Robin Adney: Welcome to episode 15 of the APUS Entrepreneur podcast series, I'm Robin Adney

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Robin Adney: Welcome to episode 15 of the APUS Entrepreneur podcast series, I'm Robin Adney. As always, my cohost is Dr. Cassandra Shaw. Thanks for being here.

Cassandra Shaw: Hi, Robin. Good to be back.

Robin Adney: We're excited to have Danny Mastronardo with us, he's braved the Shark Tank and ended up leaving with a deal. He's one of the founders and the vice president of Nardo's Natural Skincare. Welcome to the show.

Danny M.: Thank you for having me today.

Robin Adney: In this episode we're gonna be discussing obstacles entrepreneurs face. Take it away, Cassandra.

Cassandra Shaw: Great. Thanks, Robin. I know we talked in the past about how you and your brothers got started and you didn't really know what you were doing, so you encountered some obstacles. If you could just share with us, what are some of the more common obstacles a new entrepreneur would face?

Danny M.: I think, right off the bat a lot of people would agree with me, just money. Money is always an obstacle, for sure. It's an issue, it's an ongoing thing and there's new technologies, and ventures, new ways to get around it. Things like that. But, early on when you start up you don't have very much history. It's hard to go out and seek money, because who's gonna hand out money to a new venture that doesn't have any extensive history with, "This is what I've done and turned a profit in the past."

Certainly, being young ... We were very young entrepreneurs, we didn't have any chance to an experience. I think that's a catch 22 where you just keep running around in a circle, "I need to acquire money to grow my company, but I can't grow my company without acquiring money." It's a very difficult to endure.

My company was started with my brother selling his car for $6,000, so ours started with very, very little startup capital. We were able to turn it into something, but it was difficult. The one thing that's tough right now, there's people developing apps nowadays. You can develop an app while sitting on your futon in college or in your dorm room and it could be the next thing that changes technology forever. It doesn't take a large amount of startup.

However, to get people to invest to pass that app to grow it to the next level, they might not take the hand and run with it, because they don't see anything in your history, in your portfolio. That's the problem I feel with apps and new technology nowadays, that you really are taking a big gamble on some of these apps that don't have any history. It could be a large payoff or unfortunately, a flop.

Cassandra Shaw: You make some good points. How can you get capital or funding if you don't have the history and experience? What are some strategies that an entrepreneur can put into place to help overcome those kinds of obstacles?

Danny M.: I think one of the methods that my company Nardo's Natural lives by is, keep it simple. A lot of people get very excited early on, there's a lot of what if factors. "What if we sell this many units? Oh my goodness. We're millionaires." I think you always need to take a step and just observe everything. Just really relax and slowdown, because unfortunately in the beginning you are going to make mistakes, that's what happens.

It's an awful thing, but it's also an exciting thing in business, because you don't know what you're getting involved in. It makes it fun. You're not sure. You're developing your own business plans and making your own platforms, but in that sense you're gonna run into a few walls here and there and you're gonna make a mistake and have to pay for something, because you did it the wrong way.

For example, I put the wrong zip code on my first business card and had to recreate those, and then throw them all out. Little things like that are gonna happen, but again we made about 200 business cards not 10,000. That's just a small example, but I use that in my business world as well for when I'm conducting business. I produce a few units at a time, test the market place ...

I don't sit on pallets in a warehouse and say, "Oh. You know what? I'm gonna sell these one day." I'm gonna wait until there's an opportunity to sell those, and then create those when the demand is there.

Cassandra Shaw: That's a good point. Wait for the opportunity, and then create the product for the demand. How might a young entrepreneur recognize the opportunity?

Danny M.: I think, what it is ... You need to raise awareness and develop the brand. I think the brand is the most important thing. I come from a marketing background, so I hope I don't sound biased in saying that. But, I think you've got to really make the demand very strong. Have the people in the community ... Just start on a small scale. But, asking, and wanting, and begging for whatever it is that you offer.

You can be a landscaping service, but that persons front yard is more attractive than everybody else in the neighborhoods, they're gonna come to you. You can have a skin care product, makes your skin so soft and smooth that they're gonna tell their friends about it. Again, it doesn't start with buying the best machinery to cut that lawn. It just ... Really take your time. Fine tune your craft and those will follow over time. You're really just ...

