Barenaked Foods Noodles, 6 x 380g

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It's one of the hardest roads you can ever go down but the rewards are amazing and I’m not talking just financially – one year after I appeared on Dragons' Den, my son Oliver-Jude was born. Personal growth Biggest luxury: Konjac (‘Shirataki’) noodles can be created by harvesting fibre from the konjac root by mashing it down into a flour, before mixing it with water and calcium hydroxide to create a gel which can be cut into strips. We have a turnover of 600, 000 as of June 2015, a 110 per cent increase on the previous year. With our extended distribution, turnover for the next year will hit 1m. I started off by importing 3, 000 units of product, and now we import 80, 000 units every six weeks. Since then, Bare Naked Foods has gone from strength to strength and is now on the shelves of big-name grocery stores. It's expanding year on year. Consumers are always looking at healthy alternatives. In the future, there will be a healthy gluten-free alternative for every product. What is the single most important piece of advice you would offer to a less experienced entrepreneur?

When Barenaked Foods founder Ross Mendham went on BBC investment show Dragons’ Den in 2013 to pitch his business it had been in operation for two years. Set up to provide low carbohydrate and gluten-free products, goods have now reached the shelves of major supermarket Morrisons. I don’t have ANY regrets. Any decision I make I stand by. Even if I was wrong, I learn by it and it makes me a better businessman. What is the most common serious mistake you see entrepreneurs make?I had no experience in the food sector, apart from being a foodie at home. Since my company’s incorporation, and with the help of thepeter Jones? team, I have learnt so much about this industry. Entrepreneurs are so eager to succeed that they sometimes have unrealistic expectations. I ALWAYS see entrepreneurs overvalue their business. It happens in the Den all the time! You must also be willing to listen to advice. How will your market look in three years?

Description in one line: Innovative manufacturer of healthy, gluten-free, pasta, rice and ready mealsHaving more confidence in my abilities. Sometimes even managing directors have bad days! What one thing do you wish you’d known when you started? The entrepreneur decided that he would make this food available in the UK, so he created his own recipe with a blend of konjac, soybean and oatmeal flour to give his noodles a texture similar to traditional rice noodles. His recipe had no fat, sugar, dairy or gluten and was low in carbohydrate — and so… Barenaked Noodles were born!

Getting your goods into a big supermarket can be transformational (5) What made you want to take part in Dragons? Den? I needed investment and exposure to help my business grow. Dragons’ Den is an amazing platform to help people with great ideas turn them into reality. All of the Dragons areextremely clever people with a wealth of experience. The hard work really starts when you get the investment. The biggest tip I have for people is to learn. I was extremely nervous standing in front of the Dragons' Den panel, presenting Bare Naked Noodles after working so hard to build the business that we started in 2011. It was great to get the expert business insight of the panel and now I'm looking forward to helping more health conscious people discover our fantastic range of noodles", Ross Mendham said. Ross admits that he has always found weight loss ‘especially difficult’ due to his love of pasta and rice. He thought ‘there must be a low fat, low carbohydrate version of the foods that he craves and loves – especially pasta!’

“…why not create a low-carb alternative to pasta, myself?”

Bare Naked Foods specialises in low-carbohydrate, gluten-free noodles, pastas, rice and ready meals. How hard and competitive the food industry is and how difficult it is to create a recognised food brand. I still would have done it though! The tougher something is, the more I want it! Business book: Although he admits to constantly working towards “world domination” with his business, the one thing Ross is most proud of is the birth of his son, Oliver-Jude.