When the BBC announced in February that Kelly Hoppen would be joining its panel of dragons as part of a new-look line-up for its flagship Dragons' Den programme, there were perhaps a few raised eyebrows. Primarily known as an interior designer, her name appears on countless products in the home furnishing space ranging from candles and cushions to wallpaper and paint, but she has not traditionally been seen as the kind of hard-hitting businessperson that instils fear into would-be business partners making their way up the famous staircase.

 

Hoppen, though, is by her own admission an intensely private person, and any lingering misconceptions are likely to be blown away once the new series airs in July. She is, in her own words, "no fool", and - in addition to her own hugely successful international design business and affiliated licensing arrangements - has already invested in other businesses and mentored budding entrepreneurs through the Prince's Trust, as well as working with small and medium-sized businesses looking to export through UK Trade & Investment. "I work with and mentor young people all the time, and one of the things I love doing is listening to people talk about businesses and mind-mapping it all the way out," she says. "So being in the den and listening to people of all ages coming in with new ideas fits in very well with the way my brain works. I love that whole process."

 

At the time of our interview, Hoppen had just completed her first week's filming. "It's a great team of people," she says. "I knew Peter [Jones] and Duncan [Bannatyne] very well anyway, Deborah [Meaden] and I just hit it off immediately and Piers [Linney] - the other new dragon - is brilliant. It was a fantastic week, and we were all very fired up when we left on the Friday."

 

Yet Hoppen is not there just to make up the numbers, and any dragons who think they might be in for an easy ride when it comes to cherrypicking investments could be in for a rude awakening. She has already put in place a team of people to help manage any investments she makes, and has her sights firmly set on making her mark. "I'm competitive; I want to win and I want to get the pitches," she says. "But I'm doing it because it's a good TV show and I like anything to do with entrepreneurs and new businesses. I'm 53-years-old; I don't want to do the same thing every day of my life. I like new challenges and I'm very buzzed from it. It's a great opportunity."   

 

The desire to help entrepreneurs - as well as hopefully make some serious return on her investments - is a theme that comes through regularly in our discussion. Hoppen is an ambassador for the Prince's Trust and recently took a young girl under her wing, helping her to gain confidence and experience in the interior design industry. "We produced a product with her and I took her on QVC with me and she was selling it," she recalls. "She got herself a front window at Harrods and her greeting cards are selling at Paperchase. She was very ill and now she's succeeding, and we'll mentor someone else. It's just helping people and it's very much a part of what I want to do."

 

Grand designs

Hoppen's own business empire - in the form of Kelly Hoppen Interiors - has been based around designing interiors for wealthy clients, including the Beckhams, and corporate clients such as British Airways, which has been complemented over the past four years with a move into the Asian market, working on large property developments and villas. "The main business has always been the interiors and that's what's made a considerable amount of money," she says. "At any one time we're running projects all around the world."

 

Over the years, the company has grown from Hoppen working on her own to its current size, with 38 employees. Like many entrepreneurs, she had something of a lucky break to get started, after a friend introduced her to a celebrity figure who admired the way in which she had designed her own apartment. "He said he'd like to give me his multi-million pound home to do up," she recalls. "That was literally how the business began; it was word of mouth and it always has been. Most of my work has been for private clients of a certain type and they have come back to me three or four times, whether it's for private planes, secondary homes or chalets. If they come back you know you've done something right."

 

Very early on, however, she developed the unique style for which she would become renown, based around fusing elements of eastern and western styles, and the use of the colour beige. "Even at a very early age I was pretty savvy and I realised that I had tapped into a market," she explains. "When you're an entrepreneur you have to do something that is different so you stand out from the crowd, but not so different that people won't buy into it. Mine was really taking this east-west look and because I was starting on a very small amount of money I was using fabrics that were very basic and then mixing the eastern Chinese influences with modern design. That's when I knew I could design, because I was coming up with something that hadn't been seen before."

The concept would eventually help her steady rise to celebrity status, particularly following the release of her East Meets West book in 1997. This, however, was not without a fight. "When I got my first publisher, they said I couldn't use that title because it sounded like an Indian restaurant but I said that I wanted to use it because that was what I was doing. I stood my ground so I think I was quite bullish at an early age, certainly on things that I believed were really important."

 

To date, the main business has been complemented by various licensing arrangements, although it is currently going through a process of extricating itself from such deals and manufacturing its own products. "The licensing side is not something you make a huge amount of money on because you only get a percentage and you don't have control over it," she claims. "But it was a way of getting the name out and building the brand even more; companies like Wedgewood came to us and said they'd like us to design for them. But it was just a sideline."

