We were lucky to catch up with David Prescott recently and have shared our conversation below.
David, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
Growing up, one of the best snacks you can get is beef jerky. Back in my day, jerky chew was bigger than candy. Everyone wanted to be your friend if you had a bag of jerky, It actually tasted good back then! As the years have passed, the quality of beef jerky has gone seriously downhill. So much so, that it’s hard to imagine that it’s made with real beef. As we grow up our taste buds change but mostly refine into understanding what most flavors actually taste like. One day, my wife and I are walking around a food truck event and noticed, No Jerky! A few concerts, a few farmers’ markets, and still no jerky that could bring me back to remembering why I liked jerky so much. Ding, Ding, Ding! We’ve been making jerky for years for our kids and nothing could compare to our homemade jerky. We realized that, since we spent a lot of time cooking on the smoker, jerky always came out better when it was freshly smoked, and made with our own recipes. We’ve got something! Making jerky at home was always fun, never had to put chemicals in, to keep freshness, because it was devoured usually the same day. We have adopted the same principles with our company standards… fresh ingredients, no chemicals, and always 100% smoked. Finding a handmade, chemical-free, smoked jerky is impossible. Except for Butt Rubz Beef Jerky!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My wife and I, and also our children, have always loved beef jerky. After not finding any jerky available in our area that was comparable to what we made at home, either in taste or quality, we decided that we would make some and try to sell it at a local farmers market. We were offering a healthy alternative to what was found in stores, along with amazing flavors. With no additives or preservatives, our smoked jerky became a local favorite very quickly. Before we knew it, we were participating in events, both big and small, all across our area! We went from making just a few pounds of jerky each week, to making hundreds of pounds. We loved meeting new people and loved all of our regular, returning customers. We have met so many wonderful people along the way. Even though making jerky isn’t a real profitable business, seeing our customers’ response, makes it all worth it. Finally having a product available to the public that tastes good, is healthy, and packed with flavor, keeps people coming back. It’s going to be a slow integration into the marketplace, but we are confident that once more people realize there is a jerky that is worth buying, we will definitely be successful. For us, it’s never been about profit. It has always been about delivering the best!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One of the hardest things we had to unlearn, was our idea of having a quality product at a reasonable price. Bringing our product to the secondary market has made selling to stores very difficult. Typically there should only be a 30-40 percent margin for stores, which would be fantastic, however with corporate greed, most stores want to have a 100 percent markup. For example, if I sell my product to a distributor for $5 a bag, the distributor will take a percentage, the sales team will take a percentage, and the store will mark all that cost up another 100%. Now my product costs $15 a bag in the store, while I only made 50 cents a bag. Everyone in the market space is making the money I wish I was. So unlearn the ideas that you can provide a quality product at a low cost, learn how to meet the demands of the secondary market, and find ways to give you the income you deserve for your hard work. We chose to stay out of big box stores, do a lot of events, sell directly to our customers, and boost online sales to keep our prices low.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
We believe that what helped us build our reputation in our market is our quality and personality. Having a consistent, delicious product and a fair price has helped us build our reputation also. We strive to have a great product, quick responses to messages and questions and fast shipping are all factors. We get out to the public every weekend and we offer samples.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.buttrubz.co
- Instagram: @buttrubz
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ButtRubz
Image Credits
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