Jessi Roberts, founder of Cheekys Brand, scaled a $7,000 investment into a $20M+ business by deeply understanding her rural customer base and leveraging social media. This episode offers valuable lessons on iterative product development, community building, and adapting business infrastructure to support rapid growth, even from a small town.
Key takeaways
Started with $7,000, Jessi Roberts founded Cheekys in 2011, growing it to over $20 million in revenue by 2018 with 30 employees, demonstrating exceptional capital efficiency and scalability.
Initially, Jessi purchased wholesale products but quickly transitioned to designing her own based on customer feedback and a perceived lack of authentic rural-themed products, highlighting the importance of proprietary product development.
Leveraged Facebook in its early days for business to drive traffic and sales, effectively using it as her first online store before building a dedicated e-commerce site, showcasing adaptable social media strategy.
Expanded beyond a local brick-and-mortar by selling at rodeos, stock shows, and fairs to reach a broader audience, demonstrating effective grassroots marketing and customer acquisition in niche markets.
Built a dedicated warehouse and upgraded local infrastructure (power, internet) to support Cheekys' rapid growth, illustrating the necessity of scaling physical operations alongside digital expansion.
On this podcast, we talk about how to effectively market a small business, why your “hustle” isn’t working, the journey to publishing a hybrid memoir/business book, and so much more!
Started with $7,000, Jessi Roberts founded Cheekys in 2011, growing it to over $20 million in revenue by 2018 with 30 employees, demonstrating exceptional capital efficiency and scalability.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Initially, Jessi purchased wholesale products but quickly transitioned to designing her own based on customer feedback and a perceived lack of authentic rural-themed products, highlighting the importance of proprietary product development.
What does this episode say about supply chain & operations?
Leveraged Facebook in its early days for business to drive traffic and sales, effectively using it as her first online store before building a dedicated e-commerce site, showcasing adaptable social media strategy.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Expanded beyond a local brick-and-mortar by selling at rodeos, stock shows, and fairs to reach a broader audience, demonstrating effective grassroots marketing and customer acquisition in niche markets.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Built a dedicated warehouse and upgraded local infrastructure (power, internet) to support Cheekys' rapid growth, illustrating the necessity of scaling physical operations alongside digital expansion.
