Hetal’s Homemade – market development dilemma

Learning outcomes Specific learning outcomes are as follows: Participants will be able to understand how entrepreneurs learn from their experiences and grow; apply the Resource Based Theory (Penrose, 2009) to the case and see the case scenario from the valuable, rare, inimitable (difficult to imitate) and sustainable (VRIS) model within RBT; develop a SWOT analysis for a small business in speciality coffee and speciality mithai market; use Ansoff’s growth matrix, SWOT analysis and TOWS analysis to identify an appropriate quadrant and strategies for Hetal’s Homemade to pursue; and analyse different growth-oriented marketing strategies for the business, recommend and defend a marketing strategy based on the quadrant identified. Case overview/synopsis Hetal’s Homemade, which started as a homegrown brand in the year 1999, became well-known for its high quality and unique offering in the speciality coffee and mithai segments. In the year 2023, under the wake of COVID-19 consumer preferences had moved towards healthy and yet tasty delicacies. The homemade tag was a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) in itself. Marketing efforts for businesses, small to big, were moving to digital and social media activities. Hetal’s products were manufactured in their own production facility, which was as clean as a home kitchen. Orders were coming in from all over India. Hetal’s had experimented with various online promotion and distribution channels over the past few years. There was no big team of people to take care of the marketing aspects. Founder Hetal Jhaveri and her family could see the opportunities that existed if they chose to expand their business but were unsure on how to. This case shall enable students to apply marketing principles to analyse and suggest a viable marketing strategy for the growth of a small business, keeping in mind their efforts so far and the limitations that exist. Complexity academic level Undergraduate. Supplementary material Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 8: Marketing.