What Can a ‘Shark Tank’ Teach You?

I just watched several episodes of the show ‘Shark Tank’ and jumped to the computer to write about it because there are so many things it can teach you!

If you don’t know what ‘Shark Tank’ is, it’s a new show that has 5 big entrepreneurs who built their respective businesses from nothing to multiple millions (and sometimes billions) of dollars and are now looking to invest in other businesses.

During the hour long show, smaller entrepreneurs present their business or business idea to the ‘Sharks’ in hopes that they bid on their business and give them money to use as capital in exchange for a percentage of the business.

Whether you like the show and the concept or not, there are SO many things to learn from watching these entrepreneurs present their ideas and negotiate…

Watch the show just once and you will have a perfect display of how most people get in their own way…

Here are the top 3 ways I watched people with viable businesses get in their own way and kiss opportunity goodbye…

1. They aren’t clear on their desired outcome:

Person after person walks in and you can tell that they aren’t clear on what they really want from the situation.  They go in with an offer and when the Sharks make a counter offer they have no idea how to handle it BECAUSE they didn’t decide before they walked in the room what was MOST IMPORTANT to them.

TIP: When you walk into any negotiation or start a business or do ANYTHING you MUST know what your MUSTS are. What are your deal breakers?  What do you want this to ultimately look like?

2. They haven’t done their research to see if there is a need:

There were some ideas that seemed great in concept, but when asked to back up that there is a need in the marketplace for this product, 2 out of 4 had no idea and were going off the instinct that people would want their product because it was such a great idea.

TIP: BEFORE you invest money in an idea you have to invest TIME to establish if there is a need or desire for your product.  Who is your primary audience?  What problems do they have? Will your idea solve that problem? Is there a way you can make your idea solve their problem better or faster or cheaper than someone else?

3. They got STUCK in research:

The opposite of NO research is getting STUCK in research. These are the people that are so busy researching and planning and getting it perfect that they never actually take steps to move forward toward making it happen.

TIP: Once you take some time (it shouldn’t take a huge amount of time) to establish a need for what you have to offer, GET IT OUT THERE, take an order, bring on a client do whatever you have to do to start.  The best learning ground is in the marketplace.  I promise you that you will discover how to improve your solution by having it out there and getting feedback.

These are the top 3 things I saw, but there were so many examples of how we get in our own way that I couldn’t possibly write them all.

What are some ways that you KNOW you get in your own way?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

Go Big!

Kristen