It's a spiderweb effect. That how our company grew. Have a few people talk about and tell their friends, build that customer loyalty, and then in turn it's gonna help you out in the future.

Cassandra Shaw: I know one of the things that you and your brothers did was get into one of the local hotels and be able to sell your product. Kind of tell a little bit about the steps for that type of strategy.

Danny M.: Absolutely. The interesting thing about how our company began to develop ... This is pre Shark Tank and this is where we saw that we were going to have success one day if we continued to stay down this path. The most important thing to us ... Our plan was free. We didn't have to go out there and have people call a call service, they could speak directly to the people who were making their products.

We thought, "You know what? Let's take advantage of being a small company right now and give our time and energy to the consumer, to the business that was investing in us." Customer service was extremely important at the top of our list and we took care of people on a one on one basis. These larger companies that are out there don't have the opportunities to do that, because they're so large. They can't talk to everybody.

Our first account, The Don CeSar Hotel ... It's a [inaudible 00:05:47] hotel in Saint Pete Beach. Was merely across the street from our home, so we said why not try this local establishment? The reason we got in there into that location was because we learned everybody's name on a first name basis.

We walked in there, said, "Hey. There's that Nardo brothers. They've got an incredible story, they're making products out of their kitchen." We really let everybody know who we were. We gave them the time and attention they deserved as well and they were then rooting us on and wanting to sell our products versus that other item on the shelf.

Cassandra Shaw: Yeah. That's a great story. How can a young entrepreneur stay motivated in the face of obstacles with missing that history or experience? Just in the face of, "No." How can they stay motivated?

Danny M.: The thing about that and one of the wonderful ... I've got a lot of lessons from the Sharks, but one of the wonderful things that Shark Mark Cuban said, "A lot of people have the opportunity to become successful in this world, it's unfortunate that too many give up too soon." I understand exactly he means, because a lot of people hear about the success and things like that, but there are obstacles.

There are hardships, there are times that you're told no, and it's a lot more tempting staring at that daily paycheck, whether you're flipping burgers or going back to your corporate job that you left to try this venture. It is tempting when you're being told no and maybe it can go for a year or three years. It's how long can you hang on until you really understand what you're getting involved in and you understand ...

As I mentioned previously, your craft. Fine tune it just enough that somebody's gonna be interested, because a lot people hear these startup companies and overnight they become a major success, but really they're ... I don't believe in that as much. I think this person had been planning out for years and really fine tuned it. I continue to use that word, because it's really important and it's the same thing that we believe in with my company.

As much as we want to be excited and say, "Oh. I hope this grows." We know how to grow one day, not overnight. It's all about hanging on, not giving up too soon, because really, a lot of people have the opportunity to become successful. It's the ... Separates the ones who do not give up early. Just continue to push forward and keep going.

That's one of the things that we did. We really had a rough time in the beginnings, there was a lot of products being organic and breaking down, are hard to acquire. Consistency in the summer time, the winter time. There's a lot of hardships in an organic skincare line. Could have easily put a chemical in the product to stabilize it, but then that would jeopardize the integrity of our company and we didn't want to do that. We had to really work out a lot of kinks, as any business will.

Cassandra Shaw: Of course, planning is key to help overcome some obstacles. But, can you get an idea about the length of time that a new entrepreneur should plan before they get started?

Danny M.: It really does vary depending upon what the business is, because there's a broad spectrum. But, I like to talk about the services. For example, we owned a spa. In building that customer list to come on into that location and provide them a wonderful spa experience ...

Early on, everybody runs down and maybe bangs down the door on the grand opening that day for the excitement factor, but how do you get that customer to come back? How do you get that customer to ... And then, the product industry use that bottle of moisturizer. And then, it's empty? Choose your business over the thousands of other companies out there?

I think the most important thing is when you preparing early on you really want to make sure whatever I stand by in your mission statement, your business plan you really, really stick to that. I think that's a really great guideline for entrepreneurs. Young entrepreneurs, old entrepreneurs, it doesn't matter if you've been an entrepreneur for 40 plus years. That's the one thing that I've found is consistency is key.

It can be very tempting to want to maybe shave 25 cents on a product or pay someone a little bit less to provide a massage treatment, because they won't charge as much as someone who maybe preforms the job a little bit better. I found that the customer will identify, they will understand that, that's taking place. They'll realize that the product might have been cheapened and they're not gonna come back.

