Wood Furniture Manufacturer

Background
The firm is a manufacturer of wooden furniture including TV tray tables, gourmet kitchen carts and islands, and Adirondack-style outdoor furniture. At certification the firm had 77 employees and approximately $5.2 million in sales.

By the mid-'90s sales topped out at $9 million and the product line fully evolved to meet the needs of customers in the furniture industry, which eased the firm’s loss of customers in the giftware industry. It was during that time the firm also began to expand its product line to include larger pieces of furniture manufactured from many more types of solid woods.

By 1999, as business began to slow, the owners believed it was just another bubble in the economy that before too long would abate. Unfortunately, because of increased foreign competition and a depressed economy the firm’s gross margin dropped below 10 percent while the cost of doing business steadily increased.

With the NYS TAAC’s help, management identified an area that if improved would ensure the long-term viability of the business.

Assistance Provided
The very first order of business was to replace lost sales. Without increased sales, the firm's long-term prospects were dim. After analyzing the strengths of the business, it was determined the firm needed a strategic marketing/sales plan to address both immediate and longer-term needs. The plan would define the firm’s strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats and had to include a formulation for controlled growth, predicated on specific business calculations and formal marketing strategies, market trends, and customer base. Once these elements were properly addressed, long-term goals and objectives could be developed for the firm.

Project Results
The project is considered a big success by the firm. Since completion of the project sales experienced a 50 percent increase and employment increased 30 percent. One immediate benefit of this project was the firm's products being featured in two extremely popular shop-at-home catalogs (LL Bean and Lands-End).

During the course of the strategic marketing project management learned that as the firm becomes a stronger competitor, management will be in need of a few high-level professionals to assist the firm in reaching the next sales plateau. Three such positions are VP of Manufacturing, VP of Marketing, and Controller. Filling these key positions will be instrumental in moving the firm to the $10 million sales level.