Squirrel Defense Case Summary
Introduction In 1996, Bo Haeberle and Ed Welsh created a business selling solar bird feeders that gave a slight shock to squirrels that tried to eat the food, in Greensboro, North Carolina. The feeders won awards and prizes for best new product from various organizations related to their industry. The company needs to be more competitive; because three predominate competitors are selling similar products for less. In 1998, Bo and Ed created Squirrel Defense, Inc., an S Corporation, and opened a shop to produce the feeders. They did not consult with an engineer to design the feeders so they spent a lot of extra money and time producing the feeders. The feeders were “horribly back-ordered” and production was slowed so they could catch up with
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can hire a great accountant to get their books in order; maybe things are better than the books now show. This solution will not fix all the other issues of development, target marketing, advertising, and production. They do need to get their accounting in order.
SDI, Inc. can create a marketing/business plan and get more investors involved so they can produce more feeders faster. This option would give them more money for development, production, and target advertising.
SDI, Inc. can invest all available funds into research and development to cut long term costs and production issues. They will have to borrow money to invest more money into their business. In the long term it would help, but could also make them go under if the money is not managed very carefully.
SDI, Inc. could try to find someone to manufacture the feeders cheaper. With a less expensive manufacturer they could make more feeders faster and therefore, make more money. Not keeping up with sales is a major part of the companies’ problems, and this option can cut costs.
SDI, Inc. can merge or partner with one of the larger solar feeder companies. They would lose the control of their new, innovative product if another company partnered or merged with them. This option would give SDI, Inc. more access to research and development, and manufacturing at lower
can hire a great accountant to get their books in order; maybe things are better than the books now show. This solution will not fix all the other issues of development, target marketing, advertising, and production. They do need to get their accounting in order.
SDI, Inc. can create a marketing/business plan and get more investors involved so they can produce more feeders faster. This option would give them more money for development, production, and target advertising.
SDI, Inc. can invest all available funds into research and development to cut long term costs and production issues. They will have to borrow money to invest more money into their business. In the long term it would help, but could also make them go under if the money is not managed very carefully.
SDI, Inc. could try to find someone to manufacture the feeders cheaper. With a less expensive manufacturer they could make more feeders faster and therefore, make more money. Not keeping up with sales is a major part of the companies’ problems, and this option can cut costs.
SDI, Inc. can merge or partner with one of the larger solar feeder companies. They would lose the control of their new, innovative product if another company partnered or merged with them. This option would give SDI, Inc. more access to research and development, and manufacturing at lower