COR VAN RAAY

AGRIBUSINESS CASE
COMPETITION WORKSHOP
INTRODUCTIONS
 Micheal Ostrom

 Graduated with a double major in Accounting and Finance

from U of L in January
 2 + 2 program
 Work at Haul-All Equipment as a Staff Accountant
 Have worked in public practice as well as corporate accounting in
downtown Calgary
 Current CPA articling student
 Case Experience
 CPA Governance, KPMG case competition, etc.
 Coached 2nd place JDC West team
 Held several case workshops
AGENDA

 Discussing a Case
 8 Important Steps in Case Presentation
 PowerPoint
 Presentation Key Points
 Figuring Out the Numbers
WHAT IS A CASE?
 A real world business issue
 Can be any major, strategy or general business
 Lots of information
 General, Accounting or major specific
 Critical thinking
 Apply textbook knowledge
WHERE TO START
 Read case before making notes / calculations
 How do you know what's important yet
 Read the first and last page again
 Make some quick notes
 what the case is asking for (problem)?
 What is your role?
 Read again and highlight information that is relevant
IMPORTANT STEPS
 Introductions  Criteria Matrix

 Problem Statement  Decision

 Analysis  Implementation

 Alternative Solutions  Contingency Plan

 Conclusion
PROBLEM STATEMENT
 Primary Problem
 May be more than, but choose the most important
 Secondary Problem
 Be clear by using only 1-2 sentences
 Symptom vs. Cause – what are the “real” issues
 Must flow through the rest of the presentation
ANALYSIS
 Looking at the big picture
 Internal to company
 External to environment
 3 ways to Analyze
 SWOT
 Porters 5 Forces
 PESTLE
SWOT
SWOT
 Internal to the Company
 Strengths and Weaknesses
 External to the Company
 Opportunities and Threats
 Strengths
 What is the company doing well
 Weaknesses
 What do we need to improve
 Opportunities
 What can we capitalize on
 Threats
 What could de-rail our business
PORTER’S 5 FORCES Threats of
New
Entrants

Analyzes Competitive Position

within Industry

• When to use Bargaining Bargaining

• Market position in question power of Rivalry power of
suppliers buyers
• Product launch
• Expansion

Threat of
substitutes
ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS
 Qualitative
 Table works well
 Show all options
 Advantages and Disadvantages
 Pro / Cons
 Outcome Specific
CRITERIA MATRIX
 Table format
 Quantitative
 Simple numbering scheme

 Backs up decision
 Use weighted criteria
 Be confident on numbers and explain how
DECISION

 1 choice, 1 slide
 Be confident and don’t rush this slide
 Everything before should lead to your decision
(analysis)
 Everything after should tell how to achieve the decision
(implementation)
IMPLEMENTATION
 Usually longest part of presentation
 Worth most of mark on judges score card
 Think SMART
 Specific
 Measurable
 Achievable
 Relevant
 Timely
IMPLEMENTATION

 Create a timeline to guide judges through your plan

 SPECIFIC activates that help solve the problem identified
earlier
 Timeframes must be realistic to business production
cycles
CONTINGENCY PLAN

 Plan B
 If economy…
 If government…
 If family is concerned…
 Do not change your decision
CONCLUSION
 Summarize main points
 Highlight:
 Decision
 Implementation
 Push Benefits
 Need to sell the idea
 Strong final ending
POWERPOINT

 Keep it simple
 Clean and Organized
 No grammatical errors
POWERPOINT
 Large Font:

Titles: 38-48pt
Subtitles: 28-36pt
 Body: 26-34
 Color Contrast
 Titles are important
PRESENTATION SKILLS
Live
the Show
Case Passion
 Remember to use terminology
 You- referring to company
Us- referring to team presenting Expand

High
Consulting Firm giving ideas on

Energy
 Smile and acknowledge Points
PRESENTATION SKILL
 Talk to Audience
 Glance at slides do not read
 Try and not hide
 Clothing and Appearance matter
 Pay attention to person speaking
 Entrance and Exit etiquette
MARKING RUBRIC
 Will be posted online before competition and emailed out
 Content and Implementation most important section
 Also marked on:
 Organization
 Presentation Skills
 Layout
 PowerPoint
 Originality
 Always looking for - Validity of an idea
 Doesn't have to be normal, just backed up
TEAM DYNAMICS
 Who does what?
 Break apart presentation into individual areas based on major,
presentation skills, and salesmanship
 When?
 At the beginning before reading
 Focus on notes that are important to your section while reading
 Presenting with 3 vs. 5 makes the presentation flow better
 Introductions, Problem Statement, Analysis

 Alternative Solutions, Criteria Matrix, Decision

 Implementation, Contingency Plan, Conclusion

CASE EXTRAS
PROVIDING EVIDENCE WITH
NUMBERS
 Be confident
 Be able to defend your numbers
 Could be based on information provided by company and
industry
 Double check the numbers
 Remember simple is better than not at all
THINKING ABOUT CASES
 Considering growth:
 Sales growth potential – actual customers?
 Market potential – overall demand?
 Production ability
 Can we afford to grow financially
 Employee costs and availability of skilled people
 Do we have the infrastructure to grow (additions required)
 Distribution channels – getting product to customer
 Wholesale vs. retail
 Margins worth while?
COGS VS EXPENSE
 COGS (cost of goods sold)
 The cost of producing an item for sale
 Farms - hard to track/determine exact amounts
 Farms often don’t use “COGS” and use and special form of accounting

 Examples of expenses on a farm

 Property tax
 Utilities
 Employees
 WHAT ELSE?

 Variable Cost vs. Fixed cost

 VC = feed expense (changes with # animals)
 FC = land rent
REVENUE PROJECTION
$2 each Pessimistic Realistic Optimistic
Sales in Units 50 100 150
Revenue 100 200 300
COGS 25 50 75
Gross Margin 75 150 225
-Fixed Costs 10 10 20
-Variable Costs 20 30 50
EBIT 45 110 155
Tax (40%) 18 44 62
Net Income 27 66 93
REVENUE PROJECTIONS
$20 each Option 1 (10 Units) Option 2 (5 units)
Revenue 1000 500

Expenses:

Piglets 200 100

Land rent 50 50

Feed 100 50

Utilities 25 25

Employees 500 250

Net Income 125 25

Tax (40%) 50 10

Cash Available 75 15
BREAK-EVEN POINT (BEP)
 The point of $0 profit
 All sales above BEP produce profit
 All sales below BEP produce loss
 Analyze by units or dollars

 The key here is to show how much production is

required before profit can be made
 These allows judges to determine suitability and ability of
your plan
BEP EXAMPLE
Fixed Costs = $10,000
Selling Price = $15
Variable Cost = $10
BEP$ = FC/CM X SP
BEP$ = 10,000/(15-10) X 15
BEP$ = 10,000/(5) X 15
BEP$ = $30,000
LOAN COSTS

 Money is not free or unlimited

 Backed by assets as collateral
 Examples – inventory, land, building, machinery

 If you are borrowing money you must include the loan

payment in revenue projections as an expense
WHAT IMPORTANT
WHAT IMPORTANT
THE END