How to Help Small Businesses During COVID-19 | Ask Mr. Wonderful #22 Kevin O'Leary & Maria Sharapova

I Mr. Wonderful here, and welcome to another episode of Ask Mr. Wonderful. Now, you know what I love to do time to time is to invite a guest onto the show to help me answer all of your questions. I'm always amazed by how many questions we get and where we get them from, all around the world.

Let me tell you about this special guest for this week. I think you're really going to enjoy her: Maria Sharapova. She won Wimbledon when she was 17. She's renowned all around the world as a tennis star. Really, to win Wimbledon at that age obviously sets you apart from your peers, and it's a remarkable time to become world famous. But there are many, many athletes out there that have achieved great things, and I respect all of them. They do deals; they endorse products and services, but very, very few ever become operators in business. They use their name to help products, but to actually operate a business, that's really hard to do.

I met Maria on the set of Shark Tank. She came on as a guest, and I was really impressed. I mean, you know I cut the guest sharks a lot of slack, but once we get going into deals, they're just another competitor. She was sharp; she was very sharp. I learned later that she's actually a CEO. I thought that she'd endorsed a sugar company or a confectionary company called Sugar Povich—she just lent her name to it—no, no, no, no. She's the CEO; she's the operator. She deals with it; it takes up 70% of her day, and that is really hard to do.

So, that's when I said, "Okay, this is different. This is not the typical athlete. This is someone who made the transition to entrepreneurship and then into business leadership and all the trials and tribulations associated with running a company." It's hard to do; it's hard on a good day to do it, and let alone with all the challenges retail is having today, etc. So, it's wonderful to bring her on to the show. I think you're gonna really enjoy her insights, her Shark Tank experience, and of course, answering your questions.

Alright, let's go. Here we go with Maria.

"Oh yeah, how are ya?"

"Just I'm just setting up the cameras in front of there in one second. Okay, where are you?"

"In length?"

"No, like I'm in Miami."

"Okay, it's a ghost down here."

"I'm same here; I'm not surprised. What a mess. Would you go in walks or what's your...?"

"I've been pretty freaked out, so I haven't done anything yet. I just took the liberty of a bicycle."

"Alright, I'm gonna take the cruise because I'm really getting out of my mind. I've been here ten days now."

"Alright, I'm doing all the television stuff remotely, mostly with Zoom. Like, you know networks are using Zoom now. I think Damon and I are doing Good Morning America."

"Hey, you got a train; you got to turn your camera."

"Okay, oh you've got the background and everything."

"Yeah, listen, you got to jazz it up a little bit."

"Do you really?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"Well, yours looks sort of Nouveau kind of architectural, you know?"

"Yeah, Maria, so glad to have you on the show, really appreciate it. I have to ask you, but I've got lots—well, I've got questions from all around the world which I want you to answer. We're gonna get to those, but there's a few things I want to ask you about right now: your Shark Tank experience. I mean, first of all, what got you into business? Because come on, you're a professional athlete. Very few of them are successful in business."

"Yeah, there's a few, but not many—they never get the training because their youth is spent, you know, learning their craft as an athlete. When did you make that transition?"

"So, I think as an athlete I was always very scared of being one-dimensional because from a very young age what I did was very one-dimensional. My craft was very singular; I always had horse blinders on; it was just one way, right? I would wake up; I would train for hours, and I would already be thinking about the next day and the next tournament. Although that was my path, and I loved that—I loved competing—I was always aware of the fact that tennis wasn't just a sport, that it was a business. Little by little, as I started working with blue chip brands, whether it was Nike or TAG Heuer or Evian, I started learning, like, the education process. You know, at first as part of advertisements, then I started working on the creative, then it was the marketing, and as I was going through these paths meeting different people, I realized that I wanted a little bit more decision-making. I didn't just want to be like a face of something or a brand using my name. So, when those big contracts were coming in—"

"What age were you?"

"I was a teenager."

"Your kite?"

"Yes, I won Wimbledon when I was 17, and that's when I knew. I had this theory that it was more than just a sport, but after that, I realized that there is a lot of business involved. So once you win Wimbledon, that is brand right there for the rest of your life because zero percent of the population—point zero zero zero zero one—ever get near that, and there you win it at 17. Remarkable brands start approaching you, saying, 'Look, you know, start endorsing us.' Your agent obviously is working those deals for you. The world didn't really know you 'til then; they didn't know what your personality was; they didn't know if you were nuts, if you were crazy."

