'Shark Tank' Investor Robert Herjavec's Advice to Budding Entrepreneurs: 'Ideas Are Cheap, Execution is Hard.'

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"Shark Tank" investor and entrepreneur Robert Herjavec has heard more than 1,000 pitches during his time on the show, and he says people's biggest misunderstanding about starting a business is that they need a great idea.

"The reality of it is ideas are cheap, execution is hard," he said on YouTube talk show "Hustle Meals." "You know, over 17 years, we've seen so many businesses...the ones that can make it are the ones that can execute. That's just the reality."

Herjavec was responding to a question about why he didn't invest in a pierogi company that was pitched on "Shark Tank." Herjavec was eating pierogies at the time of the question as it was a frequent meal during his childhood in Croatia.

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Although the company in question wasn't named, it probably referred to Jaju Pierogi, which sells frozen pierogies based on a recipe from the company founders' Polish grandfather.

The company was seeking a $300,000 investment in exchange for an 8% equity stake. Despite all the judges loving the pierogies, the founders left without a deal because the panelists were concerned with the company's slim profit margins.

Herjavec said during the "Shark Tank" episode that he would've gone in with fellow panelist Daniel Lubetzky, who has experience in the food industry. Once Lubetzky gave his final no, Herjavec also pulled out of consideration.

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Success is personal

Another misunderstanding Herjavec spoke out against is the idea that success is tied to a specific dollar amount or accomplishment. Instead, he said people should be looking at what they want in life.

"People always think it's a million dollars or something, but success is really personal," he said on "Hustle Meals." "It's what drives you. The desire for pure money fades, but the passion for purpose never fades."

As an example, Herjavec said the moment he felt most successful wasn't when he sold his business for 30.2 million Canadian dollars ($20 million) or purchased a condo on Billionaire's Row, but when he purchased a 1989 Cadillac DeVille for his father.

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"In that moment, everything made sense," he said. "It may make no sense to anybody else in the world, but it meant everything to him."

The car had been a symbol of success for Herjavec's father after fleeing their home country and moving his family to a friend's basement in Toronto.

Mimicking his father's Croatian accent, Herjavec said his father told him "You no mind, that for rich people" the first time he saw a Cadillac.

"It doesn't matter what success is to you or to anybody here," Herjavec said. "To my dad it was getting a Cadillac."

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This article 'Shark Tank' Investor Robert Herjavec's Advice to Budding Entrepreneurs: 'Ideas Are Cheap, Execution is Hard.' originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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