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The Most Successful 'Shark Tank' Companies of All Time

These lucky entrepreneurs have made millions as a result of their appearance on the hit ABC reality show.

By Richard Feloni

Business Insider

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Entrepreneurs who make it onto a "Shark Tank" episode have the opportunity to introduce their company to a viewing audience of 7 million potential customers.
The companies that land a deal with one or more of the show's investors then have the chance to scale and, in some cases, become a nationally recognized brand.
We looked through old episodes and asked the Sharks themselves about their most successful deals. Read on to learn about the biggest "Shark Tank" success stories so far.

Scrub Daddy

A sponge company has far and away become the biggest "Shark Tank" success story. Over the past three years, Scrub Daddy has brought in a total of $75 million in revenue, according to investor Lori Greiner.
Greiner made a deal with its founder and CEO, Aaron Krause, in Season 4 for $200,000 in exchange for 20% equity. At that point, Krause had struggled to reach $100,000 in sales over 18 months, but Greiner saw great potential in the company's signature offering, a proprietary smiley-faced sponge that was more durable, hygienic, and effective than a traditional one.
She helped Krause expand his product line and brought them onto QVC and into stores like Bed, Bath & Beyond, where they have become bestsellers.

Tipsy Elves

When Robert Herjavec invested $100,000 for 10% of Evan Mendelsohn and Nick Morton's ugly Christmas-sweater company in Season 4, it could seem to viewers that he was betting on a fleeting fad. It turned out, though, to be his most profitable "Shark Tank" investment, he told Business Insider.
To stay ahead of trends, Herjavec helped make Tipsy Elves a year-round novelty apparel company that can capitalize off multiple holidays and college-football season.
Before its 2013 "Shark Tank" appearance, Tipsy Elves made $900,000 in annual revenue. Last year it brought in around $8 million, and this year it's on track to make $12 million, according to the company.

Breathometer​

In Season 5, Charles Yim got a five-Shark deal for Breathometer, a portable Breathalyzer that works with a smartphone. Mark Cuban, Kevin O'Leary, Daymond John, Herjavec, and Greiner got in on a $650,000 deal for 30% of the company.
Since his "Shark Tank" appearance, Yim secured an additional $6.5 million in funding, partnered with the prestigious Cleveland Clinic, and developed a more accurate and more portable main product in addition to a device that tracks oral health and hydration levels.
Yim told Inc. that Breathometer is expected to end 2015 with $20 million in sales--double last year's number.

Bubba's-Q Boneless Ribs

Al "Bubba" Baker, 1978 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, secured a deal with John in Season 5 for $300,000 in exchange for 30% equity in and licensing rights to his company, Bubba's-Q Boneless Ribs.
John told Business Insider that as someone who built a career in fashion, he never expected that his most profitable investment would be in a rib business.
John helped Baker secure a deal with a large-scale food processing plant and said he thinks he can soon get Bubba's-Q to become a national brand with $200 million in lifetime sales.

Grace and Lace

In Season 5, Barbara Corcoran invested $175,000 for 10% of husband-and-wife duo Melissa and Rick Hinnant's fashion company Grace and Lace. Corcoran told Business Insider that it's her most profitable "Shark Tank" investment.
Before their appearance, the Hinnants brought in about $1 million in sales. They are now expecting $6.5 million this year, a boost helped by an appearance in Cosmopolitan magazine.
As the company has grown, its philanthropic mission has as well, and since appearing on the show it has used profits to open two orphanages in India, housing a total of 100 kids.

Ten Thirty One Productions

In Season 5, Cuban decided to put up $2 million for 20% of Melissa Carbone's live horror-entertainment company Ten Thirty One Productions.
Last year the company brought in $3 million in revenue, and although he did not disclose an exact number, Cuban told us it is making at least half a million dollars in annual profit.
Ten Thirty One had another successful Halloween season this year in its birthplace of Los Angeles, but struggled in its expansion to New York City due to a lack of preparation for storm conditions. Carbone said it was a stressful but valuable learning experience, and she looks forward to expanding to Cuban's hometown, Dallas, next year.

Wicked Good Cupcakes

Tracey Noonan and Danielle Vilagie are a mother-daughter duo from Boston with a company that makes cupcakes in a jar. In Season 4, they made a deal with O'Leary in which he invested $75,000 for royalties instead of equity. He made $1 from every cupcake sold until he made his money back, and then began receiving 50 cents per cupcake sold.
Since its appearance on the show, Wicked Good Cupcakes has expanded to a new production facility and a couple of new locations.
O'Leary said it's been his most profitable investment of the show, and since Noonan and Vilagie appeared, they've gone from around $7,000 in monthly sales to $400,000, or about $4.8 million annually.

