I watched Shark Tank last night and picked up a few entrepreneurial tips that I thought I would share with my fellow network marketers. I don’t normally work on Sundays but that’s when the show was on and I do like the show.
Entrepreneur Tips from Kwame
The first guy up was from West Africa, Kwame Kuadey, who grew up in such poor conditions that I can only imagine. Of course, if you don’t know any better are you really missing out? Kwame lost his job recently and was up before the sharks asking for $150,000 so that he could get his home based business off the ground.
Kwame’s company Gift Card Rescue. Gift Card Rescue buys unused gift cards from consumers and resells the cards at a lower value. Here is what I got from Kwame to take and use in business today or in the future:
Don’t let your past dictate your future. Kwame grew up even poorer than I did but from what I could see, he doesn’t let anything stand in his way from getting what he wants.
Use the bad economy in your favor. Here is what I loved best about Kwame’s idea. Not only does he help people to make money by selling their unused gift cards but he also helps people who want to purchase gift cards to save money. I didn’t realize that there were so many gift cards purchased and a good percentage of those bought never get used.
From an environmental standpoint, I think his idea is also a winner – a business model that helps keep items from going to the landfill is okay in my book.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one that saw some great characteristics of an entreprenuer in Kwame. He came in asking for $150,000 for a 30% stake in his company and left with $200,000 and two sharks, Robert Herjavek and Keven O’Leary, to help his reach his full business potential and he only had to give up 50% of his company.
Entrepreneurial Tips from Gina
Second up in the tank was Gina Controneo. Gina’s mission is to spread positive messages to the world with your line of gifts and accessories. Here is what I got from Gina:
Don’t let your passion for something cloud your business judgment. It’s one thing to be passionate about what you are doing and to get joy from it but if you are in business for yourself, you also have to be realistic. One thing that I noticed about Gina is that her passion is so great for what she does that even when she gave herself some boundaries, she ignored them. She said on the show that at her last trade show if she didn’t make a profit selling her items, that she would stop putting more money into her business and move on but she managed to talk herself into keeping it up no matter the cost.
After looking at Gina’s line of product, none of the sharks wanted in. The numbers just didn’t add up. They thought she had a good idea but didn’t think it would make any real money.
Entrepreneurial Tips from Dan
Next up was Dan Claffey with Coffee Brand Gifts. Dan is hoping to use people’s love of coffee to sell his products. Here is what I got from Dan:
Check to see if you can trademark terms that you thought were already trademarked. Dan was able to trademark terms like; espresso, java, and latte. I would have thought those terms would have already been taken.
Ask for the sale. Dan made a huge mistake in that he hasn’t gotten any written commitments from anyone to buy his products. His thinking is that he will make the products first and then sell them. And while I think that having all of your ducks in a row is a good thing, if no one buys your product after you have spent a ton of money making them, you will be left with a house full of teddy bears that no one wants.
One thing that I have learned in network marketing is that you don’t have to have everything perfect before you launch your business. Make sure that you have a market that wants your product before you spend all of your time and money making everything perfect.
The sharks didn’t bite and Dan left without a deal. I had a question for Dan. It’s been my experience that the majority of people that drink coffee are adults. How many adults really want a teddy bear with the word “Java” on it’s belly?
Entrepreneurial Tips from Amy and Allison
The last entrepreneurial tip that I got from the show was from Allison Costa and Amy Feldman. And that was to get a patent on your product if possible. They had a really good idea that I think will become a standard item to buy for anyone that buys a playpen for their kids. They call it CoverPlay and it is a slip cover for playpens (I noticed that they call them play yards now. Did some kid get offended about being put into a pen? Just wondering.)
The ladies went with Barbara Corcoran who offered a deal of $350,000 for 40% stake in the company. I think they wanted to work with Barbara even before they stepped into the room and would have taken any deal that she offered.
That’s it for last night’s Shark Tank, I hope you got some good tips that you can use for your home based business to make it as successful as you want it to be. If you would like to see the show for yourself you can catch it on ABC Sunday nights at 9pm ET.
