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Moshi, a fusion restaurant in an upmarket area of Dubai, had carved out a niche for itself with its unique menu, high-quality food, and excellent service—all offered at a reasonable price. As the young owner planned to launch another outlet, he pondered his options for growth. Was it time to create a chain, or should he give the new outlet a completely different feel and target a specific customer segment? Should he increase his product range or stick with his unique offerings? Because of its fusion theme (Nepalese cuisine and Japanese sushi), Moshi did not have a clear positioning in terms of its menu. Would Moshi’s unique offerings be enough to sustain its continued existence in Dubai’s competitive restaurant industry? Would this business be scalable? The owner had relied on word-of-mouth publicity thus far; however, was this method adequate? What sort of marketing strategy should he adopt?

Bank of Baroda was the second-largest commercial bank in India, but it was struggling with a decline in profits and an increase in non-performing assets. Only a week before the new chief executive officer's term commenced, Bank of Baroda was in the news due to reports of fraud occurring at the bank’s Ahmedabad and New Delhi operations. The frauds involved bill discounting schemes and money laundering. The bank’s violations of its know your client and anti-money laundering standards raised concerns about its risk management practices—or lack of such practices. The new chief executive officer was only the second executive from the private sector to head a public sector bank. He needed to prove his value in the world of public sector banking by managing the crisis, implementing a strategy to stabilize the bank’s financial health, and preventing a recurrence of the problems.

During the Holi festival in March 2012, the managing director of Ramcides, a family-run agrochemical business, was considering the path of the company that his eldest brother had started in 1973. Ramcides had a goal to achieve US$50 million in revenues by March 2014 and $130 million in the following five years. The managing director reflected on whether the company was on the right path towards achieving that objective. Much had changed since an infusion of private equity from a venture capital firm in 2008, but there was still much to be done. There was also the matter of the venture capital firm’s planned exit, and where the company would then secure additional funding. All the stakeholders were clear on promoting the future growth and success of Ramcides, but the next three to five years were a critical time of transition. What needed to be done to ensure continued success? The current manager viewed himself as the managing director in transition—the bridge between Ramcides’s history as a family-run firm and its future as a professionalized agrochemical company.

The case, set in 2012 and 2013, follows two students enrolled in a business accelerator program who experience the uncertainty of creating an idea from an interesting sandbox, or broad problem space, (in this case, the construction industry) and then developing it into an innovative idea for a new business. The two students elicit a broad range of feedback from individuals in the construction industry and use that feedback to develop their venture idea. The case is process-focused in that there is not one right answer in terms of how the students should proceed with developing their idea. Instead, the case provides an opportunity to practise making decisions based on external feedback.

In 2012, an entrepreneur and his business partner have created ServiceBox, a web-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) work order management system for use in plumbing and heating businesses. The product was developed in response to a request from a friend, who owns a plumbing business. The entrepreneur is now ready to sell this product, relying on a subscription-based SaaS business model for revenue. He has scheduled a meeting with a heating contractor and is ready to sell. This case presents an exercise in sales negotiation, in which the entrepreneur (whose perspective is provided in Case A) works to sell a subscription to the heating contractor (whose perspective in provided in Case B). Students have an opportunity to practise sales promotion and selling for an entrepreneurial venture. Use with 9B16M016.

Supplement case to be used with 9B16M015.

In 2014, a newcomer to Canada has the opportunity to start a Chinese restaurant in a small Canadian city. The entrepreneur needs to decide whether to invest in the project, and if so, how to finance it: using debt or equity financing. She has to evaluate the impact of the financing options on the viability of the business, her investment returns, and the financial and business risks. The case provides an opportunity for a comprehensive FRICTO analysis of capital structure, and creates tension by putting the students in a small business owner’s shoes.

This case follows Sara Norton, a soccer player turned serial entrepreneur, as she transforms Seaside Organics from a fledgling startup into an $89 million company. Informed by the successes and failures of her first organics venture, WellBar, Norton tries to balance her naturally energetic, hands-on approach with the changing needs of a large company. Students discuss the differences between running a growing startup and a mature organization, and the tensions that can result between entrepreneurs and the managers tasked with running their organizations.

