For many of the hopefuls on BBC’s The Apprentice, the prospect to someday purchase Lord Alan Sugar out of your multi-million greenback firm could look like a distant dream.
However for Susie Ma, who went from promoting home made physique scrubs on a market stall on the age of 15 to serving to begin well being model Tropic Skincare, which has an annual turnover of round £68 million, this grew to become a actuality.
The 37-year-old managed to strike a cope with the enterprise mogul regardless of dropping out to winner Tom Pellereau as one of many ultimate three entrants.
Nonetheless, talking to Metro forward of her look on Dragons’ Den as visitor Dragon, Susie revealed how she and Lord Sugar “by no means noticed eye to eye” as companions.
“Lord Sugar and I got here to an amicable determination a number of years in the past and it felt very liberating as a result of he was an investor, that is all he did,” Susie instructed us.
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‘He invested cash in many alternative corporations, however he had no coronary heart for my firm. He did not get up within the morning and assume, which moisturizer ought to I assist Susie develop, or which ambassador ought to we rejoice?
‘It did not curiosity him in any respect. He was all concerning the backside line and the way a lot dividend he may get out of the corporate, and that does not resonate with the founders or house owners of corporations… we have been by no means actually on the identical web page on the finish of every fiscal yr.”
In April 2023, Susie regained full possession of Tropic Skincare and purchased again Lord Sugar’s shares within the firm for an undisclosed quantity, in accordance with The Occasions. She additionally paid herself £20 million in dividends.
Discussing their relationship, she added: “We obtained alongside rather well, as he was in so many pies with so many corporations, and I used to be only a small a part of his empire.
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“So once we broke up, I fully purchased him out and it simply felt like the best way it must be. I, the captain, was steering the ship single-handedly, and it felt nice to not have to go away choices as much as another person. So it looks like a full circle second.’
On Thursday evening’s episode of Dragons’ Den, Susie – who mentioned being a mum is the ‘hardest job she’s ever had’ – invested in a money-saving app for brand new dad and mom which she says ‘gives a nationwide service’.
“It is so good to put money into a mom-founded firm with an actual objective and an actual coronary heart,” she mentioned.
‘I do not assume there are sufficient corporations to assist moms, and it is not till you give start that you just notice how a lot your life adjustments.’
Nonetheless, the businesswoman revealed that she is ‘totally different’ from her fellow Dragons, Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman and Steven Bartlett.
‘Earlier than Dragons’ Den, I had by no means invested in another firm. My solely supply of revenue comes from Tropic, all the opposite Dragons are traders,” she mentioned.
“I do not go on the present and take into consideration how I can make cash off these dragons. I’m going and assume, have they got the identical values as me? Is their product one thing I consider in? I do not need to choose a guide by its cowl.’
Delving into her background and journey, the 37-year-old additionally defined how her mom invested £200 in her skincare model when she was 15, and has since been in a position to purchase her three homes in return.
“It is loopy to assume how far we have come since these early days when my mom and I got here to Britain from Australia on the age of 13,” she mentioned.
“By the point I used to be 17, I put down a deposit on a home for my mom and I to maneuver into. After I was 21, I really paid off my mom’s mortgage.”
Dragons Den airs on BBC One on Thursdays at 8pm.
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