REVIEWS to REVENUE

How can social media help small businesses overcome their hardships?

By Jessica Assafeen

Small businesses are everywhere. Whether the consumer realizes it or not, some of the local restaurants, clothing shops and websites they shop at are small companies. Small business owners work to make enough products, advertise their merchandise and handle the finances of their business. Consumers often see lesser-known companies showcasing their goods out in public, on commercials or through social media. Recently, TikTok has become an outlet for small businesses to display their ideas and products to large audiences in hopes that they’ll have higher sales.

Some public figures help these businesses attract attention. One social media star in particular, Keith Lee, has taken over the food-reviewing side of TikTok by posting about local restaurants in Las Vegas. Lee was best known for being a professional mixed martial arts fighter before he entered the social media scene. According to Dextero, he started his TikTok account to combat social anxiety and become more comfortable doing press interviews. He didn’t intend to create food review content until he built a small following from sharing his wife’s pregnancy cravings and appearing on the “People vs Food” YouTube channel.

According to Socialblade, Lee didn’t post his food reviews on TikTok until late 2022, when he quickly gained five million followers in a little over a month. Since then, Lee has changed the lives of multiple business owners in Las Vegas through promoting their food, and continues to review a variety of restaurants on social media. Lee made a noticeable change for one restaurant owner in particular and is recognized on social media for saving the business.

Towards the end of July 2022, Frank Steele accomplished one of his biggest goals and opened a pizza restaurant called Frankensons in Las Vegas. Although he received outstanding reviews about his food and customer service, Steele struggled to advertise his restaurant to the public.

“It’s been my dream for about 30 years to open this restaurant … Everything was right on point … I just wasn’t getting the foot traffic coming into my restaurant. We were probably three weeks from closing down,” Steele said.

Steele’s life changed when his daughter-in-law reached out to Lee in hopes that he’d help Frankensons receive some publicity. After a few hours, they became discouraged because they didn’t hear anything back. The same night, Steele answered a call from a customer who ordered tons of different menu items, not recognizing that the customer was Lee.

“I took an order and a guy ordered a bunch of stuff, [so I said] it’ll be ready in 25 minutes,” Steele said. “An hour went by … The guy never showed up for the order … [I called him and he said he’ll] be up there in about five minutes … 20 minutes later he [showed] up.”

Lee didn’t initially mention that he was a reviewer because he wanted the food to be made the same way they’d make it for any customer. This way, Lee could conduct an honest review. When he came to pick up the order, Lee told Steele that he was going to tell his viewers the truth about Frankensons.

“He said, ‘I’m here to review your food and let people know on TikTok and my social media how the food is. I’ll rate your food from one to ten … I’m going to tell [them] if it’s good [or not],’” Steele said.

In early January, on the same night he tried the food, Lee posted a review of the restaurant. He tasted pizza, sandwiches and chicken wings, and gave nearly every dish an almost-perfect score. Shortly after posting the TikTok, Frankensons received a drastic increase in customers.

“That night … the phone [wouldn’t] stop ringing … I rushed back to call my family to help out and we ended up leaving at [midnight] that night,” Steele said. “[The next morning,] we started getting people in line … We [opened] the door and the line went all the way down the sidewalk.”

Lee’s single TikTok video changed Steele’s life and allowed him to continue pursuing his dream.

“We went from about $300-$500 in sales a day to over $9,000 each day,” Steele said.

Lee didn’t stop there though, as he continues to purchase and rave about Frankensons restaurant as well as others in the Las Vegas area. Lee has used his platform to help both owners and the general public.

“He came back a couple days after that and bought 45 large pizzas from me and fed all the homeless in downtown Las Vegas … And he bought [food for] about 60 people in line,” Steele said.

Lee has not only affected the lives of the people in Las Vegas, but also those of other countries. Steele now serves people from all over the world at his restaurant.

“They’re getting off the plane and this is their first stop … They’re towing their luggage behind them … before they even go to a hotel to check in,” Steele said.

Locally, some BVN students have their own experiences with starting companies or helping others with theirs. Sophomore Hampton Stites spent much of his time outside of school to assist his family’s preparation for the Seven Brew opening day on Feb. 13. Opening their own business had been a goal for the family, which decided to help franchise when Stites’s uncle bought the Seven Brew company.

“My uncle bought the whole company … We’ve always wanted to start our own business, so [my parents] talked to my uncle about franchising … We just got permission from my uncle and then bought the rights to have five stores that are supposed to open in the next five years,” Stites said.

Since not many people in the area are familiar with Seven Brew, Stites believes that advertising is a bit of a struggle. He said he does his best to expose the shop to his peers at school to avoid being overshadowed by more popular coffee shops.

“No one’s ever been to a Seven Brew around here. So it takes a lot more advertising to get it to pass up a Starbucks or Scooters,” Stites said. “I wear the shirts as much as possible … [and my cousin and I] have been posting on our [Snapchat] stories all the time.”

Stites witnessed each part of starting a business as his parents were making it happen. Along the way, he learned about the professional side of running a company and gave advice for those aspiring to create their own businesses one day.

“[I recommend to] have a backup plan … My dad has a job that gets him enough money … So if this doesn’t work, [he’s] not just completely bankrupt,” Stites said. “But if [his] business takes off, he wants to get to the point where he can open enough stores to quit his other job and just be able to run the store for a living.”

Although the Stites’s company is being expanded to different states, other students have experience with smaller-scale businesses that they run almost completely on their own. Leah Helfer-Ross, for example, sold clothing pieces at the river market over the summer.

“My mom had a friend who [owned] Ditto … She would give extra inventory to me and I would sell everything for $3 … [It was called] Leah’s $3 Threads,” HelferRoss said.

Helfer-Ross always aspired to start her own business. This pushed her to quickly take the opportunity when she was given the chance in middle school.

“I’ve always been looking for ways to make money because I like the independence [of having] my own money,” Helfer-Ross said.

After receiving some exposure and gaining business experience, Helfer-Ross believes having your own small business is something that anyone with a passion can accomplish.

“Just go for it … I had zero business experience … I still had that idea and wanted to do it … Find something like the River Market where the stakes aren’t super high,” Helfer-Ross said. “And if it takes off, start some advertising, build a brand around it and then, maybe settle into something a little bit more permanent.”

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