When Kobe Harris started his lip balm company on his bedroom floor in 2019, he wasn’t necessarily looking to immediately drop out of college.
Then, he sold $15,000 worth of lip balm in one day, and decided to take the leap, Harris said on Friday’s episode of ABC’s “Shark Tank.”
Harris is the founder of Kobee’s, a Las Vegas-based company that sells lip balms, lotion, lip scrub, cuticle butter, and hand salve made with four ingredients: beeswax, coconut oil, sunflower oil, and mango butter. The products come in compostable packaging and retail anywhere from $5 to $42, according to the company’s website.
The idea struck Harris while he was conducting research on sustainability and bees for one of his professors at Loyola University Chicago, he said. He asked his mom for $200 to purchase some ingredients on Amazon, and used them to experiment with lip balm formulas on his bedroom floor at home while working a summer lifeguarding job, he added.
By the time the school year came around again, Harris was successfully making sales — so he decided to drop out and pursue his business full-time, he said: “Since classes were online, I just told my dad, ‘I’m still in school,’ but really I was just in the basement making lip balms.”
Today, Kobee’s is a profitable startup, said Harris: The company was on track to end 2024 with nearly $4 million in sales and roughly $750,000 in profit, at the time of the show’s taping. It sells primarily on Amazon and Kobee’s direct-to-consumer website.
Harris didn’t immediately respond to CNBC Make It’s request for updated financials. On “Shark Tank,” he asked the show’s investor judges for a $300,000 investment in exchange for 6% of his company, saying he wanted mentorship and help with product distribution.
Most of the investors quickly dropped out. Guest panelist Kendra Scott said she didn’t know how to help the company, Lori Grenier said the natural lip balm market was already too crowded, and Daymond John and Mark Cuban each said the investment just wasn’t right for them.
Kevin O’Leary, however, offered up the $300,000 — and his myriad connections with retailers — for a 20% equity stake in Kobee. Harris countered with 10%, and O’Leary proposed 15%.
After thinking for a moment, Harris said, “I won’t do that,” and the negotiation fell through. Harris said he needed to trust his gut — a common lesson from CEOs, career experts, and other successful people across the business world. It’s the advice Harris’ mom, a multi-time business owner, gave him when he told her he wanted to drop out of college to make lip balm, he said.
“I know my business better than anybody,” said Harris.
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Source: NBC 4 New York
