Robert Herjavec’s top 5 tips for building a profitable business

Robert Herjavec never wanted to start a business, he revealed to his 2 million LinkedIn followers—he just didn’t want to be poor.

At eight years old, Herjavec left Communist Yugoslavia. His father had been jailed numerous times for speaking out against the government, and so in 1970, his family fled the country, arriving in Canada with only $20 and a single suitcase to their name.

Through sheer determination, they created a new life.

As Herjavec grew up, he knew he needed to work hard, so he took on a series of minimum-wage jobs, including waiting tables and delivering newspapers, that would shape the mindset that fueled not one but multiple successful technology ventures, as well as amass hundreds of millions in net wealth.

Herjavec founded his first internet security firm, BRAK Systems, from his basement in 1990. He sold it to AT&T Canada for $30 million in 2000. He then went on to build his second firm, The Herjavec Group, into a cybersecurity powerhouse that generates more than $200 million in annual revenues. Today, he’s widely known for his longstanding role on ABC’s Shark Tank, where he mentors and invests in a variety of startups.

@realrobertherjavec

Control of oneself is the primary building block for any great endeavor. You are the foundation, if you crumble, so will everything you build. ♬ original sound - Robert Herjavec - Robert Herjavec

Why is Robert Herjavec influential?

Herjavec reaches millions of people across TV and social media platforms, as well as motivational speaking engagements worldwide, demystifying what it takes to be an entrepreneur and inspiring new generations of founders along the way.

Related: Robert Herjavec’s net worth & biggest ‘Shark Tank’ deals

His journey from immigrant with little more than hope to his name to popular entrepreneur and cybersecurity expert isn’t only inspiring—he also makes a point to share what he’s learned so that he can help others succeed, too.

Robert Herjavec’s top 5 business-building tips

Here are five of Herjavec’s handiest tips for those seeking to build a successful business:

1. Believe in yourself above all

Every successful venture, Herjavec says, is rooted in self-worth (and conversely, he believes any problems you are having with your business usually have to do with problems in your personal life).

Long before your new idea gains traction or attracts investors, founders must carry the weight of their own convictions. As Herjavec shared on Instagram, “Being the smartest guy in the room without believing in yourself is worthless.”

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And he’s proven it. After he graduated from the University of Toronto, Herjavec applied for a sales position at Logiquest. While he wasn’t actually qualified to sell IBM mainframes, he convinced the founder to bring him on for 6 months without pay to prove his worth. His bet paid off, and Herjavec quickly moved up the company’s ranks, eventually becoming Logiquest’s general manager.

In business, self-confidence shapes how entrepreneurs present themselves to customers, negotiate with others, and even handle the inevitable setbacks that come with building a company. It could also spell the difference between being able to recover from a setback—or not.

2. Create saleable ideas

Passion alone does not lead to success, which is why Herjavec reiterates the importance of traction, or testing your idea with the public to see if it will resonate before rolling it out to the masses. He warns entrepreneurs against believing too fully in the encouragement from their friends, noting that just because they like an idea doesn’t necessarily mean they will buy it.

On Shark Tank, Herjavec makes sure that founders build genuine connections with their customers as well as enjoy sustained demand. One example of this is with Tipsy Elves, the holiday-themed apparel company. The founders proved to Herjavec, through revenue, margin, and cash flow metrics, that their business idea was more than just a good concept, and so Herjavec invested $100,000 in the company.

As for Tipsy Elves? It went on to generate more than $100 million in sales.

3. Learn how to sell

Few things are more important to Herjavec than sales. Regardless of industry, he believes revenue is the ultimate validator of success. As he told Fox Business, “Sales cures all.”

From his earliest days waiting tables, Herjavec learned valuable lessons about customer management when he had to handle difficult people with grace.

Related: Robert Herjavec’s financial wisdom: The ‘Shark Tank’ star’s 4 takeaways for investors

He also shared something unforgettable he learned from Warren Avis, the founder of Avis Rent-a-Car, who once pointed down from his office window to a man selling hot dogs on the street: He told Herjavec to stop pushing products like a hot dog vendor and instead to consider things from the customer’s perspective. From then on, Herjavec started to view sales as a form of connection instead of merely a transaction.

4. Learn to let go

One of the hardest lessons for a founder to learn is when to step back. In the early days of your business, you often handle everything yourself. But you become a bottleneck if your business grows and you’re still trying to juggle everything solo. Herjavec captures this sentiment perfectly when he says, “The tighter your grip, the slower you grow.”

Scaling a business requires a completely different approach—and often hiring new people to handle tasks that founders previously did. Herjavec advocates hiring people who are smarter than you so you can shift your focus from daily operations to more long-term strategy and vision. Herjavec’s own companies scaled successfully because he learned when to step back and lead through others.

5. Treat failure like ‘data’

Let’s face it, not every idea an entrepreneur has will be a home run. Failure is an unavoidable part of any profession, and Herjavec has spoken openly about his setbacks, including initially dropping out of college.

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Rather than viewing failure as something to fear, however, Herjavec sees it as a critical learning tool, summed by his statement: “Failure is just a lesson, not a life sentence.”

This perspective encourages entrepreneurs not to beat themselves up over their mistakes, glean lessons where they can, and to always move forward. That way, your setbacks can lead to resilience, and even growth as, so often, setbacks precede breakthroughs.

What is Robert Herjavec’s net worth?

Robert Herjavec has an estimated net worth of between $300 and $600 million in 2025.

His wealth stems from the cybersecurity firms he’s founded (and sold), his investments made on Shark Tank, and his speaking engagements. In addition, he has written three bestselling books: Driven (2010), The Will to Win: Leading, Competing, Succeeding (2013), and You Don’t Have to Be a Shark: Creating Your Own Success (2016).

An entrepreneur’s take on Robert Herjavec’s advice

As a business owner of 15 years, so much of Herjavec’s advice resonates. After experiencing wage inequity, I left my corporate job as a marketing executive to start my own business, Paisley Green, LLC. I wanted the freedom to take on interesting writing assignments as well as to use my marketing skills in a more meaningful way: helping nonprofits grow new audiences so that they could do “more good.”

Like Herjavec said, believing in myself was essential those first few months. Not having the safety net of a steady paycheck was equal parts terrifying and exhilarating—until I reframed things mentally to feel more like a challenge. I’m a pretty competitive person, and so every year, I competed with myself and the numbers from my previous year to see if I could generate more revenue than the last (it worked).

But sometimes, you go so far out on a limb that you don’t even realize that you’re flying. My earliest clients—who I worked so hard to secure—soon became my longest-term relationships; they led to referrals and even more business than I could handle. Then new pathways in other industries, like higher education, opened up—I couldn’t believe it when I was invited to teach my first course sharing my experiences. 

And so, I agree with Herjavec on every one of his principles—except the one about letting go and scaling up. As a micro-business owner, I enjoy the flexibility to take on projects I want and only work for clients I respect—and who respect me in turn.

Success doesn’t always equal a ballooning bottom line; it can often be shown through more qualitative metrics, like happiness. I’m grateful that I took the unconventional path even when others told me I was crazy, and to anyone else out there who has a dream, I wholeheartedly encourage you to follow it.