School House Business Model Case Study
1. How would you evaluate the School House business model?
Ms. Weeks was a Greensboro girl who came to Duke with an interest in fashion and concern for exploited workers in the third world sweat shops which produce much of the world’s clothing. She managed to obtain a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Sri Lanka, a small country 10,000 miles away which was trying to brand itself as a source of clothing that was produced ethically. To make a long story short, Ms. Weeks founded School House and launched a factory in Sri Lankathat paid almost triple the prevailing wage to its workers. (SchoohHouse, 2012)
School House Business Model
First of all, School House’s was able to increase production wages in Sri Lanka from $160 per month to $170 per month, which was three times the local prevailing wage. As wages increased, product quality and employee retention improved significantly. All of these improvements led other buyers to become interested. At first, School House was purchasing 90 percent of the output of the factory. However, the factory attracted a major brand name and was then only able to devote 10 percent of its capacity to School House.
Second, Traditionally, college apparel has not been focused on fashion. Most makers of collegiate apparel do not even employ fashion designers. Typically they employ only graphic designers and change the designs of T-shirts and sweatshirts without considering the latest fashion. In contrast, School House is fashion forward, and gets inspiration from current fashion trends.
Third, School House focuses on the wholesale market, selling apparel to retailers. School House is neither the manufacturer nor the retailer. However, School House does plan to expand sales directly to consumers through its website which makes some products available directly to consumers but only on a limited basis.
Rachel concedes that School House does not yet produce the volume that would constitute a real economy of scale. However, the business
Ms. Weeks was a Greensboro girl who came to Duke with an interest in fashion and concern for exploited workers in the third world sweat shops which produce much of the world’s clothing. She managed to obtain a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Sri Lanka, a small country 10,000 miles away which was trying to brand itself as a source of clothing that was produced ethically. To make a long story short, Ms. Weeks founded School House and launched a factory in Sri Lankathat paid almost triple the prevailing wage to its workers. (SchoohHouse, 2012)
School House Business Model
First of all, School House’s was able to increase production wages in Sri Lanka from $160 per month to $170 per month, which was three times the local prevailing wage. As wages increased, product quality and employee retention improved significantly. All of these improvements led other buyers to become interested. At first, School House was purchasing 90 percent of the output of the factory. However, the factory attracted a major brand name and was then only able to devote 10 percent of its capacity to School House.
Second, Traditionally, college apparel has not been focused on fashion. Most makers of collegiate apparel do not even employ fashion designers. Typically they employ only graphic designers and change the designs of T-shirts and sweatshirts without considering the latest fashion. In contrast, School House is fashion forward, and gets inspiration from current fashion trends.
Third, School House focuses on the wholesale market, selling apparel to retailers. School House is neither the manufacturer nor the retailer. However, School House does plan to expand sales directly to consumers through its website which makes some products available directly to consumers but only on a limited basis.
Rachel concedes that School House does not yet produce the volume that would constitute a real economy of scale. However, the business