Trusting Your Gut When Building Your Business

I’ve listened to my gut on every good business decision
I’ve ever made. I’ve learned the hard way that ignoring
my instinct is always an expensive mistake. I’ve lost my
money on many Shark Tank deals because I didn’t
listen, but fortunately I listen most of the time!
When young Tiffany Krumins stepped onto the Shark
Tank set, this nanny-turned-entrepreneur took one deep
breath and looked each of the sharks straight in the eye.
From the way she was dressed I figured she was a
virgin, but Tiffany dove straight into her pitch and I
thought, this girl is hot stuff and she’s not the least bit
intimidated! With her wide-eyed innocence, I felt she
couldn’t see a freight car coming until it had hit her.
Related: Barbara Corcoran on the Secret to Getting Free
Press
Tiffany’s invention was a small blue elephant head with
a medicine dropper tucked neatly in its trunk. She
named her product “Ava the Elephant” and as
she pressed the little sound button on the back, the
sweet voice that we heard was none other than that of
the inventor herself. “One, two, three … open wide…Good
job!” She claimed that children who used her dispenser
happily took their medicine. Tiffany ended her
presentation holding up her clay model and said, “I
promise you that Ava works every single time! I don’t
care what medicine your kids hate, they’ll open up their
mouths and take it from Ava with a smile!” Totally
convincing.
The male sharks smiling at Tiffany obviously thought
she and her little elephant were cute, but I could see
right away they were not taking her seriously.
They behaved like men do when doing a favor for the
daughter of a friend, but they were sure as heck not
going to put their money on the table. My impression
of young Tiffany was different and I had learned to trust
my gut. Tiffany might look innocent, but I instinctively
sensed a backbone made of steel. So I moved in for the
kill, buying 51 percent of the Ava the Elephant business
before the other sharks could rethink their positions.
Related: Barbara Corcoaran: Failure Is My Specialty
Kevin O’Leary scoffed at the “Outrageous price of
$50,000 for such a silly business!” after Tiffany left the
set. But the next morning, his young wife reprimanded
him, “You shouldn’t have passed on that clever medicine
dispenser, Kevin” she chided, “Men don’t have to get up
in the middle of the night to get their kids to take their
medicine. You might not get it, but women will.”
The women viewers at home did get it and today the
dispenser is sold in most large pharmacies in America.
What’s more, thanks to me trusting my gut, Ava
has made me a tidy $280,000 profit!