Roxanne Quimby sat in the president's office of Burt's Bees' newly relocated manufacturing facility in Raleigh, North Carolina. She missed Maine, the company's previous home. Quimby had founded and built Burt's Bees, a manufacturer of beeswax-based personal care products and handmade crafts, in central Maine and wondered if she should move it back there. She explained, 

When we got to North Carolina, we were totally alone. I realized how much of the business existed in the minds of the Maine employees. There, everyone had their mark on the process. That was all lost when we left Maine in 1994. I just kept thinking, “Why did I move Burt's Bees?” I thought I would pick the company up and move it and everything would be the same. Nothing was the same except that I was still working 20-hour days.

Quimby needed to make a decision quickly because Burt's Bees was hiring employees and purchasing equipment. If she pulled out now, she could minimize her losses and rehire the 44 employees she had left back in Maine, since none had new jobs yet. On the other hand, she couldn't ignore the reasons she had decided to leave Maine. In Maine, Burt's Bees would probably never grow over $3 million in sales, and Quimby felt it had potential for much more. 

Preparation Questions

1. Who can be an entrepreneur?

2. What are the risks, rewards, and trade-offs of a lifestyle business versus a high-potential business—one that will exceed $5 million in sales and grow substantially?

3. What is the difference between an idea and an opportunity? For whom? What can be learned from Exhibits C and D?

4. Why has the company succeeded so far?

5. What should Roxanne and Burt do, and why?