“Interesting idea”- Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary shares advice with No Fork founder Artir Hysenia

Modified Nov 25, 2024 11:50 GMT

Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary has been on the ABC business reality show and signed many deals with entrepreneurs. He has also shares advice with small business owners and gives them recommendations on how to elevate their strategy.

On November 18, 2024, Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary appeared on Fox Business Network's "small business" segment, where the interviewer introduced Artir Hyseni, co-founder of No Fork. Artir shared the unique aspect of his business and how they are expanding in New York.

Kevin praised Artir on his marketing pitch and stated that the concept of his business was "interesting:

"This is an interesting idea."

Kevin also shared a piece of advice linked to fast-food and casual food owners who are unable to focus on repeat business and customer acquisition.

Shark Tank star Kevin gives advice to new businesses and entrepreneurs

No Fork business co-founder Artir Hyseni shared that the reason why he chose the name for his eatery was to bring a diverse cultural background to New York. He shared that his business was also expanding due to their custom customer-favorite dishes, which provide visitors with a "unique" experience. He continued:

"No Fork stemmed you know, growing up and sharing food with your family, eating with your hands. But also you know, recently we were seeing people eating pizzas with a fork, and it just does not taste the same."

Artir told the interviewer and Shark Tank star Kevin that opening up their own place was a difficult step as they were impacted by COVID-19. However, their unique and custom-made products gave customers an experience that "would only get in Kosovo or Albania." They also introduced new recipes and flavors, Artir shared:

"We actually opened our first location during the pandemic. We were definitely worried but we have a unique product that doesn't exist in the United States. We have a 12-inch sandwich, sub that everything is custom-made. The most difficult part about it was we are creating an experience you would only get in Kosovo or Albania."

When the interviewer asked the Shark Tank investor what piece of advice he wanted to share with Arti and the new business owners, Kevin said:

"First of all, I love the marketing pitch, because all of a sudden you are on television because of No Fork. That's a great hook. The key about the concepts is repeat business and customer acquisition."

He said focusing on "repeat business and customer acquisition" was important for a successful business. Kevin stated that his experience signing deals with fast food businesses was that they were unable to "keep that constituency" for their customers. Kevin praised Artir for keeping the consistent chain of his business alive and stated that he loved his marketing pitch as well. The Shark Tank star continued:

"Because I've looked at so many deals in fast food and casual food, they're not able to keep that constituency coming back day in and day out because you market so hard to bet that customer."

Previous episodes of Shark Tank are available on ABC. Viewers can follow Kevin on his official Instagram account.