Shark Tank's Daymond John Gives His Top Business Tips

The FUBU groundbreaker shares his advice for success.

Great Biz Shark - Daymond John, star of ABC's hit reality series Shark Tank, is an industry pioneer in the business world. Over the past two decades the FUBU creator evolved from a fashion icon to a marketing leader, author and motivational speaker. As Shark Tank bites into its sixth season, John checked in with BET.com to share key moments from his successful career and best of all — his top business tips. By Ronke Idowu Reeves

1 / 9

Great Biz Shark - Daymond John, star of ABC's hit reality series Shark Tank, is an industry pioneer in the business world. Over the past two decades the FUBU creator evolved from a fashion icon to a marketing leader, author and motivational speaker. As Shark Tank bites into its sixth season, John checked in with BET.com to share key moments from his successful career and best of all — his top business tips. By Ronke Idowu Reeves

A Mentor Matters - "I think the bottom line is we all need mentors. My mother mentored me. My mom was my main supporter. She was the person who educated me from the age of 6 that my day job is just going to pay me, but my night job will make me rich. My mother was the one to tell me to do everything that I love. "

2 / 9

A Mentor Matters - "I think the bottom line is we all need mentors. My mother mentored me. My mom was my main supporter. She was the person who educated me from the age of 6 that my day job is just going to pay me, but my night job will make me rich. My mother was the one to tell me to do everything that I love. "

17. FUBU - Truth be told, you probably haven't forgotten about this brand. FUBU didn't just embody hip hop, it embodied being successful, black and stylish at a time that many of the brands were being produced by music artists. The founder, Daymond John, is probably best known for being on the series Shark Tank these days, but his credentials go back to making FUBU one of the premier lifestyle brands in the late '90s. The brand's acronym stood for For Us, By Us, and had clothing collaborations with the likes of the New York Knicks and the Harlem Globetrotters in its prime. And did we mention these collaorations were sold in major department stores? Fun Fact: LL Cool J was frequently in ads for the brand and even managed to shout them out in an ad he did for The GAP (yes, you read that correctly) back in the day.  (Photo: FUBU)

3 / 9

The Right Contacts - "FUBU was aligned with two amazing brands at the same time. We did the biggest deal that any private corporation ever did with Vibe magazine. We gave that publication its first $1 million check. And we did the first biggest deal of any private company with BET when we brought over $2 million dollars in advertising. Those $2 million on BET was worth $20 million dollars. We attribute BET, VIBE and LL Cool J for our success." (Photo: Fubu)

Fulfill a Need - "Find your voice and the passion you love. When you’re talking to people, especially when you do social media, find a way to convert that to sales. If you’re a mom-preneur and you’re selling something, go into the mom-preneur scene and talk to other mothers. Tell them, 'Hey I’m selling this, I know it satisfies a need.' And sell it to them."

4 / 9

Fulfill a Need - "Find your voice and the passion you love. When you’re talking to people, especially when you do social media, find a way to convert that to sales. If you’re a mom-preneur and you’re selling something, go into the mom-preneur scene and talk to other mothers. Tell them, 'Hey I’m selling this, I know it satisfies a need.' And sell it to them."

Love Lesson - "Find something you are absolutely obsessed about and love. Because even if you don’t succeed, in monetary success, you will still have an amazing time. Here’s an example. Suppose you run a pet shop because you just love pets and the joy they bring to people's lives. Then, what if you go out of business in 10 years. You’ll never say, “I hated what I was doing.” Also, educate yourself in your industry and take affordable next steps. Don’t mortgage the house. Start and sell one, then go back and sell two." (Photo: Chris Clark/MLIVE.COM /Landov)

5 / 9

Love Lesson - "Find something you are absolutely obsessed about and love. Because even if you don’t succeed, in monetary success, you will still have an amazing time. Here’s an example. Suppose you run a pet shop because you just love pets and the joy they bring to people's lives. Then, what if you go out of business in 10 years. You’ll never say, “I hated what I was doing.” Also, educate yourself in your industry and take affordable next steps. Don’t mortgage the house. Start and sell one, then go back and sell two." (Photo: Chris Clark/MLIVE.COM /Landov)

