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Drop the word "Apiaries" from business name

26K views 50 replies 31 participants last post by  Musashi 
#1 ·
I am taking a small business course and the instructor thinks that I should drop the word "Apiaries" from the name of my business, Squeak Creek Apiaries. His line of thinking is that the word Apiaries is hard to say and most people don't know what it means and says about the business. He wants me to think of the brand as being Squeak Creek. Not even Squeak Creek Honey Company, just Squeak Creek. I think I understand where he is going w/ this. I just thought that I would ask y'all.

Any thoughts?
 
#31 ·
You can not look at this from your own point of view. We are all beekeepers we know what Apiaries are and what they do. The general buying public does not, even new beekeepers do not know the word Apiaries when they get into beekeeping. The dumbing down of America is getting worse and you need to explain in simple terms what your product or service is in your business name. I am not saying it is right but if you want sales you need to make it understandable with a glance.
 
#32 ·
Thanks for all of the input. I think that having "Apiaries" in my company name tells those who know what it means that the company is more than a company that sells honey. It is a company that has bee hives and produces honey, so it knows what went into the production of that honey.

I need to talk to Marc more about this, but he seemed to be leading me to thinking about being more than a source for honey. I need to make my business profitable. Perhaps honey, and pollination service, is not enough to do that.

Thanks.
 
#35 ·
Now he wants me to change the Squeak part and think about selling things other than honey. I told him that I wasn't making enuf profit and this is what he comes up w/. I did also say that I didn't think that I could raise my prices 25% to make the profit that I would like to have.

I wholesale honey, doing direct store delivery. Raising the price of a Honeybear from $2.20 to $2.75 would make the shelf price around $4.00 in some store to $5.50 in others.

Now, that's just one item, but do you think that people who buy honey at the store would pay that price?
 
#41 ·
Now he wants me to change the Squeak part and think about selling things other than honey. I told him that I wasn't making enuf profit and this is what he comes up w/. I did also say that I didn't think that I could raise my prices 25% to make the profit that I would like to have.
My buddy owned a a building supply store and when the economy started heading south he hired a "pro" to come in and consult him on increasing his profit margin. The "pro's" advice was for him to diversify and cut out the middle man, buy a portable sawmill and start milling his dimensional lumber himself.

He looked at him and asked if he knew what kiln dried and graded meant in the building supply business? Then informed him he didn't need his services any longer. :rolleyes:

I think shortening the name isn't a bad idea. But use a graphic to advertise what you sell... A picture is worth a thousand words:thumbsup:
 
#36 ·
mark,

the point i was trying to allude to earlier is that if this guy was really good at running a small business, he would not be head of a department, he would be running a business. ...he clearly doesn't understand your market and your needs.

fwiw, we sell honey in stores at far above the prices you cite...but, in order to do this, we spend a lot of time in the stores doing tastings, and educating the customer. last week, at a tasting, i had someone put back on the shelf a 1lb jar "local raw" honey and exchanged it for a 1/2lb muth jar of the honey we are selling....at 3X the price per pound...the 1/2lb cost more than the 1lb.

this takes time and work....high priced honey will not just float off the shelves on it's own...you have to figure out what your customers want, and figure out how to provide it at a premium price.

deknow
 
#37 ·
"...Now, that's just one item, but do you think that people who buy honey at the store would pay that price?..." our local walmart sells generic (china) crap honey for more than that. whoever said "all beekeeping is local"? must have meant marketing,too. good luck,mike
 
#38 ·
deknow, do I know what you mean and agree w/ you.

I thought that it was funny when the other night he talked about how much he liked going to this one place for his coffee, because they know just how he likes it and he likes the place. He said that he doesn't know how much he is paying for his coffee. They run a tab for him and he pays it every now and then. Now that is affluent, in my opinion. And not the way the rest of us live, I imagine. I don't have anywhere that I go that runs a tab for me. Just the credit card kind.

A fellow professor or two own the place too. So what does that say? Not real world to me.

mike,
Wally World is selling 12 oz honeybears for more than $5.50 each? I didn't know that. I never go in Walmart, unless I am away from home and need some underwear or jeans. I don't do much shopping. Maybe I need to do some market research.

Thanks for the input.
 
#39 ·
""""I never go in Walmart, unless I am away from home and need some underwear or jeans. I don't do much shopping.""""
it sounds like there is a story in that. i have never been away from home and then suddenly needed underwear and pants. i think you know more about your buisness and market than this small buisness guy. it sounds to me like you need to pick a direction and then work as hard at that as you have been working up till now. that is my expert opinion. if you could see my bank statements right now you would probably ask me to keep my expert opinions to myself. justin
 
#40 ·
Well, from pms w/ some folks, maybe I should eithetr raise my prices the 25% I think I need to make a viable business or stop bottling honey and sell it in the barrel. I just like the idea of selling locally produced food to the local market.
 
#42 ·
My $.02...
I don't think it matters all that much.

Honestly, 6 years ago if you'd have asked me, I'd have guesses that an apiary is where they keep cages full of monkeys. (aviary for apes!)

I think if your customer is wholesale, in the business of bees, then it makes sense.

If you are targeting retail, and putting your name on the bottles, and that is your focus, it would make just as much sense to leave it off.

If you are trying to do everything, then leave it on. That makes it easier for beekeepers to identify you on the internet and in print. The average retail customer might not know what a Squeak Creek Apiary is, but who cares, its obvious it is honey. And chances are on the front you have in big letters "Squeak Creek Honey" anyway, NOT "Squeak Creek Apiary Honey.

Rick
 
#43 ·
Weird concept, to my way of thinking. Dropping identifiers off the name that is. By his way of thinking, are you down to just "Creek" as a name? Or should you just go to "Honey?"

I think you need to stick with the name you've been using. You must have some brand identity already in your markets. And "apiary" in the name is no different than "dairy," just not as widely known at this point.
 
#44 ·
a lot of us seem to be missing the whole point of a business name. It is an identity.... and FOR YOU.... but for your customers.... customers to understand who you are and what you do.

in the marketing world, you have to spell it out to your customers.... what you do. In marketing, it is better to use simle terms to identify.... like xxxx honey farm..... or xxxx raw honey. It is much easier to remember.

Remember.... (the name) is for customers..... not for us as beekeepeers
 
#49 ·
How about "Squeak Creek Top Bar Hives" or Squeak Creek Langstroth (you never heard of it) Honey" ?

Ok, I do agree with some others, if you don't have a personal connection to the name that you personally relate to then you will feel like a sell-out in the end. People can sniff out marketing pretty well too, so an honest pulse test for yourself is usually more effective in the end.
 
#51 ·
At least in Florida, and I believe the labeling law is a US thing, not by State, the NET WT. thing must be no smaller than twice the size of .....wel heck I forget the exact details. Once we did it right on our own labels, I forgot what the exact requirements were. It did become far easier when I found out that the label requirements can be on the back of the honey jar. So we have a decorative label on the front on some and some the label is large enough to just include it all on the front.

Again, I'm fuzzy on how we did it originally since it's been more than a year, but the only requirement was to show a local address and or phone number...some way for the inspector people to get ahold of the bottler if they wanted to check up on them, or consumers for that matter. There are some links for resources on each exact detail but it wasn't as onerous as it at first sounded to me when I first looked into it.
 
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