WK4 Case Study
Week Four The Gril-Kleen Corporation Case Study
Karen Mueller
Upper Iowa University
Dr. Kristopher Blanchard
8/5/2015
The Gril-Kleen Corporation
Nature and Characteristics of the Product and Corporation Gril-Kleen was invented by two brothers who owned a small, busy restaurant in Eastern Massachusetts. Early on there were two methods of cleaning grills used in this market which was carborundum stone or a wire mesh screen. Due to dissatisfaction with the products currently on the market, two brothers decide to develop their own grill cleaner which could be quickly and easily use at normal operating temperatures. The product is a chemical solution which can be applied directly to a working grill and would clean burnt on food and accumulated grease in a matter of minutes. It appeared to have several major advantages over competing product. In 1997 seeing how successful the product was a restaurant customer urged the brothers to manufacture and distribute the product on a regular basis and the three of them formed The Gril-Kleen Corporation.
Originally they worked from the basement of the restaurant selling, manufacturing, and distributing the product. Within a years’ time with minimal efforts The Gril-Kleen Corporation had become too large for the restaurants basement and was moved to a new larger location within a nearby location that was formally a pasteurizing plant for milk so it came equipped with large stainless steel tubes that could allow for 450 gallons to be produced per day. Realizing the company had grown and needed additional assistance; the owners hired a local politically ambitious individual to run the company feeling his name would offer prestige to the organization, and offered him a 25 percent interest in the business. Following a year of declining sales the three original partners made the decision to buy him out.
Warren Ryan, who has a MBA with extensive experience in marketing, advertising, and industrial management
Karen Mueller
Upper Iowa University
Dr. Kristopher Blanchard
8/5/2015
The Gril-Kleen Corporation
Nature and Characteristics of the Product and Corporation Gril-Kleen was invented by two brothers who owned a small, busy restaurant in Eastern Massachusetts. Early on there were two methods of cleaning grills used in this market which was carborundum stone or a wire mesh screen. Due to dissatisfaction with the products currently on the market, two brothers decide to develop their own grill cleaner which could be quickly and easily use at normal operating temperatures. The product is a chemical solution which can be applied directly to a working grill and would clean burnt on food and accumulated grease in a matter of minutes. It appeared to have several major advantages over competing product. In 1997 seeing how successful the product was a restaurant customer urged the brothers to manufacture and distribute the product on a regular basis and the three of them formed The Gril-Kleen Corporation.
Originally they worked from the basement of the restaurant selling, manufacturing, and distributing the product. Within a years’ time with minimal efforts The Gril-Kleen Corporation had become too large for the restaurants basement and was moved to a new larger location within a nearby location that was formally a pasteurizing plant for milk so it came equipped with large stainless steel tubes that could allow for 450 gallons to be produced per day. Realizing the company had grown and needed additional assistance; the owners hired a local politically ambitious individual to run the company feeling his name would offer prestige to the organization, and offered him a 25 percent interest in the business. Following a year of declining sales the three original partners made the decision to buy him out.
Warren Ryan, who has a MBA with extensive experience in marketing, advertising, and industrial management
References: Entrpreneur. (2014, May 27). Starting a Business. Retrieved from Entrepreneur: http://www.entrepreneur.com/bizstartups/index.html Hisrich, R., Peters, M., & Shepherd, D. (2014). Entrepreneurship: 9th Edition. New York, NY: McGraw Hill. U.S. Small Business Administration. (2015, May 27). Starting & Managing a Business. Retrieved from U.S. Small Business Administration: U.S. Small Business Administration