The Dragons’ Den is back on British television.

Some say that the programme has “jumped the shark” – from an otherwise forgettable episode of Happy Days in which the scriptwriters, running out of ideas, had the Fonz jump over a shark for no real reason: fans subsequently saw this as the moment when the show started to go downhill, and the expression has become a standard euphemism for a show past its prime.

Yet, for the entrepreneur who would never dream of being so foolish as to pitch in front of millions, Dragons’ Den continues to provide a useful mental exercise.

It is not a bad way of testing a business idea to ask oneself, “If I were an idiot and took this to the Dragons, what would be their pretext to humiliate me?”

One can then identify weaknesses in the idea and address them ruthlessly.

People who make fools of themselves in the Den usually do so for one or more of the following reasons:-

1   Failure to say clearly, concisely, and at the start of the presentation what the product or service is;

2   Failure to say who will buy it and why;

3   Failure to say how they will be contacted and persuaded to buy;

4   Failure to research what is similar on the market and say why one’s own product is better;

5   Failure to master the basic figures, especially turnover, total cost, profits, unit price, unit cost and margin, budget main cost headings for three years, sales forecasts, and total valuation of the company and return on investment;

6   Failure to secure solid intellectual property rights such as patents or exclusive distribution agreements;

7  Insulting experienced businessmen by trying crude sales techniques on them; and

8   Talking too much – stand up, speak up, shut up.