TORONTO (CUP) — Fifty thousand dollars and a television show can do wonders for business.

Just ask Hailey Coleman, a Ryerson University graduate, who recently appeared on CBC's Dragons' Den, a show where entrepreneurs can pitch their products and businesses to venture capitalists who are hoping to snag a deal on a new investment.

Most are rejected. Some, like Coleman, start a bidding war.

Coleman's business is called Damn Heels. She makes foldable ballet flats that women can toss in their purses to wear when their beloved heels start hurting their feet. And they inevitably do, something that the Dragons recognized immediately.

Coleman went on the show asking for $25,000 for 33 per cent of her company. By the end, hosts Jim Treliving and Arlene Dickinson were pitching themselves to Coleman, each offering their reasons for why she should go with either of them.

She ended up shaking hands with Dickinson, who offered her $50,000 — half in marketing services and half in capital — for a five per cent royalty. The deal is still a work in progress.

But since her September 22 appearance on the show, Coleman has had 20 retailers contact her to put Damn Heels on their shelves. Coleman's idea to save women's tender toes came to her in 2007, when she and a friend were backpacking in London, England. After a long night out on the town, the two got on a bus to go back home.

Unfortunately for them, it was the wrong bus. The two girls spent the next hour hobbling back barefoot, their party heels too much for the walk home. It was that moment that sparked the idea for Damn Heels.

"Every girl has cursed her damn heels at the end of the night," said the 22-year-old. "I realized it was a faux pas that could be prevented."

But it wasn't until February 2009 that she decided to pursue the idea. She enrolled in a business plan writing class and hired a designer through Craigslist to help her make the shoes. Although she didn't know much about shoe making, Coleman knew what she wanted them to look like.

"I wanted something that was simple and classic. That's where I got the ballerina style," she said.

The result was a black ballet flat that was thin enough to be compact but could withstand late-night walks home. But they also had to look good.

"I wanted it to be convenient, comfortable and fashionable," said Coleman, who launched Damn Heels last December and has sold 2,000 units since. "We feel sexy, confident and gorgeous in our heels, so I still wanted you to feel that good when you're wearing the flats."

Each pair retails for $20 and are currently in 17 stores. The kicker is that the pouch that the flats come in expands into a tote bag that can be used to carry your high heels home.

"I wanted the product to be part of the packaging," said Coleman. "People love that it's a whole thought process."

Coleman initially thought university women would be her top clients. But her target audience has quickly expanded.

Young girls just starting to wear heels, those who commute and older women who want to wear them as slippers are also eager to buy. She's even got brides clamouring for them.

Denise Tulk is one of those brides. The 24-year-old bought the flats for herself and four bridesmaids for her recent wedding in June.

"I was so glad that I bought them because the shoes that I bought for my big day hurt my feet so badly that as soon as our first dance was done, I changed into my ballet flats."

Coleman has invested around $40,000 of her personal money into the business. But she's also had help too, winning various competitions, including Slaight Communications Business Plan Competition last March.

Held by Students In Free Enterprise and StartMeUp Ryerson, Coleman won a $25,000 grant after pitching her business plan to a panel of judges. She says it was that pitch that helped her gear up for her appearance on Dragons' Den.

The Damn Heels line will be available in gold and silver in November. An idea to turn the pouch into a wristlet is also in the works. Coleman is hopeful she'll make a profit soon.

"My goal is to one day stop doing the job to actually managing it," said Coleman, who is also currently working with a U.K. company to distribute a line of hair straighteners called Damn Straight in the bathrooms of night clubs and gyms.

Coleman hopes to sell 7,000 units of Damn Heels from now to December and eventually to make an entire Damn empire.

"It's scary to start but once you start, it's hard to stop."