Shark Tank Jump Start Your Business: How to Launch and Grow a Business from Concept to Cash

323 Pages·2013·3.58 MB·English

by  Mark Cuban

Dedicated to all of the trailblazers, creators, doers and
innovators—to anyone who’s ever been brave enough
to try, fail, and try again. This one’s for you.
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Foreword by Mark Burnett
Introduction
PART ONE: TO BE OR NOT TO BE… AN ENTREPRENEUR
Catching the Entrepreneurial Fever—Lori Grenier
Chapter 1: Small Business 101
Chapter 2: What’s Your EQ (Entrepreneurial Quotient)?
Chapter 3: Your Big Idea
Shark Tale: Travis Perry, ChordBuddy (Season 3)
PART TWO: SETTING UP SHOP
The Unlikely Entrepreneur—Robert Herjavec
Chapter 4: Finding Your Customers
Chapter 5: Getting Down to Business
Chapter 6: Making It Official
Shark Tale: Moshe Weiss, SoundBender (Season 4)
PART THREE: MONEY MATTERS
The Art of Success—Kevin O’Leary
Chapter 7: Knowing Your Numbers
Chapter 8: Understanding Financing
Shark Tale: Jim Tselikis and Sabin Lomac, Cousins Maine Lobster (Season 4)
PART FOUR: OPEN FOR BUSINESS
The 100th Road—Daymond John
Chapter 9: Up and Running
Chapter 10: Mastering Marketing
Chapter 11: Learning to Sell
Shark Tale: Rick Hopper, ReadeREST (Season 3)
PART FIVE: TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL
The Power of Failure—Barbara Corcoran
Chapter 12: You Can’t Do It Alone: Building the Right Team
Chapter 13: Leading the Charge
Chapter 14: The Smart Way to Grow
Shark Tale: Lani Lazzari, Simple Sugars (Season 4)
PART SIX: A DIP IN THE TANK: BEHIND-THE-SCENES AT
SHARK TANK
It Only Takes One—Mark Cuban
Chapter 15: Swimming with the Sharks: A Roundtable Q&A
Shark Tale: Tracey Noonan and Danielle Desroches, Wicked Good Cupcakes (Season 4)
Final Words
Tools and Resources
My Small Business Jump Start Plan
From Idea to Incorporation: A Flowchart
Talk the Talk: Small Business Terms to Know
Online Resources
Books to Read
Notes
About the Author
Copyright
Navigation
Begin Reading
Table of Contents
FOREWORD BY MARK BURNETT
Shark Tank is an important show because it proves the entrepreneurial spirit is
alive and well. But even more than that, it gives people hope and inspires future
entrepreneurs to pursue their dream of building a business at a time when
America needs them the most.
Today, Americans face unprecedented hardships. As the job security they
once relied on quickly disappears, people of all ages and backgrounds are
reclaiming their future by creating their own opportunities. While this rebirth of
small business is exhilarating, it also presents many challenges.
As banks remain wary of giving out loans, Shark Tank is stepping up and
serving this new crop of entrepreneurs by offering access to six self-made, ultra-
successful, millionaire and billionaire business moguls who are looking to invest
their own money in the right people with the right ideas.
Each season the Sharks set a new record amount for investments—most
recently investing over $10 million. At the same time, each season the
entrepreneurs who appear on Shark Tank continue to report amazing success
stories: incredible growth, unbelievable sales, and an abundance of job creation
within their communities.
It’s hard to believe that we went from fewer than two thousand applicants our
first season to more than thirty thousand for Season 4. I believe this alone
demonstrates that Shark Tank inspires not only fledgling and seasoned business
owners, but also stay-at-home moms and dads with nothing more than an idea.
Ultimately, that’s why I think the show has been so successful: it strikes a chord
with just about anyone who watches it, from successful entrepreneurs to
children.
A recent report released by Babson College and Baruch College showed that
U.S. entrepreneurship climbed in 2012 to the highest level in a decade. This just
years after a crippling recession. I guess in some way we’d like to think that
Shark Tank has played a small role in the resurgence of entrepreneurism in
America. At least we hope it has.
What we do know is that this show gives real people a platform to catapult
their dreams and ideas into successful businesses. It proves that with a little
ingenuity and a lot of hard work, they can all transform their lives and their
communities. That’s a powerful message, and one I’m proud to stand behind.
Mark Burnett is an award-winning executive producer who’s famous for such hit shows as Shark Tank, The
Voice, Survivor, and Celebrity Apprentice.
Burnett has won four Emmy Awards and four People’s Choice Awards.