Dairy farmer turned pioneering cheesemaker

The need to diversify led Clare-based dairy farmer Sean Fitzgerald into artisan cheese making in 1988.

What is special about your business? Ours was the first Irish-produced sheep's cheese and we pioneered sheep dairying back in the 1980s with pedigree Friesland ewes. Our cheese is highly nutritious and has a unique flavour. It is also easily digested and widely tolerated by those with allergies to cow and goat milk cheeses. It is also high in phosphorous, zinc and essential B group vitamins.

What sets your business apart in your sector? We have been on the go for 26 years and are one of the original Irish farmhouses cheeses. We are a small, artisan producer hand making a specialist cheese using traditional methods. We produce in tune with the natural life cycle largely from our own milk. This means we make cheese from February to September and then let it ripen.

What has been your biggest challenge? Turning myself from a dairy farmer into a cheese maker.

What has been your biggest success? Establishing a new business from scratch, getting people to try and buy our cheese and getting retailers to list it. Because we are small, we have taken a very targeted approach to selecting retailers with the focus on upmarket independent and specialist outlets.

What key piece of advice would you give to someone starting a business? Cash flow is king. Never ever lose sight of that. Be vigilant about balancing the books. If you want something but you don't have the money for it, wait until you do. Even with the best idea in the world, you won't succeed if you don't manage your cash flow.

Who do you admire most in business and why? The Kingstons of Glenilen Farm in Drimoleague, Co Cork. They have shown that it is possible to remain true to your roots while expanding your product line up to make the most of your natural resources. I think they are a good example of a business that has grown successfully without compromising on quality.

What could the Government do to help SMEs in the current environment? I'd like to see them developing programmes that would suit producers such as me who are content to stay small. Not everybody wants to get huge or start exporting, but that's where the emphasis and the supports are aimed. I'd like help cracking the Dublin and the Belfast markets for example, but there's no help for that. Most of the programmes on offer are irrelevant for someone like me.

In your experience are the banks lending to SMEs currently? Yes. We have always been able to get what we needed but we have not gone looking for any money in the past two years.

What's the biggest mistake you've made in business? Trying to run two separate businesses at the same time. When we started the cheesemaking, we were still in dairy farming and, while the income from the dairy side of things supported the cheesemaking, it was a huge undertaking to do both at the same time. My son has since taken over the diary herd and I focus fulltime on the cheese.

What is the most frustrating part of running a small business? I don't find it frustrating at all. It's a constant challenge but never frustrating. I am very passionate about what I do. I am constantly on the road supporting our stockists with in-store promotions. There's no point just dumping a product on the shelf and hoping it will sell. You have to get right in behind it. Customer reaction to our cheese is usually very positive. That makes me happy.

What's your business worth and would you sell it? I have no idea, and not at the moment. I have two sons and, if they are not interested in taking it on, then I might sell it down the road. Right now it's my life and I've no plans to give it up.

In conversation with

Olive Keogh