Robert Herjavec can smell blood in the water.
As one of the Sharks from Global’s hit show Shark Tank, he knows what can make an entrepreneur sink or swim, and isn’t afraid to invest. As Chief Executive Officer of The Herjavec Company, he has made millions in investments.
But it hasn’t been an easy journey. Early in his career, Herjavec took a honeymoon vacation and returned to find himself without a job, his belongings packed into a box. He was devastated, couldn’t find work, and wondered how he would pay off his wedding.
So Herjavec started selling. “I was always into really complicated computer stuff,” he says. He founded BRAK systems, which quickly became Canada’s top provider of Internet security software. “I am the ultimate proof that entrepreneurs are made, not born.”
He says the biggest challenge to starting your own business is the unknown. That creates a lot of fear in people, and fear can either be paralyzing or stimulating.
The world of business is a world of constant change, and some people are uncomfortable with that, says Herjavec. “A lot of people I meet say “˜if I had your personality, or if I was like you, I’d start my own company,’” he says. “But, I wasn’t like me when I started either. You have to learn and adapt.”
While there’s tough days and good days, Herjavec truly believes you have to constantly grow, and be ready for the challenges by the industry, business and the media. “I want to be a little better tomorrow than today,” he says.
So it was only natural that Survivor creator Mark Burnett would approach the efficacious Herjavec about being on Shark Tank.
Herjavec was excited to join the team of savvy entrepreneurs, willing to invest their cash in worthy products. “You’ve got to look at the scale of the U.S. market and hope that you’re going to find a product or service that can adapt to that many people.”
Shark Tank’s success can be measured in ways other than conventional ratings. He gives the example of a woman who came on the show, and after appearing on Shark Tank, she saw an 1800 per cent increase in her web sales.
“The reach is incredible,” says Herjavec.
With so many potential investments coming in to the shark tank, how does Herjavec decide what he will put his money into?
“It’s always their ability to engage me quickly,” he says.
It’s a good litmus test – if you can get Herjavec excited about an idea after the cranky Sharks have spent 12 hours on a hot set, you’ll get customers and investors excited. You may think your product is simply the best, but the sharks won’t unless you can really engage them.
When they walk into the tank, Herjavec looks without wilting under pressure. “Sympathy and a hard luck story aren’t going to get you the money,” says Herjavec. “You can be passionate, but it has to be a real business.”
“Running a business is like whack-a-mole, as soon as you fix one thing, another thing pops up,” says Herjavec. “You’ve got to have the ability to focus in the eye of the storm and separate the truly urgent from the really important.”
Kevin O’Leary, fellow Canadian and Shark on the show, is more outspoken and opinionated than his colleagues. While Herjavec and O’Leary rarely see eye-to-eye, they both take the same business approach, and usually end up going in on a business deal together.
“Once the initial stuff is done, our view of running a business is similar and it’s nice to have someone who speaks Canadian,” says Herjavec.
Herjavec thinks the Sharks have come across a product this year that could be “the big one.”
“I’m an eternal optimist that we’ve found the one that can actually makes us millions,” he says. They’re in the final stages of putting it to bed, and something that viewers will enjoy watching.
So, as this season of Shark Tank swims along, some people will succeed, and others will fail. Often what makes the difference is a person’s ability to get up just one more time.
“I have failed so many times in my life, at so many things,” says Herjavec. “But I kept going and eventually I won, and when I won, I won big.”
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