A look at the scenarios and general characteristics of wholesale and retail marketing organizations may further assist you in bringing your management needs into focus.

Wholesale Management

Wholesale Management Flow Chart

Generally speaking, sales of products to wholesalers will tend to require fewer people to run the business. Following is a description of the management positions that will need to be filled.

Wholesale General Manager
Manages the entire operation in a style that keeps business running smoothly.

• Possesses excellent leadership skills and sense of fairness.
• Places concerns about costs and production ahead of popularity.
• Directs others in order to accomplish the mission of the business.
• Fills in as required in order to get the work done.
• Has firm grasp of the vision for the business.
• Maintains the driving force of the business.
• Always protects the interests of the owners.

Wholesale Bookkeeper/Office Manager
Handles all day-to-day duties involved with front office business operations.

• Possesses excellent bookkeeping/accounting skills.
• Supervises all bank issues.
• Does all billing.
• Handles receivables.
• Manages payroll.
• Pays all bills in a way that takes advantage of all discounts.
• Manages cash flow.
• Composes all correspondence.
• Sends and receives e-mails and faxes.
• Answers the phone on the second ring.

Wholesale Marketing Manager
Conducts and oversees all activities that foster and promote sales. The Marketing Manager creates opportunities for success.

• Designs and executes an effective marketing program.
• Maintains accurate files on activities and efforts.
• Builds database on industry trends.
• Identifies potential customers.
• Oversees advertising.
• Makes sales calls.
• May recruit other members to assist in calls on potential customers.
• Works with General Manager and Bookkeeper to set both purchase and sales prices.
• Responds to customer complaints in a way that is satisfactory to the customer.
• Coordinates with the Production Coordinator to ensure the correct product is processed and delivered to the customers.
• Handles all sales orders promptly.

Marketing activities often require more than one person. Frequently, the General Manager and Marketing Manager will coordinate to pick up all marketing needs.

Wholesale Supply Chain Manager
Works with all producers to ensure quality and availability of quantity.

• Oversees quality during growing process.
• Sorts cattle for purchase.
• Works with production coordinator on delivery of cattle.
• Handles all issues related to producers including drug and feed protocols.
• Arranges for inbound transportation.

Wholesale Production/Inventory Coordinator
Works with the slaughter plant and the processing plant to ensure quantity and quality.

• Works closely with supply chain manager.
• Coordinates delivery of cattle to slaughter plant.
• Coordinates delivery of product to processing plant.
• Handles any issues involving either plant.
• Coordinates with marketing person(s) to ensure product processed per needs of customers.
• Manages inventory of finished product to ensure freshness.
• Coordinates delivery of product to wholesaler in quantity and sizes needed.
• Arranges for outbound transportation per delivery needs.

At a minimum, the wholesale business would require at least five or six people who are able to commit a minimum of 20 hours per week to the business. At 20 hours, the business is then only a part-time business. One of the issues when running a business is to be available whenever the customer calls. So all staff will need to be available during all work hours by phone, fax, e-mail or pager. This type of business requires conformity to the hours of operations maintained by the customer, usually 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., five to six days per week. More producers will be required to participate in the wholesale markets to meet higher demand for products.

Retail Management
Retail Management Flow Chart

This analysis is based on the concept of running a food booth or catering trucks.

It is easy to understand that going from raw product to finished retail involves several more steps than selling primal cuts on a wholesale basis. The retail process adds more value; value is earned by finishing the product to meet the exact tastes of the individual consumer. The trick is to earn value in a profitable way. Value added attempts could result in more work and less profit if not managed very carefully.

For the most part, the organizational charts look much like the earlier scenario. The major difference when going retail is the need for greater refinement of the product and greater coordination between the various components of the organization. For those reasons, you will notice a few more lines running between a few more boxes on the organizational charts. Wholesale trade provides the luxury of slightly wider product tolerances regarding quality, appearance and maybe even freshness. When you put your product directly in the consumer’s hands, everything must be exactly right. Retail presents more opportunities for greater profits and greater losses.

Retail General Manager
Manages the entire operation in a style that keeps business running smoothly.

• Possesses excellent leadership skills and sense of fairness.
• Places concerns about costs and production ahead of popularity.
• Directs others in order to accomplish the mission of the business.
• Fills in as required in order to get the work done.
• Has firm grasp of the vision for the business.
• Maintains the driving force of the business.
• Always protects the interests of the owners.

