Panache Pizza

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Panache Pizza
Vancouver, BC
COMM 119
Group Research (Case Study) Project
Fall 2018
Introduction
Near the heart of the bustling Yaletown business and entertainment district in downtown
Vancouver sits a completely unassuming pizzeria. Unassuming, that is, until one smells the
delicious scents in the air and sees the sign ‘Panache Pizza,’ and at once, passersby are reminded
that no matter the time of day or day of the week, a slice of Panache’s signature pie is too good
to pass up.
Panache Pizza has had great success as a specialized pizzeria since they opened in the spring of
2010. The pizzeria sees a growing number of walk-in customers every day (including a large
number of out-of-town visitors between conference, cruise ship traffic and otherwise), and has a
thriving catering business given the large number of businesses (including a rapidly growing
technology startup scene and informal partnerships with a number of local microbreweries that
lack their own kitchen facilities). The business has been so successful that the married owners,
Jackie and Brad Black, want to expand their operations to reach an even bigger market of pizza
lovers.
Company Background
When Jackie Black was 27, she was working as a marketing specialist for a large beverage
company and began a master’s degree program at Simon Fraser University. In her free time, she
started a one-woman pizza food truck during her months off from school, recruiting several of
her classmates to help out. Jackie had fond memories of learning to make pizzas with her mother
and grandmother (who was born and raised in Naples, Italy before emigrating to North America)
and had many great recipes that were learned from days spent experimenting at her grandmother’s
house. Just before Jackie turned 30, she and her husband, Brad, decided that they wanted to go
into business themselves and open a pizzeria.
By raising money from family and taking out a home equity loan, Jackie and Brad gathered
enough capital to start their little entrepreneurial venture. Working full-time at a job he enjoyed
as a cellular tower specialist, Brad agreed that he would occupy the role of a silent investor and
co-owner (offering strategic advice and perspective as requested), while Jackie assumed the
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majority of the day-to-day operational decisions and management of the pizzeria. Jackie knew
how to make amazing pizzas and had experience in marketing, but she didn’t know much about
small business given her previous experience was solely with a large multinational company. She
took a local workshop on small business ownership where she met and enlisted the help of an
experienced business promoter. With the professional consulting help, Jackie and Brad decided on
Panache Pizza as the name for the business, their initial business plan was revamped and
expanded, and a good location was found, along with a recommendation for an interior design.
The ideas and help were exactly what was needed to make the successful transition from part-time
food truck operator to full-time entrepreneur. Jackie and Brad opened their little slice of pizzeria
heaven in the trendy Downtown Vancouver area and experienced an immediate positive response
from the community. Jackie’s original idea for the pizzeria was to offer a wider range of
authentic pizza combinations and flavours that were as close as possible to the traditional recipes
learned from her mother and grandmother. She noticed however that while she and her full-time
staff kept regular daytime hours (Panache Pizza was open at 10 am, 7 days a week), the majority
of customer traffic did not start arriving until later in the afternoon and closer to dinner time, with
a particular surge later in the evening (and on weekends after midnight, when they stayed open
until 2 am to catch the crowds leaving nearby pubs and nightclubs). With the realization that the
bulk of their sales (and revenue) was relying on the highly competitive early to late-evening
timeframe, she soon made the decision to expand her pizzeria to also include catering and special
orders for events, including partnering with a number of local microbreweries to offer a “Slice n’
Suds” promotion on Fridays and lunch meeting catering to any business within the Downtown
Vancouver area. Business has been booming ever since!
Pizzeria Operations and Strategy
The full-time employees at Panache Pizza work a rotation covering shifts from late morning until
evening six days a week. Foot traffic around the present location is abundant, especially on the
weekend (Friday/Saturday) evenings, so Panache stays open later than most eating
establishments would, allowing customers to enjoy pizza until midnight during the week, and
until 2 am on Fridays and Saturdays.
Product Innovation
Jackie’s innovative approach to making her pizzas is to bake everything like it’s baked back in
Naples: in small batches and with only the most wholesome ingredients. Recipes are not just
your everyday tomato sauce, toppings and cheese. Instead, the creative recipes used at Panache
Pizza are the type to make one’s mouth water like goat cheese and balsamic vinegar with pork
belly, pear and brandied chicken, and roast prime rib with a savoury 8-spice rub.
