Jacksonville Chocolatier and Candy Maker: Sweet Pete's

Chocolate Pretzel Clusters. Photo courtesy Sweet Pete’s.

19. When did you film the show?

We started recording the second week of January [2014] and finished in the last week of February. The film crew came back 3-4 times.

20. Was Marcus Lemonis there for all the filming or was he just there some of the times?

Marcus was here every time we filmed.

21. How did the filming work? Was it scripted?

It definitely wasn’t scripted. Before we’d been chosen we had an initial phone interview and then a Skype interview with the producer and then that producer pitched us to CNBC and Marcus. Marcus made the final choice - but just off the Skype interview, not from looking at our financials or anything like that. Once we’re chosen, only then do we send all our financial information and Marcus reviews it literally the last minute before he meets us because he doesn’t want to have a pre-disposed idea. Once Marcus is here he starts asking a lot of questions. He works with us a little bit and the story takes its own path from there. They have a whole team of people and the first day was really long - over 12 hours of filming. They would go back to their hotel room and that’s when Marcus could ask more questions about our background and the producer would share more of the documentation we’d sent earlier. From that first interaction on the first day the film crew decides to focus on certain strengths or weaknesses as part of the story line.


Coconut Curry Cashews

22. When you finally watched the show on TV were you surprised at how it came out or was it how you experienced it?

It was very much the way we thought it would be - we weren’t surprised.

23. When Marcus made an offer to invest in Sweet Pete’s had you seen the offer before it was presented on TV? And did you get time to think about it?

We didn’t know in advance. We’d been told that we wouldn’t have a lot of time to think about the offer and that we’d need to be prepared. Because we knew that we’d have to decide quickly Pete and I spent a lot of time talking among ourselves to decide what we could accept and what we couldn’t. We had parameters for how much of an investment we wanted, and we wanted to have a certain amount of equity without our prior partner being involved. If we got those things then we were going to do it.



Pecan Chocolate Bar

24. What did you think of the $750,000 offer that Marcus made for 50% of Sweet Pete’s?

It was way beyond what we were expecting. Of all the episodes of The Profit that we’ve watched we feel like we got the best offer Marcus has ever made. And it’s not just the money. Along with the investment Marcus brings a lot of infrastructure and a team of people to help us grow the business and bring it to the next level. Marcus bought into us because of the potential he saw to bring the store to the next level. We were very excited.


Marcus Lemonis


25. Is Marcus similar in person to what you see on TV?

Yes. He’s focused and very much to the point, and he’s definitely very hands on. We talk to him probably twice a week.

26. Does Marcus stay involved after the show is over?

Yes. He has a team who’s more involved in the day-to-day activities for things like marketing and branding and execution of the overall plan. Marcus is more on the visionary side of things whereas we’re focused on the execution now. We have a conference call every week where we discuss what’s been accomplished and what our goals are and Marcus is on those calls.

27. What was the hardest part about doing the show?

The first couple of days it was a little stressful because we didn’t know what was going to happen. The film crew was off shooting scenes with our partner and for all we knew they could have build a story around what he was saying. We didn’t have any idea, so that was a little stressful. At one point we were just stressed because on days they were filming you didn’t feel like you owned yourself. You had a mike on all day, everywhere you went. You have to be available whenever the crew needed you. The crew would set the topics we needed to talk about at any particular time so we had to be ready for anything. Finally, Pete said, if we’re going to do this, let’s just admit that we don’t own ourselves right now and try to have some fun. After that it was a lot easier and less stressful.

28. What was the funnest part of the show?

Obviously the outcome - it was so amazing and fun. The whole thing has been very exciting. Our lives are definitely not mundane or boring.

29. How have things changed since the show?

We’re way busier but we also have a lot more resources now that allow us to do things we couldn’t before. For example, we’re going through a packaging re-design now. We’re working with a graphics team and can really come up with any idea so long as it helps the business. We’re also able to buy a lot more in bulk then we ever could have before. It’s really neat to be part of a team where everyone is saying they’re going to help take Sweet Pete’s to the national level.

30. Is your plan to franchise Sweet Pete’s?

We haven’t decided on a growth strategy yet. We’re definitely going into the wholesale arena and our website sales are really taking off. Compared to April a year ago and April this year our web sales have grown over 300%.