THE PITCH

David and his partner, Caron Rose, are keen ballroom dancers. Since the success of the BBC series Strictly Come Dancing, ballroom dancing has captured the public’s imagination. David’s idea is to operate three-day ballroom-dancing events round the country.

The events will comprise a dance competition and demonstration on the first evening, with private lessons and work groups on the next two days together with stars from the ballroom-dancing world. He has already operated one event in Aberdeen and it was a great success.

David now wants to make this a proper business to capitalise on the current interest in ballroom dancing and believes that, once established, he could roll out the business worldwide. The first event they held wasn’t really promoted or advertised extensively but word soon got round.

So has David got something to sing and dance about?

PETER’S VERDICT

I must confess that I didn’t follow Strictly Come Dancing, but I know plenty of people who did and found it compelling viewing.

However, the idea of operating ballroom-dancing events up and down the country is not actually that unusual. Quite a few people are already doing something similar. So, does David have a chance of dominating the market and building a successful business? The answer is yes — provided he differentiates himself by signing up key dancers and obtains immediate scale by holding the events up and down the country simultaneously. He must also establish a brand that local dance studios want to be part of.

If he can do that, I believe his idea has big potential. It is clear that people love ballroom dancing and its profile will continue to rise as it receives more exposure on television. Also, America is about to have its first taste of ballroom-dancing TV and this could create an opportunity for David to establish his brand outside Britain.