All pizzas use only the best and freshest ingredients, and many are also available as either vegan
or Halal to cater to the high ethnic diversity within the Downtown Vancouver area. The ‘daily
menu’ changes with each opening to include 2-3 additional recipes (typically 2 crowd-pleasing
favourites and usually one or two ‘test’ recipes each week).
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Service
Panache Pizza employs fifteen employees ranging from cooks and counter service to special
events, catering and marketing. As noted above, the special events and catering has grown
considerably in recent years. Leveraging her past experience in the beverage industry, one of the
ingenious marketing promotions that Jackie developed a couple of years ago was to offer themed
pizzas for her repeat special event and catering customers: she would discuss with the customer
the specific details of their special event or catering request (how many people, what time of
year, any key focus or milestone associated with the event or gathering) and then would develop
a ‘special’ pizza just for that event or request. The majority of her customers (and their own
clients and/or employees) were generally familiar with Panache, so this ‘special treatment’ only
added to the perception of quality and exclusivity offered.
Location
Jackie and Brad took the advice from their business consultant to open their pizzeria in one of
the oldest neighbourhoods in Vancouver, called Yaletown. Formerly a heavy industrial area
dominated by warehouses and rail yards, the area was transformed through Expo 86 and is
now one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in the entire Lower Mainland. A
number of marinas, parks and public spaces, high rise apartment blocks and converted
heritage buildings have led Yaletown to be recognized as one of the most significant urban
regeneration projects in North America within the last 100 years.
(View of Yaletown from False Creek)
This location has proven to be ideal for those who want to stop in and get a slice or two on their
way from work or as a place to hang out in the evening after work. Also, the downtown
location makes it ideal for special order deliveries. Panache provides delivery (often Jackie
herself) for special event and catering orders, however to this point in time they do not provide
individual (residential or business) delivery – Jackie’s philosophy is that she prefers to “put a
name to a face”. Thus far, Panache Pizza has avoided the temptation to move into the realm of
online ordering and delivery – something that repeat customers ask for on a regular basis and
which would be a lucrative option – but also, from Jackie’s perspective, result in the loss of
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personal contact and connection that has made Panache the success it is.
The Customers
By far, the majority of customers who frequent Panache Pizza on a regular basis are the local
residents and those who work in the West End, Gastown, Yaletown and Downtown Eastside
areas. Residents are generally younger, ranging from 20-somethings living in the classic
Victorian style architecture housing, to the 30- and 40-somethings who own their own condo.
This younger demographic also contains a large sampling of Vancouver’s vegetarian and vegan
crowd. The vegan options for almost every menu item at Panache were designed with these
customers in mind.
Situated on the Canadian Pacific coast, the greater Vancouver population is also known for its
taste for fresh Japanese tapas and seafood, which has been an interesting (and on-going
experiment) for Jackie and her recipe modifications. West Coasters also like their pizza
cravings to be satisfied by something a little more than a run-of- the-mill pizza chain.
Yaletown and Vancouver as a whole have readily embraced Panache as a welcome addition to
the neighbourhood and as a preferred alternative to the various chains (local, regional and
national) that are also prevalent throughout the entire city of Vancouver.
Typical customers are four types: local residential regulars (typically on their way home
from work in the evening or else before/after their weekend outings around the
neighbourhood), corporate (catering) delivery customers, occasional (but increasing) special
events typically hosted by local microbreweries, and lastly out-of-town tourists who are
drawn to the history and charm of Yaletown and often make the snap decision to stop by
Panache for a lunch break in the middle of their day.
Local residents consist of both home owners and renters who pay a premium to live in the
downtown area. Because of the close proximity to downtown office buildings, many residents
walk to work, which has been one of the main justifications Jackie has provided for why delivery
service is not offered: “If they are walking by or near Panache anyways, why wouldn’t I
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encourage them to stop in, get to know us and our staff and build a relationship with them?”
Indeed, many of the regular walk-in customers are on a first name basis with staff, including
dozens of customers who reliably and predictably order the same pizza at the same time each
week. Residents tend to stop by in the evening after work or as a late-night snack following a
night out in Yaletown or elsewhere. The residential population of Yaletown is approximately
11,600, which comprises nearly one-fifth of the Downtown Vancouver population of 54,690
(based on the 2011 Federal Census). Mostly white collar and almost 50% falling within the 20-
39 age range, these workers are a prime target market in terms of disposable income and a
greater tendency to embrace the experience of dining at the hundreds of restaurants scattered
across Yaletown and Downtown Vancouver.
