How a Founder Was Forced to Take Back the Company From His CEO

Almost 20 years ago, Scott Jordan wanted to solve a very common problem; he needed a way to carry and organize all my gadgets and gear without a “man-purse.” Now with the inspiration from his loyal customers, Scott created SCOTTeVEST as the world’s best travel and first digitally native clothing company.

On the Small Business Radio Show this week, Scott talks about how he was forced to take back running the company that he founded from his CEO and return it to profitability.

Scott Jordan Interview

For the first 15 years, SCOTTeVEST grew only through outstanding public relations and referrals from happy customers. They never paid for advertising beyond digital retargeting. But in 2016, when he saw the success that UnTuckIt shirts had in television, Scott decided to produce their own commercial for $10,000. Soon after, SCOTTeVest bought television spots; as a result, their sales grew by 85% in 2017. Scott said thought he had finally figured out how to scale the company and decided to turn the company over to someone to run it. He add that “I was shopping for jet airplanes”.

In 2019, as the company scaled their TV advertising, things fell apart. They lost $2M and the bank called the loan which he had to personally cover. Scott realized that their media vendor was not watching the spending and had invested in expensive video production and inefficient television spots. No one was tracking the ad spend and the results. Everyone was giving them financial credit and “the bills just kept coming”.  Scott was forced to take back running the company.

Like many companies this year, sales at SCOTTeVEST shrunk by 50% during the pandemic. Scott used the time to get close to his customers by doing arm chair travel and not talking about COVID. He also did a series of livestreams with his mother in law to talk about traveling. SCOTTeVEST also raised his prices during this time and no one noticed.

Listen to the entire episode and Scott’s fascinating comeback story on the Small Business Radio Show.

Image: SCOTTeVEST

This article, "How a Founder Was Forced to Take Back the Company From His CEO" was first published on Small Business Trends