How Kelley Higney Went All-In And Scored A Deal On Shark Tank

This is part of?LinkedIn's new Newsletter Series. To get fresh insights on innovation, customer experience & entrepreneurship,?hit the "subscribe" button here.

One of the hardest questions for entrepreneurs is knowing when to go all in. How do you know you are ready to go headfirst into the business?

For Kelley Higney, founder and CEO of Bug Bite Thing, the realization came when she had customers tracking her down in the parking lot after she sold her product at her daughter’s bake sales. With amazing customer feedback, Kelley realized she was onto something, sold her house, and invested that money into her first big batch of inventory.

You can watch the video of our full discussion below or just listen to the audio version as a podcast. If you want more content like this?you can subscribe to our Youtube channel.

Press?play?below or?go here to listen on your favorite platform:

Kelley says it was terrifying, especially with a young family. Before she could go all-in on Bug Bite Thing, she created a nest egg as a backup plan. She also did an extensive proof of concept testing by selling her product in small quantities at local events like farmers’ markets and bake sales. Everywhere she went, she got the same response--people loved it. That positive customer feedback and consistent testing gave her the confidence to go all in.

Kelley has always welcomed customer feedback and understands that customers will tell you whether or not they like something. She advises entrepreneurs to not be stubborn with their own thought process and instead listen to the people who are going to purchase the product and consider how you will get them to tell more people about it.

___________________

One of the most common questions my husband Jacob and I get from entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs is around the tools we use to run our?Be Your Own Boss?and individual businesses.

So we decided to put together something called the?Entrepreneurs' Online Business Toolkit?which is a PDF that breaks down all of the tools we use and how we use them. Download it?here.

___________________

Kelley wasn’t a business expert when she decided to go all-in on her business. With a background in teaching, Kelley is a self-taught entrepreneur who learned from networking groups, online classes, extensive research, and trial and error. She taught herself social media marketing and invested some of the earliest sales of her product right back into her learning through online courses.

But some of Kelley’s most powerful learning and on-the-job training came from listening to customers. Even as she was repeatedly told no by potential investors, Kelley held strong to the overwhelmingly positive customer feedback and knew her product was a winner.

Her efforts paid off as Bug Bite Thing saw tremendous growth and she made it to the Holy Grail for entrepreneurs—Shark Tank—where she had competing offers from all five Sharks.

Knowing when to go all-in is different for each entrepreneur. But as Kelley knows, researching and testing the concept and learning from customers can provide powerful insights into the demand and potential for a product.

Press?play?below or?go here to listen on your favorite platform:

Subscribe to the podcast on:

___________________

Collectively, Jacob and I have over two decades of entrepreneurial experience, and we are passionate about helping you become your own boss too.?

If you enjoyed this article,?here's what you do:

??Subscribe to our weekly?newsletter.

??Connect with us on all our social media channels?Facebook,?Instagram,?Twitter,?Youtube,?and?Linkedin?or send us an email [email protected].

??Head on over to?The BYOB Podcast website?to catch all episodes you might have missed.