Biddy's Bakery

Biddy’s Bakery Case Study 2

Elizabeth McDoogie nicknamed Biddy, founded Biddy’s Bakery in 1984 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Elizabeth had this idea of offering homemade goods as an alternative to commercial baked goods. She wanted to provide a product that offered old fashioned style and taste. The bakery sold an array of cakes and pies to both the public and local restaurants. Initially, Elizabeth aka “Biddy” opened the restaurant simply for something to do or as a hobby with some friends sharing recipes from generations past from their families. Elizabeth and three of her friends ran the operation from a room on the first floor of “Biddy’s” home from 6am to 2pm baking and selling the cakes and pies. They created work stations around the space to create an organized and task focused environment. They had some cakes available for quick purchase but mostly baked according to advanced order placement.

Explain the challenge Elizabeth faced in meeting her capacity needs and what she should have considered before moving into the larger facility.

In the beginning the business operated at a loss because the sales were slow. After a few years, Biddy’s Bakery began to retain customers and attract new ones resulting growth although it was slow and steady. As the business began to grow, Elizabeth expanded her first floor storage area to accommodate the business needs. As business continued to flourish they quickly outgrew the expansion and decided to purchase a building not far from the existing workspace that was much larger than what they really needed but Elizabeth was confident that with the continued growth they’d soon meet the capacity. It appears that Elizabeth didn’t develop a busy plan which would have forced her to explore the market and the business side of her operation. She would have had a clear idea as to what her competition in the area was like, what the trend in the industry including strategies such as environmental scanning. Using this...