Home Butchering Supplies, based out of Antigo WI, knows how to carve a path to success. They’re dedicated to supplying the home hunter-butcherer and small to medium-sized butcher shops with the equipment and supplies they need to process their meat and prepare it for the family dinner table. Committed to quality, they stay busy, especially during peak hunting season, when orders can surge to a staggering 200-300 per day between November and January.
Contemplating a systems change
As Home Butchering Supplies grew, so did the strain on the systems they were using. Initially they ran their business using mainly QuickBooks, but soon began to hit the limits of a non-ERP solution.
A few trusted friends recommended that they connect with Koble, as EBMS (Koble’s ERP software) had served them well in their businesses. Durrel Horst (Owner of HBS) was hesitant at first – after all, a systems change across a company is never easy. He wanted to make sure a robust tool like EBMS would be well-worth the investment, especially for a company his size. But in early 2020 he found himself up against the 14,000 customer records limit QuickBooks had, and decided it was time to make the leap to partner with Koble.
How the right system helps handle unexpected peak season demands
Fast forward a couple of months, to the 2020 pandemic. As it turns out, one outcome of a worldwide pandemic is an increase in hunting hobbyists, keeping Home Butchering busier than they’d ever been. In addition to the increased demand, unforeseen supply chain disruptions led to a massive increase in inventory backorders.
“With QuickBooks, we wouldn’t have been able to handle it. I’m really glad we switched to EBMS when we did.” – Durrel
Their timely implementation of EBMS proved to be invaluable in helping them keep up with a much larger than normal growth they saw that year. With EBMS, Home Butchering was much better equipped to manage the backorders, ensuring a smooth customer experience even amidst the challenging and unanticipated growth.
Managing growth with a scalable system and trusted partnership
Since then, their growth has remained steady, averaging a healthy year-over-year increase. Through partnering with Koble, they’ve been able to tackle that growth efficiently and effectively, without needing to hire too many more employees.
They have streamlined their shipping process, a critical factor for handling peak order periods. With EBMS they were able to integrate directly with UPS Worldship, whereas previously all customer information had to be entered manually between QuickBooks and Worldship. This speed and efficiency allows Home Butchering Supplies to get orders out of the door within 24 hours of being placed, ensuring their customers receive their equipment quickly.
Because Home Butchering Supplies is such a seasonal business, they have the opportunity every summer to carefully evaluate how to better meet the demands of the coming fall. They work closely with their Account Manager and Customer Success Team at Koble to identify areas of growth that support Durrel’s goals with his company.
“Having my own dedicated team has definitely been a plus. I get to work with a set group of people that know how I use my software and understand my needs. I like that a lot.”
Expanding to a Second Location
In 2022 they opened a second location in New York that operates through the fall and winter of each year. The two locations work together closely, as the location in New York only ships seasonally and relies on some inventory shipments from Wisconsin. Needing to be able to track inventory between the 2 locations, Durrel’s Account Manager at Koble recommended they scale their system’s capabilities to meet the growth. As most small business owners are, he was hesitant to jump up to that next level, but again the decision paid off.
“I was beginning to hit the limits of the software tier that I was at, so my Account Manager encouraged me to scale up. I’m very glad for it now, it’s opened up multiple things for me and has been doing everything I need.”
Integrated Payment Processing
Most recently, Home Butchering has also added integrated payment processing through Koble, allowing them to simplify the payment process for their customers, and for their internal team.
“I was hesitant for that for a while because I was concerned about having too much tied to my software vendor, but I feel like Koble has demonstrated they are a solid company to be in partnership with so I’m pretty excited about it. It’s working very well so far.”
A collaborative approach to success
From the craziness of a pandemic, to the uncertainty of the current economy, through the ups and downs of business, Home Butchering is able to make decisions with confidence, streamline their processes, and ensure excellent customer service. We are honored to partner with them through it all, and to help them continue to thrive with whatever comes next.
Kelsey Stout is the Head of HR & Marketing at Koble. She loves helping people build strong and lasting businesses with meaningful work, the right systems in place, and a strong approach to culture. When not telling Koble stories, Kelsey can be found writing children's fiction, spending time with family, or playing the guitar (poorly but enthusiastically).