Marketing
Jackie and Brad knew that in order to get their name and product branded, they had to get in
touch with the local residents and businesses. They regularly placed advertisements in the
Vancouver alternative newspaper (Westender) which unfortunately recently went out of
business and they are now considering advertising in the more widely distributed (but also
more expensive) Vancouver magazine. They continue to also advertise in the more
mainstream newspaper, Vancouver Courier and the weekly lifestyle magazine, Scout.
In addition to print ads, they also gathered a mailing list of nearby and downtown businesses
and mailed flyers and brochures informing of their opening and their offerings for catering and
special events.
Though word of mouth has been one of their best marketing elements, they continually promote
Panache Pizza in print ads and occasionally on radio close to special sporting and concert events,
given their relatively close proximity to BC Place (home of the BC Lions CFL football team and
also a major concert venue) and Rogers Arena (home to the Vancouver Canucks NHL hockey
team). It is very common for Yaletown to see a surge of foot traffic from both venues postevent/post-game throughout the year.
With the large population of both trendy residents and visitors, Yaletown is home to an evergrowing number of restaurants and other food and beverage retail stores. The main competition
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for Panache within Yaletown comes from other non-chain pizzerias and also faces competition
from restaurants in the area that serve a wide range of ethnically-oriented menu items, high end
coffee shops and high-end groceries stores such as Whole Foods and Urban Fare.
The Challenge
Here in the fall of 2018, Jackie and Brad have had numerous conversations about where to go
next with Panache Pizza. Despite the resounding success of Panache and its ability to generate a
comfortable income for Jackie, they both recognize that their current space and business model
(no deliveries or online ordering, only in-store sales plus catering and special events) brings with
it limits in terms of growth and additional profitability.
Brad has been hoping that there would be an opportunity for him to leave his current full-time
job and employer to instead work full-time with Panache, however the financial case for both
Jackie and Brad to rely on Panache as their sole source of income isn’t there. Jackie has made it
clear that she has no appetite for opening the door to online orders and delivery, and the
possibility for additional spending on more innovative marketing approaches and channels (e.g.
online, social media) will help to maintain the growth of Panache in the era of a tech-savvy
customer base, but will not result in the substantive increases in sales and revenue necessary to
replace Brad’s existing income.
Following a series of recent meetings with their business advisor, lawyer and accountant, the
idea of purchasing and taking over a dine-in restaurant location in Yaletown is becoming
increasingly attractive to Jackie and Brad. They have a number of personal investments and
savings that could be put toward this purchase, and the profitability of the current Panache Pizza
location and operations would provide them with an ample financial cushion to cover the
addition costs associated with taking over a second location.
Working with a trusted commercial real estate agent, three locations (opportunities) within the
Yaletown neighbourhood have been identified as suitable for conversion to a second, dine-in
(full service) location for Panache Pizza. They are unsure of the details of how they will
approach the conversion and branding (they are leaning toward the idea of dropping ‘Pizza’ for
the name of this second location and just going with ‘Panache’), and they do anticipate that they
will carry over some portion of the existing operations and ‘essence’ of whatever opportunity
they choose to pursue – blending the best of the existing restaurant and its established customer
base with the added offerings from Panache Pizza.
Your job is to conduct an in-depth business analysis of the following three opportunities. The
specifics of this analysis have been provided following the description of each of these three
opportunities. You then need to identify a single preferred opportunity for Jackie and Brad based
on your analysis, including additional rationale and reasons supporting this option. The questions
later in this document will guide you through this analysis and decision-making process.
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Opportunity #1 – Verses Restaurant
Background
Verses Restaurant offers refined, French-inspired and market-fresh food. Located in a historic
building in the heart of Yaletown, the intimate ambiance, accented by a working fireplace and
impressive glass wine cellar, is a fixture in the neighbourhood and has become one of
Vancouver’s most chic getaway. Ingredients are always locally-sourced and the menu
consistently boasts the freshest produce. The wine list is extensive and palatably priced.
Reservations are required several weeks in advance.
