Success Advice
10 Things Every Entrepreneur Can Learn From The TV Show ‘Shark Tank’
Of all the reality TV shows that I have seen, nothing can come close to ‘Shark Tank‘ when it comes to sharpening one’s entrepreneurial and negotiation skills. It gives participating entrepreneurs an opportunity to present their business proposal before five accomplished investors (sharks) on stage and ask for an investment in return for a stake in their company or venture. Naturally, it is a tough spot to be in. Most people take away something from the show, either a check, valuable advice, or a great experience.
Here are ten things entrepreneurs should learn from the TV show ‘Shark Tank’.
10 Lessons From The TV Show Shark Tank:
1 – A good product is great if it cannot be duplicated:
A product that is patented or cannot be easily duplicated easily wins the interest of the sharks. Good entrepreneurs usually have safeguards to prevent competition from coming up easily. This is essential to the long-term profitability of the business. Do everything you legally and ethically can to slow down, disadvantage or keep out the competition.
2 – Don’t reject valuable advice:
Every business negotiation is an opportunity to learn. Even if you lose the deal, don’t lose the lesson. Even when the sharks refuse your deal, they often give you their reasons, opinions and advice about the way forward for your business.
This is something that you can’t get for free, not from people as experienced as the ones at the Shark Tank. Don’t let these valuable tips get lost in the cloud of disappointment.
3 – Know your financial position inside out:
In her book, ‘Shark Tales: How I turned $1000 into a billion dollar business’, Barbara Corcoran stresses the importance of being prepared. Successful entrepreneurs are well prepared before any negotiation. The sharks usually make light of entrepreneurs who are unable to specify their exact sales or profit and instead choose to be vague, for example, a statement like, ‘My profit is between $100,000 and $ 200,000’ reflects poorly on how well you know your own business.
How can you possibly expect someone to take an informed decision from such a statement? So, know your figures well, whether you choose to disclose it or not is another issue altogether.
4 – Do your arithmetic before you enter the Shark Tank:
Make sure that the proposal you bring to the negotiation table makes sense and is something that the opposite party will consider seriously. The sharks are very good at valuing businesses and if you get this wrong, you are likely to walk out with nothing. There is no point in asking for $85,000 for a 10% stake in a company which has no sales yet or which has an unproven business model. This is like saying, ‘Heads I win, tails you lose’.
If it works out, the investor doesn’t gain much and if it turns out to be a dud, then the investor loses.
5 – Don’t underestimate the value of expertise:
In any deal, don’t just look at the money, give due value to the expertise or other benefits the deal brings you. For example, each shark has their own network and expertise which comes from them taking a stake in your company.
Think about what it will do to your sales and brand promotion. Take the example of the company M3 Girl Designs whose founder was offered $300,000 by Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner. She insisted on having Robert Herjavec also in the deal before she accepted it. She got a much better deal in the form of added expertise even though everything else remained the same.
6 – Know the people you are negotiating with:
Many people have lost deals because they tried to take the negotiation too far. Some homework on the successful deals with the sharks would have prevented this from happening.
When Mark Cuban says that he is making a final offer, it is a final offer. Try negotiating further and you lose the deal. This need not be true for everyone. So knowing the negotiation style of the people with whom you are dealing with is an advantage.
7 – Never shift your goal posts:
Mark Cuban offered one entrepreneur what he asked for, but the person tried to negotiate a better deal and eventually ended up losing it. Nobody prefers to do business with someone who keeps asking for more because the person could do that again in the future.
8 – Know the limits of what you can accept:
This is very important in any negotiation. If the experts in the Shark Tank get the idea that you are not sure of how low you can go, they will sense that there is more scope for negotiation. One entrepreneur decided to think things over before deciding to accept or refuse a deal and in the meantime the sharks lowered the offer further. The other problem is that you could end up accepting something which you would not have accepted if you knew your limits.
9 – Let them know that you have other options:
You will never come out from a negotiation with a good deal if that deal is your only option. Even the option to refuse any deal is better than having no option other than accepting whatever comes your way. This is true for any negotiation. Have other options and let the other side know about it.
10 – When you negotiate, highlight your strengths and hide your weaknesses:
The sharks are experts at finding out your weaknesses. Recheck your pitch to see if they highlight your strengths and hide your weaknesses. Any weak links in your pitch are likely to get exposed and this will put you at a disadvantage in the negotiation process. Instead, play on your strengths to gain the confidence of the opposite party.
(Video) Shark Tank – Selling An Idea To The Sharks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfte58Xc-3Y
These are the ten most important lessons that you as an entrepreneur can learn from the ‘Shark Tank‘. The show is indeed a valuable experience for the participants and the viewers.
Success Advice
How to Alter Your Business Approach With Technological Advancements
Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner.
Technology’s evolution has impacted everything, and business is no exception. Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner. Entrepreneurs unable to do so are being wiped out of the market.
