Bird feeder case

‘Birds World’ manufactures a variety of bird feeders, garden accessories, and other items intended to help people get in touch with and observe nature. Founded in 1995 by Jim McMaster in LaGrange, Illinois, the company started when he was working as a fourth-grade teacher. Presentations to students on birds and wildlife had a way of capturing their enthusiasm; thus, McMaster started offering presentations to other schools in the greater Chicago area. Within a few years, McMaster was so busy doing presentations at various schools, as well as running nature camps from his home, that he quit his full-time job as an elementary school teacher to form Natural Designs. At first, ‘Birds World’ was mostly Jim and his wife giving presentations and running camps, but gradually the company expanded to sell some of the bird feeders and other nature devices featured in his class talks. Today, the company has sales of $2 million per year, most of which comes from physical products sold to outdoor, nature, and bird stores such as Wild Birds Unlimited.
In the first few years of operation, Jim McMaster and his wife, Sheila, produced bird feeders and other products in their garage. In 1997, however, the operation became too large for their garage, so they rented a 4,000-square-foot facility for production and distribution purposes. They also hired two employees to manage these two functions so that the McMasters could continue giving school talks. Today, ‘Birds World’ has 15 employees, 2 of which are focused solely on giving nature talks and selling the products to retailers interested in reselling ‘Birds World’ products. The product range consists of 500 stock-keeping units (SKUs).
One of the challenges faced by ‘Birds World’ involves its customized bird feeders. This operation allows customers to get one of the 10 made-to-stock bird feeders and have it customized with their name or address carved in the wood, plus painting in any of 10 color schemes. This portion