The owner and her husband have operated Verses for many years and are hoping to sell the
business and retire in the French Riviera. The business has been doing well but they’ve started to
notice a few empty tables on weekday evenings, as their traditional customer base has been
declining and they haven’t found a way to attract the growing (and trendy) millennial target
market that has become predominant in Downtown Vancouver. The customer base is split
between 35 to 50 year-old business professionals entertaining clients, 30 to 55 year-old travellers
staying in the hotel on vacation, and 40 to 60+ year-old local couples and small groups
celebrating milestones large and small. They have a significant number of loyal customers who
always come back at the start of each season to try the new menu and wine pairings.
The current lease for the business includes 2200 square feet combined for the ground and second
floors. The current lease expires December 31, 2018, and the future owner will have to negotiate
a new lease with the current landlord at prevailing rates.
Currently, the owner spends very little money on marketing. She donates a ‘dining experience’ to
two different charity auctions on an annual basis and puts a small ad in one of Vancouver’s
lifestyle magazines. Otherwise, she relies on word of mouth, Yelp reviews and her website to
draw interest in the restaurant.
The restaurant is open from 6:30-10:30 am, 12:00-2:00 pm, and 5:30-10:30 pm daily. Verses
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employs a wide variety of staff, including cooks, servers, hosts, managers, bar staff and cleaning
staff. An income statement for the past two years is provided in Exhibit 1 and estimated start-up
costs related to purchasing the restaurant are provided in Exhibit 4.
Opportunity #2 – La Distillerie
Background
La Distillerie opened in Spring 2015 almost exactly in the middle of the hub of Yaletown’s
nightlight on Mainland Street. Founded on a unique concept with the help of a passionate team,
La Distillerie sought to introduce its guests to the universe of cocktails. They aim to serve a highquality product in a cozy and convivial atmosphere. Beyond preparing and serving cocktails,
their goal is to create spaces where people can get together and connect in a casual, rustic
environment. They offer a wide variety of cocktails and a limited number of bar snacks.
The customer base is generally comprised of 18 to 25 year-old students looking for a relaxed,
social atmosphere and 26 to 40 year-old white collar employees meeting for a casual drink or just
‘getting out of the house’ and away from the kids for a few hours. The bar often serves as a
neighborhood hangout for those with a little more disposable income (the cocktails aren’t
cheap!).
The owners have focused their small marketing budgets on promoted posts and reviews on
Facebook, Instagram and Yelp. In the past they also spent a significant amount on the ‘soft
launch’ of the location where they invite friends and locals to come in and experience La
Distillerie for free (and encouraging them to share their experience on social media), while
providing the staff with training in a ‘dress rehearsal’ type environment. This has always
generated great word of mouth and high demand from the first day of opening.
VANCOUVER
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The current lease for the business includes 1600 square feet for the ground floor. The current
lease expires December 31, 2018, and the future owner will have to negotiate a new lease with
the current landlord at prevailing rates.
La Distillerie is open 4:00 pm-3:00 am daily and it is expected that a Panache Pizza conversion
would operate similarly. Each bar employs a small staff of bartenders, servers/hosts and a
manager. Cleaning is contracted out. A two-year income statement for La Distillerie #1 is
provided in Exhibit 2 and estimated start-up costs related to opening the new location are
provided in Exhibit 4.
Opportunity #3 – Café Conscious
Background
Café Conscious is a specialized eat-in and take-out market Hamilton Street in Yaletown. Open
for breakfast and lunch, the market offers soups, salads, made to order sandwiches, fresh baked
breads, pastries, in addition to artisanal charcuterie and cheese. Café Conscious also provides
catering services for in-office meetings and casual events.
On the market shelves you’ll find house-made gourmet foods plus a selection of condiments
selected by its renowned chef. In addition to what can be found on-site, the online store offers
extensive catering for any occasion and gourmet gift collections. Café Conscious recently closed
its doors and is for sale for $149,000. Included in the sale are the business name and trademark,
goodwill, and all rights related to the identification of the company (phone number, website,
etc.). All existing inventory is excluded from the sale.
The current lease for the business includes 1400 square feet for the ground floor and an
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additional space of 800 square feet in the basement for storage. The future owner will have to
respect the current commercial lease of 10 years ending November 30, 2022.
The previous customer base included 20 to 40 year-old working professionals as well as stay-athome parents and retirees meeting friends and family for a quick coffee, lunch or perusal of the
goods in the market. As well, the catering side of the business attracted all sizes of businesses
looking for a casual yet fresh and healthy in-office lunch or appetizer spread.
It is not clear how the previous owners spent their marketing budget so the Jackie and Brad
would need to decide how and where they would spend future marketing dollars.
