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New dad quits his job, spends $3K to start a business — 9 months later, ‘Shark Tank’ helps him rake in $850K

This 'Shark Tank' entrepreneur took a huge risk to start his business after having an idea on a family camping trip and well, it worked

Tavis Malcolm was in a well-to-do marketing job that he quit out of the blue to be an entrepreneur. The new dad arrived at this decision during a family camping trip in which he and his wife struggled to find an efficient sleeping bag for their newborn son. They were forced to layer pajamas, a snowsuit, and a swaddle blanket to keep the baby warm. This was a eureka moment for Malcolm as he thought he had found a market that was in dire need of a product. The New Mexico-native and former Eagle Scout came from a family of business owners. Hence, he listened to his gut and quit his daytime job.

Six months after calling it quits, Malcolm started Morrison Outdoors, a company that sells sleeping bags for babies and toddlers and offers select products for adults. On ‘Shark Tank’, he sought $300,000 in exchange for 10% equity in his business. “We use premium insulations and buttery soft fabrics. We designed our sleeping bags with babies in mind,” the founder said on the show. “We are on a mission to bring comfort to the great outdoors. There is no limit to where you can go,” he added. He tested out the product with his baby after making the first prototype and realized that it had potential.

“I told my wife, ‘Listen, I think that this could be something serious. I want to quit my job, I want to take our savings — which at the time was like $3,000 — and I want to commit myself to launching this product,’” Malcolm revealed. Before coming on ‘Shark Tank’, the company had been around for 5 years since its launch in Malcolm’s garage. Over these years, Morrison Outdoors made around $4.3 million in sales, 50% from their website, 25% through Amazon, and 25% through wholesale. “Year to date this year we're at 850,000 and we're looking at about 1.1 million overall,” he added. Malcolm revealed that in 2022, their sales and profit margin were better than expected.

However, he got “overconfident” and decided to blow up the product through marketing, and ended up overspending on every marketing channel. They did manage to lift their sales up, but their margin diminished to a great extent. Mark Cuban chimed in and pointed out that it’s a great lesson for every entrepreneur. “When you chase topline growth, you're going to have to chase your profit margins because they're leaving too,” he explained. “When your bottom line goes up, not only can you control your own destiny, but you can reinvest in your business, and it makes you more attractive to investors like us,” Cuban added.

The company also created sleeping bags for adults that contain pockets, sleeves, and a bottom zipper to enable walking. “Mega Mo is a bigger market,” Kevin O’Leary said. “This would work.” “That’s so fabulous,” Lori Greiner added. Leary opted out of the deal because he is not outdoorsy enough. Greiner and Robert Herjavec also step away from the deal. Cuban and Barbara Corcoran made a combined offer of $300,000 for 20% equity. Malcolm didn’t waste time before accepting their offer and sealing the deal!