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The Unexpected Challenges of Pitching Your Ecommerce Co on Dragons’ Den | Millie Flemington-Clare

Guest: Millie Flemington-Clare

I wonder what happens when your childhood dream meets business reality?

Millie Flemington-Clare knows. She's been watching Dragon's Den since she was seven. Fast forward to 2025, and she's standing in that famous lift, taking deep breaths, about to pitch her accessible beauty brand to the dragons.

"Spoiler alert, the lift is fake," Millie laughs, recounting her experience on the show. After 40 minutes of filming different takes, that deep breath wasn't just for the cameras. It was real.

What followed was 80 minutes of pitching and questions, edited down to just 13 minutes of television. And whilst Millie walked away with what Deborah Meaden called "the best deal ever" on Dragon's Den - mentorship from three dragons without giving up any equity - the real story is what happened next.

When Dreams Meet Data

"On the evening, we had thousands of people on our website. I think overall we had about 20,000 people," Millie shares. "Not as many as I thought."

Here's the thing about modern media exposure: it's not what it used to be.

Research shows that while television appearances on shows like Dragon's Den (Shark Tank in the US) can provide marketing exposure worth millions to small businesses[^1], the landscape has shifted dramatically. As Millie discovered, "Half a million people last year stopped paying for TV licenses. No one my age even has a TV license."

The numbers tell an interesting story. Human Beauty (Millie’s Beauty Company) gained about 2,000 social media followers - a fraction of what businesses experienced five years ago. Sales came in - a couple hundred over the following days - but the demographic shift was unexpected.

"My age demographic probably went up by 30 years," Millie notes.

I wonder if this mismatch between expectation and reality is becoming more common?

The Human Behind Human Beauty

But let's rewind. Because to understand why this matters, you need to understand Millie's journey.

Born with cystinosis - a rare condition affecting fewer than 3,000 people worldwide[^2] - Millie's relationship with beauty products began as therapy. "I was tube-fed until I was 18 and I'm only 4 foot 7," she explains. During her darkest moments in hospital, makeup became more than cosmetics. It became identity.

This personal experience revealed a massive gap in the market. Research indicates that only 4% of beauty brands cater to people with physical disabilities[^3], despite this community representing 15% of the global population[^4].

"I wanted to be the representation that I wish I'd seen when I was a teenager," Millie says.

Beyond the Mascara: Innovation That Matters

What makes Human Beauty different isn't just the mission - it's the execution.

Take their mascara, which dominated an hour of Dragon's Den discussion (though mysteriously, the word "mascara" didn't appear once in the final edit). The packaging is square. Simple, right?

"Until you start thinking about it, you don't realize how many products in a makeup bag are round, cylindrical," Millie explains. "If you do your makeup on the commute on the train and then you have to do that awkward roll under the chair..."

It's what she calls "incremental innovation" - small tweaks that make products better for everyone. The mascara wand is omnidirectional, allowing vertical application for those with limited arm movement[^5]. Their eyeshadow palettes include QR codes (soon to be NaviLens codes) that can be scanned from distance and angles, leading to audio-visual descriptions for visually impaired users[^6].

But here's what struck me most: "Price is often forgotten about," Millie points out. "53% of disabled people are unemployed. It costs on average £1,200 a month more just to live and exist as a disabled person in the UK."

Whilst some brands create £200 tech devices for applying lipstick that only work with their premium products, Human Beauty keeps accessibility affordable.

The Reality of Rapid Growth

"This is the first time ever I've not had a single day without sales," Millie shares. But success brings its own challenges.

Remember my story about launching our beauty website in 2006? We expected £10,000 in sales over four months. We did £400,000. It's a wonderful problem, but still a problem.

For Millie, the surge meant accidentally sending out faulty products to new customers. "Their first experience is a bad one," she says. "And then having customers email me almost like attacking me, like I purposely sent them faulty product."

Research shows that 76% of consumers base loyalty on how quickly and empathetically companies resolve issues[^7]. But when you're one person packing 200 orders?

"I was replying to emails at all hours," Millie admits. "I didn't have much patience... I was taking it personally."

