Member Article

Newcastle entrepreneurs fired up by Dragons’ Den appearance

Two North East health experts who bravely put themselves in the line of fire on BBC Two’s Dragons’ Den on Sunday are rising to new heights with their online business.

Dr. Ganesh Rao and Tim Harwood, founders of Newcastle-based TreatmentSaver.com, were unable to secure investment for their company when they appeared on Sunday’s episode of the programme, but the experience spurred the pair on to succeed and grow without the dragons’ backing.

The pair pitched Treatment Saver, a comparison website for laser eye surgery, cosmetic surgery and beauty clinics, to business stalwarts Duncan Bannatyne, Kelly Hoppen, Deborah Meaden, Piers Linney and Peter Jones.

Ganesh, a medical doctor from Jesmond and Tim, a laser eye surgery trained optometrist from Heaton, set up the site three years ago after spotting a gap in the market for an independent online portal where users could compare health and beauty clinics, book their appointment online and save money on their treatment.

They were chosen as one of the 100 companies to appear on the latest series of the show, out of more than 5000 applicants, and filming took place in May last year.

After delivering a polished pitch to the dragons, and requesting £100,000 for a 20 per cent stake in their business, the pair answered questions in the den for a gruelling hour and a half, which was edited down to a 10 minute slot for the programme.

Despite hearing “I’m out” from each dragon, Ganesh and Tim were determined to use their nail-biting TV experience to prove the business moguls wrong.

Ganesh said: “We held a Dragons’ Den party on Sunday while we watched the episode, and it really brought back all the nerve wracking emotions of coming face to face with the dragons!

“Duncan Bannatyne said price was not important. Maybe if you are a millionaire you can look up the most expensive doctor on Harley Street and head on down there, but whilst we agree price is not the only factor to consider if you can get the same treatment cheaper on a website such as ours why wouldn’t you?

“Ultimately we felt the Dragons just didn’t get it. We delivered a perfect pitch, got our numbers right and are a profitable business in a market worth over £5 billion. Since filming the programme in May 2013 we’ve worked hard on improving the site by revamping the design and making it more user friendly, and we’ve seen traffic to our site double to more than 50,000 visitors per month.

“We’ve been growing steadily since the show and we’re continuing to see more clinics come on board with the service and offering more exclusive offers to our visitors. Since last year we saved our customers more than £1million by booking their treatments through our site, so we know there’s a genuine need for a service like ours.

“We’re really proud that the business is continuing to flourish, and we’re grateful to have been given the opportunity to appear on Dragons’ Den – not only for the exposure, but also for the chance to showcase our business to five of the most formidable business minds in the UK, and to hear their valuable feedback. Of course we were disappointed not to win their backing, but walking out of the den empty handed simply fuelled our determination to prove them wrong!”

Treatment Saver was the first site in the UK to launch online appointment booking for the health and beauty sector, which has proved to be a huge success. 40 per cent of bookings are now made online out of hours, enabling clinics to fill up quieter periods in their appointment diaries.

The service is completely free for those seeking a treatment - and clinics are only required to make a payment when they receive a new patient booking through the site.

Visitors can also save money by booking through Treatment Saver instead of going direct, as they can take advantage of a range of exclusive online offers and discounts from clinics across the UK. The team are working with some of the UK’s best known chains, and are running a Dragons Den competition with Optical Express to win free laser eye surgery in March.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Uniquethinking PR team .