Red Dress Boutique

Cuban and Herjavec split a $1.2 million investment for 10% equity in Diana and Josh Harbour's online women's fashion retailerThe Red Dress Boutique in Season 6, with Cuban taking the lead advisory role.
In the week following their television appearance, the husband-and-wife team brought in $1 million in sales, but also couldn't keep up with demand. Cuban helped them with infrastructure issues, and last year they brought in $14 million in revenue.
Cuban said it's making at least half a million dollars in annual profit.

Bombas

In Season 6, Bombas cofounders gave John a 17.5% stake in their company for $200,000. It is an online-only athletic sock company that donates a pair of socks to a homeless shelter for every pair sold.
Bombas' founders told radio host Jason Baxthat they sold $400,000 of socks in the four days after their television appearance and ended 2014 with $2 million in sales.
John said it is one of his most profitable investments.

Simple Sugars

Lani Lazzari was just 18 when she entered the tank in Season 4 to pitch her skincare company Simple Sugars. She ended up making a deal with Cuban for $100,000 in return for 33% equity.
Within just 24 hours of her episode's premiere, Lazzari's sales jumped to $220,000 from $50,000, and she hit $1 million six weeks later. Today Simple Sugars products are in more than 700 retail locations and ship internationally.
Last year the company brought in more than $3 million in revenue, and Cuban said it's one of his most profitable investments from the show. 

GrooveBook​

Husband-and-wife team Brian and Julie Whiteman came into the tank in Season 3 to present GrooveBook, a digital-photo subscription service. For $2.99 a month, users get a bound book of high-resolution photos they took with their smartphones. The founders made a deal with Cuban and O'Leary for $150,000 in exchange for 80% of licensing profits, with O'Leary taking the lead advisory role.
Not only did the Whitemans gain 50,000 subscribers shortly after the premiere of their episode, but last November, the publicly traded company Shutterfly bought GrooveBook for $14.5 million.

Cousins Maine Lobster

Cousins Sabin Lomac and Jim Tselikis shipped lobster from their home state of Maine to their new home in California and started a high-end food truck named Cousins Maine Lobster, which became known for its lobster rolls. The cousins made a deal with Corcoran for $55,000 in exchange for 15% of their company in Season 4.
Shortly after their episode premiered, the company hit $700,000 in sales. Last year they brought in $8 million in revenue,according to Entrepreneur.

Bottle Breacher

Former Navy SEAL Eli Crane and his wife and business partner Jen made a deal with Cuban and O'Leary for $150,000 in exchange for a 20% stake in Bottle Breacher, a company staffed by military veterans who turn dummy .50-caliber bullets into stylized bottle openers.
O'Leary has taken the lead brand ambassador role and said it's one of his most profitable investments. It's continued to grow to meet increasing demand, and has made more than $2.5 million in sales this year.

Lumio

Herjavec invested $350,000 for 10% of Max Gunawan's foldable, magnetic-lamp company Lumio in Season 6 after calling him "possibly the best entrepreneur" he had seen so far on the show.
Last year Lumio made $3 million in sales, hitting that mark again this past June, he told Forbes. He explained that his growth is healthy and that he will continue to make distribution deals with stores that appeal to a high-end, artistic audience.

ReadeRest

Rick Hopper essentially handed the reins of ReadeRest over to Greiner when he agreed to a $150,000 investment in exchange for 65% of the company in Season 3, but it turned his little one-man show into a huge success.
The product, a magnetic clip that holds eyeglasses in place on a shirt, regularly sells out on QVC. Last year, Hopper said that he's made over $8 million in total sales since his "Shark Tank" appearance.

This story first appeared on Business Insider. 

How to Get on Shark Tank

The real estate magnate and Shark Tank star reveals why some people get on the show--and most don't.

Published on: Dec 16, 2015

Tools to Run Your Business From Anywhere in the World

Telecommuting 7 min read

Use These 24 Tools to Run Your Business From Anywhere in the World  

Image credit: Shutterstock

       

Sujan Patel

August 17, 2015

Nearly a quarter, 23 percent, of Americans worked from home in 2014, according to a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics survey. If you’re one of the lucky few that enjoys the ability to work from anywhere you like, the following tools will help keep you productive -- no matter where you are:

1. Basecamp

Even on the road, you need to connect with your staff. Basecamp allows you to manage projects, communicate with your team and stay on top of who’s assigned to what tasks. Never be out of touch, no matter where you are.

2. Boomerang

When you’re working abroad, your time zone may not be lined up with your employees or customers. No worries -- Boomerang allows you to schedule your Gmail emails and send them out at specific times using Chrome, Firefox or Safari.

3. Dropbox

This tool should be a given, but I’ll say it. When you’re working abroad, you need a virtual location to safely store documents while allowing everyone access that needs it. Dropbox is that solution.

4. Join.me

A reliable virtual meeting and screen-sharing software is another tool you can’t do without as you run your company remotely. Join.me is intuitive and doesn’t require any downloads or subscriptions from you or your clients -- a big bonus in my book.

