Your homebased cheese business can be quite profitable, home cheese making started in North America around 1840 in Wisconsin. Since cheesemaking arrived in North America, the craft has undergone major changes, mass production and now a renaissance in quality and taste is occurring. This business is labor intensive, an entrepreneur will have to examine carefully all aspects of this business before attempting to start into it. There is also a significant startup cost for equipment. The entrepreneur may discover that the cheesemaking business is too demanding and that the hourly return is not enough to meet his aspirations.
Who is Your Customer
What your customer, specific to this business needs:
The customer for your homebased cheese business is going to be someone who appreciates the unique tastes available from this specialty cheese. This client will probably be quite knowledgeable about cheese and the varieties, you are therefore going to have to be exacting as you make the cheese to deliver what the customer expects. For excellent product this customer will be willing to pay extra as the product he seeks is not generally available.
Daily Routine for your Business
- Review orders and supplies inventory
- Ensure that you have enough high quality milk available for the day’s production
- Clean and sterilize facilities and equipment carefully
- Marketing with business cards and flyers, you will want to have substantial demand for each product you are making so as to mitigate production costs.
- Production of the day’s orders and deliveries
Equipment and Other Items Needed
These are essential to your business and well worth the time and energy required to complete them.
- Business Plan
- Marketing Plan
- Bookkeeping System
- Appropriate Licensing
- Tax Department Licensing.
- Flyers and Business Cards
Specific to this business:
The nature of cheese making will require that you have available several types of ingredients for the process and you are going to have to ensure that the ingredients you are stocking will do the job properly as the risk of failed batches is high. In this regard you will probably be advised to join forums and groups to learn from the experience of others. There are many cheese making courses available, as well as periodicals that will keep you up to date with current trends and sources of ingredients. It is advisable to make good notes for each batch so that you have something to refer to in case of difficulties.
Sources of Business
Some Suggested Markets for your business:
- Family and friends
- Neighbors
- small grocery stores
- variety stores
- dining establishments
- antique stores
- a website once you are established.
Sources of Financing
It may well be that your small business is going to need more financial resources than you have at this time and that you are going to require outside financing. You also may want to lease equipment or to factor your accounts receivable. You may want to learn about small business loans or you may wish to find suitable business credit cards.
Resources
Further Notes re HomeBased Cheese Business
Some specific areas that are going to demand a lot of attention are the equipment being used along with the ingredients. To appeal to your customer base you are going to want to provide a superb quality and that can not be left to chance. It is imperative, therefore that your equipment be of top quality and that your ingredients be the best available.
In order to be able to distribute your product to the retail stores in quantity, you will need to help them market the product with attractive packaging. As the public begins to consume your cheese and ask for it in different stores your market will suddenly grow tremendously and demands for production will increase such that you will need additional staff.
Increasing your markets will depend on your marketing plan, you will want to promote locally with some samples until you start to get established and then perhaps you will need assistance from a marketing agency to approach some larger concerns. This step is where your emphasis on excellent equipment and ingredients and packaging are going to pay dividends. Purchasing agents want quality goods that will sell easily. If your product is wholesome and tasty and well packaged there will not be a huge resistance from the purchasing people.