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\n\t\tOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.\t<\/p>\n
Bethenny Frankel has some weird business advice: \u201cYou can\u2019t ask a dog to be a cat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which is to say: Don\u2019t try to be something you\u2019re not in business. Instead, maximize your strengths \u2014 even if they may seem a little unorthodox.<\/p>\n
For example, many people say to write a business plan and plot strategically. This is great if you\u2019re a careful, strategic thinker. But what if that\u2019s not you? What if, instead, you are the kind of person with a high tolerance for risk and experimentation?<\/p>\n
Frankel has a hypothesis, proven out from her own experience \u2014 as a former Real Housewife of New York who leveraged that attention into a string of business successes, including the Skinnygirl brand (whose shapewear, salad dressings, popcorn and coffee officially hit $1 billion in retail sales in 2025) and who now moves $2 million worth of product per month as an influencer. She believes that if you try to conform to someone else\u2019s standards in business, you\u2019ll just end up being a weakened version of yourself.<\/p>\n
This is certainly true for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t do things just haphazardly,\u201d Frankel says. \u201cThat being said, there\u2019s no big endgame. I didn\u2019t plan any of this. I had no idea this was going to happen. But trust and believe, if there\u2019s money or fish, I\u2019m going to get the net.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how she does it.<\/p>\n
First, she\u2019s clear on her mental strengths.<\/p>\n
Frankel may not have a \u201cbig endgame,\u201d but she does view the world through a particular strategic lens. She describes it as \u201cjust being logical about it\u201d \u2014 breaking down complex situations into likely outcomes, where she can imagine: If I do this, that will happen, and then that will happen\u2026<\/p>\n
For example: Frankel built her Skinnygirl brand into a range of products, including a popular cocktails line. Then she got an acquisition offer in 2011 from Beam Global (now Suntory Holdings Limited) for a rumored $100 million \u2014 and, as she read the sale contract, something \u201chit wrong\u201d for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not logical that if I\u2019m selling Skinnygirl cocktails to a liquor giant, and they don\u2019t make jeans or lip gloss or anything else, why would I give them the entire IP?\u201d she recalls. So she only sold them the rights to the cocktail brand, not anything else branded Skinnygirl \u2014 an innovative deal that let her maintain control of her brand, even as she also sold part of it off.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople give me too much credit for the big picture decision,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s just like a logical thing. I just look at the thing like that doesn\u2019t make sense so I don\u2019t want to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
That choice, she says, \u201cinformed my entire career path in the way that I did things.\u201d She\u2019s makes \u201cseven-figures annually\u201d from the other Skinnygirl categories that she still retains ownership of, she says.<\/p>\n
She also has a high tolerance for risk, buoyed by her ability to come up with creative alternatives to what\u2019s on the table. She\u2019d rather create a little chaos in a situation, knowing that she\u2019ll be able to piece together a better outcome on the fly, even if she has no idea what that outcome might be.<\/p>\n
A classic example: When she was chosen to join the Real Housewives of New York for their inaugural season, she threw a big wrench into the proceedings by rejecting a common contract clause presented by the network, Bravo, that stated that they would get a piece of any businesses she started while on the show. It was a huge risk that could have gotten her bounced from the show.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was 2008 and I was a natural food plant-based chef. I just wanted to be able to pay my rent. I had $8,000 to my name. I would bounce checks. I would have insufficient funds notices,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t even know why I told Bravo that I would take $7,250 [as her fee for the season] but that they had to take out that part that said that I would give a piece of my business. I didn\u2019t have a business. I just didn\u2019t like the sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Without knowing the outcome, she created a scenario that allowed her to reap all the profit from the Skinnygirl sale and from all further Skinnygirl branded merchandise.<\/p>\n
Frankel also has an unshakeable belief in her brand, knows what it takes to maintain it and does not back away from placing a higher value on it than her competitors place on theirs.<\/p>\n
For instance, Frankel says she generally doesn\u2019t do category-exclusive endorsement deals. Most influencers will agree to this type of exclusivity. But it\u2019s a decision that she believes enhances her authenticity and trustworthiness with her followers, who she calls the Nosy Bs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not risking my entire reputation for an endorsement check,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Her faith is being rewarded: Her affiliate deals generated $20 million in shipping revenue across Amazon and ShopMy in 2025.<\/p>\n
It takes a lot of faith in one\u2019s instincts to operate this way, especially since Frankel claims that although she understands at a high level the deals she\u2019s involved with, she doesn\u2019t always understand every deliverable and clause. But once the terms are explained, and she understands what\u2019s at stake, \u201cI will always have a different take\u2026or a way to get to do what I want to do by giving something else.\u201d This, she says, creates a \u201cvery creative space to do deals in a certain way if you can breathe and step back from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf two parties want to work together,\u201d she says, \u201cI can make it make sense. And if at a standstill, I\u2019ll call the CEO or CMO directly as if they\u2019re a local pizza place to discuss.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sure, she could do things another way \u2014 to be a cat instead of a dog. But she doesn\u2019t think things would have worked out the same. The key to success is simple, she says: Know your strengths and don\u2019t stray from them.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Bethenny Frankel has some weird business advice: \u201cYou can\u2019t ask a dog to be a cat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which is to say: Don\u2019t try to be something you\u2019re not in business. Instead, maximize your strengths \u2014 even if they may seem a little unorthodox.<\/p>\n
For example, many people say to write a business plan and plot strategically. This is great if you\u2019re a careful, strategic thinker. But what if that\u2019s not you? What if, instead, you are the kind of person with a high tolerance for risk and experimentation?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n