"Don't go viral" - Shark Tank's Lori Greiner on how to handle a sudden spike in business demand

Shark Tank investor Lori Greiner recently posted on her Instagram about the risks of going viral with a business that is not ready to handle the surge in demand at all. She says that this dream could quickly become a nightmare if not done right.

This threat comes in the current digital world that we are living in, where overnight success has become a thing. Even a TikTok video or an Instagram reel, or a tweet can go viral within hours and create a demand or an audience for the business.

The Shark Tank investor says that she has experience with a wide range of startups that she has worked with. Due to that, she knows how easily success can become a series of chaos if not handled properly.

She claims that the moment a business is thrust into the spotlight, every weak point, such as technical infrastructure or inventory management, or even customer service, becomes largely magnified.

And when those systems fail, the opportunity that, to the outer world, seems unreal or positive, might do more harm than good in tarnishing the reputation of the brand.

"Don't go viral before you're ready," Greiner warns. "One of the biggest mistakes that I see in companies that I invested in on Shark Tank is, they are not ready for a sudden spike in demand. Their website crashed because they never tested it.

She added,

If it could handle a surge, they run out of inventory, because they didn't think it would run out that fast. And instead of celebrating they are scrambling, losing thousands in sales. I've seen it happen even to businesses that thought they were ready."

Shark Tank investor Lori Greiner advises on how to deal with a spike in demand before it even exists

Lori Greiner, the Shark Tank investor, gives very simple advice to this problem. It is to test again and again, as if the owners themselves are the customers. These stress testing systems mean running simulations of heavy traffic, making sure that the backend infrastructure can handle the scale of demand if it ever happens.

And if it can handle the demand, then it should make sure that the inventory is properly stocked and up to date. It does not mean filling it up with no foresight of growth because that is another hell on its own.

Lori urges entrepreneurs to connect their inventory systems to real-time data, something that the supply chain can quickly adapt to, quickly.

She explains how vitality shouldn't be the first goal by saying,

"Here's my advice; Test, Test, and test again. Go through your checkout like a real customer. Push your site to its limits. Find the weak spots before your customers do. Because if something is going to break, it will break when it matters the most and you don't want that to happen. So going viral isn't the goal. Being ready for it is. And then go viral."

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Shark Tank season 16 episodes release weekly on ABC at 8 PM Eastern Time on Fridays. They are later available to watch on Hulu.

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