BizCafe Case

BizCafe Case – 11 –

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ANE VALDEZ WAS READY for a change after 30 years of 12–15 hour workdays, 6 days a week. Jane had grown up in Collegetown and graduated from the local university there, majoring in engineering with a minor in business. After graduation, she worked at
Hewlett-Packard and Apple Computer in the 70s and 80s. Like many of the technology workers of that era, she soon forged out on her own, starting several companies, failing at two, but hitting on a successful formula with her third venture—handheld computing devices for hospital applications. In 1995, she took her company public and eventually sold the company before the high tech bubble burst. Soon thereafter, she was a founding partner of a successful venture capital firm, but now she is ready to return to her roots and slow down a bit.
However, she wants to share her success in a unique way, by helping college students learn about business by operating their own company. Select student teams will receive a $25,000 start-up loan at 10% interest to manage their own coffee shop for a year as an independent study for credit. Jane is confident that teams will have no trouble paying back the entire loan with interest by the end of the year.

Overview

Jane studied various locations and found a good potential storefront on
Main Street, not far from the business school and on the downtown pedestrian mall. There are a number of retail establishments nearby such as restaurants, clothing shops, as well as service businesses.
The retail space available contains
1000 sq. feet with glass frontage on
Main Street and 2nd Street providing good visibility for pedestrian foot traffic (see layout). The space is next door to R.C. Fox Women’s Clothing, an independent retailer catering to more upscale buyers. Across the street is a trendy restaurant, Salamanca, which is primarily a dinner destination.