We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brian Obeso a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brian, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

There are many challenges when it comes to this topic, but it all comes from the way that economy has been, which is the same time Cheesecake Chino’s became legitimized. When I first started I was selling product so cheap just to get my name out there probably making between $10-$15 profit per cake. Luckily, the ingredients were also cheaper but now that they have doubled besides all these other extra operational cost that comes with the company’s growth. I have definitely increased the price gradually just to make my work fairly compensated for but at the same time don’t want to scare customers away. I offer top-tier cheesecake, so anybody hearing those words should know they’re going to spend some money, but not everyone understands that. More specifically other bakeries/restaurants/hubs I try to sell to are used to buying from major distributors that are way cheaper, but me being a one-man company can’t match that price. It all comes down to quantity versus quality and many places believe in quantity with a little bit of quality just to make some extra money so my proposal of my product at the lowest price I can give is still not good enough and is a challenge to incorporate myself in the distribution industry, physically and psychologically. However, I am currently selling to seven locations who understand and respect quality and even if they don’t make as much per unit, they sell more units which at the end make them more than other cheaper products. I can make $50 per unit off a cheaper product but take two weeks to get rid of it versus making $30 per unit off of better quality product and getting rid of two or three of them in a week making between $60-$90, a little bit of simple math triggers better decisions. If you want to be the best you has to be the best, not just your entrées, appetizers or desserts. As I am growing, this seems to be one of the top five challenges I deal with, but a good product can never be contained if the promoter is highly determined, motivated and persistent!

Brian, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Brian Obeso the owner/baker/marketer/everything to Cheesecake Chino’s. I am the person you come to when you looking for delicious cheesecake innovations to leave lasting sweet tooth memories of that one dessert table. My mission is not only to fulfill your cheesecake fantasy, but also to make sure my product is suitable for the cost of the theme of your occasion/mood which is why I have so many options in flavors. I currently have 63 flavors, but minimize it to 15-20 at a time, so that way people can still be provided with opportunities to try them all. Every day from the time I wake up to the time I sleep has been nothing but cheesecakes so what you will be tasting is nothing but hard work passion and dedication. Since the last interview, I am now waiting for equipment to be delivered to my brick and mortar, graduating from the commissary kitchen I’ve been using the past year, so definitely proud of the growth, but believe me, it wasn’t easy and the journey is guaranteed to have a lot more speed bumps. I don’t want to sound like I’m knocking anything else that’s going on out there and I respect everyone’s craft but I must say this, a lot of people can scoop some ice cream make a milkshake maybe have a few exclusive flavors of cakes, cupcakes and etc., but I have yet to find someone who makes a bunch of flavors of artisan style cheesecakes that has left an impact on many and my reviews that you can find on my social media or a Google account will show. In other words, if you like exclusivity, and you are an exclusive person yourself then my product is for you..

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I’ve been making cheesecake since 2017, but it originally started as a no bake and was also a side hustle. Many people suggested I take it to another level because it had a distinct taste, but I always put it on the back burner because a no bake can only be so famous. When I formulated a bake recipe with the no bake in 2021 I quickly brung my interest of cheesecakes back to life, but was currently working two jobs in the kitchen. When you transition to some thing, the best way to do it is gradually and scaling it strategically so this is how I did it. I first started bringing in a whole bunch of samples and giving them out just to see the feedback and this became a weekly thing. Once I seen that the product was highly appreciated. I started charging and selling them at both jobs. Now that I was confident enough to sell to other places, and as my business was growing, I started paying attention to the numbers and making sure that it made sense. It came down to me making $400 a month so I cut down the days of my job that equal to $400 so that way it breaks evenly. The more time I got to inject into my business the more profit I seen so once the profit overcame what I was making from my jobs I let them go respectfully, and I am where I am today making more than both of the jobs combined, but also working harder as well. Strategic or scaling works in every system, that’s why there is staircases and that’s why there’s levels to a building and levels to everything, you can’t do a giant step from the first to the 24th step, nobody‘s legs are that long and good luck doing it with stilts, take things step at a time.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

You have to put your product out for the universe to know because if nobody knows what you have to offer, how could you get any sales? I was to the point that I was going door-to-door with samples and mini cheesecakes for sale, ready for any reactions from welcoming to irritated responses, it don’t matter the least you could do is your part and offer. Samples is another major key, a lot of people may not know how good your product is but just a little taste can give you a sale in return and last but not least good product speaks for itself so once things are in motion people’ will be blowing your phone up. Connecting with clients is another important factor because you can have a good product but if your service is terrible what’s the point? Good product and good service combined will be the seeds to success, and the good news will spread because believe me, people will talk. When you had something super delicious or had an extravagant services provided how many people did you tell?

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.cheesecakechinos.com
• Instagram: @cheesecakechinos
• Facebook: @cheesecakechinos
• Youtube: @cheesecakechinos