The solution? Outsourcing customer service - a move that can save up to 80% compared to in-house teams whilst ensuring 24/7 support[^8].

Learning From Adaptive Fashion

I wonder what the beauty industry can learn from other sectors?

The adaptive fashion industry offers a fascinating parallel. Growing from post-war innovations to a projected $29.8 billion market by 2031[^9], it proves that inclusive design drives commercial success.

Tommy Hilfiger's Adaptive line, developed with wheelchair users, increased sales by 200% within six months[^10]. Nike's FlyEase sneakers, originally designed for a teenager with cerebral palsy, saw similar success by appealing to both disabled and non-disabled consumers[^11].

"I do believe that the beauty industry is going to catch on like the adaptive fashion world," Millie predicts. "I want to be the one leading the way for that."

The Power of Purpose

Here's what fascinates me about Millie's approach: she's not just building a business. She's building a movement.

"If I didn't get messages every day from people telling me how important what I'm doing is... I probably would have thought about giving up," she admits.

Research confirms that brands demonstrating genuine commitment to inclusion see 23% higher trust scores[^12]. The psychological impact goes deeper - inclusive advertising activates brain regions linked to trust and reward, correlating with 14% higher price tolerance[^13].

But it's not just about metrics. It's about meaning.

"A lot of people see it, it's just makeup," Millie reflects. "But it's so much more than that."

What's Next?

Millie's vision extends beyond Human Beauty. She's planning to create certification standards for accessible products, similar to how the European Accessibility Act mandates digital accessibility[^14].

"Right now there's no legislation that means businesses have to be accessible when it comes to products," she explains. Her goal? Consulting with businesses to develop accessible products from the start.

It's ambitious. The beauty industry launches over 9,000 new products annually[^15]. Breaking through requires more than good intentions.

"I need to get an investor basically," Millie acknowledges. "Someone that shares my values."

The Questions Worth Asking

As I reflect on Millie's journey, several questions emerge for all of us in e-commerce:

  • What assumptions are we making about our customers?
  • How might small design changes create massive impact?
  • Are we measuring what matters, or just what's easy to measure?

Jamie Shields, known as the Blind Rhino on LinkedIn, offers practical starting points. Simple changes like using sentence case in hashtags (making them readable by screen readers) or avoiding emoji overuse can improve accessibility immediately.

"People in my community are just happy that people want to learn," Millie emphasises. "We know that you're going to make mistakes."

The Real Dragon's Den

Perhaps the real test isn't pitching to dragons on television. It's the daily challenge of building something meaningful in a "toxic" industry where "it's who you know, not what you know."

Yet Millie persists. Not for the overnight success that never quite materialised. Not for the social media followers who didn't appear. But for the messages from people whose lives her products touch.

I wonder if that's the lesson here?

That sometimes the metrics that matter most - the lives changed, the representation provided, the barriers broken - don't show up in Google Analytics.

They show up in messages from strangers saying thank you.

They show up in a square mascara that doesn't roll off the train table.

They show up in knowing that somewhere, a teenager with a rare condition might see themselves represented for the first time.

Isn't that worth more than going viral?

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[^1]: Dragons' Den appearances typically provide 8-10 minutes of marketing exposure to approximately 4 million viewers - Business Matters Magazine

[^2]: Cystinosis affects fewer than 3,000 people worldwide - Human Beauty

[^3]: Only 4% of beauty brands cater to people with physical disabilities - The Bristol Cable

[^4]: Disabled people represent 15% of the global population - Clym

[^5]: Omnidirectional mascara wand design - Human Beauty Discounts

[^6]: NaviLens technology for visually impaired users - Inclusive Innovation

[^7]: 76% of consumers base loyalty on issue resolution - eMarsys

[^8]: Outsourcing customer service savings - Answer4u

[^9]: Adaptive fashion market projections - Yahoo Finance

[^10]: Tommy Hilfiger Adaptive line success - Who What Wear

[^11]: Nike FlyEase impact - I by IMD

[^12]: Brand trust scores and inclusion - Kantar

[^13]: Neurological response to inclusive advertising - Microsoft Advertising

[^14]: European Accessibility Act requirements - Two Birds

[^15]: Beauty industry product launches - Forbes

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