Shark Tank-What You Need To Know About The Shark$$$
Shark Tank has over the past 3 years brightened the future of many entrepreneurs like Tiffany Krumins, Founder of Emmy The Elephant, who have sealed the deals of their lives with the Shark Tank investors though on the other hand, they’re those entrepreneurs who have sadly had the opportunity of forming partnerships with the Shark Tank investors a.k.a sharks, slip in between their fingers but despite the rejection, some of these entrepreneurs haves still worked hard and smart to be successful e.g. Shawn Davis (a.k.a Chef Big Shake), the president of CBS foods got his offer of $200K for a 25% stake in his CBS food company which produces “The Original Shrimp Burger “rejected, but he still went ahead to successfully grow his business registering over $5M in sales a year after appearing on Shark Tank, up from $30,000 before appearing on the Shark Tank show.
Before proceeding, I think it would be wise to first explain what Shark Tank is, at least for the benefit of those who haven’t had the opportunity to watch it.
What Is Shark Tank?
Shark Tank is an American reality TV show produced by Mark Burnett (He’s also the producer of Survivor and creator + producer of The Apprentice) in conjunction with Sony. Shark Tank is primarily based on Dragons Den idea of (investors) investing in start-ups and its very first season premiered on ABC television (American Broadcasting Company) on August 9th 2009.
Let me now explain in detail what Shark Tank is all about and how it works.
How Shark Tank Works
We’ll start by making 2 assumptions:
1) You’re an entrepreneur who either has a fantastic business idea or you already have and operate a business.
2) You are in need of extra cash to either grow your business idea into a real business or fund your existing business so as to keep it alive.
What any entrepreneur would do faced with the above two scenarios would be to either find someone to help them out or throw in the towel and hold on dearly to the memory of the good old days.
If an entrepreneur faced with the above two scenarios feels that giving up is not an option, then their one and only choice would be to find someone to invest in their idea or business and this is the tricky part. While majority of the entrepreneurs often seek bank loans to help them out, a few seek investors to invest in their ideas or businesses and this is where Shark Tank comes into the picture.
Assuming you’ve got a great business idea or you’re already operating a business and you feel that you need an investor to give your business some muscle either in form of business advice or capital or even both, then Shark Tank would be the best place to go, at least if you’re living in the US.
Shark Tank basically offers entrepreneurs a lifetime opportunity to form business partnerships and get extra capital for their businesses from five self-made veteran entrepreneurs otherwise known as the sharks (seems fitting as the show is called Shark Tank) who know how to dance to the music that makes the money roll into the bank account.
What typically happens is that once you’ve been given the green light to appear on the ABC Shark Tank reality TV show, the ball lies in your court to try and pitch your business idea or business concept to the five sharks/investors. Once you get their attention and interest them with what you have to offer and get to make a deal, then your swim in the Shark Tank with the sharks will not have been in vain since you’ll have got yourself a powerful business partner or powerful business partners if you’re lucky enough to attract 2 or more sharks.
Here’s an example to illustrate how Shark Tank works:
I’m an entrepreneur who’s come up with software that helps people budget their household income by transforming the entire cash flow process into a simple point and click process. After a couple of months, I realize that I need to inject more cash into my business in order to meet with its growth i.e. we’re getting more and more customers hence we need more servers and possibly a bigger office because of the growing number of employees.
After doing some soul searching, I feel that it would be better and safer to look for an investor to help grow my business rather than seek a bank loan (the bank will be breathing down my neck if the investment goes sour and they might even sell off some of my personal belongings e.g. my house to recoup their investment but for an investor, I get to hit two birds with one stone i.e. I’ll receive business advice and financial backing and even if the investment goes sour, then I might just talk my way out of it and still come out with some great business advice free of charge!).
After making up my mind that an investor is better, I apply to appear on the Shark Tank show (which is great even if I don’t get the deal since millions will have seen what I offer hence my customer base will still grow and I might even get an investor outside the Shark Tank show-Remember what happened to Shawn Davis (a.k.a Chef Big Shake), the president of CBS foods) and after my Shark Tank application gets accepted, I appear on the Shark Tank show, introduce my business to the sharks and inform them that I’m offering let’s say a 20% stake in my software company for $100,000 in cash. I then proceed to show the Shark Tank investors/sharks how the budgeting software works + the value of my company in meeting a growing need in the market and after I convince them with my patent and how much money (particularly profit) I’ve generated over the past couple of months, I start receiving offers from right, left and center (Even from Kevin O’Leary a.k.a Mr. Wonderful). After valuing all the offers (and not just in terms of monetary value but also in terms of how much value the particular Shark Tank investor will bring into my business), I pick the one that is suitable for me and my business which in this case happens to be that from either Robert Herjavec or Mark Cuban or both since they’re IT guys.
The main idea behind the Shark Tank show is to help entrepreneurs (irrespective of their age) form powerful partnerships with the Shark Tank investors otherwise known as the sharks.
Shark Tank Investors/Sharks As Per Their Appearances On The Various Shark Tank Shows
| Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 |
| Kevin O’Leary | Kevin O’Leary | Kevin O’Leary | Kevin O’Leary |
| Barbara Corcoran | Barbara Corcoran | Barbara Corcoran (11 episodes) | Barbara Corcoran |
| Daymond John | Daymond John | Daymond John | Daymond John |
| Robert Herjavec | Robert Herjavec | Robert Herjavec | Robert Herjavec |
| Kevin Harrington | Mark Cuban (3 episodes) | Mark Cuban | Mark Cuban |
| (All 5 appeared in all 14 episodes.) | Kevin Harrington (4 episodes) | Lori Greiner (4 episodes) | Lori Greiner |
| Jeff Foxworthy (2 episodes) | (O’Leary, John, Herjavec, and Cuban appeared in all 15 episodes.) |
NB: Only five investors appear on the Shark Tank Show per episode.
Shark Tank Awards
The Shark Tank show was on July 2012 nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the Outstanding Reality Program category.
How To Get On The Shark Tank Show
You can visit the official ABC website to see how you can send an application to get an opportunity to pitch your business idea to the Shark Tank investors. Having a patent before appearing before the Shark Tank investors is also a BIG PLUS!
My Take On Shark Tank
Shark Tank provides entrepreneurs with a great opportunity to gain some investor muscle in terms of generating funds but more importantly, receiving business advice and education from investors who know most if not all the hoops and tricks involved in the business world.
However, if you do get an opportunity to appear on the Shark Tank show, be careful to focus on giving them the right information on what your business is about rather than diverting to other issues because they don’t call it Shark Tank for nothing; those sharks if irritated can bite!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFIjFwhB-xQ[/youtube]
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