Four lessons I learned from Shark Tank legend Daymond John

Dive into this week’s episode with Daymond John, Founder, President, and CEO of FUBU, investor on Shark Tank, & founder of The Shark Group, as he discusses the “secret of the deal” on an all-new Season Two episode of Office Hours.

On this episode, John shares his insights on the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when scaling a business, getting the most out of your deal flow, and why self-belief is key to making the most of your opportunities. ?Here are the four lessons I took away from our time together.

We can't let success go to our head

We can never stop learning and growing as business leaders. We create resistance for ourselves when we get too cocky and let our need to be superior or need to be right get in the way. Remember to stay grounded in humility and always be willing to ask for help.

The fundamentals to get the most out of your deal flow

Numbers are the foundation of every deal, so we need to ensure that we do our due diligence and never leave ourselves exposed to unnecessary risks. It also helps to be obsessed with our customers, as that focus on their needs and wants will lead to better overall results. The final components to crafting successful deals are simple; find ways to increase sales or reduce costs.

Take affordable steps to grow

Some of the biggest flops come from entrepreneurs who try to scale too quickly and end up spreading themselves too thin in the process. Founders who overly rely on cash to help the business soon realize that cash highlights our business’ weaknesses. Injecting cash when our processes aren’t efficient, effective, or statistically successful equates to wasting it. True entrepreneurs take inventory of what they have and know what they can risk in order to scale.

Believe that you belong

If we’ve worked our way to getting in rooms with some of the world’s highest achievers, it’s important to believe in our hearts that we belong there. We must position ourselves to add more quantitative value than we ask for in return from those people we connect with. We must also encourage others and make sure that they feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, as well.