If you want to start a business, don't effort to travel successful anyone else's footsteps — not moreover Daniel Lubetzky's.
Lubetzky, who founded Kind Snacks successful 2004 and sold it successful 2020 to Mars for an estimated $5 billion, told Entrepreneur successful a caller question and reply that though his travel whitethorn animate others, he doesn't want aspiring entrepreneurs to travel it excessively closely.
"If you effort to travel personification else's footsteps aliases travel their playbook, it's not apt to work, because it's specified a disruptive marketplace," Lubetzky said. "You want to talk to yourself. You want to listen."
Daniel Lubetzky. Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company
Lubetzky urges anyone considering starting a business to inquire themselves "What do I attraction about?" to find their ain unsocial purpose.
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That ngo could beryllium arsenic varied arsenic reducing microplastics successful the water aliases providing value acquisition for much people, he stated. Regardless of the nonstop purpose, large aliases small, it has to beryllium location to springiness an entrepreneur staying power.
"It gives you the substance to beryllium strong," Lubetzky said. "When you're starting a business, you're gonna person truthful galore challenges. But if you're doing it for thing that you really judge in, you're overmuch much apt to flooded those moments of pettiness aliases jealousy aliases each of those feelings are getting wrong each of us."
Lubetzky lives by this accuracy successful his ain businesses — each of the companies he has started person beardown societal missions. In 1994, he founded PeaceWorks, a Mediterranean nutrient institution pinch the mission of "building and sustaining a profitable institution while doing bully successful the world." The institution brought together group from different communities to sell nutrient products for illustration sauces.
In 2004, he launched Kind Snacks pinch the slogan "Do the benignant point for your body, your sensation buds, and your world." According to the 2022 Kind Impact report, Kind is surviving retired its ngo by donating and volunteering pinch organizations for illustration Wellfare, which addresses nutrient insecurity. Kind labor person volunteered complete 55,000 hours since the institution started wrong their section communities.
Twenty years aft its launch, Kind snack bars tin beryllium recovered successful complete 150,000 market stores astir the U.S. pinch a world beingness successful over 30 countries.
Lubetzky, meanwhile, is joining the regular formed connected Season 16 of ABC's Shark Tank, which premieres Friday, October 18. He has appeared arsenic a impermanent Shark crossed 5 seasons, pinch a notable $1 cardinal investment successful Yellow Leaf Hammocks, a hand-woven hammock company, in 2020 arsenic good arsenic deals pinch different companies.
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And moreover though Lubetzky is investing successful early entrepreneurs connected television, he still doesn't want them copying him.
"A marque is simply a promise, and a awesome marque is simply a committedness good kept," Lubetzky said. "And truthful if you are trying to beryllium everything to everyone, you're going to magnitude to being thing to nobody."