34: From NO Business Experience to $40M in Sales and Shark Tank Success with Jamie and Brian Ratner of CertifiKID

Are you concerned that your lack of business experience is going to hinder your ability to start and grow a company? Do you think that being a marketing expert is a prerequisite to getting your first customers? Well, that’s not the case... and our guests today are here to prove it! Jamie and Brian Ratner —co-founders of CertifiKID, a multi-million dollar family-focused deal site—are here to tell you about how they started their company without business degrees, without a big team, and without a big marketing budget. And on this episode, they teach us how you can bootstrap your business and how building a team that buys into your vision can propel you to success. Jamie tells us how she stood on the street corner handing out flyers, trying to find that first customer. And Brian tells us how—10 years later—they were able to put themselves in front of some of the most influential investors on the planet. Brian also tells his story about how he went toe-to-toe with Kevin O’Leary (from Shark Tank), negotiating a deal that would bring them a big six-figure investment and a realization of one of their big business goals. And if you’ve ever dreamed of being on Shark Tank, make sure you listen for Jamie’s tip on how to bypass the cattle-call auditions and get straight to the decision makers! Check them out, and subscribe to the BiggerPockets Business Podcast so you won’t miss our next show! In This Episode We Cover: Why it's important to move quickly and be the first to market How to hire employees by reaching out to customers How they follow trends to never become boring to their customers How they complement each other in their business How they got into Shark Tank How they plan for success and not failure Why building a strong team is their #1 priority Why you should make appropriate sacrifices And SO much more! Links from the Show BiggerPockets Forums Groupon CertifiKID Shark Tank Negotiation Check the full show notes here: http://biggerpockets.com/bizshow34 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices