Father Daniel Mary, the Prior of the Carmelite Order of monks in Clark, Wyoming was a former high school football player, boxer, bull rider and man of great faith. Father Prior Daniel Mary was known to never back down from a challenge, a challenge which would take precise planning and execution to complete. This challenge would require Father to rally his group of men...his monks, to get them all focused on this common goal Father Prior had envisioned. This vision was to create a new Mount Carmel in the Rocky Mountains. His vision of altering the small brotherhood of 13 monks living in a small home into a 500-acre monastery that would include: accommodations for 30 monks, a Gothic church, a convent for Carmelite nuns, a retreat centre for lay visitors and a hermitage; these visions all presented the daunting challenge.

Father Prior had located a nearby ranch for sale (Irma Lake Ranch) that met his requirements but the current listing price was $8.9 million dollars which presented a financial obstacle. It didn’t help that Father Prior Daniel Mary did not have a great deal of experience in business, he lived as a Carmelite hermit in Minnesota before moving to Clark, Wyoming to establish the new monastery. While Father had proclaimed a very detailed future direction for his monks and monastery, he hasn’t created the strategy needed to achieve such expectations. Father Prior currently has unclear vision, mission and value statements; the monks need to progress forward with the same common goal in mind but at this point there is no evidence this exists. The monks daily religious routine (core values) of prayer, reflection and meditation seem to interfere with their corporate responsibilities, this can cause conflict which could hinder operational profitability. Operating with no clear business model along with no evidence of corporate structure can severely alter Father Prior’s vision.

Here is a list of six key issues that may compromise Father Prior’s ability to acquire the 8.9 million dollar ranch (Irma Lake Ranch):

Short-Term Issues
An evaluation of the monastery’s Mission Statement
An evaluation of the monastery’s Vision Statement
An evaluation of the monastery’s Value Statement

Long-Term Issues
An evaluation of the monastery’s Coffee Operations
An evaluation of the monastery’s Strategy Execution
An evaluation of the monastery’s Business Model

After much deliberation we have come to the following key findings in regards to Mystic Monk Coffee:

The need for a realistic business plan
The need for vital business experience
The need for a shared vision
The need for sustainable financial strength
The need for greater support from the community

In closing we would like to make the following recommendations in regards to improving Father Prior’s future direction for the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming:

Contract out the coffee operations to a market leader (ex Starbucks)
Have the monks strictly focus on improving marketing strategies
Push the idea “use their Catholic coffee dollar for Christ and his Catholic Church” to generate more donation funding

Appendix I (SWOT Analysis)

Strength (Internal - Capitalize on them)

Ability to collect donations due to who they are and what they stand for
Specific target market of 69 million Catholic Americans
Majority of coffee revenue processed ONLINE

Weakness (Internal - Shore them up)

Lack of financial strength
Prayer being the primary daily focus
No evidence of a shared vision between Father Prior and the monks

Opportunity (External - Invest)

The local businesses started a foundation to help raise money
Globalization through the Catholic Church
Potential collateral business

Threats (External - Identify)

Growing competition of similar quality coffees
Geo-political concerns
The economy

Appendix II (Fitness Test) Rate questions 1 - 4 on a scale of 0 - 4 (TOTAL 20) How current are your business and marketing plans?
2. Are you ready and capable of taking the next step?
3. Do you have the proper marketing mix?
4. Do you still market to the correct segment?
5. Does your company have an effective website that generates business?

18 - 20 (There is room for added value)

15 - 17 (Additional value to be added)

< 14 (Need some help building business)

Appendix III (Financial Analysis)

Last Fiscal Year

Sales(Coffee & Accessories) $678,000 Cost of Sales ($203,400) Inbound Shipping ($128,820) Broker Fees ($20,340)

Gross Profit $325,440

Operating Expenses Utilities ($94,920) Supplies ($81,360) Telephone ($6,780) Web Maintenance ($67,800)

Net Profit $74,580

Upcoming Fiscal Year

Potential revenue outlook (10% increase) should we consider contracting out the production of coffee to (Starbucks)

Sales(Coffee & Accessories) $745,800 Starbucks Royalties (60%) ($447,480)

Gross Profit $298,320

Operating Expenses Web Maintenance ($74,580) Marketing ($37,290)

Net Profit $186,450

Short-Term Issue
An evaluation of the monastery’s Mission Statement

As Father Prior had eluded to the 8.9 million dollar ranch would be PERFECT to solidify his vision which was to “create a place of prayer, worship and solitude in the Rockies”. Ultimately this is the mission statement Father Prior is trying to instill in all of his current monks and any young men hoping to become monks. He had also mentioned the rigorous criteria for acceptance and what it really means to live a life of secluded religion.