Alex and Mimi Ikonn were heading out to dinner in Toronto to celebrate their first real day in business. While their preparations had taken several months of their time, tomorrow was the day when their website would go live. Was all their hard work worth it? They were about to find out.

As of April 2012, TerraCycle had witnessed exponential growth over the past few years due to its unique value proposition of creating a line of consumer products out of trash. With continued global expansion, the firm’s biggest challenge was how to move forward while staying true to its mission to eliminate as much waste as possible from landfills, make fun products that consumers liked, and turn a profit. Operationally, TerraCycle was losing money on every domestically manufactured product and was regularly late on delivering its shipments to a major retail customer. All signs indicated that the company should move some of its manufacturing to an offshore location; however, TerraCycle had built its reputation on its strict adherence to the principles of sustainability, and such a move could cause a significant public-relations problem. There was little time to act, as orders from Walmart and Target were piling up. Should the CEO move some of TerraCycle’s production to China?

Housing.com was a Mumbai-based online real estate listing company that verified the authenticity of every property listing on its website. Despite proving itself as a threat to big players in India’s online property portal space, it was struggling in late 2014 to establish itself as a preferred option among brokers. Conflicts of interest between sellers (i.e., brokers, builders, developers, and landowners who listed property online) and buyers (i.e., end-users who searched the website for property) were a matter of concern, with the industry characterized by information asymmetry and a lack of transparency. With the verification of listings, Housing.com was adding value for buyers but also compromising on time and the number of listings on the portal. Property dealers were complaining that the procedure for getting properties listed on the site was long and tedious compared to competitors’ sites. How should Housing.com manage traffic and encourage more visitors? What should it do to win over both buyers and sellers? Value-added services — such as verifying property listings — needed to be backed up with an emphasis on listings and an increase in traffic. The biggest dilemma for the chief marketing officer and his team was which customer segment to concentrate on. How could they fill the current gaps in services?

An entrepreneur contemplated the future of her business that had evolved from a one-woman show to a team of more than 20 highly skilled and specialized coaches from around the world, including some former Cirque du Soleil performers. As chief executive officer and owner, she had taken a community-based gymnastics program and grown it into Flip Factory Inc., a company offering alternative gymnastics activities such as circus-arts and parkour. Its market was customers who wanted experiences outside of traditional competitive gymnastics. She had achieved success in building her company and, despite steep costs and meagre profits, sought further growth. Her coaches were restless to offer a broader range of programs to match their skills. Her facility was at capacity,but, with two years remaining on her lease, she was torn between renting a second location and/or building her own. Could she franchise out her programs to grow the company?

After continuous business growth and taking advantage of new business opportunities, China Precision Technology Group transformed from a small producer of coils for television tuners to an enterprise with five different business sectors: consumer electronics, automobile parts, optical, health care, and stamping equipment. In 2014, on the company’s 24th anniversary, the company’s founder and chief executive officer was evaluating the achievements of each business and considering the concerns of each sector’s employees. He understood that some problems were associated with the transformation strategy developed four years earlier, in 2010. The business development of the five business sectors had been uneven, with varying levels of profitability. He hoped to list some of the enterprise’s businesses on a stock exchange but now wondered how to move the company forward along the transformation path it had established.

By August 2015, Berlin-based advertising technology venture Roq.ad had grown from a chance encounter between its two co-founders to become a revenue generating operation with 18 full-time employees in Germany and Poland -- in just 10 months. Their goal was to develop new cross-device, user-recognition technology that would enable advertisers to accurately target consumers across a range of devices such as personal computers and peripheral devices. Roq.ad’s co-founders had decided from the beginning not to seek out venture capital and instead to retain tight control of their business. Given the lead time needed to develop technology, they had also decided to use an industry-standard agency model for generating revenues that would be used to fund the development of technology and the eventual launch of the program. As Roq.ad approached the end of its first year in business, the co-founders faced an important strategic challenge: How could they successfully transform the company from its initial mobile-advertising agency model to become Europe’s number one provider of cross-device, user-recognition technology?

