Hi Deron, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am a person that loves to barbecue. A few years ago, I got a Weber Smokey Mountain for Father’s Day. If you are not familiar with the Weber Smokey Mountain, it is a vertical style dome smoker. When I get a new barbecue toy, I seem to find myself on YouTube a lot to research ways to use it, any special recipes people have, the smoker’s pros and cons, etc. While on YouTube searching, I can come across someone who built their own Ugly Drum Smoker, but it wasn’t so ugly. I instantly became fascinated with the concept and decided I would try to do one myself. Again doing my research now on how to build this smoker, I saw different styles of builds but decided I would use some of that knowledge and put my own twist on it. I ended up building the drum smoker and showing it to a few people at work. They seemed pretty shocked at how well it turned out. Someone made a comment, “You should start selling those.” I never really had the thought to do that, but I just built it for me.
A few weeks later, after using it several times, I posted a video of me using it on social media. I had a few people reach out to me asking where did you buy your smoker? I told them I made it myself and they were shocked. They asked how much I would charge them to make one. Starting off, I just did it for the cost of materials. I was still perfecting it as I had made a few mistakes on my smoker. I ended up making one for my mom and a few cousins as well. The buzz for them kept generating from there. I would build a few here and there for new and local customers, but then the power of social media started to hit. I started to get requests from all over the US on how they could get one. That made me look into an effective shipping method because the smokers are pretty large. Since I’ve started, I have expanded from 1 style to now offering five different custom smoker styles that range to meet different customer’s needs.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been smooth. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs. One of my biggest early struggles along the way has been shipping. I would try to use your normal mail carriers and there would always be some sort of issue. There was one time when a smoker showed up at a customer’s home and the box was completely gone. I have also had some issues with drum and parts backorders that have caused delays in smoker turnaround timeframes. I still also work a 9-5 so balancing work, family and a thriving business can be tough. When you are building a brand and have been used to doing it all yourself, it can be hard to delegate the task. You want to make sure things are done right because at the end of the day, it’s your brand.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Champion Drum Smokers?
At Champion Drum Smokers, we build custom made barbecue smokers and grills. We are not your normal smokers and grills that you can walk into any Home Depot, Walmart or Lowes. All of our smokers specially made to what the customer wants. We allow picking their colors and theme to build. I believe what sets us apart is that we are taking the entire barbecue experience to another level. Barbecue is about having a good time enjoying good food with family and friends. Our smokers not only stand out as a conversation piece, but they are very efficient as well. I would probably say right now. We are most known for building smokers for fraternities and sororities. The brothers of Omega Psi Phi have been our biggest customer by far. I am most proud brand-wise that we are really growing at a rapid pace. Our smokers are now in over 24 states and still counting. In our second year of business, we tripled the number of smokers sold from our first year. We offer five different smoker styles. Our different styles include the Mini, Large, Pro Series, Pro Comp Series, and Offset smoker/grill. We ship to all 50 states across the US. When you shop with Champion Drum Smokers, you are going to get quality service along with a quality product. I love to tell people not only do our smokers look great, but they perform even better.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I can definitely say I’ve had a lot of support from family and friends. Even people I have never meet or spoken to before have been showing a lot of support. My good friend Robert Truitt has been one of my biggest supporters since I started. He had helped alot when it came to marketing and promoting my brand. I definitely appreciate that. Stan Battle is another supporter that has helped a lot along the way. He purchased a smoker from me, and then we started to talk more about how I could grow the business. Often, people want to try to be a part of your business for personal gain, but he has been genuine about helping me grow. He has an extensive background in sales and marketing, so the knowledge he has shared has been valuable. I actually was able to sell a smoker to Spice Adams. Spice is major on social media, and he has been promoting the smoker I made for him. This has helped grow my social media following alot. It’s not something he had to do, but he loved it so much he wanted to.
Pricing:
- Mini smokers start at $500
- Mini smokers start at $500
- Pro Series smokers start at $1,150
- Pro Comp Series smokers start at $1,399
- Offset Smoker/grill starts at $850
Contact Info:
- Email: Championdrumsmokers@gmail.com
- Website: www.championdrumsmokers.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/champion_drum_smokers
- Facebook: Facebook.com/championdrumsmokers
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4gHbi-fH9llvkiGRWHgqCw