 

Back to school

Both her core business and profile have also been boosted by a number of spin-off projects, most notably the Kelly Hoppen Design School, which she set up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks led to a tailing off in the number of clients prepared to spend lavishly on their homes. "We had a huge number of clients that disappeared and the whole world changed at that point," she recalls. "This is how an entrepreneur's mind works; I thought I'd open a school. Everything I do is a business decision. I am no fool. It was an expensive school, Monday to Friday, and people were flying in from literally all over the world but we filled it."

 

Up to now, the school has been running week-long courses every few weeks, for a maximum of 20 people, and is constantly full; the only restraining factor being Hoppen's own commitments. "I could have it full every day but I just don't have the time to do it, so we will now do one-day lecture courses instead," she says. "I actually love teaching; it's one of the biggest enjoyments I've had in my career, giving something back. We have a list of people waiting to come to the school but I haven't put in another date because I just don't have the time sadly, but one day I hope to form a full-time Kelly Hoppen school."

 

Further books, in addition to East Meets West, have also helped the brand. To date, she has released seven design titles, with another in the pipeline. "We've done one every two years and they have been very successful," says Hoppen. "The first were more coffee-table books but the last three have been more tutorial, based around the school." In 2011, she had her first experience in front of the television cameras, fronting the Channel Five design show Superior Interiors.

 

In 2009, Hoppen's work around interior design was recognised in the form of an MBE in the New Year's Honours List; something which both surprised and delighted her. "I think it was because I'd created a brand which was quite unusual and I was over the moon to receive it," she says. "I'd won hundreds of awards over my lifetime but this was such a great accolade. I was thrilled."

 

Early days

Hoppen puts her own entrepreneurial zeal at least in part down to the early death of her father, when she was aged just 16. "I just thought that as a young girl that was the worst thing that had ever happened to me and I never wanted to have to rely on anybody," she says. "I do think my father's death had a huge amount to play in that. It was completely sub-conscious but looking back on it now it can be the only thing. But my mum is a fantastic businessperson and when you're around that and you listen to conversations about business at dinner every night you see that it's possible. I always believed that I could succeed and I think that's an inherent box that you tick when you're an entrepreneur."

 

If that was where her drive came from, the design aspect had always been a constant throughout her childhood, and she recalls visiting her grandparents' home in South Africa; the country of her birth. "It was completely the antithesis to my style but it was the way it felt; I loved going there at Christmas and I was slightly obsessed with the way people reacted and felt in home places and my ethos and philosophy has never really changed," she explains. "There was something in my blood from an early age. So I think it was my upbringing and the fact that both my parents were artistic, and we'd spend a lot of time travelling and going to art galleries and museums. That was the lifestyle I was drawn into."

 

As always, learning how to run her own business was a steep learning curve. "I knew that I had to put my VAT in another account - my mum had taught me that - but it was feel-as-you-go at the beginning," she says. "The first time you get paid the amount of money that you've asked for you've established a fee structure. But you have to be good and give a service; you're only as good as your last job." Five years down the line, Hoppen - who suffers from dyslexia - brought a financial adviser in to look at the business. "He taught me really simple things such as charging for delivery and phone calls, and asked if I had put my fees up in the last year. You learn through your mistakes."

 

Hoppen firmly believes now is a good time for entrepreneurs to start new businesses, and this is one of the reasons she was so pleased to be invited on to Dragons' Den. "The percentage of businesses starting up last year was really high and that shows that youngsters are completely fearless," she suggests. "But you've got to go out there and believe that you can do it, because if you get drawn into all the negative press that's around it will never work. The people who can make a difference are the ones who can say "I can do this today". You can find the funding; there are plenty of angels out there and plenty of banks that will give small amounts of money. You don't need a lot to start a business."

 

Sometimes, though, entrepreneurs need to learn to make tough calls. "I'm very good at allocating my time and you have to learn to say "no" to a lot of things," she says. "Things are always going to manifest themselves and come round again." Cash flow is a problem for every business, she adds, but again can be resolved through effective planning. "Look at the bottom line," she says. "Are you getting the return that you want for the amount of time that you're putting in? If the answer is no, don't do it."

It's this blend of experience and confidence - a quality Hoppen has in abundance - which she believes she will be able to bring to entrepreneurs seeking guidance. "That's the only reason you're a mentor; to give people confidence," she claims. "It's simple: confidence equals results. You have to believe in yourself and think that failure is not an option, but if you do fail then it's not a big deal and you move on. It's the same thing I keep hearing every time from any entrepreneur: "We didn't get that pitch, OK, fine, what's the next one?" You don't harp on about it but you do believe in what you do."