Father Prior wanted to establish his hermitage at a place that offered beauty, seclusion and biblical importance this being his detailed vision. The Irma Lake Ranch boasted a 17,800 square-foot residence and 500-acres of beauty, the Wyoming monastery portrayed little resemblance to the great stone cathedrals and monasteries of Europe (which the Irma ranch closely resembled) and was limited to a small ranch-style four-bedroom home. These were all very important facts Father Prior considered while envisioning his future place of residence.

Having very little business experience we feel Father Prior has made strong strides in the right direction to his overall goal/vision. The problem is his vision along with his mission and values do not align properly this is what causes disfunction within a business operation. To be seen as self-sustaining there needs to be an element of structure and foundation, this is something Father Prior needs to generate first and foremost before he can progress to creating a Vision and Value statement.

Recommendation - Father Prior should form a Board of Directors who can fulfill his expectations. Mission statement not inward looking.

Short-Term Issue
An evaluation of the monastery’s Vision Statement

Shortly after leaving the hermitage in Minnesota and arriving in Wyoming, Father Prior had formed a vision of acquiring a large piece of land, on this land there would be accommodations for 30 monks, a retreat centre for lay visitors, a Gothic church, a convent for Carmelite nuns and a hermitage. Father Prior would then release his vision statement “We beg your prayers, your friendship and your support that this vision, our vision may come to be that Mount Carmel may be reformed in Wyoming’s Rockies for the glory of God”.

Father Prior developed an execution plan that would allow Mystic Monk Coffee to minimize the effects of its sheltered solitary constraints, maximize the potential of solitary opportunities, and realize his vision of acquiring the Irma Lake Ranch. Previous recommendations stated Father Prior should form a Board of Directors, with this board collectively brainstorming additional/alternative solutions to use as their vision. Father Prior is hoping through premium coffee sales, product extensions on their website and donations through the foundation these solutions can fulfill and sustain his vision.

As previously mentioned aligning all business structure elements is essential in operating a successful enterprise. Having this newly formed management team and having them all focused on 1. the mission statement and 1a. the vision statement. Although a slow process, step by step each issue is built upon and things begin to fall into place. Father Prior envisions a life devoted to prayer and worship, the production of coffee is quite possibly what can make this way of life self-sustaining.

Recommendation - Get the board acclimated to Father Prior’s vision and express the importance of continued focus and build upon that. Not attached to external goals.
Short-Term Issue
An evaluation of the monastery’s Value Statement

Mystic Monk Coffee targets a market segment of the U.S. Catholic population who drinks coffee and wishes to support the monastery’s mission. 69 million Americans are members of the Catholic Church across the U.S. This is an obvious strangle hold on a specific niche market which is strong and large enough to sustain operation going forward. However, core values specific to the monks’ are primarily a life focused on prayer, meditation, silence and worship. The monks currently are performing spiritual duties about eight hours a day, while only working six hours a day. This ratio simply will not suffice the required rate of activity in order to satisfy the purchase price of the Irma Lake Ranch.

It will be important for Father Prior and his newly appointed Board of Directors sit down and figure out what is going to be the most effective work/religion ratio possible to attain his goal/vision. Quite possibly the monks’ may prefer more meditation over labour, in that case Father Prior may be faced with a decision to possibly hire outside help during the hours of prayer or sub-contract out the production of coffee all together.

Recommendation - In the short term, the organization will need to develop a balanced scorecard - using targets/metrics to determine goals while evaluating the performance of their strategy. Periodically revisiting this scorecard can certainly ensure Father Prior and the Board of Directors remain FOCUSED on their goals/visions.

