Turn on suggestions
Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type.
Showing results for
posted
Earlier this year, we were thrilled to share with everyone here in OWN IT that the folks at Death Wish Coffee Company were our big winners in Small Business Big Game. After their winning commercial aired back in February during football's biggest game (you can watch it again here!), founder Mike Brown and his team braced themselves for their biggest year yet.
Six months later, we're checking in with Mike to find out how they learned to scale their team and increase production of their popular coffee brand in order to meet the demand.
We also chatted with Mike to find out how he's setting new goals for his business after reaching this incredible milestone and what's next for the team as they continue in their quest to dominate the market with the world's strongest brews.
Name: Mike Brown
Business: Death Wish Coffee Company
Started: 2011
It has officially been six months since Death Wish Coffee Company was announced as the big winners of Small Business Big Game.
How did you deal with expanding your operations and meeting the demand after your TV commercial aired during the big game?
We began ramping up production of our coffee ahead of the commercial airing, which helped a ton.
What that meant in practice is that we started working with some third-party roasters that could help us increase our inventory and amp up production. We also made a couple new hires — one on the customer service front and two new people to help with production. We invested in some new equipment, as well.
What are some of the practical adjustments you had to make that helped you take your business to the next level?
Before the commercial aired, we were consistently growing as a company and doubling our revenue every year. However, when I looked at the kind of growth we expected to have after winning Small Business Big Game, I was pretty insecure about the systems we had in place.
I decided quickly that if we were going to keep up and handle that kind of demand, we had to put some new systems and procedures in place.
At QuickBooks Connect last year, I met Andrew Berg and started working with him as my new accountant. Up until then, we were just a bunch of friends who happened to be working at our local coffee shop. Andrew helped me get serious about understanding the numbers and we started thinking about ourselves as business associates, rather than just friends who work together.
With Andrew, we set up systems for reporting and we now have analytics that help us understand not just our marketing, but also our financials.
It also wasn't until recently that we had a really good handle on our inventory. Dustin Alexander joined our team and he's been a machine — he implemented a new inventory management system and for the first time ever we know exactlywhat we have on hand. Before, I wasn't really sure. I knew we had a lot of coffee to sell, but we didn't have a perfect valuation. Now we have that information and it's been a game changer.
Six months later, what have you learned? Is business still booming, or have things leveled out?
Things have started to level out, but we're still at 3-4x the revenue we were at last year day over day.
In the next two months, we're planning to move our production to a larger facility. This will allow us to take on a lot of what we sent out to third-party producers in order to keep up with the demand right after the commercial aired. Our goal is to eventually bring all of our production back in house. We like having total control over what we produce so we know we're creating the best product possible for our customers.
All in all, we learned that we were pretty well set up to be scaleable. Using fulfillment centers and engaging third-party help was a smart decision, because all of the real hands-on day-to-day work is being done by scalable operations that are designed to do exactly that.
We did keep all of our customer service in house, and that's where we've seen the biggest increase in the time and resources required to keep up.
Have you been able to turn the first-time customers you acquired through the success of the commercial into repeat customers?
Yes! We have seen more repeat customers, thank goodness.
That was actually a concern, especially because we were outsourcing so much of our production to keep up with the demand. When you outsource your production, it's a lot harder to do quality control and make sure you're sending out the best possible product to your new customers.
So far, we're seeing a ton of new fans and repeat customers coming back, especially locally. The support we received from our local community has been unbelievable. Whenever we go out, everyone is always coming up to us to tell us how great the coffee is and how much they love it!
How do you set goals in your business?
Since the very beginning, our main goal has been to be the next big brand in the beverage world. We want to be another Red Bull or Coke. However, we're still working on the smaller goals that will eventually get us there.
I recently started working with a business coach on a weekly basis. We're taking a step back right now and revamping my 1-, 3- and 5-year goals.
We meet for one hour every week on Fridays and go through what we worked on the previous week. He even gives me homework assignments every week.
Recently, one of my assignments was to pick seven things that are going to have the biggest impact in my business right now. For that entire week, I only worked on those seven things all day.
His approach is more about focusing on the purpose of the business and less about strategy, which is different from what I've done in the past. However, I've found that some of the changes I've made, like making more time for being reflective and creating morning rituals, has been really effective so far.
If you could go back in time and do anything differently in your business before winning Small Business Big Game, what would you do?
If I could go back and change one thing, I would have hired more people.
We are getting to a point right now where it would be great if we had more hands on deck. My team is fantastic, but some days I'm afraid they are killing themselves — they're working 80 hours a week nonstop and on weekends. They say yes to every event! Many have done anywhere from 30 to 60 days in a row without a day off.
If we had more hands on deck, that would have relieved things a bit and freed us up to be more creative. We would be more refreshed and ready to take on new challenges.
Tell us!
What are *your* takeaways from Mike's story? Do you have any tips for him as he continues to grow his business and expand operations?
Share your reactions and thoughts below! :-)
