Derry Green knew his Dragons’ Den appearance would transform the fortunes of his business, The Secret Garden Glamping, but even he underestimated its power.
Green had become a social media sensation when he built a glamping pod for his kids in his back garden during Covid and turned it into a business.
The success of The Secret Garden Glamping saved Green from financial ruin, but even he had no idea what would happen when he walked into TV’s most famous Den in 2023.
Green, who is the latest guest on the Naked Founder podcast, received £100,000 investment offers from Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones, Sara Davies and Touker Suleyman before going with Meaden.
The episode aired on January 16, 2024, and by February 1 the company had generated an additional £500,000 in bookings.
Website traffic, enquiries and bookings all went through the roof and The Secret Garden Glamping has never looked back.
“I thought it would be me on my phone for maybe one or two days before the next episode was on and it would calm down,” he admitted. “It was six months before it calmed down and even then, it still never stops.”
The company has expanded from one site to five, grown turnover from £500k to nearly £2m and now employs 47 people.
“If I’m totally honest I didn’t go on Dragons’ Den for money because we didn’t need it and I didn’t go for advertising because we didn’t really need it,” he told the Naked Founder podcast.
“What I wanted was somebody else to tell me I was doing the right thing.”
Green had been facing financial ruin at the start of Covid in 2020 when his European transport business had all its work cancelled overnight.
The dedicated dad had to cancel a family holiday to Disney with his children, Noah and Sophia, when he hit on the idea of taking them on a camping trip in their back garden in Skelmersdale.
He set up a tent with some covers and pillows and sat outside with an instant fire BBQ and some marshmallows. Before long, the tent had turned into a fully fledged glamping pod.
Green posted some photos of his pod, complete with sleeping quarters, a hot tub, fridge, swings and firepit, on social media and that’s when things really took off.
10 million views
The story was picked up by UNILAD and received 10 million views. Before long, people started messaging Green asking if they could book it for a holiday.
“I was on universal credit, we had a mortgage payment break, I had no money coming in,” he recalled. “I had nothing to lose.
“I set up an account in Airbnb. I remember doing it that night and listing it. I went to bed and thought nothing about it. The next morning I woke up and I must have had 150 bookings and by day two it was fully booked for two years in advance!”
Green built the first six pods himself and hasn’t looked back since.
“If I look back and speak to my 10-year-old self about what I enjoyed doing then it was building dens in the woods with my brother,” he said. “That’s what I loved then and I still love it now.
“I did not set out to create a business. I really don’t want to end up doing a job I don’t want. If I’m to sit in an office all day, I’d hate it. If I had to sit in front of a computer and do spreadsheets, I haven’t achieved my goal.”
Green thinks of The Secret Garden Glamping as a social media business that maximises user-generated content.
The company’s journey has been widely documented on TV, including Channel 4’s Four in a Bed and Celebs Go Dating.
Fear of public speaking
The Secret Garden Glamping’s success has also forced Green to conquer his fear of public speaking.
“I hate public speaking,” he told the Naked Founder podcast. “I hate talking in front of crowds but I like putting myself out of my comfort zone. I like testing myself.
“When you’re at your death bed, what’s going to be the most important? Whether you made more money or you enjoyed it? The answer is you enjoyed it. Do something you’re passionate about and it makes it a million times easier.”
You can listen to the Naked Founder episode with Derry Green here
The episode was sponsored by Financielle and produced by Dan Brown.