Two years after the Shark Tank television appearance that catapulted fledgling Oronoco, Minnesota, startup Busy Baby onto a national stage, founder and president Beth Fynbo has built her business to $5 million in annual sales, but continues to navigate the inevitable growing pains: social media algorithms that make it challenging to reach her demographic, manufacturing costs, staffing needs, and adding new products without overshadowing the original, a silicone activity mat designed to keep toys from falling. An army veteran who left a corporate job after 40 to start her company, Fynbo shares her Shark Tank experience, and the highs and lows that have followed, on TCB‘s By All Means podcast.

Here are 10 tips from Fynbo for others on an entrepreneurial journey.

1. Take advantage of free advice, grants, and interest-free loans.

When Fynbo thought her invention might be commercially viable, she went to the South Central Minnesota Small Business Development Center for help getting set up—everything from incorporating to finding manufacturing partners to applying for grants and loans. She also sought coaching from Red Wing Ignite and Bunker Labs, and entered the MN Cup competition, which gave her access to additional business coaching and prize winnings. “Minnesota has an amazing entrepreneurial ecosystem of support.”

2. Before you name your business, check website availability.

Fynbo settled on Busy Baby as her company name and then learned the URL was taken, and would have cost her $16,000, which she didn’t have. She went with busybabymat.com and acquired the busybaby.com URL later.

3. Create an advisory board.

“We’re growing so much bigger than I’m able to manage now. I need to connect with people who have experience, who are brighter than me,” Fynbo says. “I don’t need them on staff full time, but I need some mentors who are going to care and want to help us.” She sought advice from her MN Cup mentors at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management on how to set up a board, offering each advisor a small stake in the company for their time and expertise.

4. Seek out your customers.

When Facebook ads weren’t drawing customers to the Busy Baby website, Fynbo went where she knew she’d find expectant parents: Prego Expos, which take place around the country. “Parents are there looking for products to buy and I would just do our Busy Baby mat demo on a highchair and they’d say ‘Give me two”—one for the parents, one for grandma’s house. I would take as many as I could fit in my suitcase.

5. Don’t be blinded by upfront money.

The televised portion of Fynbo’s Shark Tank negotiations made it seem like Fynbo walked away from an offer because she wasn’t willing to give up as much equity in the company as Lori Grenier wanted. That’s only part of the story, Fynbo says. “She was interested in licensing the mat to Munchkin., which might have gotten me a large upfront payment, but would have still left me in debt and unable. I had other products I wanted to develop. It wasn’t the direction I wanted to go.”

6. Don’t expect Shark Tank to make you rich.

“I thought Shark Tank was going to be life changing,” Fynbo says. “And it was—just not in the way that I thought. What actually came out of Shark Tank is a network of all the other entrepreneurs who have been on the show. We share resources and ideas. It’s the most supportive network of people, and we’re all in that same boat.”

7. Don’t quit your day job.

Fynbo didn’t leave her corporate job until June of 2022, more than a year after her Shark Tank appearance. “I would encourage other entrepreneurs to keep regular income coming in as long as you possibly can and put off paying yourself as long as you possibly can. If you’re taking a business from nothing to something, you need to not rely on that business to take care of you. Otherwise you get desperate and you make desperate decisions.”

8. Whatever you think starting up will cost, it will cost more.

“It’s so much more expensive than you ever anticipate,” Fynbo says. “Everything has additional costs that you didn’t know about. Taxes, insurance, so many things. It’s been very important to hire a really good accountant.

9. Focus on what you’re good at.

Fynbo and her brother, who works with her, spent the last two years trying to get Busy Baby into major retailers. “We’re not good at that,” she said. They spent a lot of time and money on deals that didn’t move forward, and have now decided to focus on their strengths—e-commerce and exhibitions.

10. Hire help for the rest.

As a founder, Fynbo had to do everything on her own at first, and got used to it. But the company is too big for that now. “Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. You need help to really grow.”

Hear it from Fynbo, on Episode 126 of By All Means, available on most major podcast platforms.