To make great cheese, good tools are needed: a vat, knives, packaging machines, a walk-in, etc. To run a business one needs good tools as well. It is easy to understand investing in a cheese vat, more difficult, for some, investing in the "soft" things that make a business profit.

To sell great cheese one needs to know in advance about the market: what cheese is it looking for, what cheeses are oversaturated, what is the current price range, where do the people shop who are most likely to want a particular cheese?

Once cheese is made, what is the most effective way to get it to market? How will customers place orders? What kind of trucking ? How much will it cost? How are orders tracked? How can one ensure they are shipped on time? What if there is a recall?

To profit from making and selling great cheese a realistic costing model Is needed, as well as the understanding of how it relates to making a profit.

To make a profit, a business has to be brought under control- become more predictable.

A simple example: A creamery is making three cheeses; how much to make of each? If too much of one is made, and too little of the others, the result is an expensive garbage can, and customers poorly served as product runs out or is sold when it is less than perfect.

Don't laugh, it is not uncommon for new companies to throw out thousands of pounds in the first few years of operation.

A system to help predict how much of what cheese to make and when like our OBRA™ system is essential.

Recall plans and keeping good records are no longer luxuries, but essential to ensure delicious, safe product, and protect against liability. (Our QACCP™ system encompasses HACCP, but is focused mainly on making great cheese, more than merely safe cheese)

When the owner or manager isn't there, how do people know what they are supposed to do? Who opens up the creamery each day? What do they have to do first? What does your closer have to do at the end of the day? At the end of each week? Who answers the phones? What are they supposed to say?

Successful businesses that survive for the long term write things down and make them accessible to everyone in the business. People need to know what to expect, and what is expected. A common reason people fail in business, is their business is completely dependent on them.