Long-Term Issue
An evaluation of the monastery’s Coffee Operations

Please refer to Appendix III (Financial Analysis) while reviewing this point, after gathering important aspects to this entire case it was time to make some projections/assumptions in order to generate new ideas. So to this point we understand prayer is important to the monks this creates a void between the coffee operation and the acquisition of land. We also understand after looking back at last fiscal years net profit that operating expenses where relatively high. Father Prior is hoping we can raise enough funds through Mystic Monk Coffee to purchase the 8.9 million dollar ranch which seems a bit extreme under the current working constraints.

In order to sustain the type of volume required to purchase the new ranch Father Prior should consider sub-contracting out the production of coffee to a market leader (ex Starbucks). After looking over the proposed future revenue outlook net profit increases from $74,580 to $186,450. By sub-contracting Mystic Monk Coffee can cut their high operating expenses in half, only leaving the maintenance of the web which is primarily where all the sales took place. This would also allow for the organization to spend more of their available time and money on marketing their cause. They already have a great market segment that they currently hold with the Catholic Americans, having all the monks work together attending church retreats/vocations to promote Mystic Monk Coffee can really propel them to new revenue levels.

Sub-contracting to a market leader like Starbucks also gives you the ability to enter more global areas, which alone can have a dramatic increase to revenues. The increased marketing would allow for more possible donations, so paring that with the globalized revenue potential Starbucks holds 8.9 million dollars now seems attainable from our perspective. This works best for Father Prior and his visions/goals but also takes into consideration what is most valuable to the monks’ which is time for meditation.

Recommendation - Sub-contract coffee production, focus on marketing, push for more donations.
Long-Term Issue
An evaluation of the monastery’s Strategy Execution

Drawing up the perfect strategy is something we can provide pretty easily, the most difficult and most often forgotten aspect is how well we execute our strategy. This goes back to remaining focused on what it is we are trying to accomplish or continue to do well. There are a number of different tests we can run (internally) that can give us some perspective on our current strategy execution (conduct a fitness test - see Appendix II, conduct a competitive advantage test, conduct a performance test). These tests can measure the health of an organization, they also can provide you with enough feedback to identify if a change needs to be made.

It might even be beneficial to incorporate the local businesses who started up the donation fund on Mystic Monks’ behalf, they may assist you in some unfamiliar areas such as marketing. However, this is not something to shy away from, the formula of sub-contracting plus great focus on marketing together with their ability to collect donations seems to be the most effective strategy.

Recommendation - Periodically revisit performance tests, also make sure focus is still aligned with our end goals/visions.

Long-Term Issue
An evaluation of the monastery’s Business Model

Is the organization achieving the long term goal of a profit oriented enterprise: growth and sustainability. Is the organization closer to realizing it’s vision (have we gotten closer to acquiring the Irma Lake Ranch). If any of these questions are coming back with incomplete responses we need to go back and re-think our strategy and also manipulate the execution of our strategy.

Please refer to Appendix I (SWOT Analysis) Here we need to identify our strengths internally and capitalize on them. Our ability to collect donations is the strongest point and we should focus more on how to increase the amount of donations received. We also need to identify weaknesses internally and shore them up. Currently we are operating at a revenue level which will not allow for the purchase of Irma Lake Ranch. We also need to identify opportunities externally and invest in them. The local businesses that started the donation fund is something we should be investing more time and effort into, this can prove to be very prosperous. Lastly we need to identify external threats. Growing competition is something that can burden our potential growth, however, this is why we try to offset this risk by selling globally through Starbucks.

Recommendation - Be sure to ALWAYS reassure your team that we are indeed on the right path to success.

Conclusions (Key Findings)

Father Prior did not have a business plan, we have not considered out potential outlook with contracting out the coffee production. Father also lacked the business experience needed to grow, thus we should consider local businesses and community support. There was no shared vision among the monks and Father Prior, by forming the Board of Directors we have a common vision for all. In order to be profitable we need to be sustainable, lacking in financial strength we need to invest more time and money into our marketing segments.