SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Aspiring entrepreneurs ready to face multi-millionaires might consider auditioning for CBC's Dragons' Den on March 25.

The dragons of CBC's Dragons' Den are, from left to right, Kevin O'Leary, founder of mutual fund company O'Leary Funds, Jim Treliving, Chairman and Owner of Boston Pizza, Arlene Dickinson, CEO of Venture Communications, Robert Herjavec, President of The Herjavec Group, and W. Brett Wilson, Co-Founder and Chairman of FirstEnergy Capital Corp. - photo courtesy of CBC

The show features six business tycoons, also known as dragons, including Kevin O'Leary, founder of mutual fund company O'Leary Funds, Jim Treliving, chairman and owner of Boston Pizza, Arlene Dickinson, CEO of Venture Communications, Robert Herjavec, president of The Herjavec Group and W. Brett Wilson, co-founder and chairman of FirstEnergy Capital Corp.

The dragons decide whether to invest capital, individually or as a group, into a business idea pitched by entrepreneurs from across the country. The show, in its sixth season, will be visiting Yellowknife for the first time, as it has expanded its audition tour this year.

"We have never been up North before and we are curious to see what kind of business ideas we can find up there," said Justine Lewkowicz, an associate producer with Dragons' Den. "We've expanded our entire tour this year to more cities in B.C., in Alberta, in other provinces and we felt we definitely have to make it out to Yellowknife and Whitehorse this year to see what entrepreneurs are up to."

She wouldn't speculate on how many people will audition, as this is the first time the show has visited this city.

"We hope that we get a nice large group and a variety of different kinds of business ideas, products, services," she said. "We invite anyone to come out, no matter what kind of business they have, whether it's a product or service."

Aspiring entrepreneurs will have five minutes to pitch their idea to the production team. Being confident during the pitch, knowing market size, growth potential and sales numbers make for a good pitch, said Lewkowicz.

"You want to be confident when you go up in front of the dragons. If you're up there nervous, shaking, sweating, the dragons notice that right away and they always question that," she said.

Lewkowicz said 150 people faced the dragons last year out of the 4,000 that applied. Anyone from Yellowknife invited to Toronto to appear on the show will be notified within a couple of weeks. Production runs from late April to late May.

The Dragons' Den upcoming audition in Yellowknife is fitting and positive news, said Patrick Doyle, the president of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce.

"I'm sure they'll be a lineup of people to audition," he said, adding he hasn't heard of anyone planning on auditioning.

"There is a lot of enterprises in town. If this gives someone access to capital they need to bring an idea to fruition, then it's a great thing."

The Dragons' Den auditions will stop in more than 40 cities across the country from March 2 to April 17. The show will visit every province and territory except Nunavut.

"Because we're trying out Yellowknife and Whitehorse for the first time this year, there are only several cities that we could add to the tour this year and so we decided to add those two (in the North). We'll see how that goes this year and maybe expand again next year," she said.

The show airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBC Television.