Investor:Kevin O’LearyShark Aquarium Appearance:March 11, 2016 Bid:$100,000 for 25% stake Results:Total sales increased from $100,000 to $14 million
'Wee responsibly' may not be words you would expect from historian Kevin O'Leary. Especially not come from a projection of its image inside the toilet bowl.
It is therefore a testimony to the depth of the Shark Aquarium The star believes in Matt Alexander and Mike Kannely, creators of IllumiBowl, a motion-activated toilet bowl light. O'Leary dove into the porcelain throne and appeared in a video for their latest Kickstarter campaign, which ran around six months after the trio struck a deal on the long-running ABC commercial reality show.
“One of the most important parts of running a successful business as an entrepreneur is to get involved,” O'Leary said. “It's a full-time job, especially when you're just starting out. Matt and Mike understand this and have invested every fiber of their being, and almost every minute of their time, into making IllumiBowl a success.
Alexander shared some of the most important lessons he and Kannely have learned since they started helping people do their mid-night jobs “in a whole new light.”
Related: 9 Lessons Successful Entrepreneurs Wish They Heard Sooner
Relationships are everything.
Once the Shark Aquarium was in place, Alexander and Kannely signed an exclusive distribution deal with Bed Bath &Beyond. Then they went to work on an improved IllumiBowl with custom dimming, a more powerful motion sensor, and more color options, and struck deals with Wal-Mart and other vendors to port that version. “We were in over our heads,” says Alexander. "We didn't know how many protocols we were violating by making these other deals when we had exclusivity with Bed Bath &Beyond and that might have voided our contract with them. ”
Fortunately, O’Leary stepped in to resolve the issue. It allowed Alexander and Kannely to continue making deals with other stores while maintaining their deal with Bed Bath &Beyond, giving the store “first dibs” on new products. “We learned not to be in such a rush to make decisions and that maintaining strong relationships with buyers is absolutely essential. ”
Crowdfunding isn't just about fundraising.
IllumiBowl began with a Kickstarter campaign in October 2014 and a goal of $20,000. In 40 days, pledges totaling nearly $100,000 were paid. “When we organized that first campaign, we were totally ruined,” explains Alexander. “I was still in college and Mike was working at Wal-Mart, so crowdfunding was our only way to make things happen. It turned out that the overwhelmingly positive response provided not only money, but also important validation of our idea and a group of people who were excited about the product. So when we upgraded IllumiBowl, we brought it back to those early adopters. This second Kickstarter campaign has raised over $225,000 from nearly 8,000 backers.
Recognize the difference between what's important and what's urgent.
Text messages create a feeling emergency, but if you respond to everyone immediately, is that really going to contribute to your success? Is resetting your inbox going to move your business forward more than spending time crafting careful responses to three critical emails? "The book The 80/20 Principle [by Richard Koch] says 80 percent of business is 20 percent effort, really helped me learn how to spend my time and energy in the most efficient way,” says Alexander.
Don't wait to mark every 'i' and cross every 't'.
When dealing with product development, it's important to act quickly. In a competitive market, you don't have time to wait for patent approval — the backlog in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office can take three years or more, according to Alexander. But you can kick things off almost immediately with a $130 provisional patent application, which provides “patent pending status.” Next, forget spending months fine-tuning your business plan; it will break when it reaches reality. “What you want to do is produce a batch of product – even if it's not pretty or perfect – that's good enough to meet people who can help you identify issues and suggest ways to improve them. says Alexander. He thinks it's better to do this with your crowdfunding base as a focus group than taking the product to Wal-Mart. Just make sure that once you fix the problem, you share it with everyone who pledged their early support.
Related: 5 Lessons I've Learned From Over 200 Successful Entrepreneurs
This article originally appeared in the June 2017 issue of SUCCESS magazine.