Retail Bookkeeper/Office Manager
Handles all day-to-day duties involved with front office business operations.

• Possesses excellent bookkeeping/accounting skills.
• Supervises all bank issues.
• Does all billing.
• Handles receivables.
• Manages payroll.
• Pays all bills in a way that takes advantage of all discounts.
• Manages cash flow.
• Composes all correspondence.
• Sends and receives e-mails and faxes.
• Answers the phone on the second ring.

Retail Production Coordinator
Handles livestock and volunteer related activities.

• Works closely with supply chain manager.
• Arranges for delivery, slaughter and processing of animals.
• Handles any issues involving either plant.
• Manages inventory of finished product to ensure freshness.
• Arranges for volunteer staffing at events or fairs.
• Arranges for either volunteer or hired drivers for factory catering program.

Retail Kitchen Manager
Oversees all food preparation duties.

• Coordinates with Retail Production Coordinator to arrange for volunteer help to prepare all food.
• Monitors all food preparation to ensure quality and food safety.
• Orders all supplies needed for preparation and serving of food.

Retail Volunteers
Food servers, kitchen helpers, cooks, clean-up staff, delivery and truck drivers, booth set-up staff, sales staff at the booth or in the catering truck.

• Be available when needed to do whatever is needed to ensure a quality product issold and customers are satisfied.

The retail business where prepared product is sold directly to customers will demand the involvement of many people. If large groups of people are not willing to help, the few who do will quickly burn out. It requires a willingness to work at nights and on weekends.

The food event business tends to be largely seasonal between May and September each year, with most weekends committed to some event. For a factory catering business, the truck will need to be staffed for three-shift factory operations.

Commodity Marketing
This business is the one where the group will seek better market access and prices due to marketing a larger number of quality cattle on a steady basis.

Commodity Marketing Flow Chart

Commodity General Manager/Marketing Coordinator
This person needs to be a leader with the aptitude to gainfully direct others in their accomplishment of the mission of the business. It is a key position.

• Establishes marketing relationships with major packers and buyers.
• Handles overall management of the business.
• Fills in any position as required to get the work done.
• Has the vision for the business and is the driving force in the business.
• Maintains the best interests of the owners at all times.

Commodity Supply Chain Manager
This person works with all producers to coordinate their efforts. It is a key position.

• Works to ensure quality in all cattle sent to slaughter.
• Is responsible for identity preservation from pen to plant.
• Chooses animals for purchase and coordinates delivery of them.
• Arranges for transportation.
• Deals with all issues related to producers including drug and feed protocols.
• Serves as inspector, enforcer and trainer.

As inspector - makes periodic visits to all producers to ensure quality practices andprocedures are followed.
As enforcer - requires producers to make necessary changes in practices to ensure available supply of quality cattle.
As trainer - teaches producers any new requirements of the market or producer group.

Commodity Bookkeeper/Office Manager
Handles all day-to-day duties involved with front office business operations.

• Possesses excellent bookkeeping/accounting skills.
• Disperses payments to producers in a timely manner.
• Supervises all bank issues.
• Does all billing.
• Handles receivables.
• Manages payroll.
• Pays bills in a way that takes advantage of all discounts.
• Manages cash flow.
• Composes all correspondence.
• Takes care of any necessary permits.
• Sends and receives e-mails and faxes.
• Answers the phone on the second ring.

The commodity business has the most potential to serve a large group of producers for a number of reasons. It is easier to set up and get started, and more members can participate with no requirement for extra outside work. Less financing will be required for marketing materials or fixed assets. Everyone involved is already familiar with this type of business; and business could result in a faster payback to participating producers.

Key Decisions
The team will find a common thread running through each of these scenarios:

One common question is the definition of quality.

• What does quality mean to this group?
• How will you define it so other producers understand it?
• How will you measure quality?
• How will explain quality to your customers? Your definition of quality will need to include aspects of how the animals are raised, traits in terms of fat content, etc.

Another key factor is the amount of investment you are willing to make. Initial investment will absolutely affect:

• the size of the business
• the near-term market potential
• the amount of sweat equity required from each producer
• the potential return on investments

The last factor is: Who will step up to be leaders in this project and fill the key roles as outlined?