Related: 7 Ways to Make Working Remote Work Better

5. Narrow.io

This great tool allows you to grow your Twitter following quickly and easily. And that doesn’t mean fake, meaningless followers -- Narrow.io delivers a targeted Twitter following and makes it effortless to engage with them.

6. Trello

Tracking a project visually is important -- it can help lay out clearly where you are in a project and what step is next. Trello is a great tool for that. You can create tasks in various lists, drag them from one list to the next, assign them to team members and more.

7. Toggl

Looking to track your time but tired of using pen and paper? Toggl is a great tool that helps you understand where your time is going -- a must if you’re going to be productive remotely.

8. Skype

This is a well-known tool, but it’s one that’s essential for keeping communication going affordably. Sometimes you just need a voice-based or video chat. Forget high international phone rates -- Skype keeps you connected no matter where you are in the world.

9. Trade Ability

If part of your business involves moving products, even if you just need to ship once, Trade Ability makes it easy. This free UPS tool helps you estimate costs and makes you aware of duty fees and international-trade restrictions.

10. Evernote

Get tired of having papers everywhere and fear you’ll lose your key documents? Me too. Evernote is a lifesaver, especially since you can easily clip notes from webpages and emails.

11. Freemind

Freemind lives up to its name. An amazing mind-mapping software available for free, this open-source tool allows you to plan your work graphically. It’s a great tool for visual learners.

12. PayPal

This is another common tool, but it’s one that’s essential when you work abroad. No worrying about exchange rates, corrupt banks or mailing payments -- just use PayPal to securely send money wherever it needs to go. You can even get a PayPal MasterCard linked to your account to make purchasing easy as well.

13. Infusionsoft

This small-business email provider is an amazing solution for anyone, including those working from around the world. Infusionsoft allows you to automate huge portions of your business with customized funnels, email chains and more. It’s a huge lifesaver.

Related: 16 Entrepreneurs Share 16 Tools They Cannot Live Without

14. Zendesk

If part of your business involves providing customer service, you need Zendesk. This is especially true if you work remotely. Zendesk allows you to track all interactions -- nothing is ever lost or hidden, no matter where you are in the world.

15. Time Trade

Having others able to set up appointments with you automatically is a massive time saver. Time Trade allows clients or colleagues to see your availability and syncs automatically with Google Calendar. This makes scheduling easy when you travel and have sporadic availability.

16. Pingdom

So you’re running your business from a foreign country, relaxing and enjoying the sights, but who has an eye on your website? Enter Pingdom. Use it to easily keep an eye on your website and its uptime and average response time, any time.

17. Express VPN

A VPN, or virtual private network, is a lifesaver when you visit certain countries. In China, where almost all social media is blocked, or Thailand or Indonesia, which also have restrictions, it’s important to have a VPN so you can visit your usual sites. Express VPN will make sure you’re set up before you travel.

18. Skype Number

You want to use Skype to keep costs down when you travel, but others need to call you as well. By setting up a Skype Number, you have a phone number you can give clients and staff that will forward directly to your Skype or cell phone. It’s a win-win.

19. Prey

No matter where you travel, theft is an unfortunate possibility. With software such as Prey, you can keep your devices safe and locate them quickly. The software sends you location information, hidden camera pictures and screenshots. Hopefully you won’t need it, but if you do, it’s invaluable.

20. Bluehost

When you run your company from anywhere in the world, you need really good technical support for your hosting service. When something breaks, you need someone you can contact to fix it -- stat. Enter Bluehost. Reliable and affordable, you’ll be glad you chose them as your hosting service. Take it from this guy.

21. LogMeIn

Sometimes, you just need access to your desktop -- a challenge when you’re thousands of miles away. LogMeIn is a program that allows you to access and control your desktop no matter where you are.

22. Buffer

If you’re in a distant time zone, real-time social-media interaction will be a challenge. However, social media is essential to building your online authority. Buffer allows you to schedule social-media posts on a huge variety of platforms, allowing you to automate this task to occur at times that make sense for your audience.

23. Freshbooks

If your company is big enough that you have a dedicated accountant, great! If not, consider Freshbooks. This intuitive online business-accounting program will help you track expenses, income and more, while having a variety of reports at your fingertips.

24. Prezi

Creating great presentations on the go is very helpful for an entrepreneur, especially since you never know when, or where, you’ll meet your next client or partner. Prezi allows you to create great presentations that are cloud-based and that auto-sync across all devices when changes are made. Now your amazing presentation is ready anywhere, anytime.

Bonus: Inspiration

Sometimes you need inspiration on your journey doing business from anywhere in the world. Blogs such as Location 180, Chris Guillebeau’s blog, Nomadic Matt and Suitcase Entrepreneur can encourage and inform you and whet your appetite for new adventures.

What other tools can’t you live without when working remotely? Share your recommendations in the comments section below.

Related: 15 New Social-Media Templates to Save You Even More Time With Your Marketing

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