Reference no: EM132841353

When Stephane and Laurence Bourrigaud moved to Bowral, about an hour from Sydney, Laurence began making pots of chocolate mousse, using his grandmother's recipe. Stephane cracked about 200 eggs each day and then delivered the product, by motorbike, to small retailers in Sydney. For the first five years the business remained quite small, but the couple worked hard to promote their product. At weekends they would visit shops and offer tastings. Before long, they were selling out every weekend. Stephane now cracks and separates 1 000 eggs a day and delivers the mousse once a week to Harris Farm and David Jones' stores around NSW. Stephane and Laurence are having difficulty meeting the demand. All production takes place in the large kitchen of their country home. The business has almost taken over the house, with bags of chocolate in the hall, tubs of organic sugar in the dining room, and an office in a closed-in front veranda. There are plans to build a chocolate factory at the back of the home, but Stephane is aware that growth can be difficult for small business owners. 'I don't have any experience in running a business,' he says. 'But I understand there are a few key things to know. At the beginning cash flow was a problem, but now we are on top of that. As a small business person you have to be super sharp. You can't let your accounts go to whack, you can't let people owe you too much money.' Stephane and Laurence are negotiating with someone who might help them expand - not only by helping them with finance, but also with business knowledge and experience. Stephane explains that 'these guys have a big business with about 3 500 people working for them. We are talking pretty much weekly, it's all about having a feel for each other. They've been eating my mousse for about 10 years. They know the quality is always the same.

1. What stage of the business life cycle is the business currently in?

2. What are the financial challenges they face in this stage of the cycle? How well are they managing this challenge?

3. The owners stress the importance of collecting debts efficiently. Imagine you were in charge of this aspect and David Jones had not paid an account that was due a month ago. What would you do?

4. How did they market the product in the establishment stage? Was it successful? How did they minimise costs during the establishment stage?

5. What are the marketing challenges they are now facing