Manifest your desired outcome. We did our research and knew that we wanted to partner with Barbara Corcoran. When we got into the tank, we manifested that we would be leaving with a partnered deal.
As a part of our series about the ‘5 Important Business Lessons I Learned While Being On Shark Tank’ I had the pleasure of interviewing Jeremy Carlson.
During a mission in the Czech Republic Jeremy Carlson discovered “dough-licious” ice cream cones and he was inspired to bring this unique ice cream pastry back to the United States. That’s how the idea for Crispy Cones was born. After getting a deal on Shark Tank, Crispy Cones currently has five stores open in the U.S. with plans to open eleven more by the end of 2024.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a bit of the backstory about how you grew up?
My name is Jeremy Carlson and I am the CEO and founder of Crispy Cones. My father was in the military so I grew up living in 9 different places and watching my father lead as a Colonel in the Air Force. My father instilled in me key principles of honesty, kindness, and hard work and a love of God which led me to serving a two-year church mission in the Czech Republic.
Can you share with us the story of the “aha moment” that gave you the idea to start your company?
I’ve always loved business and felt like I was an entrepreneur at heart. While serving my mission in the Czech Republic, I was inspired by their dough making with their traditional dessert called Trdelnik. It wasn’t until I had a literal dream of myself making these pastries that I knew that I needed to bring this concept to the United States and start my own business.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
Building Crispy Cones has been an amazing journey, but the most interesting thing that happened during it was meeting and marrying my wife Kaitlyn after hiring her as my social media manager. We became best friends from working together and got married at the end of 2020. We’ve built this company side by side and brought it to the national stage on ABC’s Shark Tank which was incredible.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Mistakes in business are inevitable. When I first started, I didn’t know much about operating a business. I did so much on my own and started burning out with how much there was to do. I had to learn to delegate responsibilities to other people to take weight off of my shoulders. Through the hiring process, I also learned the importance of hiring the right person for the job by hiring slow and firing fast.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
We are about to release a new Kiosk software for our franchisees that we are very excited about. Using kiosks has increased our ticket sales by 60% and helps our franchisees with reduced labor costs by not needing to have someone running the cash register. This new software will also be available for other restaurants and food service businesses to use to help their stores as well.
Ok, thank you for all that. Let’s now move to the main part of our interview. Many of us have no idea about the backend process of how to apply and get accepted to be on Shark Tank. Can you tell us the story of how you applied and got accepted? What “hoops” did you have to go through to get there? How did it feel to be accepted?
My wife and I first applied for Shark Tank through their website application in January 2022. We had loved watching the show and after watching an episode, we thought, “What is the difference between us and those people going on the show?” A month after we submitted our application, we heard back from a producer who wanted to learn more about us and our company. From there, the producers just kept moving us further through the process until we finally got chosen to pitch in front of the Sharks in the tank. It felt amazing to be selected out of the thousands of people who apply each year.
I’m sure the actual presentation was pretty nerve-wracking. What did you do to calm and steel yourself to do such a great job on the show?
We practiced and rehearsed our pitch for months prior to entering the tank to the point that it was muscle memory. We also knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and didn’t want to forget to have fun. We knew the ins and outs of the business so our confidence on the show reflected that.
So what was the outcome of your Shark Tank pitch? Were you pleased with the outcome?
We left the tank with a $200,000 deal with Barbara Corcoran for 20% of our company. We were very pleased with the outcome as we went into the tank wanting to secure a deal with Barbara.
What are your “5 Important Business Lessons I Learned While Being On The Shark Tank”? (Please share a story or example for each.)
1. Manifest your desired outcome. We did our research and knew that we wanted to partner with Barbara Corcoran. When we got into the tank, we manifested that we would be leaving with a partnered deal.
2. Be prepared. It’s important to know all of the ins and outs of your business from IPs to specific sales numbers because you never know what the Sharks are going to ask you.
3. Be confident. It’s not uncommon for the Sharks to make their decision of if they are going to invest or not just by the first impression you give them. Be confident in your presentation and “fake it til’ you make it.”
4. Turn negatives to positives. Your business most likely isn’t in a perfect state, which is why you are seeking investment or mentorship from a Shark. As you share areas of your business that you might not be proud of (low sales, not enough employees, etc.), make it into a positive situation by sharing the great potential of the business if that problem was solved.
5. Have fun! Going on Shark Tank is a once in a lifetime experience. Don’t forget to soak it all in and have fun while sharing your product/business.
What advice would you give to other leaders to help their team to thrive and avoid burnout?
My advice stems from the mistake I shared earlier. Delegate tasks and learn to trust your team members.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
If I could inspire a movement, I would inspire a movement of service. I dedicated two years of my life to serving others and it changed how I live my life and run my business. If everyone focused less on themselves and more on helping others, the world would be a better place.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My favorite quote is:
“Engaging in activities devoid of difficulty, lounging in risk-free zones, is life without great meaning” Jon Huntsman Sr. This quote encourages me to always work hard and to never become stagnant in life.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
I would love to have lunch with Patrick Mahomes. I am inspired by his hard work and character on and off the football field.
Jeremy Carlson of Crispy Cones: 5 Important Business Lessons I Learned While Being On Shark Tank was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.