Associate Mock Case Interview
Dartmouth College
October 8, 2004
200 State Street, Boston, MA 02109
Agenda
• Case Preparation
• Case Assessment
• Case Execution
xxxxxxxxxxxx 2
Case Preparation
Case Question: Fenway Park T-Shirt Vendor
• Case Question
- Assess whether or not a Red Sox t-shirt vending cart operated outside of Boston’s
Fenway Park can be a profitable business
• Background Facts
- Fenway Park is home to the Boston Red Sox, a major league baseball team
- Many vendors operate single-cart businesses (e.g., hotdog carts, ice cream carts, tshirt carts,etc…) immediately outside ballpark grounds for pre- and post-game sales
- Average game attendance:
30,000
- Average game duration:
5 hours (includes pre- and post-game)
- 160 games per season:
50% home, 50% away
- Average ticket price:
$40 per person
- Business intention is to operate a single vendor cart outside of Fenway Park on
Yawkey Way, where people come to enjoy the festive pre-game atmosphere
xxxxxxxxxxxx 3
Case Preparation
Before You Start…
• Take a deep breath and relax
• Write down your thoughts and other notes (you need to bring pen/pencil and paper!)
• Identify a framework that will help you structure the problem
• Think before you talk
• Start your case with a thought process – explain briefly how you intend to approach
the problem
• Throughout the case ask probing questions and/or state your assumptions
• Be aware of time constraints and be prepared to summarize your findings
• Smile 
xxxxxxxxxxxx 4
Case Preparation
Thoughts & Notes
• Fenway Park – is it profitable to operate a t-shirt cart?
• What do I know?
- Attendance 30,000
- 80 home games per year
- T-shirts sell for between $10 - $25
HOW DO I BREAK THIS DOWN??
HOW DO I PROCEED?
xxxxxxxxxxxx 5
Case Assessment
How Did I Do?
Excellent
(Home Run)
Good
(Double)
 Demonstrates clear logic
 Demonstrates reasonable logic
 Uses relevant framework and/or
provides structure to case problem
 Uses framework, but not
necessarily most relevant
 Guides interviewer through
thought-process
 Provides some explanation of
thought-process
 Offers both broad and detailed
assumptions
 Makes broad assumptions, but
lacks detailed considerations
 Calculates numbers accurately
 Does not gauge all answers for
reasonability or accuracy
 Sanity checks answers & recovers
from potentially “off” estimates
 Summarizes findings and makes a
firm and actionable conclusion
 Makes creative considerations
beyond obvious case issues:
 Product differentiation
 Location
 Seasonal influences (e.g.,
weather, playoffs, etc.)
 Customer loyalty
 Summarizes findings but
conclusion lacks conviction
 Makes some creative
considerations, but could push
to another level of detail
 Shows enthusiasm
Needs Improvement
(Strike Out)
 Fails to grasp key issues or
demonstrate clear logic
 Does not use framework or
structured approach
 Thought-process is rambling
(or not communicated at all)
 Assumptions lack depth and
fail to consider key issues
 Estimates are unreasonable
or calculated incorrectly
 Does not summarize findings,
or summary does not take
into account key issues
and/or estimates
 Lacks creative thinking and
enthusiasm
 Nervous and fidgety
• Shows enthusiasm
xxxxxxxxxxxx 6
Case Assessment
Wrap-Up
• Case Tips
- Bring a pen/pencil and paper
- Listen carefully to case details and general interview questions
- Respond in a thoughtful and structured manner (take your time!)
- Remember that your thought-process is usually more telling than your answer
- PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!
• General Interview Tips
- Be on-time and dressed appropriately
- Know your resume and academic/work experience background
- Answer interview questions concisely
- Be able to state clearly and concisely why you want to work in consulting
- Be enthusiastic
- Be yourself
xxxxxxxxxxxx 7
Case Execution
The Framework
• Use a framework that will help you and your interviewer understand your thought process
Profit
Revenue
Quantity
 How many t-shirts can
you sell per game?
Cost
M I N U S
Price
 How much can you
charge for t-shirts?
Fixed
Variable
 What are my costs?
 What factors affect
sales?
xxxxxxxxxxxx 8
Case Execution
Cost Analysis
• Start with something straight-forward (low-hanging fruit) – in this case, the cost
component is easiest to estimate
Profit
Cost
Revenue
Quantity
Price
 How many t-shirts can
you sell per game?
 How much can you
charge for t-shirts?
Fixed
Variable
 What are my costs?