Panache Pizza could set the hours of operation and it is likely that they will be open from 7:00 or
8:00 am-3:00 pm Monday-Friday, 10:00 am-4:00 pm on weekends (or they could choose to close
on Sundays). It is anticipated that the Jackie and Brad would need to hire a large number of staff,
including prep cooks, a chef, servers, hosts/cashiers, managers, online marketing staff, catering
staff and cleaning staff. An income statement for the business over the past two years is provided
in Exhibit 3 and estimated start-up costs related to opening the café are provided in Exhibit 4.
Next Steps
Jackie and Brad are very excited by the opportunities available to them to expand to a second
location in Yaletown. All of the businesses have potential, but they agree they need to do some
significant industry and competitor research as well as detailed financial analysis. Regardless of
which business they choose, it will require a large investment of time and money and they want
to make the best decision for themselves as they take on their next entrepreneurial adventure.
They have reached out to a small local consulting firm (your team!) and are looking for advice
on how to proceed. The three opportunities detailed in the next section have all been identified as
‘quick conversion’ – that is, their real estate agent feels it is entirely reasonable to have the
purchase transaction completed and the second location for Panache ready for a soft launch as of
January 1, 2019.
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EXHIBIT 1
Verses Restaurant
Income / Loss Statement
for year ending December 31, 2017

OPERATING EXPENSES

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EXHIBIT 2
La Distillerie Bar
Income / Loss Statement
for year ending December 31, 2017

OPERATING EXPENSES

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EXHIBIT 3
Café Conscious
Income / Loss Statement
for year ending December 31, 2017

OPERATING EXPENSES

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EXHIBIT 4
Estimated Start-up Costs
Verses Restaurant
The preliminary start-up costs for the restaurant are estimated to be $235,000 as follows:
$231,000 Cost of purchasing the business
3,000 Rent deposits
1,000 Utilities & hook up
$235,000
La Distillerie
The preliminary start-up costs for the bar are estimated to be $220,500 as follows:

Café Conscious
The preliminary start-up costs for the café are estimated to be $179,200 as follows:

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Questions that you need to answer in your Final Consulting Report:
1. Identify and describe the industry that each business opportunity is a part of. What are some
of the characteristics of the industry? Consider things such as key success factors, ease of
entry/exit, demographics of existing customers, substitutes for restaurants/pubs, etc. Justify
your claims by referencing between 2 to 4 academic/scholarly sources you discovered
through U of S library resources. Be sure to use proper APA citation style to reference your
sources.
Hint: Through Statistics Canada, you can find the NAICS code for each industry. Be sure to
drill down to get a sub-code that accurately identifies each business (i.e. a restaurant NAICS
code is different from a bar). This will assist you in finding relevant information in
databases which offer the code as a search criterion, such as IBIS World, Orbis, Business
Source Elite, FPinfomart.ca: FP Advisor, Mint Global, SimplyAnalytics and ABI/Inform.
2. Who are each of the business’ main competitors at present (prior to being converted to
Panache Pizza)? Include at least three in your discussion and describe the services they
provide, their location and how they are similar and different in comparison to your
business. Ensure you identify the area you use as your point of reference (neighborhood,
area of Vancouver, etc.) and justify your claims by referencing 2 to 4 academic/scholarly
source you discovered through U of S library resources. Be sure to use proper APA citation
style to reference your sources.
3. Which business opportunity should Jackie and Brad pursue? To determine this, you will
use the information you gathered to answer Questions 1 & 2 along with financial
information, as provided in the case above. Create a three-year income statement (2016,
2017, 2018 projected) for each of the businesses in Microsoft Excel on three separate
sheets. The statements have been started for you in Exhibits 1-3.
You will also need to forecast the revenue, expenses and profit for 2019 based on the
revenue, expenses and profit in 2016 and 2017 (and projected for 2018). Initially, you can
assume that revenue will increase 3.5%, cost of goods sold will increase 4% and operating
expenses will increase 4.5%.
Underneath the Gross Margin line, add a new row and calculate the gross margin for each
year – calculated as Gross Margin/Revenue*100. This will allow you to compare years with
different sales/cogs more fairly using percentages.
Underneath the Net Profit line, add a new row and calculate the net profit margin for each
year – calculated as Net Profit/Revenue*100. This will allow you to compare years with
different sales more fairly using percentages.
