Investor:Daymond John Shark Aquarium Appearance:January 29, 2016 Offer:$250,000 for one-third stake in business Results:Sales grew from $220,000 in 18 months to over $1.5 million in 2016.
To prepare their appearance in January 2016 on Shark Aquarium , Sara Moylan and her husband and business partner, Bob, took a serious look at the long-running ABC business reality show. "We watched every episode and made a list of every question the Sharks ever asked," Sara explains. “I read every book the Sharks had written and every interview they gave. Then we worked with our mentors on mock interviews. I was determined that we were not going to be perplexed. »
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This was not the case. For more than an hour — later cut to a nine-minute segment — the Grand Rapids, Michigan couple deftly stole the dozens of questions the five sharks threw at them. When Lori Greiner began to voice her concerns about the viability of the patents Moylans had obtained, Sara found herself temporarily shaken. “My confidence was shaken,” she recalls. “I had to regain control of the situation by bringing the conversation to our playground.” She did this by talking about the innovations that Shefit had introduced to the $3 billion sports bra market.
“Take business one step at a time. When you are successful, there are often plenty of opportunities that arise and can come your way from all directions. »
Daymond John observed the couple's estrangement. “Sara and Bob really impressed me,” he says. “They knew their numbers. It was an effective team with defined roles. They kept their cool and you could clearly feel the passion. It was as if all the pieces of the puzzle came together. The Moylans prepared for every possible scenario, including the two that John presented. First, he wanted a one-third interest in the business rather than the 25% they were offering. Second, he needed an immediate response. The Moylans were ready with a quick yes.
One thing they weren't quite as prepared for was the deluge of orders they had received. “We were sitting on an inventory of over 4,000 items,” says Sara. “Before we even finished our presentation, these had been sold. And over the next few weeks, we had sold off the entire inventory – 16,000 units – which was due to arrive at the end of April. »
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Far from an overnight success, Shefit has a long history. Sara, a former Miss USA Teen USA and Ms. Michigan America, was a competitor on the fitness circuit. A mother of four daughters, now aged 4 to 13, she had always worn two or three bras during her daily workouts. But when she was breastfeeding her first daughter, even double or triple on bras didn't provide enough support and security. Unable to find anything on the market that worked, Sara created her own sports bra by hot-gluing layers of fabric together. "It was awful and because of the glue it fell apart when I washed it," she says. "But it worked and I found a seamstress who could create something more functional from my prototype. ”
Sara and Bob have had successful careers in sales, she in medical devices and he in industrial chemicals. She never intended to start a business. That is until Sara started handing out bras to her girlfriends. “Everyone had suggestions on how to improve it,” she says, “and nobody wanted to give the bras back. ”
Over the next decade, the Moylans would invest nearly $400,000 in Shefit. By the weather Shark Aquarium invited the couple to audition, they got hundreds of rave reviews online, and to keep up with demand, they moved manufacturing from Los Angeles to a factory overseas. It took 18 months to go from ordering to receiving finished goods, which hampered their ability to grow. “We had to streamline the manufacturing process,” says Bob. “With a lot of trial and error, we had taken the reins and learned all we could, but we needed help to take the next step. ”
For the first few weeks after John came on board as an investor, the Moylans spoke almost daily with his team. “They were able to help us with sourcing and liaising with suppliers and the factory to expedite manufacturing,” says Bob. “It made a dramatic difference. We have reduced our turnaround time to just 60 days. Now, with “serious momentum,” Sara says, “we have a lot of ideas and new launches on the way.”
Meanwhile, John advises Moylans to stay focused. “Move the business one step at a time,” he says. “When you are successful, there are often many opportunities that can arise from all directions. Don't get me wrong, this is a good problem to have, but you have to be careful which ones you choose to pursue as they could be distractions. While they're all on the roadmap for the future of the business, it's important to get rid of unfinished business. »
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This article originally appeared in the April 2017 issue of SUCCESS magazine.