ADVERTISEMENT
Wealthy Tip - "After we’ve made it, we always look at how do you save it? How do you save on taxes, and I’m not talking about cheating on taxes. But how do you make the best financial decisions on your credit score and interest rates? Don’t get something at 8 percent interest rate, get it at 3 percent. Don’t pay off your main house because you really want the tax write-off, the interest of your main home. It’s really hard to make money, but it’s 10 times harder to keep it." (Photo: Adam Bettcher/Getty Images for Starkey Hearing Foundation)

6 / 9

Wealthy Tip - "After we’ve made it, we always look at how do you save it? How do you save on taxes, and I’m not talking about cheating on taxes. But how do you make the best financial decisions on your credit score and interest rates? Don’t get something at 8 percent interest rate, get it at 3 percent. Don’t pay off your main house because you really want the tax write-off, the interest of your main home. It’s really hard to make money, but it’s 10 times harder to keep it." (Photo: Adam Bettcher/Getty Images for Starkey Hearing Foundation)

Inside Shark Tank: - "Shark Tank is just starting to get noticed. There’s an entire new group of people that are becoming entrepreneurs from their computers, their Twitter and Facebook pages. They’re making millions of dollars at home and they are realizing a lot of tricks of the trades. They are also realizing what they could do better. Fifty percent of the millennials said they’d never work for anybody in their lifetime. I think Shark Tank is a great beginning platform and introduction to what business is." (Photo: PA PHOTOS /LANDOV)

7 / 9

Inside Shark Tank: - "Shark Tank is just starting to get noticed. There’s an entire new group of people that are becoming entrepreneurs from their computers, their Twitter and Facebook pages. They’re making millions of dollars at home and they are realizing a lot of tricks of the trades. They are also realizing what they could do better. Fifty percent of the millennials said they’d never work for anybody in their lifetime. I think Shark Tank is a great beginning platform and introduction to what business is." (Photo: PA PHOTOS /LANDOV)

Shark Tank Fundamental - "You can never predict the outcome because you don’t know if someone is going to get the deal or not. And if they get the deal, you don’t know if they’re going to be successful. And often when they don’t get a deal, they go out and prove us wrong. You’ll always learn the fundamentals of business when you watch Shark Tank and you’ll see how important it is that that person executed it to his or her plan." (Photo: Gus Ruelas/Reuters/Corbis)

8 / 9

Shark Tank Fundamental - "You can never predict the outcome because you don’t know if someone is going to get the deal or not. And if they get the deal, you don’t know if they’re going to be successful. And often when they don’t get a deal, they go out and prove us wrong. You’ll always learn the fundamentals of business when you watch Shark Tank and you’ll see how important it is that that person executed it to his or her plan." (Photo: Gus Ruelas/Reuters/Corbis)

Daymond's To-Do List: - "I’ll be managing and dealing with the Shark Tank companies for the next 20 years as well as my companies; my apparel and other brands. I’m getting into more charitable work, like taking illegal guns off the street and helping kids with literacy because I’m dyslexic. I let kids know it’s not a disability. Four out of the six sharks on Shark Tank are dyslexic. It’s a learning advantage if you look at it in certain ways. Ultimately, I want to continue to educate the public and kids on how they can become businessmen and women." (Photo: Robert Pitts /Landov)

9 / 9

Daymond's To-Do List: - "I’ll be managing and dealing with the Shark Tank companies for the next 20 years as well as my companies; my apparel and other brands. I’m getting into more charitable work, like taking illegal guns off the street and helping kids with literacy because I’m dyslexic. I let kids know it’s not a disability. Four out of the six sharks on Shark Tank are dyslexic. It’s a learning advantage if you look at it in certain ways. Ultimately, I want to continue to educate the public and kids on how they can become businessmen and women." (Photo: Robert Pitts /Landov)