'Gordon Goes to Greenieland' Children's book features on Dragon’s Den
- Details
- 08 May 2012
Morag Kelly and Michael Duggan producers of the 100% Irish children’s book Gordon Goes to Greenieland recently featured on RTÉ Dragon’s Den. The dynamic duo was picked for the series after an intensive selection process and managed to impress the judges with their children's book and their further planning for the Greenie brand.
At a recent RTE Dragon's Den show Morag and Michael, directors at Greenieland Interactive Ltd used an innovative approach of introducing their children's book and horticultural range of products on last week’s series. They did their pitch using their ‘Greenie’ puppet and entertained the judges before getting into a facts- and figures-based business proposal. Morag, Michael and Greenie went into the Den looking for a €70,000 investment for a 25% stake in their company. It is their ambition to develop a range of engaging, fun and educational children’s nature based products all based around Greenie. They see their book as the first stage of an exciting journey. The response from the Dragons was very positive. Niall O’Farroll described the Greenieland products as “sweet apple pie” with an appealing innocence; Norah Casey felt that the dynamic duo “did not need her” and while the idea was not for Gavin Duffy he did see the potential. Bobby Kerr was also very encouraging advising Morag to look further at her “cool creative skills”. Constructive criticism came from Sean O'Sullivan; he advised the duo in order to reach their revenues they needed to focus on their core business instead of trying to do too much. According to Michael & The Dragons were welcoming and gracious, as well as being genuinely interested in our proposal. Although disappointed, we really value the expert advice we received on the day and have fed this into our most recent business planning. Morag, two times Bloom medal winner, said I've always been passionate about nature in particular the issue of sustainability and growing your own produce. We are very excited to be developing products that are inspiring, fun and educational, taking a holistic approach towards connecting children with nature.