Coffee Shop

Bain Case Study Video Walkthrough

Bain Case Study Prompt

A friend asked me if I wanted to buy his coffee shop in Vail, CO for $100,000.

Products/Prices:
Cup of coffee, $4.00
Bottled Water, $2.00
Pastries, $3.00

Variable Cost: All products have a 50% margin

Customers: The shop serves mostly locals, not tourists, so demand is consistent throughout the year

Other Costs:
Rent was $500 per month
Wages (for 2 employees) were $8.00 per hour.
The shop is open 12 hours a day, six days a week.

How should I go about thinking about this problem?

Case Overview

This is a premier Bain case study. In the case, you have been approached by a friend to buy his coffee shop. All business costs (fixed and variable) have been provided for you. It’s your job to do the due diligence required to find out if this would be a profitable acquisition.

Use the M&A Framework to solve this Bain case study. However, don’t pigeonhole yourself into the basic frameworks. Use your knowledge of the frameworks, your prior business experience and know-how, and creativity to create a custom framework to help you solve the case.

Good news: the case contains no charts or graphs to be interpreted. This case will set you up for a first or second round Bain interview, with a qualitative difficulty of 2 out of 4.

Interview Tips: Bain

One of the key strengths that Bain seeks in its candidates is practicality.

Want to stand out in your interview? Approach your framework like you would a real-world client engagement. Do the work-streams you have created make sense to assign to a team of analysts?

For this Bain case study, practice timing yourself as you go through the case – and stick to the time limits! Set a timer for 4min to build the structure and present it; 2min each for a brainstorming question; 2min for final recommendation.

Need more out-loud practice for an upcoming Bain interview? We have a team of amazing ex-MBB interview coaches that will help take you from zero to hero – book an hour today.