I often reflect on my travelling years and look at what those years taught me later in life, and how what I learned helped me as a young businessperson. I think the first thing my travelling showed was a level of adventure and courage; an ability to give it a go and see where life takes me. Getting on that plane in the 1980s — when you could still light up a cigarette and some rows were simply marked as ‘nonsmoking’ (which clearly made sense … not!) — and travelling to the other side of the world with no mobile phone or internet and snail mail as the only form of communication took a level of courage and adventure. Starting Boost was the same. Selling your home and putting everything on the line with no experience in running a business took that same sense of adventure (or naivety) and trust in the spirit of the journey.

Some of the experiences I mention in the book show that the young Janine needed to think on her feet and make quick decisions, aware that failure was not an option because the consequence in some circumstances was life and death. The same skills are required for businesspeople. You need courage, a bit of faith in your own ability, quick decisions and the power to stay at the problem until you find a solution. I would never have travelled if I knew the real dangers and some of the problems I was going to face. And I may not have started a business if I knew the struggles, sleepless nights and fear that came with having everything on the line. But then, how dull would life be? I have never had a desire to climb a huge mountain but I completely understand why you would want to: for the feeling of achievement, no matter how hard the journey can be.

A huge part of what makes a business succeed is the attitude of the person behind it. It’s not about how many degrees they have or what blue chip companies they’ve worked for. It’s about the hunger and the drive and the willingness to keep bouncing back from adversity and attacking the problem until you find a solution.

Doing Shark Tank was a bit like reliving my early days of Boost. The contestants were like all businesspeople in the early days of a venture. You have that confidence that the rigours of business have not quite knocked out of you yet. Every day brings a new challenge and it doesn’t matter what education you have; it’s like you’re starting at kinder all over again. I’d never thought of myself as old before but I did feel it during some of the pitches. Seeing the naivety that some of the contestants had about their businesses was like going back in time to see myself when I started.

Winning people, not winning ideas

You often hear people say that they invest in people, not the product. The reason for this is that a great person can make an okay product good; a person who does not have that ‘X factor’, however, will not make a great idea a success.

I was a young person who was hungry and would not take no for an answer. Over time you realise that these people are rare; it’s probably why four out of five businesses fail in the first five years. People say it gets too hard, and they’re not prepared to throw everything at it. Trying to find similar people who are hungry, driven, positive, engaged and determined is not easy. What I look for is the ones who ask questions, take notes and are switched on to the answers, and you can just tell that the minute they leave the room, they’ll be putting all your advice into action. That’s the kind of person who can make it in business. I always do the book test. If you recommend a book to someone and they never read it then they don’t really value your opinion and you’re wasting your time mentoring them.

When I saw Kate from Be Fit Foods walk through the door during Shark Tank , I realised she had that spark I look for. Steve slammed her for not knowing her numbers and thought she was flippant but I saw determination and a passion for what she was doing. She mentioned that she had sales but the business was still brand new. The expertise Kate and her business partner Geoff have in the area make them a standout in the food delivery business. Geoff was a bariatric surgeon and Kate was a food and exercise scientist. They came up with a product that can help you lose on average five kilos in two weeks, just by eating the right food. Their product is also based on the findings from the CSIRO.

I decided to back her and purchased 25 per cent of the business. The business has had its ups and downs, but she is hungry and a quick learner.

After the show aired, their sales jumped from $50 000 per month to $500 000 per month.

Ideally, investors invest in people not product. The best product in the world will never see the light of day without the person behind it.

Attitude matters

A clever acronym I heard years ago describes a particular mentality, and it has since become a part of my professional vocabulary. This acronym is VERB , or Victim, Entitled, Rescued, Blame.

In life and in business, I don’t like a VERB mentality. A victim thinks ‘poor me’ instead of finding a solution. They feel entitled to receive instead of driven to achieve and, when things go wrong, they wait to be rescued instead of finding a solution. Lastly, they blame others instead of taking responsibility.

The most destructive thing about a VERB mentality is that it places a person in a state of total powerlessness. Nothing is their fault; nothing is their responsibility; and they don’t need to solve any problem because it’s up to someone else to rescue them.

I don’t want people who see themselves as victims — I don’t want to hear ‘poor me’, or ‘I will try’; I want to hear ‘can do’ and ‘I will find a way’. In addition, there is no such thing as entitlement. I believe that people should be rewarded appropriately for what they do; I hate hearing someone say, ‘That’s not my job’ or ‘I don’t get paid for that’. I also want people who find solutions rather than feel they need to be rescued. I want people to come to me with answers, not problems. Lastly, and this is a pet hate for me, I don’t tolerate people who blame others. It’s true we all do it at different times in our lives — and we wouldn’t be human if we didn’t — but don’t be a serial offender.

