Shark Tank: Uncover the 5 Marketing Lessons For Entrepreneurs
These days, everybody wants to withstand the monotony of 9 to 5 jobs in a swap for the coveted title of entrepreneur. With websites and apps working as marketplaces, you, too, could benefit from your potential skills and talents!
Earlier this 2022, Shark Tank India’s first season completed with 67 businesses winning over the judges and receiving funding for their respective startups. The show began in December 2021 with over 62,000 applicants, and only 198 made it to the sets of Shark Tank India. Nevertheless, the passion and intrigue of the show quickly made it a crowd favourite! And it is back again with Season 2.
It’s an entertaining show with original product ideas, lucrative business negotiations, life-changing deals, and billionaires. How can you not be entertained?
But alongside the entertainment factor of Shark Tank, there’s an educational factor too.
Shark Tank is a pack of entrepreneurs communicating their marketing strategies and business goals. Listening to what they have to say and Sharks’ feedback will help you intake a ton of suitable lessons and employ them in your own professional life. Who thought watching TV could be so valuable?
Five marketing lessons from Shark Tank for entrepreneurs:
1. Product Framing is Essential
Just because your product is fantastic doesn’t mean it will sell itself. The important thing is that how you frame your product and present it is half the battle in a world where aesthetics are everything. Two women entrepreneurs from Bihar named Uma and Kalpana Jha appeared on Shark Tank India season 1 with their startup, JhaJi pickle. The two had impressed the “sharks” with their intriguing pitch and product but failed to secure funding for their business.
However, the two business women featured in the second season’s first episode and shared how the business grew significantly after appearing on the show.
2. It’s Never Too Early or Late to Take a Chance
Take it from this 13-year-old entrepreneur, it’s never too early to start a business. And if you find yourself on the opposite end of the age spectrum, it’s never too late. The youngest contestant to appear on Shark Tank India season one was 13-year-old Anoushka Jolly. After being mocked by a fellow student during a school function, Anoushka developed a social initiative against bullying. The class 8 student created an Anti Bullying Squad (ABS) digital platform where “specialists come together to organise one-on-one sessions in schools against bullying”. Anoushka not only won over the sharks with her impactful initiative but also got a funding offer of ₹ 50 lakh.
3. Never Be Afraid to Put Your Product into Action
It’s easy to inform people how great a product can offer to them. But at the end of the day, everyone wants results! I believe actions speak louder than words, which is exactly what this Shark Tank clip portrays.
4. Some Products Are for Everyone
Becoming an entrepreneur is not easy, but it makes you strong and knowledgeable when you get down with your product. Likewise, Krishnav Dhingra, the 22-year-old founder of Sneakare, a startup that delivers products and services for sneaker shoes, pitched his business to the sharks last year. He became the best pitcher of the day and was offered investment by Vineeta Singh, Namita Thapar, and Aman Gupta, co-founder, and CMO of boAt.
5. How Your Product Will Make Your Customer’s Life Better
Your products should solve customer problems; only then will they be successful. Likewise, innovative thinking and intelligent business skills are the core values that made Hammer Lifestyle successful. Hammer Lifestyle, a smart gadget brand, had monthly sales of Rs. 70 lakhs before coming to the show. They now report a whopping monthly sale of Rs. 2cr making it the most successful business to come out of Shark Tank India.
Have you ever had a product idea that you thought was way too niche to work? Well, think again. There’s a market for everything, it’s just about finding the right people to buy it and knowing how to market it.
Final thought
In India’s current entrepreneurship wave, most working professionals are looking to start their businesses. Before that, I would suggest getting prior market experience to understand and pitch your product before becoming an entrepreneur will be worth it!
To help you with this, ULead offers a paid online internship program in the sales and marketing domain. Leadership is the most sought-after skill by all companies, and ULead is the place to be if you see yourself as a corporate leader in the future.
We are looking for spirited individuals who want to challenge the way the system works. We are on the same page if you believe that exceptional and well-rounded education is the way to change the world. Click here to apply.
