‘Shark Tank’s’ Robert Herjavec Talks The Small Business Revolution [Interview]

Robert Herjavec, host of Shark Tank, has a keen sense for the business world. He has joined Amanda Brinkman, Chief Brand and Communications Officer of Deluxe, to start build the Small Business Revolution campaign. With a new season of Shark Tank underway, Robert Herjavec and Brinkman give tips on how to be successful as a small business.

Inquisitr: Robert, tell me about the Small Business Revolution.

Robert Herjavec: “It’s a movement really, well it’s a revolution. Today, we launched the documentary on smallbusinessrevolution.org and it profiles a number of companies. We started with 100 across America that talks the small business story, sponsored by Deluxe. It’s their 100th year in business and it’s a way to celebrate and engage the small business community.”

Inquisitr: Now, talk about the documentary specifically and give us a more in-depth look the project itself.

Amanda Brinkman: “The documentary is a collection of our findings as we’ve been going across the country telling these 100 stories. You notice a number of emerging themes coming out, like the fact that small businesses bring together their community, the fact that small businesses can turn around cities, the fact that it matters what you do and what you produce.”

“We love these over-arching themes and we feel like it was really important we bring that story to America. We wanted to tell the over-arching story of the importance of small businesses. The full-length documentary really tells the story of the importance of small business in this country and how important it is that we all support them in communities.”

Inquisitr: Going from small businesses to the non-profit sector, is there a connection between the two?

Amanda Brinkman: “As it relates to the small business revolution, we’ve been featuring small businesses that are for-profit and ones that are also non-for-profit. We find that even the non-for-profit space, there’s still a lot of the same needs to fundraise, to organize a staff, to produce a product or service for the community.”

“We find that those same struggles and the same things that reward them as owners are true for profit and non-for-profit. We didn’t make a determination in the kinds of businesses that we were featuring.”

Robert Herjavec: “The world is such a competitive place today, even in the for-profit sector is competitive, but doing good is competitive. Just because you’re a non-for-profit doesn’t mean people will beat a path to your door and give you money. You still have to run a business and go out and engage the community, get donations and run a business.”

Inquisitr: On that same note, what does it take for a small business to be successful? A lot of small business owner want to know, is there a secret?

Robert Herjavec: “There’s really no secret sauce, but there are constant themes. If you watch the documentary at smallbusinessrevolution.org, you see a deep passion from people for what they do. You can not not love what you do, the world will run right over you. The other thing you notice, from passion comes expertise.”

“It’s okay be passionate about something, but you have to turn that into an expertise. These people are really good at what they do. There’s a motorcycle shop in Florida that is really good at motorcycles. There’s a pizza shop that makes great pizza. You have to be consistent and you have to be great at something.”

Inquisitr: Robert, with Shark Tank, how has that helped you, not only learn more, but become more of a wise businessman?

Robert Herjavec: “Part of getting wise is you see it all and part of it is you getting older. It’s not just getting older, it’s being open to the experience. I think that I’ve never met a great-small business, or business owner that is arrogant to knowledge. You have to be open to education and I learn something everyday.”

“I respect everybody and if you think you have a better opinion about something and you can do it better than I can, I’m more than willing to adopt your day. It’s about getting to the finish line faster in a better way.”

[Photo by Chris Weeks/Getty Images]