Marketing Strategy Al and Desiree

Marketing Strategy Al and Desiree Wehner, graduates in dairy science, had begun experimenting a new style of farming, experienced in New Zealand, called rotational grazing. The new methodology involved moving the animals and cattle from "pasture to pasture rather than shed to shed" (Walker) and improved the quality of food with grass grown in soil that has been given the best attention. The cheese business began as a hobby when Desiree made cheese for the first time in an educational project with her son, Kyle.

But the idea developed at a dairy conference in 1998, when Desiree tried fresh goat cheese. On her return from the meeting, she bought 13 goats and began experimenting cheese making in her own kitchen at home. The step from business to hobby was made in 2000, when Desiree began to sell the cheeses produced to passers-by and tourists in the area. It was an incipient phase and the family had no real initiative of growth or anything related to expanding in the industry.

On the other hand, the product was extremely popular and some of the occasional clients turned into faithful customers. A third-place ribbon from the American Cheese Society proved the perfect incentive for Desiree to acknowledge that her cheese was something of excellent quality. Word-of-mouth marketing was an excellent way to get people to know about the product. Additionally, the product was improved with the help of cheese expert Raymond Hook and Jean Marc Maisonnaire from France.

Desiree's son, Jeremy, and his wife, Jessica, have also joint a business in full expansion. As described, the production has moved to a large plant and there are three new employees. Before 2000, most of Desiree's actions are unanticipated and occur by chance or rather not directly connected with a possible business idea. In my opinion, the year 2000 comes as a benchmark between making cheese as a hobby and turning it into a business. From this point forward, most of Desiree's efforts can be considered planned efforts.

Indeed, as any respectable company, she pays attention to research and development and to the continuous improvement of the product and of the product's quality, as well as to marketing methods, such as efficient word-of-mouth in the area and the presentation of the products to the American Cheese Society. 2) in my opinion, the most important opportunity for small businesses, as perceived from the article, is the immense growing opportunity.

Practically, these are limited and Desiree's cheese business, started from selling cheese at the edge of the road and growing into a profitable distribution networks, is an excellent example in this sense. It is, of course, not the only one: many of the large companies nowadays have grown from a small "mom-and-pops" (Business Week, January 2005) niche business. In this sense, one of the most important advantages offered by a small family business is the "the personal touch they can offer that bigger companies cannot" (Business Week, January 2005).

This element is significant in this case. Desiree managed to develop at first a network of faithful customers by offering that love-made cheese by the road. Additionally, she offered high quality cheesed, processed manually, by herself, in her own kitchen at home, something a large industrial company could never offer. On the other hand, a small family business has financial weaknesses, which generally manifest themselves at the beginning of the business.

It is often the case that they have to guarantee their start-up credit with other assets and this provides extra pressure in the beginning. Along the way, the small family business still lacks important resources that larger companies may have and people may have a reticence to be hired and work in a small business. 3) Desiree's company is in a period of full expansion for now, which may lead her to approach new market sectors for the goat cheese.

The main threat in this case may come from potential competitors on the market, competitors who may either decide to buy them out or use somewhat less orthodox methodologies of reducing their net sales. These would include selling at lower prices than Desiree's company, something a larger firm could well do as it would have the necessary resources to compensate.