EP 366: Her Cheese Shop Does $1m+ Annually, EBITDA Low, Why?

Kendall Antonelli, who started a cheese shop with her husband. Antonelli’s Cheese Shop has taken off, and last year their revenue was $1.9 million. Kendall and her husband have found that they secret to their success is storytelling. They share the personal stories behind their cheeses and other products.

Famous 5:

 

Favorite Book? – Good to Great, Uncontainable, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits Favorite online tool? — QuickBooks Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—Yes If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Keep an adventurous spirit. Do something every day that betters yourself.

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

01:25 – Nathan introduces Kendall 01:40 – Kendall and her husband got the idea on their honeymoon 02:25 – Her husband wanted to find a better job, in cheese 03:00 – He decided to look into the business 03:40 – Kendall was working in social work 04:20 – They always wanted to work together 04:45 – She grew up in a farm town, and they “fell in love with the story of cheese.” 05:10 – They looked at their strengths 05:35 – Antonelli’s Cheese LLC 06:00 – Their rent 07:10 – Multiple business models 07:20 – Her and her husband have separate roles 08:25 – Open-book management 08:40 – $1.9 million in 2015 09:05 – “Passion with Purpose” 09:25 – Their retail is the most successful 10:00 – Cost is per pound 11:00 – Making cheese is a labor-intensive industry 12:15 – They decided to not be cheese makers, but be out of the kitchen and “storytelling” 13:15 – All the costs behind a wheel of cheese 13:40 – Team of six or seven people 14:05 – An artisanal journey 14:30 – Telling the story of the cheese 14:45 – Skews were as high as 2000 15:15 – Most lucrative products 16:15 – Wholesale in 2015 was about half of their revenue 16:45 – Cheese of the Month Club 17:15 – Parties and catering 17:45 – Their wholesale market is more flexible for clients 18:25 – Dealing with a perishable item/shelf life 19:00 – They are looking into investors 19:25 – What they pay themselves 20:20 – They travel to cheese conventions around the world 20:55 – They want to be in control of their business 21:30 – Professional and personal life can coexist 24:00 – Antonellischeese.com 26:20 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

Make your passion your business. Design a career that lets you accomplish your life goals. Your professional and personal life can coexist.

Resources Mentioned:

Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages  – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. QuickBooks – The accounting tool for Antonelli’s Cheese Shop Good to Great, Uncontainable and Mastering the Rockefeller Habits – A series of great business books that Kendall recommends. Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives