This word of mouth marketing helped expand their distribution channels as well.
The greatest opportunity for a small business, like Sweet Grass, is to focus on what they do best and serve a niche market. Sweet Grass isn't trying to be the largest dairy producer, with an all-encompassing product mix, instead, they are satisfied by providing consistent high quality cheeses. And it is cheese that they do oh so well.
Small businesses have the ability to focus all of their efforts on a limited line up of products. They can discover what they do best, and differentiate themselves from the rest of the market by doing just that. Small businesses may not be able to compete in areas such as cost or large deliverable quantities, but quality is an area they can often excel at. Small business owners have the unique advantage of being able to oversee much more of their organization than those of large businesses, allowing them to personally ensure the high levels of quality that companies like Sweet Grass achieve.
They can also focus their efforts on meeting niche markets. Unique customer needs are often difficult for larger organization to handle, especially if their needs are of small quantities. In employing economies of scale, it becomes evermore difficult to customize orders and meet individual preferences. A small business is often geared to producing in small batches, and for this reason, an alteration to make a unique product is less difficult.
Problems Sweet Grass May Have in the Future:
Sweet Grass is currently riding a wave of success. Wehner has been able to grow her company from a part-time hobby to a thriving business. However, there may be challenges in the future.
First, there is bound to be more competitors...
Given the nature of the specialty cheese industry, the barriers to entry are quite low. This, combined with the growing popularity of these specialty cheeses, leads to the likelihood of increased competition from new entrants. The number of producers has already grown exponentially to more than 200 (Walker, 2004, p. K1).
A secondary challenge may come in the changing social climate of the consumers. Currently, cheese one of America's odds on favorite diet foods. Not only does cheese provide the calcium needed for strong bones (Steinmehl, 2005), it also is one of the more popular tools for weight loss. Today's Atkin's diet recommends a diet that is centered on meat and cheese, much like the Doctor's Quick Weight Loss Diet of the 1960s (Aschwanden, 2005). 24 million Americans are on a low-carb diet, while 44 million more say they may give it a try ("Carb," 2004), clearly affecting the rise in cheese consumption. If those dietary recommendations were once again changed to a high carbohydrate, low fat diet, cheese could go the way of pasta lately. Sweet Grass must be prepared for this, perhaps responding with a low-fat variety of gourmet cheese, should this occur.
References
Aschwanden, C. (Mar 2005). New name, old diet. Health, 19(2). Retrieved April 19, 2005, from Alt HealthWatch database.
Carb-crazed? (24 Sept 2004). Current Events, 104(3). Retrieved April 19, 2005, from Academic Search Premier database.
Steinmehl, E. (Mar 2005). Eat less protein, get stronger bones. Health, 19(2). Retrieved April 19, 2005, from Alt HealthWatch database.
Walker, R. (5 Aug 2004). Handcrafter cheese from Georgia? The Atlanta Journal - Constitution. K1.
Case Study: Handcrafted Cheese…
