Entrepreneur shares how she survived 'brutal' Dragons' Den and now brings in £10million a year

By twelve, she was collecting neighbours' bric-a-brac to run her own stall. This entrepreneurial spirit has been the engine of the Tiny Box Company, a Sussex-based sustainable packaging business that supplies everything from boutique gift boxes to food and medicinal packaging across the UK and beyond.Speaking to GB News, the OBE recipient shared how her business grew to bring in £10million a year in turnover and work with brands such as Netflix, Café Nero, and Harrods.The company's appearance on Dragons' Den was rather unexpected as Ms Watkyn didn't apply to the show. Her business partner at the time put themselves forward without telling her, hoping the exposure might help them both.She shared: I never knew until the last minute. I didn't expect any investment. We had nothing patentable, no trading history, we'd only been trading about five months.Despite being slated by some the dragons, they were brutal back then, especially Duncan Bannatyne, two of them said yes in a major investment win for The Tiny Box Company.What followed was a gruelling due diligence meeting with a room of twelve analysts and strategists picking the business apart over multiple months.The outcome? Her Dragons, Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis, decided simply to forward the money and let Ms Watkyns execute her business vision.At the time I was like, oh my god, I want to be mentored. I went through quite a scared stage, she admits. And then it was like, you've just got to get on with it, Rach. So I did.Today, the firm is one of the UK’s largest online gift packaging e-commerce company, hiring 100 staff, and providing more than 700 products to a 200,000-strong client base.The years since have not been without turbulence, with the Tiny Box Company having to contend with multiple geopolitical and health crises that have forced thousands of businesses to close shop for good.LATEST DEVELOPMENTSLabour have ‘crippled’ the economy says Jeff Banks in devastating assessment of nation’s financesAirline giant shuts down after 34 years as 15,000 people laid offRetirement plans at risk as over-55s forced to sell properties ahead of Labour crackdownMs Watkyns describes the morning of March 23, 2020, the day former Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the nation to stay at home to prevent the spread of Covid-19, as one of the most testing moments of her career. As an essential business supplying food and medicinal packaging, The Tiny Box Company couldn't simply close its doors.I remember one member of staff running down the corridor screaming, 'We're all going to die, we're all going to die,' That was a real test of leadership — calming everyone down while still keeping the business running.The COVID period also brought a supply chain nightmare. The Tiny Box Company's stock happened to be aboard the Ever Given — the container ship that famously blocked the Suez Canal in 2021. You couldn't make it up, Rachel says, with characteristic wry humour.A serious cyber attack pushed her closest to breaking point. With her warehouse full of staff and nothing to pack, and tech teams blaming each other rather than finding solutions, she sat down and cried. It was her husband who pulled her back.He came in and said, 'Right, you've had your pity party. Now solve the problem.Ms Watkyns is candid about the pressures facing small and medium-sized enterprises right now amid a challenging tax environment supply chain shocks. The Tiny Box Company's identity is rooted in sustainability, however, the business is competing with ultra-cheap fast-fashion imports, makes the firm's mission statement difficult at times.She cites Shein, Temu and TikTok Shop, where 100 mailing bags can sell for £1.99, as making the marriage of sustainability and profitability an uphill battle: I can't even post them for that.She reserves her sharpest criticism for recent Government policy. Employer National Insurance increases, and a 43 per cent rise in the minimum wage since 2020 have, in her view, created a perfect storm for small businesses.A lot of the country is propped up by small businesses, over 60 per cent of employment. All raising employer National Insurance has done is make employers strip out any excess staff. And you're expected to bring in an 18-year-old who has never worked and pay them the same as a 25-year-old. It's not like we can even bring in apprentices affordably. Freeze the minimum wage for a few years, at least for young people — because right now, they just can't get work.Looking ahead, Ms Watkyns wants to expand UK manufacturing, though she says a lack of available business premises, squeezed out by housing development, is making that difficult without Government support.On what the next generation of businesswomen can take from her story: If I can do it, anybody can. It's just about having enough belief in yourself, and that has often been my biggest downfall.The Tiny Box Company specialises in sustainable, eco-friendly packaging for businesses of all sizes. Find out more at tinvboxcompany.co.uk Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter