Today’s Small Business of the Day features an interview with Jeff Hunter. Please find our conversation below.
We’re so inspired by the hard work and creativity of the small businesses that serve as the engines of our communities. Thank you so much for taking the risk and doing what you do. Before we go any further we’d love for you to tell our readers a bit about JerkFit.
JerkFit is a premium Fitness Accessories brand founded in 2013 by Husband and Wife Jeff and Kristina Hunter. We design unique fitness gear that nobody has ever thought of or take products that we love and try to make them better. We specialize in grips/gloves, lifting straps, weight belts, and knee support. ALL of our products are designed by us down to the stitching, and we are proud to say that most of our products are made right here in the USA.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned building your business that you can share with those just starting out in their entrepreneurial journey?
There are infinite lessons to be learned in building your business. Its difficult to rank one above others, but I will say that there is one lesson that had I handled appropriately, we’d be in a different stratosphere in our business no doubt.
We were in a very unique position when we launched our first two products in 2014. Our products hit almost immediately. My wife had invented a special pair of hand grips for CrossFit which solved a huge problem that virtually all CrossFit athletes were suffering from, torn hands.
Because no one had yet solved the problem and CrossFit was at its peak of popularity, when our product (WODies) was introduced, they became an overnight success. With no business experience and a couple of solid bartending jobs, we honestly didn’t really think success was something we could achieve. We launched the company only because our CrossFit classmates begged us to make this product for them, and we just sort of went for it with no expectations. Almost like a side hustle.
So when both our products went wild, I really sat back and enjoyed the easy-found success. I didn’t realize how unique of a situation we were in. It takes years for most brands to turn a profit; we were in the money within mere months.
Business was easy. We had the right product at the right time in the right industry that needed what we were making, and we were growing organically from word of mouth in the CrossFit community.
As our brand became popular in CrossFit and on Amazon, I was sitting back, enjoying the profits, not really trying to grow, not really interested in launching anything new unless it was super unique, and I pretty much ran the company for two years on just two products.
Well at some point, as we had basically invented a new category of product, competitors and knock off brands started popping up. At first I wasn’t too concerned because I could see we still were dominating in sales comparatively, and I thought people wouldn’t take a knock off brand too seriously.
What they did, and we failed to do, changed the trajectory of our brand. Those brands were quick to launch product after product, generic as they were, they kept slapping their logo on anything fitness related.
Soon, they started to become legitimate brands with legitimate athletes behind them. They continued to build their brand until they completely surpassed us. All the while JerkFit was just this 2 product company who had all the momentum, but by the time we realized “oh no, we need to launch more gear” it was essentially too late.
The iron was no longer hot; the once irrelevant brands that were selling what we were selling were now the hot brand, and we were playing catch up.
While we’ve certainly become a more complete brand in the years that followed, there is no doubt that I completely stunted JerkFit from its potential and where it could have been today.
This is the lesson, and it’s a tough one to swallow in hindsight; If your company starts to get momentum, you MUST strike while the iron is hot. Do not get comfortable with the easy profits; use them to GROW! Launch more stuff. If you don’t grow, you die.
Lucky for us, we’re still here and we’re still fighting.
Alright, before we go, let’s do a quick lightning round.
Favorite book?
1984
Favorite movie?
Weekend at Bernie’s
Favorite genre of music?
Chill Electronic
Favorite TV show?
Breaking Bad
Favorite cuisine?
Snow Crab
Surprising Fact
I’m a total Luddite. Instruction manuals are like a foreign language to me so I tend to avoid any new technology, Apps, social media or software. I basically continue to do things the hard way while most everyone else is much more efficient.
Contact Info:
- Website: JerkFit.com
- Instagram: @jerkfit
