14. Cheeta Teamwear

Revenue: $2.8 million
Growth: 42.72%
Founders: Michael Davis, Jon Kapiniaris
Head office: Melbourne, VIC
Year founded: 2018
Employees: 11
Industry: Wholesale and distribution
Website: cheetateamwear.com.au

How Cheeta Teamwear started

Michael Davis and Jon Kapiniaris both had a corporate background and connection to local sporting clubs as players and committee members.

Sick of inconsistent sizing, long lead times and poor customer service when organising merchandise and apparel, they figured they could do better, and Cheeta Teamwear was born.

Growth

Cheeta had a big advantage on launch with a network of friends and family who ordered from and recommended it to their employers; but that pool of customers can only go so deep.

Hiring an in-house designer with a fashion and pattern-making background, and moving beyond Excel spreadsheets to CRM software made the business more adaptable.

With better designs, and processes Cheeta Teamwear has focused on gradual improvement, 1% at a time to grow revenue an average of 42.72% year-on-year over the past three financial years.

Where to next

Now it needs to future proof that growth, converting more clients – and just as importantly, retaining them. This year, it has launched a design-your-own merch tool, and will roll that out across more products.

Looking to gen Z for growth, it is building out live chat and extended business hours to match young people’s penchant to avoid traditional business communication, to support them when they need it most.

Cheeta Teamwear was shortlisted for both the Community Award and the Retail Award at The Smart50 Awards 2023.

Back to The Smart50 Awards 2023.