Being both a fan of the tv show Shark Tank and an entrepreneur I was attracted to this book. While my business is beyond the start-up phase by more than a decade I wondered how much of the information would be helpful at this point in business.
The book stays true to its name by focusing on the questions and information an emerging or aspiring entrepreneur may face. The six chapters are broken into discussing: defining an entrepreneur, setting up shop, understanding finances, marketing and selling, business failures, and a behind-the-scenes roundtable conversation with the actual Sharks – Kevin O’Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, and Daymond John – plus includes a tools and resources section. Sprinkled throughout are Shark Bites – sound bites from each Shark with their own personal tip – and Shark tips being small hints for business success.
Each chapter begins with a brief bio of one of the six Sharks and their thoughts on a chapter topic. I liked the Shark contributions. Additionally, key products and entrepreneurs that appeared on the show are spotlighted.
As someone who provides mentoring to emerging and aspiring virtual assistants looking to launch their own business but have limited business operations knowledge l will be recommending this book. The book gives solid explanations of the various aspects of business that are commonly asked in the start-up phase.
I was impressed with the tools and resources section and plan to further explore these references and links in more depth.
As a fan of the Shark Tank I enjoyed reading the stories about those who appeared on the show and recognized many of those featured. The roundtable discussion was insightful and demonstrated how diverse each Shark is compared to the next.
Two things I really disliked about the book were the reverse print formatting on some pages – black background and white text or dark gray background with black text. Both styles were hard to read, often including reduced font sizes. The unfortunate part is that these sections contained the Shark Bite tips or higher value information. Placing these sections in a box or using graphic lines to draw attention would have been more impactful that the background color change.
Interested in getting your own copy of this book? Check out the ordering link here.