3 Fellers Bakery

4 Pages Posted: 7 Apr 2010

See all articles by Edward Hess

Edward Hess

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business

Abstract

This case could be used in entrepreneurship, strategy, and small-business courses. It presents classic issues regarding successful start-ups such as how to choose from a multitude of growth opportunities; how to pace growth so as not to dilute quality control and financial risk tolerance; and how to choose a strategic focus.

Excerpt

UVA-ENT-0137

November 27, 2009

3 Fellers Bakery

On a July morning in 2009, Susan Feller sat in the eating area of her retail bakery, 3 Fellers Bakery (3 Fellers), in Goochland, Virginia, with her son Mike, a recent MBA graduate of the Darden School of Business, and marveled about how, in just two and a half years, she had been able to build a successful business by baking and selling gluten-free cakes and desserts. The gluten-free products that 3 Fellers made were now sold in 26 grocery stores, including 10 Whole Foods stores, on the Internet, and in her retail store.

In 2005, when Feller was a happily retired high-school guidance counselor, homemaker, and mother of three adult sons, she was diagnosed with celiac disease. Celiac disease is a disease of the small intestines that forced Feller to avoid eating or being exposed to a list of foods made with wheat, rye, most oats (unless grown in a gluten-free environment), or barley. But it was really the inclusion of flours, breads, pastries, and desserts on the list that got Feller moving toward starting her own business.

Feller loved to bake and make beautiful cakes for birthdays, weddings, and other special occasions. Now she found to her dismay that most store-bought gluten-free desserts did not even come close to tasting as good as what she baked at home. So, she spent more than a year learning how to make her own gluten-free pastry creations, which she knew tasted as good as anything made by the finest pastry chefs. Her secret ingredient was her own flour mix, the product of 12 months of trial-and-error experimentation. She tested her desserts first on members of her family and then on members of her gluten-free support group, the West End Gluten Intolerance Group. She discovered everyone loved her desserts, and several support-group members encouraged her to sell them.

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Keywords: Growth, strategic focus, risks of growth, entrepreneur's limitations

Suggested Citation

Hess, Edward, 3 Fellers Bakery. Darden Case No. UVA-ENT-0137, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1585606 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1585606

Edward Hess (Contact Author)

University of Virginia - Darden School of Business ( email )

P.O. Box 6550
Charlottesville, VA 22906-6550
United States

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