Have You Seen the Shark Tank?

I am not one to watch reality television, I was turned off many years ago from it and felt it was often just a scheme for those looking for their 15 minutes of fame by doing stupid tricks. Even though it was expected to be true and reality as they say, I often felt much of it was made up or over played. Not all of it mind you, but I think you know what I’m saying.

Recently, however, I heard about this show called “The Shark Tank” from ABC. This show is very different from anything else I have seen on TV before. It is a show with a panel of five successful entrepreneurs who put up their own money with the opportunity to invest in small businesses and other entrepreneurs.

Here in comes the excitement, people with their dreams, desires, passions and know-how have to pitch their business opportunity to this panel and offer a stake in their company. Yes, some of the contestants are going to make you laugh and wonder why they approached the panel, others have amazing ideas and great potential. But I find the overall process very educational.

The reason I have enjoyed looking over the past episodes is not so much the ideas of the companies and products, but the panel of investors and their insight. You have to remember these people have proven their success and have the money and lifestyle to prove it. This feedback has brought many different ways to look back at my own business. I think it could do the same for you and your business.

This feedback is a benefit in two major ways as I see it.

Firstly: You can look at each situation and relate your business to it. See whether or not your business could stand up to the scrutiny and the questions they ask. Realize whether or not you are prepared if you were ever in a similar situation. You never know when you could bump into the right investor that could help you over the top. Do you have the facts and such a handle on your business at any given moment? Are you aware of the true value of your business and what to ask for in a dollar amount if you were looking for a partner? Do you know how much capital might take you to the next level?

Secondly: This is also an exercise if you want to become a successful investor or business person. Take stock of the probing questions coming from the panel. These reflect very much the questions you should be asking yourself if someone approaches you with an investment or business opportunity. It is hard to pinpoint any one particular question to showcase, because it may be different in every situation, but in the end you have to remember it is business and the motivation and goal of any business is to make money.

You can easily find segments of this show by doing searches on YouTube or Google and Walletpop.com also does a post show recap called AfterShark with many of the participants, and sometimes follow up news as well. You can also find AfterShark if you do a podcast search in iTunes.

I highly suggest that if you’re in business for yourself or looking to invest in business that you get aquatinted with this show you could learn a lot and you might just find that tidbit question that makes all the difference in what you’re already working on. Self-education in the end is by far one of your greatest tools and resources and even though this might be on TV, it still offers great value and something I think you can take away from it regardless of what level of success you have already attained.