"Well, the first thing I'd say is my family moved to the United States from Russia with $700. So, at that point when contracts were coming in and I was being paid to be the face of a brand, it was very exciting, right? It gave us financial freedom to travel around the world and not be dependent on that money maybe from a sponsorship or from an IMG, which was managing me and has been from that time. It really gave us, like, just a little bit more freedom. As I started accumulating those years of being, you know, top 5 in the world, it certainly brought me financial security. And from that point on, deal-making and the strategy behind deal-making became very different because instead of just being a face, I actually had an opportunity to be an investor, and that's when I really started understanding business. You know what a VC is, you know who's Mr. Wonderful, who's putting in that money."

"And I actually grew up watching Shark Tank because my business mind started rolling, and part of my education was while I was on the road and getting treatments and massages at the end of practice or a match, I'd be on my computer watching those shows in the background. So my mind was always turning. A lot of people want to be on Shark Tank, but to be frank with you, the producers want investors; they want people that understand the process of evaluating a deal, valuations, structure, all that stuff, which is why most athletes don't get on Shark Tank. Somewhere along the way, you convinced them that you really were an investor, and I must be honest with you—and I don't say this all the time—you were pretty good on Shark Tank. You were impressive because you weren't—and I wanted to ask you about that experience because you actually said no to people, and most guests don't have the guts or the cojones to do that. They want to be nice to everybody, but you were really not so nice, which I really liked. So talk to me about the experience—all the questions I have half of them are—ask her what it was like to be on Shark Tank, to tell us about the process. What happens? 'Cause we don't know, and Sharks, how do they bring you in? You just show up one day, and then we shake your hand?"

"Well, it starts a long way out. I think before we shot the episode, I went into a meeting with the producers and the editors and Sony and basically was interviewed for the job. They were trying to figure out if you had the chops, right? If you understood?"

"Yeah."

"And I think it was everyone that's on the show, you have to have a feeling that not only do you love the show but you're part of the show. And so, it's more like to even know what the show is about because I can imagine that maybe some don't. And I knew the ins and outs. I was okay on that; I was slightly worried on some, like, the technical business terms, but I surprised myself on the show. I felt like I knew most of it. What I loved about the show is how real it gelled. I think we had eight pitches that day, and at the end of the day it was like cotton. I was like, 'Wait, I want more! Look good, keep going!' But I want to let you in on a little secret, man, just so you know this: after the niceties are over, when you come in, you take your seat, about five minutes later, we don't give a [__] about you anymore for yourself. It's alright. I think it makes it real because it is. And I think it's important for the person that's trying to sell their deal to understand you're engaged, which you work."

"I wanted to ask you a back to your professional career. You recently retired from tennis, and I've got a plethora of questions, and basically the theme of them is this: When do you know it's your time? It's about how do you know if your whole life has been, you know, won Wimbledon? You have been a professional known globally; your brand is known all around the world. It must be a [__] to make that call."

"It really is. And it was one of the most difficult decisions I've had to make and for a few reasons. One, because a huge part of me—all of me—like, still loves the sport and loves playing. And it was really my escape. No matter what was happening in my life, whether it was good, it was bad, it was medium, I would go on the court and all those thoughts would disappear. I wouldn't think about anything but being in the present, right? Because if I wasn't in the present, I wouldn't perform well; I wouldn't feel good. But it was time for my body, and I think my body made that decision. In the last couple of years, it was a real struggle for my shoulder, and getting to a tournament and stepping out on the court felt like a victory. And I've been doing this for way too long to feel like that was a victory. I wanted the victory to be holding trophies, and that's always been my competitive edge. And that's when the body was like, 'This is it; it's almost not fun,' right? Because you train and you love the work and effort you're putting in to go and get through the quarters and the finals and work your way through your body, in your mind, and I wasn't able to do that anymore."

"Today, if you're moving up, you've got that fan base, you're building a brand, you're creating value, it's got a dark side, but it also has a huge benefit, doesn't it?"

"I prefer building a brand by being a champion. So if anyone gives me that choice, I prefer the results and doing the work and not talking about the work to be your pillar. And now you have both options, which I think is beneficial. Building a brand is a very, you know, in today's world, in society, it can mean so many things. It can mean something that's slightly phony unless you make it really authentic, but the true value of an athlete and the core is very much result-oriented because that is sport, right? It's emotional and it's entertaining, but at the end of the day, it's win or lose. And in tennis, because it's so individual, there's a match point. There's that, and there's so much more to it, and the feeling of winning is unlike anything that you can experience in another profession, which is the beauty of it all."

