Artisan cheese makers lack access to valid economic data to help them evaluate business opportunities and make important business decisions such as determining cheese pricing structure. An economic model was developed in Excel following close collaboration with current and future artisan cheese companies. The objective of this study was to utilize this economic model to evaluate the net present value (NPV), internal rate of return, and pay back period for artisan cheese production at different annual production volumes for a given cheese type. The model is also used to determine the minimum retail price necessary to assure positive NPV for 5 different cheese types produced at 4 different production volumes. These 2 scenarios demonstrate important business considerations facing artisan cheese makers. For example, a small size cheese maker with annual production volume at 3,401 kg (7,500 lb) cannot be economically viable (negative NPV) if selling cow milk Gouda for $48.50/kg ($22/lb); by doubling the production size, the business would obtain a positive NPV. Due to differences in cheese yield, investment in aging facility, labor required during aging, and raw milk purchase price, fresh cow milk cheeses such as fresh mozzarella can be sold for about half the price of hard, aged, goats’ milk cheeses at the largest volume or about 2-thirds the price at the lowest volume examined. For example, for the given model assumptions, at an annual production of 13,608 kg cheese (30,000 lb), a fresh cows’ milk mozzarella should be sold at a minimum retail price of $27.29/kg ($12.38/lb) while a goats’ milk gouda needs minimum retail price of $49.54/kg ($22.47/lb) for the business to have NPV at or above zero. The model is utilized within the OSU Extension program and has gone through 2 major updates. The observations derived from the model are consistent with the current business situation for artisan cheese companies.