet?"

Ah, well therein lies the genius of true foresight.

But for most of us, if you look around and find there's no competition for your product, it's a good time for a rethink.

As my musician husband says, as he dolefully surveys a concert programme of 'music by a little known Venetian composer, recently rediscovered after being forgotten for four centuries' ... "There's probably a good reason why it was forgotten."