The choice you can make is to instead use the SOAR approach, or Solutions , Ownership , Accountability and Responsibility . This approach is the opposite of VERB. If you use SOAR in everything you do, you will suddenly find things going your way.

You can find the solution to your problem; just stay with it. I love the quote, purportedly from Albert Einstein, ‘It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.’

Take ownership of everything in your life and business, and soon you will see the power it gives you. Accountability is there to remind you to fix no-one else and, finally, take responsibility for everything you do — if everything is your responsibility, you can fix it. I challenge you to SOAR — and find staff who SOAR with you — and see the difference.

Back yourself

We can all be VERBs from time to time, but my success came when I truly started to SOAR.

When Boost went from being very small in scale to a medium-sized concern, I found myself questioning whether I’d be able to manage the growth. I was worried that I’d had no formal business training or prior experience. I was starting to give myself excuses for doing things wrong; I was being a VERB. The fact that the expansion happened practically overnight, because Jeff had secured 28 sites with Westfield, didn’t help! How did I overcome my concerns? To be honest it took time, but it was when I started to blame only myself for everything that happened that I felt I had the power to make all the changes that I needed to win. My superpower is that I make complicated things simple, using common sense, a clear vision and by getting the right advice from the right people. I realised these people weren’t stupid — and if they backed me all the way, who was I to question their judgement? Or what it simply that I faked it until I made it? When you get older you realise that things are not as complicated as you think: it is mostly common sense, and no-one knew my business like I did. What I lacked in knowledge I made up in determination to find the answer.

Sometimes, questioning your own ability makes you work that much harder; having great people around you is an invaluable safety net. And it turned out the keys to running a business were not as complicated as I thought. If you simplify everything, are sensible when making decisions and look for the solution that exists for every problem, you’ll go far.

Don’t think I’m kidding myself here — when I started Boost Juice, I certainly didn’t have the confidence that I have today. In the early days, I used Jeff as a crutch and, if anything was too hard or too confrontational, I would turn to him. Jeff, of course, had no issues with telling someone how it was.

For example, early on I invested over $5000 in a cash register for the new store; however, I soon discovered that it was an absolute lemon. The salesman I’d dealt with was a pig and basically told me that it was my bad luck. We had hardly any money and the $5000 would not be easily replaced, so I went for my fallback response: calling in Jeff. He called the salesman, who again said he was not refunding the money. So Jeff told him that he was sending over a man and he expected him to give this man the refund in full.

Jeff hung up the phone and put on a dark suit, his shoes with the biggest heels and some sunglasses, and went to the showroom for the money. He introduced himself as Jeff Jackson and said that he was there to collect. The salesman was clearly shaken and told Jeff he would have the money in 30 minutes. Jeff was waiting in his car when the phone rang — it was the salesman, who told Jeff that he was not impressed that he had sent in a thug to collect his money. Jeff calmly told him that Jeff Jackson was not leaving until he had the money in total. Needless to say, ‘Jeff Jackson’ had a full refund returned to me that afternoon.

Early on I was conscious that I hadn’t gone to university, and believed that most professional people who I came across would know more than me. However, one thing I did have was a curious mind — I wanted to know more and I wanted to not have to rely on anyone but myself. The other thing I came to realise was that no-one could know my business like I did, so I shouldn’t follow advice blindly.

I started asking more questions, not caring if the questions clearly showed how little I knew. I started questioning some of the documents and discovered that common sense and logic were really the main skills you needed in business. By asking questions, I also discovered how often so-called experts actually make mistakes, and that they didn’t always know as much as I gave them credit for. Slowly, I weaned myself off Jeff and started to take on more of the difficult problems myself — even if, in my mind, I always had Jeff Jackson ‘on ice’ for another day. However, I’m happy to say that we never had to use Jeff Jackson again. It was my money that I was using, so I became a tough negotiator, making sure I was always over-prepared for every meeting. I’m not sure exactly when the change took place, but I do remember Jeff commenting that I wasn’t using him as much anymore — in fact, I think he was a bit put out that his services as the ‘tough guy’ were no longer needed.

Education is important, but you should never lack confidence because of any formal education you feel you’ve missed out on. Education comes in all different forms, and people learn in dozens of different ways. I can confidently tell you that I know more about local and international trademarks than most lawyers — not because of a course, but by actually working out the issues in practice and learning along the way.

As you get older, you do get more comfortable in your skin. I still, to this day, listen more than I talk, and I will continue to ask and ask my questions until I believe I truly understand. Knowledge gives you confidence.