NASHVILLE — Kevin O’Leary, also known as “Mr. Wonderful” on ABC’s award-winning “Shark Tank,” weaved his way through the ins and outs of how to be successful in business during his keynote address Tuesday at Truckload 2024, the Truckload Carriers Association’s annual convention. The convention ends on Tuesday.
O’Leary said he’s a passionate advocate for small businesses — and he said that the small business “umbrella” covers many levels of the trucking industry.
“Every truck driver is an entrepreneur,” O’Leary said. “They do it because they love it — otherwise, why would they do it? To me, it’s the modern-day American cowboy. If you ask me, you get freedom from it.”
During the question and answer session of the keynote, O’Leary fielded a question about buying and selling businesses. He stressed the importance of serving that business and those who are connected to it.
“Think of the minute you started that business years ago,” he said. “You are no longer number one. You serve the customer, you serve your employees, and you serve your founder, your bank loan, your shareholder, your partner, whoever.”
O’Leary continued: “Those are your constituents that you serve. You’re last, you’re always last. You’re the one working 25 hours a day, seven days a week, but you’re last on the pecking order here. And I think the successful businesses, in terms of integration, maintain that mandate. They have to assure when you buy in another business, and we do a lot of mergers and acquisitions, the messaging to the customer base is crucial. We will be keeping the standard of service in the top quarter.”
O’Leary said if a business serves its customers, even if there’s a price increase, “they don’t leave.”
“They care the most about service because that’s part of their problem solution,” he said. “So, for me … on a merger, (the most important thing) is making sure the culture does not change on customer service.”
Additionally, O’Leary said, making the cuts all up front — and fast — are vital.
“When we buy businesses, we chop costs, and we’re very fair on the exit package that people are not keeping,” he said. “We pay the top dollar for them because that gets out into the market pretty fast. And people want to know they’re treated fairly. I have personally done many firings myself in companies that I have major positions in to show respect to those people that we’re letting go.”
O’Leary said he visits Washington about once a month to advocate for small business owners.
“Just so you know, businesses between five and 500 employees, which are the majority in this room, we account for 62% of job creation in America — 62%, more than half,” he said. “We are the economy. We are the economy. So I can walk into any congressman’s or woman’s or senator’s office and say, ‘I’m here for small business’ and that every door is open, regardless of blue or red or independent, doesn’t matter.”
O’Leary also touched on the importance of running successful social media campaigns in trucking and other industries.
“If you’re not doing social media, if you don’t have somebody in your operation that’s in their 20s doing this for you, your competitor is, and that’s the way it’s gonna stay,” he said. “That’s just the way it’s gonna stay.”
On autonomous trucking and the changing technology in the trucking industry, O’Leary reassured the crowd that the trucker isn’t going to be climbing out of the cab anytime soon.
“Everybody keeps talking about automated drivers and all that,” he said. “You’re not gonna see that in your lifetime. That’s my opinion. It’s gonna take a long, long, long, long, long, long time before that happens. So this industry is going to be relevant, go up and down. Remember, transportation is the most important index in determining market performance. It still is.”
About O’Leary
While O’Leary may be most famous for his appearances on “Shark Tank,” the show that brings entrepreneurs before a group of wealthy investors for a chance at launching their products, he has a broad professional history.
Decades ago, O’Leary co-founded SoftKey Software Products, a technology company that sold software geared toward family education and entertainment. During the late 1980s and 1990s, SoftKey became a major consolidator in the global educational software market, having acquired rival companies via hostile takeover bids.
In 2008, O’Leary co-founded O’Leary Funds Inc., a mutual fund management firm focused on global yield investing. He is the company’s chairman and lead investor, while his brother Shane O’Leary serves as the director.
The fund’s assets under management shot from $400 million in 2011 to $1.2 billion in 2012, he shared. The fund’s primary manager was Stanton Asset Management, a firm controlled by the husband-and-wife team of Connor O’Brien and Louise Ann Poirier.
O’Leary is definitely a savvy businessman with a dynamic personality.
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