On each sheet, create a bar chart that illustrates gross margin for the 3-year period and a line
chart that illustrates net profit for the 3-year period.
Your spreadsheets should include formulas and input cells that are easily modified based on
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a variety of scenarios that you might consider, depending on how the business climate
changes in Vancouver.
4. In addition to utilizing some of their investments and savings, Jackie and Brad have decided
to take on debt to finance their expansion plans (i.e. the start-up costs), in the form of a
long-term loan that will be secured using their capital assets. Use a Loan Amortization
Schedule in Microsoft Excel (demonstrated in class) to calculate the amount of interest they
will need to pay each year for each scenario. Assume that the loan starts on February 1,
2017 with an annual interest rate of 6%, 12 payments per year and a payback period of 5
years if investing in La Distillerie or an annual interest rate of 7%, 12 payments per year
and a payback period of 8 years if they are investing in Verses Restaurant or Café
Conscious. Add the annual interest to the income statements you created above.
5. Once you have chosen a business opportunity to pursue, in your report be sure to highlight
all other business-related reasons justifying why you chose to recommend Jackie and Brad
pursue that opportunity over the other two that were presented.
Answer the following questions only for the business opportunity you have chosen to pursue:
6. In the past, not much was spent by Panache Pizza on advertising and marketing. You can
assume that if Jackie and Brad increase spending for this second location by $6,000-9,000
on effective social media marketing and local public relations in 2019, revenue has the
potential to increase by 1-2% and if you spend $9,001-15,000 more, there is the potential to
increase revenue by 2-4%. You will need to make a decision regarding the amount you will
spend on marketing ($0-15,000) in 2019 and how much you expect revenue to increase as a
result of your efforts. Consider the financial impacts as well as the research you have
completed in questions 1 and 2 when justifying your decision in your report. Calculate the
change in financial situation by copying the existing spreadsheet for your chosen business
to a new spreadsheet and labeling it Q6-Marketing. If you set up your spreadsheet with
input cells (demonstrated in your lab section), this will be relatively easy. Be sure to include
your answer to this question in your report.
Be sure to adjust your 2019 financial projections to reflect any changes you anticipate for
Revenue (and Cost of Goods Sold) as well as Advertising & Marketing Expenses. If you
decide not to make any changes, you should justify that decision in your report.
7. Vancouver continues to see explosive growth and in turn volatile increases in lease rates.
What happens if rent increases 10%, 15% or 25% in 2019? Would the business be able to
maintain their operations? Calculate the change in financial situation by copying the
existing spreadsheet for your chosen business to a new spreadsheet and labeling it Q7-Rent.
If you set up your spreadsheet with input cells, this will be relatively easy. Be sure to
include your answer to this question in your report.
8. One of the biggest unknowns with Panache Pizza expanding into a second location with the
conversion of an existing restaurant is how much of a negative short-term impact this
conversion will have on the business? What happens if revenue (and in turn, cost of goods
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sold) decreases 10%, 15% or 25% in 2019? Would the business be able to maintain their
operations? Calculate the change in financial situation by copying the existing spreadsheet
for your chosen business to a new spreadsheet and labeling it Q8-Revenue. If you set up
your spreadsheet with input cells, this will be relatively easy. Be sure to include your
answer to this question in your report.
9. Create a floor plan of the design of your business space using Microsoft Visio and insert it
into your report. Be sure to include all of the necessary areas that the business should have
for customers and staff as well as furniture and equipment. The design should include, but is
not limited to, full kitchen facilities, customer seating, washrooms, staff room, manager’s
office, and all other relevant areas dependent on the business you chose to pursue.
10. Jackie and Brad would like you to design a new logo for the business and a business card
they can use when promoting the business. Explain in your report why you chose the logo
colours and design that you did and why you think it will help build their brand.
Note: You will receive zero on this question if you simply use a logo already found on the
internet (we have Google too!).
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COMM 119 Group Research (Case Study) Project
Instructions and Requirements
1. Throughout the duration of the COMM 119 Group Research (Case Study) Project, your team
will need to formally meet (in-person, face-to-face) on a regular (ideally bi-weekly or
weekly) basis to review and discuss your shared understanding of the case study, develop and
evolve your plan and strategy for approaching and completing the project, identify and assign
key tasks and work (including setting deadlines for completing these tasks and work), discuss
any issues or challenges that arise in completing these tasks and work and/or within the team
itself, or any other relevant topics or items for discussion. It is required that your team
develop an agenda of items and topics (see sample template on Blackboard) that you wish
to cover during each of your formal meetings. You will be submitting your agendas as part
of your Final Consulting Report.
