Brand Series - Cheeky Zebra
1.Tell us a little bit about your background and how you first had the idea to start Cheeky Zebra.
I actually started Cheeky Zebra after I got dumped haha! So, basically I was alone in my room being pathetic and I saw an advert from another card company and I remember thinking “I can do better than that”. So I started with our first ever “break up” cards featuring “your vagina deserves better” and “there’s plenty more Dick in the sea”, which are weirdly still our best sellers!
2. What one business decision or tactic would you say really grew your business? I'm guessing there may be a few but if you had to name just one that helped your success what would it be?
Consistency. Consistently sending out emails, doing Tiktoks, Instagram even when you think no one is watching and just trusting that it will compound over time. From my experience of watching others it always does.
3. Tell us all about your Tik Tok journey.
Hahaha…my Tiktok journey started with me trying to lip sync and being terrible. Like not in a cute she’s so bad it’s funny way, just awful. So, out of desperation, I whacked a video of me opening up one of our cards with that irritating voice asking who people would send it to and next thing I knew it had like 2m views and we did like £6k in organic sales from Tiktok over Valentine’s day. It was nuts. Since then I’ve committed to just trying to be a bit more consistent with it and treating it all like data and not getting too emotionally invested in how they do. Some days we get 41k views others I’ll spend ages on and be lucky to get a 100! I’ve learnt it’s about playing to your strengths and they don’t have to be like “high budget”, mine are stupidly low budget. I have a lot of fun doing story time type things where I just basically turn the camera on and vent like free therapy!
4. You give us great social content - is this something that has evolved over time and would you say it 100% impacts sales?
It has definitely evolved over time. I used to not understand the value in showing my face / personality. However, since I started just having fun with it I noticed a huge difference. I wouldn’t say it drives loads of sales but it does drive customer loyalty and keeps our new customers coming back but also gives people a deeper reason to stay with us once they discover us for the first time.
5. Your business is run by yourself with the assistance of some of your family members (often described as a sweat shop, by you, not me) - how did this come about? And do you enjoy working with them?
Hahaha. I am exceptionally lucky. My family are very close and we’re very much a ‘we’re all in this together type dynamic’ whether it’s healthy or not. So, when I started the business and got really busy it wasn’t a question it was like “OK let’s go” and then it evolved naturally from there. My grandparents have their own business but are winding down but they’re the kind of people that have to be active so it kind of worked out perfectly. However, it isn’t without complications trying to tell an actual member of staff versus your Indian grandparents what to do is a very different dynamic. We have mini dramas all the time, the last big one was the printer stand off of 2021 with me and grandad but I do secretly love it.
6. What one piece of advice would you give another small business owner who's earlier on in their business journey than you.
Keep going. Don’t think just do. And do some more. Then it’ll be 6 months from now and you’ll be so glad you did.
7. And finally do you think your business would be as successful without you as the face?
I’m not sure. The cards are stellar in my opinion obviously, but everyone and their dog seems to have a card business these days. I think of my face as like a good point of differentiation but I would like to get us to the point where the brand can stand up without me if that makes sense. Like we do have customers that have only found us via organic Google searches or Pinterest and don’t even know I exist but I think to get the kind of loyalty and buy in we’ve been so lucky to have you can’t do that without having a personality to your brand.
To follow Cheeky Zebra over on Instagram or to learn more click here.