Life is very simple if you just stick by the rule that, “If you want it, get it”. Do whatever it takes to achieve your goal. Work hard daily and make your dreams come true. Want to get inspired? Read on the article for it. Jamie Ratner knew for a fact that whatever will happen in the next hours will change her life forever. She was on the ABC reality TV show Shark Tank, in which budding entrepreneurs pitch their businesses to investors known on the show as “sharks”. Ratner started a startup “CertifiKID” which is a website that offers coupons for camps, classes, and activities for children and their families. She came to the show asking for $600,000 in exchange for 8 percent equity in her company.
“Walking in was really nerve-wracking. There are no do-overs, they never stop the cameras, and there are so many questions,” says Ratner, who graduated from the Northeastern University in 2001 with a master’s degree in security management. “We were in there for about an hour, but once I got comfortable it became fun.”
Everyone there was quite impressed with Ratner’s success as her company has scored over $30 million in sales. The website has over 1 million subscribers and offers deals in 12 different US cities. However, Kevin O’ Leary who is also known as “Mr. Wonderful” at the show seemed open to negotiation and successfully made a deal with them at the cost of 19% share in the company. It took a lot of effort to score a deal with Kevin but Ratner and her husband who is her partner didn’t lose hope. They wanted it and they got it.
The idea came to Ratner while she was enjoying finding bargains online using websites like Groupon and she realised that were no discount for family activities. With two children of her own, she realised that this might be the desire of every mom out there. Thus, Ratner created CertifiKID and within a month it became her full-time job.
Ratner says she hopes to expand her company to cover 20 different U.S. cities.
“I think the ultimate goal is to try to have a presence in 20 different cities the way we do in Baltimore and Washington, our strongest locations,” Ratner says. “We want to keep making a real impact for families and business owners.”
Ratner’s story is much to be get inspired of and never forget that if you want it then do everything you can to get it.
Priyanka Rawat
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