Case Study - Fraser Doherty SuperJam
Fraser Doherty from Edinburgh, Scotland, first set up his business, SuperJam, at the
age of 14. Initially selling jams to friends and neighbors and then at farmers’
markets, the jams proved to be so popular that he soon was working all hours
trying to keep up with demand. Having researched the market and discovered that
jam sales were in decline, he invented new flavors that incorporated superfoods,
such as blueberry, to embrace the trend towards healthier eating. By substituting
the traditionally high sugar content with the natural sweetness of fruit, his jams are
lower in calories than the majority of other jams available.
In order to scale up production and grow the business, it was soon time to move
the operation to a factory unit. With his new-found ability to deliver large volumes
of jam, he managed to land his first supermarket deal with Waitrose, an upmarket
supermarket chain. Many other supermarkets have since followed and in 2008,
SuperJam hit $1.2 million in sales. Not content with simply making money, Fraser
is also a social entrepreneur, organizing tea parties featuring music, dancing, and
of course SuperJam, for senior citizens in care homes.
What single decision was the tipping point for SuperJam’s growth?
1. The decision to move production to a factory unit.
2. The decision to invent new flavors incorporating superfoods.
3. The decision to substitute sugar with the natural sweetness of fruit
Case Study 2: Catherine - myYearbook.com
In 2005, Catherine Cook from New Jersey set up myYearbook.com in partnership
with her brother David to provide a free way for high school students to create
yearbooks online. The idea came to them while still in high school when neither
liked the photos of themselves that appeared in their school yearbooks.
In the intervening years, the site has evolved from being merely an online yearbook
to a full social networking site, with its own currency, ‘Lunch Money’, which site
members can use to play games, buy each other virtual gifts and more. Many of
the features are suggested by users of the site themselves. In the early years of
myYearbook.com, Catherine was working through the night managing a
development team based in India while continuing her high school education
during the day. By 2006 the pair moved the business out of their bedrooms and
into a purpose-built office space. Over the years, various would-be buyers and
investors tried to get them to change their vision for their business (for example,
by suggesting that they add adverts to profile pages). However, Catherine and
David knew that this would annoy their users and refused to incorporate the
adverts, staying true to the wants and needs of their customer base. Still only 21,
Catherine now attends Georgetown University, while still working in the business.
In March 2011, the website was ranked as one of the top 25 most visited sites in
the US while the company employs 100 people and is valued at $20m.
What is a key factor that led to the business being the success it is today?
1. Generating revenues through the most practical and viable means
2. Always listening to potential investors
4. Building features the customers wanted