"Alright, let's start some questions. I've got questions from all around the world; they're interested in your insights. Let's go to the first one here. This is Katie. Listen to Katie."

"I'm sure you can hear her. So, because all roads lead back to Mr. Wonderful, I can't tell I watched Shark Tank a lot. I want to ask you about how to help smaller businesses. My husband and I came up with a proposal, but because we aren't in business yet, we were hoping you could offer us some words of wisdom. I keep hearing stories every day about businesses that are closing their doors because they don't have the cash reserves to handle a crisis of this magnitude. And even if we get stimulus checks, it won't help businesses as people avoid public places like bookstores and restaurants. So, the businesses that are able to get loans, I wonder if that would be to carry them through, especially because I don't believe that spending is going to skyrocket once life goes back to normal. Relatively speaking, in America, consumer spending accounted for roughly 58 percent of the GDP last year, and I think it's safe to say that that's not going to happen this year, and the GDP will shrink. Do you have any thoughts as to how we can try to cope, businesses on a larger scale, other than buying discards?"

"Morean; it's a bunch of questions in there, but this is really—this is a very intuitive series of questions because obviously there's an entrepreneur in Katy somewhere, but she's really scared in this current environment. Let's start with the back end where she said, 'Do you think it'll be the same ever again for retail, for consumer buying behaviors?' What do you think is gonna happen with this whole virus thing?"

"And I think hopefully be doing it in the next few—unless we're in full quarantine, as we cook a meal or two at home, breakfast and dinner, but lunch, we do pick up. So, all the restaurants that are in our community that we've eaten at for years with my family and my friends, we pick up, and that's how I've been trying to support them. I live by the beach; I'm driving up Pacific Coast Highway; I've been going to Felix a couple of times a week. It's one of my favorite restaurants; the chef, he's there seven days a week right now doing pick up and take away. So, I've been trying to support as much as I can. There's a local coffee shop that I'm getting gift certificates for, so I'm trying to play my part, but I'm utilizing this time to really spend with my family."

"Let's get a question here from Steve; listen to this one."

"Thanks for taking the time to take my question. I'm in from Ireland. Ten years ago, I set up a tea company. Six years ago, the first few years were very tough, and they challenged me. However, if you look, I'm in a bit of limbo now, and my sales are between $200 and $300 thousand a year, with a net margin of about 70%. However, I just don't feel challenged as much anymore and aggravate $500 thousand in cash in the bank in the business, and I happily live off the modest paycheck that I pay myself, and so everything runs quite easily. I'm a one-man band, and I don't have to put a lot of time into the business anymore, so things are good, but they're not great. I just don't know what to do next. I do put—and I do put all free cash—do I put all my free cash back into the business, or do I start something else? And I know I don't have enough to fully retire or relax to be secure about my future, but it seems like the business has just found its place and runs as is. What's your advice on my next move?"

"Also, after reading a book, I'm wondering if you ever made it to Ireland?"

"Oh yeah, here's a guy on his own; used, obviously, did a direct-to-consumer business, has half a million dollars in the bank, and he's bored."

"First thing you need is a shift in the attitude. Just by listening to that voice note, I feel like there's no spark; there's no energy. You're not proud of what you're creating; you're not excited about what you're doing. In order to make something great, you need the steps toward greatness, and that starts with the attitude that you have. So, no matter what you're doing, no matter how much money it's getting you, you've got to love it, right? There's gonna be the ups and downs, and you're gonna go through all the challenges, and you're not gonna love it all the time, but you have to be excited about building something."

"You'd agree?"

"Yeah, I totally agree. I'm quite amazed because, you know, although the hard work his studies created a business, it's generating a living; he's got half a million bucks in retained earnings. There are a million people that would die for that opportunity that never get that success. He—"

"I totally agree with you. He's gotta really look himself in the mirror and say, 'I've got to motivate myself or do something else.' I mean, he could do something else; obviously, he's successful."

"I'll answer the last part of his question: Yes, Steve, I got to Ireland to visit my father's grave in Malachi, and what an experience that was. There's not a lot of room for anybody to be buried there anymore, so it was a really small gravesite, but it was wonderful to go back to the homeland."

"But thanks for that question. 70%—I mean, it's phenomenal. I'm just licking my chops thinking to myself, 'Maybe I should buy the business off him.' It's ridiculous; it's crazy."

"Alright, we have another one here. This is from Alex. Let's hear Alex."

