Starting a successful business is a dream for many people, as proven by the popularity of ABC’s Shark Tank. The hit show can teach us many great lessons about entrepreneurship. When TJ Hale, author of the Ultimate Guide to Getting on Shark Tank and I asked former Shark Tank contestants to share their biggest lessons, they generously agreed and candidly shared these 15 valuable business lessons learned from bravely putting their businesses in front of “the sharks.”

1. Validation Matters
Having successful entrepreneurs validate your idea, whether they invest or not, gives you a great level of confidence to know whether to move forward or, as the sharks say, “put it out of it’s misery.”

“Getting an investment from a shark is pretty much the equivalent of Michael Jordan saying ‘Hey, Nice Fade-Away jumper.'” — Michael Szymczak, OrigAudio

2. Believe in yourself
Other people, maybe even the sharks, will tell you your business sucks. They probably have good reasons for that. But you have to trust your gut. If you know something is right, go for it, no matter what anyone says.

“I’ll never be able to answer ‘why’ things didn’t turn out the way I envisioned it, but I’m not going to dwell on it and let those thoughts get in the way of success.” — Julie Busha, Slawsa

3. Be Prepared
Be able to answer any question the sharks throw at you. Know everything. Know every detail about your business, numbers, customers, industry, inventory, etc.

“I read every book the sharks had written. I watched every single episode of Shark Tank. I practiced my pitch over 1,000 times.” — Jason Hanson, Spy Escape

4. When opportunity comes along, you can still blow it
Opportunity is just opportunity, you still have to execute. Once you get an investment, you still have to do the work, meet the commitments and get the results.

5. Be yourself
Don’t fake it. The sharks are good at spotting phonies. Even though it can be hard in stressful situations, be your authentic self.

6. You’re selling yourself, not your product
You are selling yourself more than you’re selling the business. The sharks know the business can be changed and adapted, but if they invest, they are stuck with you.

7. Know who you are talking to
Everyone has their own point of view, history, expertise and preferences. When you pitch, know as much of that as possible.

“It’s important to hit on the points of your business that appeal to any individual investor, making the business interesting and relevant.” — John Tabis, The Bouqs

8. Keep your sense of humor
Entrepreneurship is a high-stress activity and it will get tough. A good sense of humor will help you through those tough times.

9. Be patient
It takes time to get from the show’s application to preparation to a deal. Patience are an important part of starting a business and you better have lots of them.

10. Don’t expect a lifeline
Your business has to have merit and stand on it’s own without an investment from a shark. They will not invest in a company that needs “rescuing.” The merit and value must be there to begin with.

“Don’t count on Shark Tank to save your company, count on Shark Tank to enhance your company.” — Ari Hoffman, AngelLift

11. Be ready for volume
When your product is exposed to 7.9 million viewers, no matter what the sharks say, you will get customers. Be ready to handle massive volume.

12. Take risks
Nobody achieves success without taking risks. Playing it safe is not how you create a successful business.

“It was not easy to go on national television and talk about all the issues I’d had in starting my business, but the risk paid off.” — Jayla Siciliano, Bon Affair

13. Be tough
You might get eaten alive by the sharks. Just ask Lori Cheek. You have to either believe in yourself enough to move forward anyway or go back to the drawing board.

14. Don’t be attached to an outcome
The exact thing you expect to happen may or may not happen. Don’t be attached to it. Something even better may happen.

“We thought Lori Greiner would be very interested but she dropped out. You have to roll with the punches. The experience and outcome has been better than we could have ever imagined!” — Rick Hinnant, Grace and Lace

15. Do it now
Don’t wait. If you have an idea you want to take to the world, do it now. The biggest regret most entrepreneurs have is not starting earlier.

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

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Every single day, a vast majority of women get out of bed and do something they are not passionate about and probably don’t enjoy — all day long. Until recently, we’ve accepted this as the only way. The millennial mindset combined with the increased flexibility and options offered by the Internet allow more women to decide they aren’t going to be bound by the age-old idea that you have to do something you don’t like for a living.

But women have been making a career out of their passions for a long time. Long before YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and millennials, Debbie Travis turned her passion for home decorating into a business and a lifestyle. Whether your passion is decorating cakes, making pottery or home decorating, Debbie offers these 10 tips for creating a life that lets you do something you love and earn a living at the same time.

1. See and hear opportunity

When opportunity knocks, answer the door! Entrepreneurs are great at recognizing opportunity and making something of it. Keep your eyes and ears open and most importantly — pay attention to what’s going on around you.

2. Talk about it

Aspiring entrepreneurs are often afraid to talk about their ideas because they’re worried someone will steal them. That’s possible, but more frequently, talking about your ideas will generate feedback and get people excited about them. You may learn that people think it’s a great thing — or you may learn that folks don’t think it’s a very good idea. Either way, you’ll get valuable feedback.

3. Don’t listen to nay-sayers

There will always be people who will tell you that what you want to do isn’t possible or won’t work. Don’t listen to them. This even happened to Debbie early in her career and her nay-saying friend was very wrong.

When I was creating my very first TV series, “The Painted House”, a friend told me that nobody would ever watch a TV show about home decorating. Now there are entire networks with nothing else!

4. Go where your people are

Get out to trade shows, networking events or anywhere you can find people who might be interested in what you want to create. If you love cake decorating, go to cake decorating shows and start talking about it. You’ll learn about your industry and make great contacts.

If you are making candles, go to a place where they sell candles or a trade show and talk to the people who are interested in candles.

5. Build your Rolodex

Speaking of making contacts, build up your list of contacts. These people you meet may be able to support you in the future. Or maybe they will become friends. Either way, get their contact information and stay in touch. Your contacts are the lifeline of your business.

Don’t be afraid of reaching out to people. They are probably sitting at home wondering if they should call you.

6. Get off social media and have a drink

The Internet and social media are great networking tools, but nothing is as good as building face-to-face relationships. They are stronger. Meet your contacts for a cup of coffee to build the relationship instead of just Tweeting them or texting.

7. People are waiting for your ideas

Instead of saying to yourself, “Is anyone going to like this?” or “Am I good enough?”, know that people are waiting for you! They are waiting for the next big thing and you just may have it. Get out there!

8. Don’t worry about failing

OK, so maybe that great idea you had wasn’t the next Snuggie, but that’s OK. Failing is part of the process, so why worry about it? Just keep having conversations (number 2) and building relationships (number five) and you’ll come up with your next idea. If you do fail, no problem, you’ll have a great dinner party story.

We all make mistakes, and those mistakes are the grounding of anything you do, because we learn from them. Mistakes are a part of the process, so why worry about them?

9. Start slowly

You don’t have to put it ALL on the line. You can start slowly and you don’t have to put yourself in a situation where you will lose everything if it doesn’t work out. Never put all your eggs in one basket.

If you want to start a business, don’t mortgage your whole house to do it, because you have to think about what if it doesn’t work out.

10. Don’t let fear stop you

Debbie cautions against letting fear stop you.

To not take opportunity because you are afraid is the wrong thing because the only person who is going to suffer is you. Put your fear aside and just go for it.

If you fail to take opportunity because you are afraid, the only person who will suffer is you. What’s the worst that could happen? Either it works, or you have a great story to tell.

Photo by Badiuth on Unsplash

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