Thinking Outside The Lobster Trap
When people think of Maine, they think lobster.
When Mainers think of lobster, they think industry in trouble.
High fuel costs, boat maintenance, shifting prices, and a natural resource and a way of life in danger of disappearing.
Lobstermen and women in Maine are known for their hardiness and work ethic.
They are the quintessential Mainers-rough-hewn from the very granite of our rocky coast.
And engaged in the fight of their lives as they try to survive working in a traditional Maine industry.
An entire way of life, centuries old, clinging as tenaciously as a barnacle to the hull of a lobster boat.
And then, two brothers, life-long lobstermen, took a look at the industry from outside of the lobster trap.
Brendan and John Ready saw a market for a different kind of business.
The brothers founded Catch a Piece of Maine, an off shoot of their seafood business.
For a premium price, customers can partner with the lobstermen.
Customers pay $3,299 for a trap and lobsters caught in that trap during the season are shipped to the customer (or the customer's Great Aunt Tammy).
Every lobster harvest shipped includes the following:
The company also donates 10% of the profits to Gulf of Maine Research Institute to fund educational programs for Maine school children.
Check out their website at www.
catchapieceofmaine.
com.
Notice how they brought other Maine businesses along with them...
clam diggers, mussel growers, dessert makers, bib makers, etc.
The outside-of-the-trap innovation has proved attractive to the corporate and business gift market as well as with so-called foodies.
It has also earned the brothers the title of National Young Entrepreneurs of the Year from the Small Business Administration.
An award well-deserved.
Time to put on your thinking cap and start thinking outside the trap for your own business.
How can you take a traditional industry and turn it into a more profitable, more enjoyable, more passionate undertaking?
When Mainers think of lobster, they think industry in trouble.
High fuel costs, boat maintenance, shifting prices, and a natural resource and a way of life in danger of disappearing.
Lobstermen and women in Maine are known for their hardiness and work ethic.
They are the quintessential Mainers-rough-hewn from the very granite of our rocky coast.
And engaged in the fight of their lives as they try to survive working in a traditional Maine industry.
An entire way of life, centuries old, clinging as tenaciously as a barnacle to the hull of a lobster boat.
And then, two brothers, life-long lobstermen, took a look at the industry from outside of the lobster trap.
Brendan and John Ready saw a market for a different kind of business.
The brothers founded Catch a Piece of Maine, an off shoot of their seafood business.
For a premium price, customers can partner with the lobstermen.
Customers pay $3,299 for a trap and lobsters caught in that trap during the season are shipped to the customer (or the customer's Great Aunt Tammy).
Every lobster harvest shipped includes the following:
- 4: 1 1/2 lb.
hard shell lobsters caught from your private lobsterman - 1 lb.
Maine steamers dug by a real Maine clam digger - 1 lb.
Maine Mussels harvested by a Maine Mussel grower - 4 servings Maine made desserts from local purveyors (blueberry brownies, Maine whoopee pies,..
) - Lobster Bibs, cooking instructions and recipes, utensils, wet-naps, & sea salt
- A photograph and story about your private lobsterman and a map detailing where the lobsters were caught.
- A personalized gift message and the DVD about the lobstermen showing your support of the working waterfront and the values associated with Maine (should you choose to send any of your lobsters as gifts).
- Next day shipping throughout the entire continental U.
S.
is included.
The company also donates 10% of the profits to Gulf of Maine Research Institute to fund educational programs for Maine school children.
Check out their website at www.
catchapieceofmaine.
com.
Notice how they brought other Maine businesses along with them...
clam diggers, mussel growers, dessert makers, bib makers, etc.
The outside-of-the-trap innovation has proved attractive to the corporate and business gift market as well as with so-called foodies.
It has also earned the brothers the title of National Young Entrepreneurs of the Year from the Small Business Administration.
An award well-deserved.
Time to put on your thinking cap and start thinking outside the trap for your own business.
How can you take a traditional industry and turn it into a more profitable, more enjoyable, more passionate undertaking?
Source...