Each and every entrepreneur who has the opportunity to be on Shark Tank goes in with great expectations. They know that a positive decision by one of the judges has the potential to dramatically change their lives. Those whose startup receives a “yes!” are funded, receive enormous publicity and gain the mentorship of a phenomenally successful entrepreneur.
Bug Bite Thing CEO and Founder Kelley Higney and her mother, President Ellen McAlister, appeared on ABC’s “Shark Tank” in 2019 with high hopes. They came away with inventor and entrepreneur Lori Greiner as a partner.
Greiner, known as the “Queen of QVC”, gave her Golden Ticket to Bug Bite Thing, agreeing to their full asking price of $150,000 for 10% of the company. Kelley and her mother were excited about having their startup funded, but even more thrilled to have a partner with the product success that Greiner brings.
Their chemical-free, eco-friendly product alleviates stinging, itching and swelling caused by insect bites and stings. Priced below $10 the product is a reusable tool that solely uses suction to remove insect saliva or venom from underneath the skin that causes irritation.
In April 2021, just two years later, the company was featured on Shark Tank again, publicizing how their startup had grown to be a multi-million dollar enterprise following Greiner becoming a partner. At the time of their first pitch on Shark Tank, their startup had approximately $500,000 in revenue. For 2021 revenue is anticipated to exceed $15 million.
Having Greiner with her retail experience and savviness as a partner clearly paid off. Having a great product is also important, as Bug Bite Thing is Amazon’s #1 selling product for insect bite relief with over 40,000 reviews.
This past week the company announced a major retail expansion with new partners, making the product available at 25,000 new locations across the U.S. They are:
- Academy Sports + Outdoors in the Midwest, Southeast and Southwest regions
- Ace Hardware in retail stores nationwide
- Big 5 Sporting Goods in the Southwest and Western regions
- Casey’s in the states Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin
- JOANN’s in retail stores nationwide
- Lowe’s in retail stores nationwide.
“With our in-store expansion, I am even closer to reaching my goal as a ‘Mom on a Mission,’ that is, to educate people that a chemical-free solution for insect bite relief exists, while making the product even more accessible. Customers can now run to their nearest retail store to purchase Bug Bite Thing using the retail locator on BugBiteThing.com,” says Kelley.
The Bug Bite Thing story has all the elements that aspiring entrepreneurs want to hear. It has the excitement of appearing on a hit show like Shark Tank, having their startup funded by a famous entrepreneur and then experiencing an exponential increase in revenue in just two shorts years. Now that is a startup success story—with more to come!
