Rachel Elnaugh's company Red Letter Days sold experience gifts before and during her Dragon's Den career.
Experience gifts allow customers to buy activities rather than conventional physical presents. Examples associated with the category include driving experiences, leisure activities, meals and other memorable outings.
Elnaugh co-founded Red Letter Days and became its public face as the company expanded. The business helped popularise the idea of packaging an activity as a gift voucher, making the recipient's eventual experience more important than the object purchased.
Red Letter Days is sometimes mistaken for a retailer specialising in greeting cards because of its name. Its core proposition was different: customers bought opportunities and activities. Elnaugh's experience running that company informed her reputation as an entrepreneur and later made her a natural fit for the investor panel on Dragon's Den.