2. At a minimum, your team must formally meet for at least 60 minutes at least once between
Monday, October 15th and Friday, October 26th (this does not include the required meeting
with your mentor during this timeframe), and again for at least 60 minutes at least once
between Monday October 29th and Friday, November 9th (which again, does not include the
required meeting with your mentor during this timeframe). Your team is free to meet off
campus and/or on weekends and ‘off-hours’ (e.g. evenings), provided all team members are
in agreement and able to attend. To be clear: your team must formally meet at least twice
without your mentor and then also twice with your mentor during the project = minimum of 4
formal meetings.
3. Your team is encouraged to make use of other supportive technology and tools (e.g. Google
Docs; Dropbox/OneDrive/Google Drive; Doodle polls for scheduling; WhatsApp/Facebook
Groups & Messenger/Snapchat) to support your work on this project; these supportive
technologies and tools are considered informal and ‘behind the scenes’ – this means you will
not be required or expected to share the details of your work using these technologies and
tools with your mentor and/or submit any details from them with your Final Consulting
Report, however you should indicate wherever appropriate (during meetings with your
mentor and in your Final Consulting Report) what technologies/tools you are utilizing toward
completing this project.
4. You will be required to capture and submit meeting minutes for each of the formal
meetings you conduct associated with your team and your work on this project. This
includes the minimum of two formal team meetings (detailed above) and the two formal team
meetings with your mentor (detailed below). See the sample meeting minutes template on
Blackboard. You will want to ensure you are clear at the start of each meeting which
team member is taking minutes for that meeting (typically a team will rotate this role for
each subsequent meeting among team members!). You will be submitting your meeting
minutes as part of your Final Consulting Report.
5. Your team may also find it valuable to meet informally (that is, without a formal agenda)
throughout the duration of the project. Your team is free to meet off campus and/or on
weekends and ‘off-hours’ (e.g. evenings; upcoming midterm break), provided all relevant
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team members are in agreement and able to attend (you may find that as you assign key tasks
and work, your full team is not required to meet every time for every task or piece of work).
You do not need to prepare an agenda or capture meeting minutes for your informal
team meetings.
6. At your first formal team meeting (sometime during October 15th to October 26th), one of
your tasks is to discuss and complete a draft of the Team Agreement prior to your first
meeting with your mentor. This (unsigned) initial draft must be uploaded to the Draft Team
Agreement Dropbox on Blackboard by one of your team members at least 48 hours prior
to your team’s first meeting with your mentor.
7. Sometime between Monday, October 15th and Friday, October 26th, your team is required
to hold your first meeting with your mentor. Your team will need to contact your mentor well
in advance (at least 3 days/72 hours ideally) to schedule this first meeting. It is suggested that
your team first discuss what days/times you all have available, then forward these to your
mentor for them to review and your mentor will respond with the meeting day/time that
works best for them. When the day and time of your meeting with your mentor is confirmed,
your team will be responsible for securing a suitable location to meet (one of the Edwards
board rooms or elsewhere) and communicating this location to your mentor. It is required
that your team develop an agenda of items and topics (see sample template on Blackboard)
that you wish to cover with your mentor during your meeting with them, as well as capture
meeting minutes during the meeting.
8. At your first meeting with your mentor, your mentor may provide feedback or suggestions
for your team to consider toward a finalized version of your team agreement. Within one
week (7 days) of your first meeting with your mentor, your team is required to review and
incorporate (as appropriate) the feedback and suggestions provided by your mentor and then
submit a (signed by all team members and scanned) copy of your finalized team agreement to
the Final Team Agreement Dropbox on Blackboard by one of your team members.
9. At your second formal team meeting (sometime during October 29th to November 9th), one of
your tasks is to discuss and complete the Research and Analysis Plan (template on
Blackboard) prior to your second meeting with their mentor. This plan must be uploaded to
the Research and Analysis Plan Dropbox on Blackboard by one of your team members at
least 48 hours prior to your team’s second meeting with your mentor.
