Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joe Sharpe. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Joe thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard
We stand out from our competition for many reasons.
1. We take the time to hand sharpen every knife that comes in. We don’t use any hollow grinders, or aggressive abrasives that take off a lot of metal.
2. Fastest turnaround time in the industry. Most companies make you mail them your knives or keep your knives for weeks. We Sharpen same day/next day in most cases.
3. We offer mobile sharpening for commercial customers. Our mobile unit is also a miniature chef store.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I was a business broker for many years when I was approached by a man who asked me to sell his knife sharpening business. After studying the business model, I saw many opportunities for this business so my wife and I prayed about it and decided we would buy this business.
We then began our journey in the knife sharpening world. I began studying and training in San Francisco.
When we analyzed the business we found that most knife sharpening businesses were using Hollow grinding machines. Its the type of machine that has 2 spinning wheels and you run the knife through it back and forth. It is a very cheap and easy way to “sharpen” a knife. The reality is that it doesn’t really sharpen the knife but more thins the knife out and grind the blade down. You would never want to use a personal knife in this system like this.
Our opportunity as we saw it was to provide a hand sharpened knife to chefs across all landscapes of the industry. We combined the knife sharpening route business model with the ” Snap on Tools” Model. We upfit our mobile sharpening units to become a mobile chef store.
Most professional chefs work long and odd hours in this industry and seldom had the availability to buy the tools and gear they want because many stores are closed when they would have time off.
Our niche model has worked in several different cities. We started in Charlotte, NC and expanded into Atlanta GA and now Phoenix AZ.
One of the things that sets us apart is our dedication to our craft and taking care of each of our customers like they are family. When we get a knife to sharpen, we understand that this knife can have a great deal of sentimental value and want to make sure that when they receive it back its in better condition than when they left it with us.
After success with our commercial sharpening, we decided to open Sharpe Haus Scottsdale for the public. Our years of high-quality sharpening is now available to the public. We boast the fasted turnaround time in the Valley. Your knife will be ready next business day and, in some cases, same day. We also have the largest selection of premium quality chef knives and tools in the valley. Our competitors take 1-2 weeks to get your knife back to you. That is a long time to not have your knives with you.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
High quality work. We hold ourselves to the highest standards.
In the restaurant world is massive but it’s also very small. Most chefs in this industry know one another and talk with each other. If you provide low quality work, rest assured they will let others know about it.
For home cooks social media has made it easy to spread experiences with ease, good or bad. It is helpful to know that people are more likely to share a bad experience immediately than they are a good one.
It is doing what you say you’re going to do.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
Guerilla marketing has been the most effective for our industry. We literally just go to the customers and give our 20 second sales pitch. This usually leads to a knife sharpening demo and then we do something shocking… We actually ask for the business. Most salespeople skip that last part.
The key is to make your sales call feel more like a conversation than you trying to sell something.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thesharpehaus.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sharpe_haus
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joe.sharpe.509509
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-sharpe-924432343/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sharpe-haus-scottsdale?osq=sharpe+haus
