Jamie and Brian Ratner have many things going on. The husband-wife couple are parents of two teenage children. They were recently co-authors of Parents: A Decade of Deals From a Messy Minivan. Also, they founded CertifiKID. This web-based company offers discounts to families at a variety of locations across the country, from amusement parks to farm festivals to summer camps. CertifiKID, which is backed by Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary’s investment, is the kid-friendly counterpart to Groupon. We spoke to the Ratners about parenting, working together, and their most important business decision.
From where did CertifiKid’s idea come?
Jamie: My job was to manage security at a law office. I also had a blog that related to food, fitness and other topics. When Groupon was just starting, I was intrigued by the idea of Groupon. However, it was only about spas and restaurants. My children were young and I didn’t want to go to restaurants and spas. Brian was intrigued by the idea, and I took him along on a drive. We had the business plan by the end of the drive and were all in.
How can you help each other to work together?
Brian: It has been an amazing experience to be able to share something professionally together that I believe has been truly enriching for us both personally and our families. This is the first time we’ve published a book on this topic. However, it was a very unique experience for us to mix marriage and parenthood with our business.
Let’s talk about the book. How was the writing process?
Jamie: I love writing, so it was great for me. Since I was 12, I have been racing, with two children. I have not had the chance to reflect on these 12 years. The writing process was a great way to do so.
How much do you spend on the business? Where do you save?
Jamie: We’ve never owned an office and that was something I was passionate about. Brian kept saying, “We’ve got to get an office; you’ve got to get an office.” And I think that was probably one of our smartest decisions–especially during COVID. We were comfortable working remotely so we performed well during the pandemic. The pandemic didn’t have any impact on our work. That’s a significant savings.
Brian : We launched on a shoestring. We didn’t know whether this would be a success or not. We didn’t invest enough money in technology right away. This meant that we needed to spend more money later on to fix everything that was not done in the beginning. Therefore, even though we have spent a lot, we have not wasted a penny in trying to develop the technology side of our work.
Do you have any regrets about the first year of your business?
Jamie: Maybe expansion quicker. In some ways, that is what I attribute to our success–that we were slower. However, I still have parts of me that wonder, “If we had just invested in a few more people, could grow a little faster? And then more?”. But I am very cautious.
How can you balance being a parent and an entrepreneur?
Jamie: It’s integrating all. It’s making the most of that time while we wait for the game to begin or driving to soccer games. My computer is always with me so that we can have the discussions we need together. Our children are also exposed to our conversations. As we are always in the car, going to soccer games, our kids have learned a lot.
Kevin O’Leary, one of your business and investor partners. How does that relationship look?
Brian: It’s great. His team and he are our only investors. We didn’t have any external investment when we joined Shark tank. This was because we were financially sound the first year. So we just reinvested and thought about doing so again. Because we were a mature company, we had specific strategic and tactical needs. We made a great match for him. We didn’t require a lot of help, and we are profitable, which he enjoys. We are very specific with our needs and are responsive to his and his team’s requests. They have created incredible opportunities for us. We have been on The View. We have a Facebook Live series together with Tan France. We have done many things with Shark Tank partners and companies, including a Facebook Live series with Tan France. He also wrote the introduction to our book.
This article first appeared in the November/December 2022 issue SUCCESS magazine. Photos by Jamie Ratner and Brian Ratner
SUCCESS – The first post Q&A with Brian and Jamie Ratner (Founders of CertifiKID) appeared first on SUCCESS .