Bisleri International, a household name in the bottled water segment in India, launched a new energy drink called Urzza in 2014. The energy drink market in India, dominated by Red Bull, was in a nascent stage but was growing at a rapid pace. Recently, energy drinks had been the subject of grave health concerns owing to the harmful effects of excessive caffeine. Urzza, an energy drink without caffeine, had been launched with the intention of creating a new category of drinks that could appeal to everyone. However, it remained to be seen whether Urzza could succeed in creating mass appeal and could meet ambitious sales targets. Was its unique positioning correct, or was it better off marketing itself as a more traditional energy drink?

Bisleri International, a household name in the bottled water segment in India, launched a new energy drink called Urzza in 2014. The energy drink market in India, dominated by Red Bull, was in a nascent stage but was growing at a rapid pace. Recently, energy drinks had been the subject of grave health concerns owing to the harmful effects of excessive caffeine. Urzza, an energy drink without caffeine, had been launched with the intention of creating a new category of drinks that could appeal to everyone. However, it remained to be seen whether Urzza could succeed in creating mass appeal and could meet ambitious sales targets. Was its unique positioning correct, or was it better off marketing itself as a more traditional energy drink?

In 2015, Biziga Solutions Private Limited (Biziga), a first generation start-up based out of the National Capital Region, India, operated within the “instructional games” industry. Its first product, MarkLabs, was an emerging market-centric business simulation that promised to provide a contextually relevant simulation. Biziga had recorded revenues of ?20 million in FY2014/15. By the end of 2019, the company wanted to build a portfolio of 20 simulations across five domains and serve 25,000 learners. While the founders were convinced about the market opportunity, a lot depended on their ability to articulate the benefits convincingly to the defined target market, as well as the ability to build critical capabilities and resources needed to deliver benefits to customers.

Since its founding in 2002, Fengshou Crab Manor had become one of the top brands in China’s mitten crab sector by using a distinctive gift voucher model. The company had attracted over 100,000 loyal customers from companies and non-profit institutions in Beijing and Shanghai. At the beginning of 2013, however, the government’s Central Committee unveiled an eight-point code of conduct to reduce bureaucracy and boost ties with the public, which adversely affected sales of Fengshou Crab Manor’s gift vouchers. Throughout 2013, sales revenues plummeted by over 30 per cent. In such a critical moment, Fengshou Crab Manor began to ponder the limitations of the gift voucher model, coupled with a rising quantity of fresh foods sold online. Would the Internet mindset help the company survive the current crisis? What e-commerce marketing strategy should the company adopt to win over more users?

In 2002, a joint venture, Hess LNG, proposed a liquid natural gas import terminal in the city of Fall River, Massachusetts. The community led by the city’s mayor, who built a coalition comprising concerned citizens, non-governmental organizations, and politicians at multiple levels opposed the project. From early 2002 to June 2004, multiple issues emerged, and the opponents used various tactics to challenge their adversaries. Hess LNG's chief executive officer needed to deal with the community opposition, which was further complicated by the need for regulatory approval from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

In July 2015, the owner of the Anandam Company approached a bank for additional funding to meet the growing requirements of his garment manufacturing firm. The owner was confident about the financial prospects of his firm, with its fourfold increase in revenue and phenomenal increase in profit after taxes over the last three years. In a lengthy discussion with the bank manager, the owner shared the development of his company and the dynamics and growth opportunities of the garment and textile market in India. He believed his firm was performing strongly in a highly competitive industry environment. The bank manager instructed the loan officer to process the loan application as soon as possible and make a decision. Determining the health of the company would involve preparing a trend analysis and a common size statement, interpreting selected ratios, and preparing a basic statement of cash flows. Was the Anandam Company a good candidate for receiving a loan?