10. Sometime between Monday, October 29th and Friday, November 9th, your team is
required to hold your second meeting with your mentor. Your team will need to contact your
mentor well in advance (at least one week/7 days ideally) to schedule this meeting. It is
suggested that your team first discuss what days/times you all have available, then forward
these to your mentor for them to review and your mentor will respond with the meeting
day/time that works best for them. When the day and time of your meeting with your mentor
is confirmed, your team will be responsible for securing a suitable location to meet (one of
the Edwards board rooms or elsewhere) and communicating this location to your mentor. It is
required that your team develop an agenda of items and topics (see sample template on
Blackboard) that you wish to cover with your mentor during your meeting with them, as well
as capture meeting minutes during the meeting.
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The remainder of the requirements (below) are the contents of you Final
Consulting Report which is due (submitted via the Final Consulting
Report Dropbox on Blackboard) no later than 4:00 p.m., Monday,
November 19th:
11. Submit a professional business report using Microsoft Word that includes:
• Title page with your class section, group #, and all group member names
• Automatic Table of Contents
• Headers/footers that include the name of your consulting firm and page numbers
• Introduction (keep in mind that your audience is the owners, Jackie and Brad)
• Headings and subheadings that describe each section of the report
o Introduction, Industry Overview, Competitors, Analysis, Recommendation,
Conclusion
• You must address all of the questions above (#1-10) in your report, in a professional
manner using full sentences – do not simply state each question and then answer it (for
questions that are specific to the Excel worksheets, you should provide an overview of
your analysis and results and refer the reader to the appropriate worksheet for additional
details)
• Complete sentences, proper grammar, Canadian spelling and concise business language
are all expected
• Conclusion must clearly state your recommended opportunity to pursue and remind the
reader why that is the best opportunity
• Use APA 6th edition in-text citation throughout the report and insert a References section
of all APA sources at the end of the report
• A professional document design (using one of the templates in Microsoft Word or by
creating your own) that matches your logo in terms of colours, fonts and style
• Times New Roman, Calibri or Arial font in 11 or 12-point font throughout
• 1” margins and 1.15 line spacing with automatic spaces between paragraphs
• Report must be named COMM 119 Section XX Report Group XX.docx (using the
section you are registered in and the number assigned to your group).
12. Submit a single Microsoft Excel workbook that has six worksheets, using appropriate
labelling as indicated in the relevant questions earlier in this document. On three different
worksheets (within the same workbook), create an income statement for each business that
includes 3 columns for 2016, 2017 and 2018 projected (formatted similar to Exhibits 1/2/3)
with appropriate formulas and input cells used to calculate the numbers:
• 1 income statement for Verses Restaurant
• 1 income statement for La Distillerie
• 1 income statement for Café Conscious
• 1 income statement that addresses the Q6-Marketing question and scenarios for your
chosen business
• 1 income statement that addresses the Q7-Rent question and scenarios for your chosen
business
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• 1 income statement that addresses the Q8-Revenue question and scenarios for your chosen
business
• Excel document must be named COMM 119 Section XX Income Statements Group
XX.xlsx (using the section you are registered in and the number assigned to your group).
13. Submit a second Microsoft Excel workbook that has three worksheets, using appropriate
labelling as indicated in the relevant questions earlier in this document:
• 1 loan amortization schedule that calculates interest for the loan for Verses Restaurant
• 1 loan amortization schedule that calculates interest for the loan for La Distillerie
• 1 loan amortization schedule that calculates interest for the loan for Café Conscious
• Excel document must be named COMM 119 Section XX Loan Amortization Schedules
Group XX.xlsx (using the section you are registered in and the number assigned to your
group).
14. Submit your entire set of agendas and meeting minutes as an appendix to your Final
Consulting Report (ahead of your References section).
Grading Rubric

Final Consulting Report Submission Instructions
1. One member of your team must submit all of the required items (see Submission
Checklist on next page) via the Final Consulting Report Dropbox on Blackboard no later
than 4:00 pm on Monday, November 19th.
2. All required items must be attached as a single submission attempt.
3. No late assignments will be accepted.
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Final Consulting Report Submission Checklist
 Final Consulting Report (Microsoft Word file – including floor plan)
 Income Statements and Projections (1 Microsoft Excel workbook, 6 sheets)
 Loan Amortization Schedules (1 Microsoft Excel workbook, 3 sheets)
 Original Logo and Business Card design
 Agendas and minutes from all meetings you held as a group and with your mentor
 References section