The business model of Side Door Access Inc. (Side Door), a Canadian start-up co-founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was based on facilitating live music performances in intimate, non-traditional venues like living rooms, art galleries, and bookstores, enabling direct connections between artists and audiences. The platform provided artists with opportunities to perform in unconventional spaces and negotiate directly with hosts regarding performance fees, with Side Door taking a modest commission. As the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in early 2020, Side Door had to adapt to achieve continued growth. The chief executive officer considered various adaptations, including partnering with platforms such as Zoom and Twitch to facilitate virtual concerts; exploring different revenue models like pay-what-you-can and subscriptions for exclusive content; and diversifying offerings with workshops, masterclasses, and panel discussions. Each option presented its own set of challenges and opportunities and required her to weigh the potential impacts on Side Door’s mission, artist relations, audience engagement, and long-term strategy.
In June 2022, Jay Monahan and his executive team at the PGA Tour were evaluating their current state of operations after some of their star golfers began to leave for the rival LIV Golf League. The PGA Tour was the dominant tour for professional golfers from around the world. But some PGA Tour professionals were critical of player compensation, including digital media rights, appearance fees, and guaranteed pay. However, the LIV Golf League was backed by Saudi Arabian funding, leading to calls of sportswashing. Should the PGA Tour change its business model to secure the players’ confidence? Could the PGA Tour innovate to keep up with the guaranteed money and earning potential offered by their new competitor? How should the PGA Tour address its stakeholders?
In 2017, the owner of Toboggan Brewing Company (Toboggan) needed to increase production capacity for his craft beer without making a capital investment. Toboggan was a very small player in the Ontario market; however, its craft beer had significant opportunity for growth due to the owner’s strong business acumen and a proven consumer demand for the product. The owner had four options for potential contracting partners. The trade-offs between his contract partners were price, experience, location, and distribution.
A student pursuing his master’s degree in thermal engineering at Western University, in London, Ontario, was a self-proclaimed coffee snob. In his search to find a high-quality coffee he could make and take to go, he discovered no coffee maker, on the market, suited his exact needs. He began applying his knowledge of thermal fluids engineering in designing his own travel-friendly all-in-one coffee press, which he called the Pascal Press. After developing a functional prototype he thought there may be commercial value to his product design, and sought out assistance from a neighbouring business school professor to help him realize the business potential of his innovative design.Despite securing various streams of financial support, he had not been able to raise the full $60,000 he needed. One recommendation he had received early in the process was to secure his desired funding through Kickstarter—a dedicated web platform designed to bridge the funding gap of many start-up ventures by pre-selling products to a large pool of interested early adopters. In 2017, he set out to discover whether a crowdfunding option would work for his fledgling business.
It was September 28, 2015 when Murray Sawchuck, an award-winning magician and headline performer in Las Vegas received an e-mail from Seth Leach, a young, but accomplished creator of viral videos based in Denver, Colorado. Leach felt strongly that Sawchuck’s talent for magic and comedy had great social media potential and that a meaningful collaboration could be developed between them. An initial test video was recorded and was an instant viral success with more than 100 million views across all social media platforms. Sawchuck could not decide if it was just luck or whether there really was a success formula for creating viral videos that was reliable and replicable. He also was unsure just how to leverage his brand as an entertainer through these videos such that there would be tangible value created from them.
In 2014, the co-founder of a new business needs to develop a solid business case for the value of her new software application, Bridgit. Focused on reducing construction delays due to poor deficiency management, Bridgit's software enables project managers to eliminate wasted resources (e.g., time, money, relationship capital) by delivering an easy-to-use software solution. Determining the value of Bridgit in the absence of meaningful numbers creates a challenge: ask for too much and lose your investment; ask for too little and appear naive or give up too much.
An entrepreneur is at a crossroads. He has successfully executed a pilot event in Las Vegas for THUNDERBALL!, his long-drive golf media property that includes live events, television production, and sports wagering. He has also secured a prime-time airing commitment with The Golf Channel for three episodes. However, he must cover the costs of hosting a live event and producing it as a television show. The business model would combine sponsorship from television, event tickets, commissions for players, merchandise, and a partnership with a licensed casino for wagering. This case exposes readers to the world of television/media production and financing and the challenges entrepreneurs can face in spite of a successful initial effort.
Two entrepreneurs were investigating Fabric Super-Store franchise ownership opportunities available to them in Ontario, Canada. The Fabric Super-Store had 68 locations worldwide, comprised of both corporate-owned and -operated stores and licensed franchises. It had recently undertaken to convert all existing corporate-owned stores to franchises. The entrepreneurs had recently re-located to the area after several years pursuing different careers in the United States. Unable to find significant meaningful employment, they decided to pursue franchise-ownership. The Fabric Super-Store appealed to them due to its high-margin product, little competition, low overhead, and steady supply of customers. Recognizing their limitations in terms of finances and product unfamiliarity, the entrepreneurs had to determine the critical points to be negotiated into their proposal for becoming a Fabric Super-Store franchisee.
Late in August 2004, Chris Higgins was forced into the unenviable position of determining the future of Ring-A-Wing, a London, Ontario-based fast food producer of premium chicken wings for home delivery. After making a personal loan to a friend wishing to invest in the business, the situation devolved in less than nine months from Higgins being a passive lender to being a significant investor to sitting in a bankruptcy meeting trying to determine the future of the business. The issue in the (A) case is whether the Higgins group should reopen Ring-A-Wing.