There is no doubt that AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) have taken over the business world. These technological advancements are impacting decision-making, success percentages, and other entrepreneurial aspects.
Adapting to these developments is integral to business success. Let’s explore how you can accomplish these milestones.
Embed the strength of AI and ML.
AI has modified business operations in major ways. For instance, companies have employed bots for customer support. These bots go through an effective learning process via Machine Learning before being able to answer like humans.
Bots can also perform detailed data analytics and make business moves with high success percentages.
ML is used more for the analysis of data chunks and generating successful predictions. This simply means that business owners do not have to worry about large-scale financial losses.
In terms of deployment and usage, a reputed company like Netflix employs machine learning for decision-making.
Blockchain is increasing the count of business opportunities
Tampering of financial transactions is quite common and causes severe monetary damage to customers. With the rise of digital payments, this risk has increased.
Blockchain is used to elevate your experience for monetary transfers. It combats penetrating events to extract confidential customer information.
Most business sectors are using block chain but finance and supply chain management sections have a higher count. These two corporate sections have several monetary deposits and withdrawals taking place.
In terms of percentage, approximately 72% and 5% of finance and supply chain firms have implemented block chain successfully.
Dedicate Yourself to Continuous Learning and Individual Development
You invest in learning some of the very important skills, including digital marketing, financial management, and how to gain customers as an entrepreneur.
You need to set up your knowledge base about doing business on Coursera and Udemy with the basics that are necessary for the business, building further by networking with experts through webinars.
Besides, Agile methodology will introduce elasticity to your company: this review and feedback system with further correction regularly will allow for enhancing efficiency and promptly reacting to the market.
Developing key skills to achieve goals
Running a business successfully is not only about having niche/domain knowledge. Business owners need to have communication / soft skills as well in addition to niche information.
Here are some key technical/domain-related areas that business owners should have a strong grip on.
Data Storage on Cloud: These days, companies do not store their data on physical servers. Therefore business owners should know how data is stored/edited/removed/updated via AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and other platforms.
Data Analysis/Interpretation Qualities: These days, data is as precious as gold. Business owners with data analysis abilities make correct predictions. As a result, their ventures grow in volume.
Development/Coding Knowledge
Programming knowledge gives business owners an edge whether the application is developed in-house or outsourced. It assists in getting updates deployed and handling application underperformance without getting professional support every time.
Hacking proof framework
There is no benefit of having an advanced automated system if can be penetrated. Successful business owners have above-average knowledge of cyber security and hacking attempts. They are able to choose top-notch anti-hacking software without much of an ambiguity.
Communication Abilities/Soft Skills
Here are some key communication qualities that business owners should have:
Communication/Conversation: Business owners should use to-the-point sentences in both written and oral communication.
Issue Resolution Abilities: Business owners should be able to drill down to problems and solve them. This is done successfully only if an entrepreneur has in-depth business domain knowledge.
Agile Implementations
It is mandatory for business owners to have knowledge of iterative/agile models. With such a competitive environment, it is impossible for business owners to succeed without adopting an agile framework.
Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy
A productive business venture starts with a clear vision. The first factor making a business successful is the idea behind it. It helps with endless growth and combating competition successfully. Katherine Philips once mentioned that business goals are inevitable if goals are set concretely.
- Goals should be based on smart achievements instead of complexity. Focus on the value that each one of them adds.
- Business objectives should not be vague. Key indicators should be constructed to measure the success/failure of each milestone.
- Be realistic when setting goals. Do not aim at impossible milestones since they can be demotivating.
- Milestones/goals need to be time-bound. Set a completion deadline for each one of them.
- Business goals should not be alien. Owners can think out of the box but not be obsolete / unrelated.
Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy
Business owners cannot succeed without having a network. Some tips help in this case. Attend conferences and professional gatherings to connect with other entrepreneurs.
Here are some other related points business owners should pay attention to.
- Attend meetings and conferences to stay updated with trends and meet business owners who already have well-set ventures. This helps in enhancing the learning curve of new / growing entrepreneurs.
- Being a part of business communities/groups is very productive. When one shares opinions and discusses decision-making tactics, it helps in preventing errors and enhancing success rate.
- Even the most experienced business owners have mentors as learning never stops. Take part in mentorship programs so there is an assurance that you are following the correct roadmap.
Conclusion
There is absolutely no doubt that business dimensions have evolved with technological advancements. Successful entrepreneurs have grabbed these changes in due course of time and continue to evolve. On the other hand, people following old paths and conventional steps fade out of competition. In a nutshell, keep an eye on the processes and practices you follow as these factors decide success rate.
Success Advice
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Motivation
From Couch Potato to Go-Getter: A Step-by-Step Motivation Plan for Everyone
By understanding what motivates you, you can turn your dreams into reality
Are you tired of feeling like a couch potato? Do you want to transform your life and become a go-getter? You’re not alone! Many people struggle with motivation, but the good news is that change is possible. (more…)
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10 Micro Financial Habits for More Wealth and Peace of Mind
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