Rachel Elnaugh at BWL

BWL Summer Luncheon at Petwood Hotel, Woodhall Spa - July 2011

Speaker - Rachel Elnaugh
 
BOUNCING BACK FROM DISASTER  
 
FORMER Dragon’s Den star Rachel Elnaugh shared the emotional highs and lows of creating £13 million pound company – and the horrors of seeing it slide into meltdown – with Lincolnshire entrepreneurs.  
 
Rachel, who was guest speaker at the Business Women’s Link (Lincolnshire) Lunch at Woodhall Spa, told her audience about the meteoric rise of her famous Red Letters Day venture and her heartbreak when it was forced into administration by her bankers.   But the entrepreneur, who spoke at The Petwood Hotel, said valuable lessons had been learned along the way, new doors had opened, including her high profile appearances on Dragon’s Den and she had won prestigious awards.  
 
Rachel, who “re-lives” her story in her book Business Nightmares, has used her rollercoaster experience to mentor many other aspiring entrepreneurs. She is also in demand as a speaker, the brains behind entrepreneurial workshops and now, working on another book and a new television venture.    “In every adversity lies the seed of opportunity. Often people never ask for help when they need it,” said Rachel.   “The mistakes I made with Red Letter Days were to drive the business too hard. Also I did not build a strong enough team around me. Branding and marketing experts helped me more than managers.”   Rachel has plenty of hot tips for those just starting out, and also growing, their own business.   They include allowing your business to grow organically and, when it comes to appointing someone to steer the business forward, to consider grooming someone already within your company to take over that role – rather than to bring in outside expertise.   “I have also learned that it is important to go with the flow in business, because that’s when the magic begins.  Life’s a journey and you cannot control 
it, but  you can actually be taken to the place where you want to be,” added Rachel.
 
(Words Courtesy of:  FoxStarMedia)

We are very pleased to say that our raffle and Heads and Tails game has raised £301 for The Pelican Trust.  Thank you to all who donated such wonderful prizes!
 
A note from Stacey Gillott CEO The Pelican Trust:
 
"Thank you ladies for choosing Pelican Trust as your charity for this event, it means so much.  For those of you who do not know us, we a charity based in Lincoln that offer work experience, training and education to long term unemployed adults across Lincolnshire.  The majority of our income comes through trading with organisations like yourselves where you use our commercial departments, we do both litho and digital printing, we have a commercial packing department, engraving department for door signs, name badges etc and a great joinery department that can make anything out of wood such as notice boards, benches and smaller items like the fruit bowl here in the raffle.  This year is going to be very tight for funding, so please do continue to use our services and again thank you for the donation."
 
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