Meet the company that makes tens of thousands of dollars by spicing up virtual calls
A year ago, encouraging live goats to invade business meetings would probably have seemed like a bad idea. Oh, how times have changed.
Cronkshaw Fold Farm in Lancashire, England, has found a novel solution to pandemic-related Zoom fatigue – adding a live goat to the call.
“It started as a joke – it wasn’t actually supposed to be a thing,” Dot McCarthy, who runs the family farm, told The Australian Financial Review.
But it’s somehow become a thing – and earned the business thousands along the way. The goats drop in on virtual gatherings, including birthday parties, baby showers – and business meetings. Typically a surprise to everyone but the meeting organizer, the goat “crashes” the meeting unexpectedly.
At first, “it was just to give people a laugh, and I thought, ‘Maybe we’ll get a few more egg and meat sales because people are on the website,’” McCarthy said. “But what actually happened was people were like, ‘Yes, I need a goat.’”
One evening early in the pandemic, McCarthy posted the idea on the farm’s website. She woke up the next morning to 200 emails requesting a goat call. Over the last 11 months, Cronkshaw farm has facilitated more than 10,000 video calls, according to AFR.
For about $7.80 per visit, a goat will suddenly pop into a conference call. While the original idea was to give people a laugh during a difficult time, the goat calls have also managed to keep the 500-year-old farm solvent and its staff employed, AFR reported.
“You just see people screaming and saying, ‘Why is there a goat in here?’” McCarthy said.
Seven of the farm’s goats are available for appearances. The goats are showcased on the farm’s website, each with its own photo and bio. Each goat is labeled with its name when entering a call.
Goat requests come from the US, Australia, Europe and China. To accommodate for different time zones, the farm offers goat calls from 6am to 9pm, Lancashire time.
“There’s always at least one goat that’s awake,” McCarthy told AFR.
The goat calls have been a boon to the farm, which depends financially on hosting educational visits, weddings and other events – all of which have been put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. McCarthy said that when the pandemic hit, she was determined to keep her employees on.
“I just iterated through idea after idea, asking myself what we can do to make money.”
At first, McCarthy tried selling manure door to door. Then she had a light-bulb moment.
“A few friends who work in the tech sector were saying how bored they are with video calls, and I was like, ‘You know what would be funny? If you just have a goat appear in your call,” she told AFR. “Why not throw a goat into the mix?”
The farm’s website admits that “we know this is bonkers.” But, “it’s 2021. Just Goat with the flow.”
