Entering the dragons' den was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of Rachel Price's life.

The 33-year-old Wirral entrepreneur braved the den last April and recorded a programme that was shown a few weeks ago on BBC2.

Rachel, who lives in Caldy with husband Tom and children Lauren and Jack, created her unique invention, the 'garden gopher', while contemplating a return to work after having a baby.

Now, almost seven years on, the dream has eventually become a reality and one of the highlights of her year has been to appear on Dragons' Den.

"After my daughter was born in 2000, I was toying with the idea of returning to work in an office," said Rachel. "Then I came up with the idea of the garden gopher while on holiday in Canada. It was based on the need to make gardening easier and I like a tidy garden, especially in the summer. I knew there had to be a better way than going back and forth to the shed with little piles of rubbish, or to collect another gardening tool."

Rachel designed and produced a multi-functional garden trolley, which quite literally is a portable garden shed.

"The idea developed, so I patented it and then went to see designers in London to see if they could turn my ideas into something real."

Rachel already had an interest in business when she left West Kirby Grammar School at 18 and went to University in London to read Business Studies.

She later completed a year's placement at John Moores University, while working in MBNA to finance her studies.

"I remember when my first container load of 2,000 garden gophers arrived in March last year and I was so excited - it was fantastic to see them after all the planning. I'd originally thought the process was going to be a lot easier than it turned out to be!

"The gopher has also been tested by Thrive, a national charity for disabled people, and many people found it so much easier."

Dragons' Den is the programme in which budding entrepreneurs are invited to pitch their start-up idea before a daunting panel of five notoriously tough self-made millionaires - Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Duncan Bannatyne, Richard Farleigh and Theo Paphitis.

The aim of the entrants is to successfully convince one or more of the dragons to invest in their business in the face of a potentially brutal bombardment of forensic questions and criticism.

So why on earth would anyone put themselves through it?

"I was actually approached by the Dragons' Den researchers to appear on the programme," explained Rachel.

"I think they went onto the MSIF website to see if there would be anyone suitable. Initially I had a telephone interview, followed by a further interview and a screen test in Manchester. Then I heard that I was to appear on the programme, which is when I started to get really nervous! On the day we were filming, I was up at 4am and my nerves were unbelievable.

"At the application stage, I'd had to supply all my business plans, contracts and orders, so I thought the dragons would already know about them, but they didn't have any knowledge of this information. It must be so difficult to appraise a business in a short time. And it is all of their own money and there's no target set for how many investments they have to make."

Dragons' Den is like the business version of X-Factor, as some of the so-called entrepreneurs who appear on the show are ridiculed before firmly being shown to the door, while others witness the dragons' competing against each other to invest in their business.

"I've seen people come out of the room in floods of tears, which doesn't do anything for your nerves!" said Rachel.

"It's quite heavily edited as well - I was actually in there for two and a half hours, but it was just under 10 minutes on television.

Rachel's pitch resulted in an offer of £150,000 from dragon Richard Farleigh, who in return, wanted 50% of the business.

"I was pleased I'd been made an offer, but I wasn't tempted to take it at all. I've worked too hard to give up half of the business. Saying that, Richard was very genuine and he was definitely the nicest out of all the dragons.

"The impact of the show has been great, as just appearing on television helps raise your profile and get your product known. The dragons are so knowledgeable, it would have been lovely to sit down with them afterwards and have a proper chat!

With two young children, Rachel works hard to juggle her business and family life.

"You have to be very motivated and I spend a lot of time sending and replying to emails late at night or early in the morning, especially when you're dealing with other countries in different time zones. There have been times when I've asked myself if I'm doing the right thing, but you have to believe in your product and stay focused. You also have to remember that it can take years before making a profit - I don't think there are many overnight success stories.

"I'm pleased I went on Dragons' Den. I've had loads of orders since and we're also now in the Woolworths catalogue.

"I'm now working on presentations for Homebase and Tesco, so I'm feeling pretty confident about the future of the business."

If you are inspired by Rachel's story, or if you have a killer idea or a 'must-have' product of the future, visit the website www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden. For more details on the garden gopher, visit www.gardengopher.co.uk