 What costs are start-up,
(e.g., one-time only)?
 What costs are recurring?
How often? (Annual,
monthly, periodic?)
xxxxxxxxxxxx 9
Case Execution
Cost Analysis
Profit
Cost
Revenue
Quantity
Price
Fixed
 How many t-shirts
can you sell per
game?
 How much can
you charge for
t-shirts?
 Cart Purchase
~$5,000 (onetime)
or
 Cart Lease ~$1,000
(semi-annual)
 Operator’s License
$1,000 (annual)
 $6,000 Total
Variable
 Labor
 $10/hour
 5-hour (incl. preand post-game)
 $50 labor per
game, plus…
 T-shirt cost
 $2 per t-shirt
 how many t-shirts
do I need?
 Total ????
xxxxxxxxxxxx 10
Case Execution
Revenue Analysis
Profit
Cost
Revenue
Quantity
 How many t-shirts
can you sell per
game?
Price
 How much can
you charge for tshirts?
Fixed
 Cart Purchase
~$5,000 (onetime)
or
 Cart Lease ~$1,000
(semi-annual)
 Operator’s License
$1,000 (annual)
 $6,000 Total
Variable
 Labor
 $10/hour
 5-hour (incl. preand post-game)
 $50 labor per
game, plus…
 T-shirt cost
 $2 per t-shirt
 how many t-shirts
do I need?
 Total ????
xxxxxxxxxxxx 11
Case Execution
Quantity Estimation
What is the best
metric to use?
What is per game
attendance?
How many people
buy things at
baseball games
(food, hats, tshirts, banners,
balls, etc.)?
How many people buy t-shirts per baseball game?
How many people buy t-shirts from us?
30,000 people per game
6,000
Buyers (20%)
24,000
Non-Buyers (80%)
How many people
buy t-shirts?
1,500
T-shirt Buyers (25%)
4,500
Buy
Other Things (75%)
How many people
buy t-shirts from us?
50
Buy Our T-shirts (3%)
1,450
Buy
T-shirts from Others
SANITY CHECK: DOES THIS MAKE SENSE?
xxxxxxxxxxxx 12
Case Execution
Sanity Check
50
Buy Our T-shirts
SANITY CHECK: DOES THIS MAKE SENSE?
• The Sanity Check:
- Does 50 t-shirts sold per-game sound right?
- There are 1,500 t-shirts sold and I am selling 50 shirts, so that implies that there
are ~30 t-shirt vendors at the park. Is that a reasonable number?
- If we really only sell t-shirts for 2 pre-game hours and 1 post-game hour, we
effectively have 180 “selling minutes”  OR… we sell 1 t-shirt every 3-4 minutes

Can one person handle a t-shirt sales transaction every 3
½
minutes?
OUR ASSUMPTIONS SEEM REASONABLE
xxxxxxxxxxxx 13
Case Execution
Revenue Analysis
Profit
Cost
Revenue
Quantity
 50 t-shirts sold
per game
Price
 $15 per t-shirt
Fixed
 Cart Purchase
~$5,000 (onetime)
or
 Total Revenue per Game $750
 Cart Lease ~$1,000
(semi-annual)
 Operator’s License
$1,000 (annual)
 $6,000 Total
Variable
 Labor
 $10/hour
 5-hour (incl. preand post-game)
 $50 labor per
game, plus…
 T-shirt cost
 $2 per t-shirt
 50 t-shirts per
game
 Total $150
xxxxxxxxxxxx 14
Case Execution
Roll-It-Up
• Now that you’ve calculated the various components of the profit tree, roll-it-up to an
annual level and summarize…
Profit
Cost
Revenue
Quantity
 50 t-shirts sold
per game
Price
 $15 per t-shirt
 $750 per game revenue
Fixed
Variable
 $5,000 start-up costs
(cart purchase)
 $50 labor wages per
game
 $1,000 annual
operator’s license
 $2 cost per t-shirt
x 50 shirts = $100
 $6,000 annual costs
 $150 per game costs
ANNUALIZE & SUMMARIZE
xxxxxxxxxxxx 15
Case Execution
Roll-It-Up
• Sanity check your findings once again and summarize to the interviewer
Total Revenue per Game
Less: Total Costs per Game
Net Income per Game
Total Home Games per Year
Annual Income
Less: Annual Fixed Costs
Total Annual Profit
$ 750
($ 150)
$
600
80
$48,000
($6,000)
$42,000
What do you think?
Too high? Too low?
xxxxxxxxxxxx 16