"Here we go: People often say that if they just had more money, they would work less. And yet, I've noticed that a lot of extremely wealthy people work many, many, many hours, sometimes even more hours than they did before they became rich. Why is that?"

"If there was ever a question for you, Maria, this is it. I mean, what would motivate you after you're filthy rich to work?"

"Having the passion and being curious to know how much more, to which level I could take it to. How much better could I get? Is that it? Is there more in me? I tried retiring. I retired for three years, and I visited every beach on earth. I decided that was my mandate; I wanted to try it. The ones in Vietnam, Cambodia—all these beautiful places—and I was bored shitless. I just couldn't believe how boring that is and how meaningless and listless you become. I just want to be in the game; I just want to compete. I mean, I don't need more money; I want to keep what I have, obviously, but I like to compete. And you know what? It kind of—it’s a full circle back to Shark Tank. I see myself and those people on the carpet, as I'm sure you see some of when you were watching them—they remind you of earlier years when you had that hunger and you didn't have anything yet, and you want to help them. Sometimes, if the valuation's right, you know it's perfect. But it's kind of like—it's a great question to end on because that is the motivation of life; it's the pursuit of something that gives you meaning. And, you know, for you, you got to answer this now: Tennis is over. What's going to be the new Maria? What are you gonna do for the next 10 years? What's the game plan for you?"

"Well, I've been running a candy company for six, seven years now, so I'm no—"

"But we all know it, sure."

"Right, so I'm in the day-to-day of it. I'm in the daily decisions; I'm on conference calls for the last two weeks, six to eight hours a day with teams, with manufacturers, retailers that are some of the ones that are going through the tough challenges right now. So, I'm in it. I'm the CEO and running the entire business, so that takes a majority of my time. I love architecture actually, so that's a passion of mine, and I'm breaking ground on a really cool health and wellness project in a few months. So there are a few things that I'm certainly passionate about, but they're very business-oriented."

"So, Sugar Povich, 60% of your day, would you say?"

"70% probably."

"Well then, let's drill into that just a little bit before we go. Retail, retail—I mean, you know, I just had twenty-two of my companies on a Zoom yesterday talking about the complete collapse of retail revenue."

"Sugar Povich, you have a lot of sales in retail, right? What's the game plan?"

"Well, because candy and sweets and snacks is very much probably like an 86 percent impulse purchase, we’re relying on someone going to the stores for their rice or for something else and picking up the packaging on their way out or a checkout. So, that's how our category works."

"That's not good news, Maria."

"That's not good. Yes, we haven't seen a drop in sales in the last month, which is a good sign, but who knows what's gonna happen? Retailers are closed; they're closed now—there's zero traffic."

"Well, some of the ones that are still open…”

"Right, so the grocery—"

"You're in this; you're in the channels where they're necessity—the food channels, right?"

"Yes, the food channels. Right. How are you ever lucky, right?"

"So, the one that's taken a huge hit is Hudson News, which is an airport store we have in over five hundred stores across the nation. So, that's taken a huge hit; that's one of our largest accounts. So, I'd say, when someone is in that position such as I am, it goes back to: there's nothing you can do right now. Alright? There's nothing. What you can do is make it personal because we're all in this together. You call up the people that are working there; you understand their problems; you figure out how you can help. Just this week, we did a little social media campaign called 'A Little Act of Kindness.' We sent a hundred boxes so a friend could nominate their parents or their other friends or doctors or nurses that are on the front lines of all of this. So we just sent out a hundred free packages to hospitals all around the country. So, it's doing little things like this. Yes, we're losing a huge account at the moment, but we'll get that back. People are gonna travel again; I have full confidence in that. We have to make sure we have the right inventory at the right time and working with all these retailers on a much personal level because, as we all know, this is a time where we're all in this together."

"Yeah, thank you so much for your time today; incredible insights! What a transition: athlete to CEO. I mean, look, I don't get pressed very often, but I'm impressed."

"Thanks; it was absolutely wonderful. Thank you, Lucy."

"Yes, yes, I'm hoping we'll see you there. That's terrific. Take care!"

"Oh, where do you think an episode—well, you know that your episode was up forty percent?"

"You're over weird?"

"Yeah, it's pretty interesting what's going on. Jason, I'm on a show in America on Fridays now, so let me just start recording this."

"Oh, it is recording? Okay, good, we're all set then. Alright, take my glasses off; everything seems to be working so fast, so good. Yeah, you know, I just miss a checklist at all; this shipment has to be on my cleat. One last adjustment; I wanna see that wall head to the brain."