The most important thing is what I mentioned earlier. Is customer loyalty, and then the customer service. I think as long as you pay attention to those people who are the consumers who are providing or giving you money for something you've created, you always to take care of them.

Cassandra Shaw: Danny, how can an entrepreneur plan for the unexpected?

Danny M.: Some days there's ups, some days there's downs. Being an entrepreneur there is no manual, you have to create it yourself. You can have a business plan, but that page is plank when you start your company. That's what makes it fun, it's unexpected. You don't know what's out there, you don't know what your company's gonna turn into, you don't know what direction it's going to go. All you can really do is lay down a solid foundation, and have your ethics, and just build upon that. You're going to test the market place in whatever way you can.

Our company went to a local farmers market, because we really didn't know the direction the products were in, where it was going to lead toward. Was it gonna be a high end line? Was it gonna be something that every household could enjoy? We went to a local market place and just simply asked the consumers, "What do you want? Because, we want to make that for you. Is this going to be an easier mechanism if it has a pump head versus a spray top?" Little things like that.

We had no idea the answers to those questions, so we went out there, we kicked down doors until we found out those answers from the consumes. If you're going to prepare for the unexpected, I just say run with it, because some of it you're not gonna know and you need to just learn over time. The best thing you can do is have a strong mentor. Somebody who's been involved in the industry to help you along the way, because it's okay to make a mistake. Just don't make the same mistake twice.

Cassandra Shaw: I want to go back to one thing you said, was you heard ... I think you said Mark Cuban said it? "People quit too soon."

Danny M.: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Cassandra Shaw: I've heard that so many times before as well. How would someone know if they've exhausted that attempt? Is it a feeling or having the mentor ... How does someone know?

Danny M.: I think ... It goes back to the mentor work. When you have someone there by your side continuing to push along ... I'm in a wonderful position where I'm working with family. I certainly have days where it's difficult or had days where it was difficult and my brothers would pick me up. I would do the same to them when they had maybe a weaker moment or a lapse. I would pull them up and say, "We can do this."

It is really tough when you're completely on your own. One of things I really recommend is working alongside someone you truly trust or having someone involved in the industry that's been around. Whether it was a totally different thing that they did, entrepreneurs all have one thing in common they understand business and the concepts of business in a nutshell.

They're going to be there to give you some guidance from their experience and I think that it's also a little bit of a guiding light. I think when you're by yourself there's no one there on your shoulder to say, "Hey. Get back up, it's okay. You might not have had a sale for an entire year ... " Which, is exactly what happened with my company early on, because we had to do a lot of research, and development, and things like that in our way early stages.

You're hoping you're gonna sell like hotcakes, but you just don't want to give up. As long as you have someone to lean on I think that they can help you stay motivated and stay positive, you're going to be alright. I think not just for that sake, but another person involved in the company may help bring more to the table. The whole, "two heads are better than one" thing. It really is true.

I've had ideas that I thought were incredible and my brother's looking at my going, "You're crazy. That's a terrible idea." Sometimes you need to be put in your place a little bit, because you're just thinking a little too obscure. It just ... Two heads are better than one. I say four, because there are four of us. But, it's something that's really important to get another perspective from one another.

Cassandra Shaw: Again, that's great advice and it's a great note to end our podcast on. I can't believe it's already time. But, I do want to ask if you have any encouraging, final, parting words for our student entrepreneurs?

Danny M.: Yeah. The one thing I could think of is, go on Shark Tank. No. The Shark Tank experience, it was wonderful for my company. A lot of people will say, "Man, I want to go on Shark Tank one day." I guess I just want people to know it's an incredible program, it really helped my company. But, that doesn't mean that, that's the answer.

There are many opportunities to scale your company, your idea, your widget, your concept in this world. If one thing falls through ... If I were to have never made it on the show, that doesn't mean I would have given up and said, "Okay. Let me try something else." There are many other ways to get out there and grow that concept. Some of them haven't even been thought out yet, so be that person who changes things.

Think outside the box and ... I guess the one thing I'd like to say is if we don't change the world, who's going to?

Cassandra Shaw: Great. Thank you, Danny. That was wonderful. Robin, back to you.

Robin Adney: Well, great advice. Hope everyone enjoyed this episode, there's plenty more on the way. Until next time, this Robin Adney. Now, get back to work.

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