#513 John McClarey - Dragon's Den

With a Dragon's Den appearance being released the day before we release this podcast, we wanted our returning guest, John McClarey, on Business Fives to explain the process.Summary of PodcastKey TakeawaysDragon's Den Appearance: Business Fives will appear on Dragon's Den (Feb 19, BBC) after being scouted by producers. John McClary pitched for £50k for 5% equity to fund international expansion.Rigorous Vetting Process: The 5-month BBC vetting process was a "stress test" for the business, including deep financial due diligence and a psychological welfare check to ensure readiness for public scrutiny.Strategic Goal → Mentorship: The primary goal was mentorship from a Dragon, not just capital. The investment was earmarked for international research and a new CRM, not hiring, to protect the company's personal service USP.Podcast Release Delayed: The episode release was moved to Feb 20, 2026, to comply with a BBC embargo that prevents pre-show publicity and protects the broadcast's impact.Business Fives UpdateGrowth: Surpassed £1M revenue milestone.Operations: Delivers corporate charity sports events (football, rugby, golf) across the UK, Ireland, and Amsterdam.Charitable Impact: Raised nearly £1.4M for charity to date.Example: A winning team from Stockton (MAP Group) recently raised £3k for Butterwick Hospice, which was doubled via the Big Give campaign.Dragon's Den AppearanceOrigin: Scouted directly by a BBC producer, not via application.Pitch: £50,000 for 5% equity.Process (Feb–June): A 5-month, highly confidential vetting process.Due Diligence: Thorough financial review by the BBC to verify all claims.Psychological Welfare Check: A call with a psychologist to assess mental readiness for public exposure.Secrecy: The process was consuming, requiring John to internalize all details.Strategic Rationale for InvestmentPrimary Goal → Mentorship: To gain a strategic partner with a shared passion for the mission, not just capital.Investment Allocation:International expansion research (e.g., Australia, Abu Dhabi, US).New CRM implementation.Business Protection (Barriers to Entry):Network: A community of 5,000+ companies.Expertise: 10 years of perfected event management processes.Brand: The "As Seen on TV" status from Dragon's Den.International Expansion StrategyFranchise Model: A key option for non-English speaking markets (e.g., Hungary, Georgia).Rationale: Leverages local knowledge where the core team lacks it.Challenge: Protecting the brand and ensuring partner alignment with the mission.Vision: A "World Business Fives" tournament, modeled on FIFCO's international corporate leagues.The Next 100 Days Podcast Co-HostsGraham ArrowsmithGraham founded Finely Fettled eleven years ago to help businesses market to affluent and high-net-worth customers. He's the founder of MicroYES, a Partner of MeclabsAI, providing AI Agents, Workflows and Phone to Agent delivery systems. Now, Graham offers Answer Engine Optimisation so you get found by LLM search and Enterprise-level AI Solutions.Kevin ApplebyKevin specialises in finance transformation and implementing business change. He's the COO of GrowCFO, which provides both community and CPD-accredited training designed to grow the next generation of finance leaders. You can find Kevin on LinkedIn and at kevinappleby.com