Harbor Bites

Case Prompt

Your client is the owner of Harbor Bites, a casual restaurant operating in the Martini Bottom market.

Harbor Bites has been the dominant player in the local casual restaurant market for quite some time. However, its primary competitor, Ocean Eats, has been rapidly stealing market share over the last few years.

The client has hired your consulting firm to determine how to solidify Harbor Bites’ position as the dominant player in the market.

Last year, Harbor Bites generated $500K in revenue. What should the client do to improve sales this year?

Additional information / Case background:

Additional Information to give the candidate if asked:

• Client/Company
  • The Harbor Bites currently sells only 1 product, the “KrunchyPatty”, which is a 100% lean beef burger
  • Last year, the Clam Bucket brought in $400K in revenue
• Market
  • The HarborBites competes in the casual restaurant market in Martini Bottom which is a $1.5M market located just outside the U.S.
  • The casual restaurant market is fairly concentrated in Martini Bottom – in addition to the Clam Bucket and the Harbor Bites , there are a few other smaller competitors
  • We don’t have any information as to why the Clam Bucket has been stealing market share at the moment
• Goal
  • The owner is eager for retirement, so he wants quick results. The primary objective is for the Harbor Bites to increase annual sales to $750K THIS year (a 50% share of last year’s total market size).

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General response summary

Suggested buckets for a framework for this case include:

Organic Growth

• Same Products, Same Markets
  • Improve the customer experience
  • Build a referral or rewards program / initiative
  • Hire more staff to accommodate customers in peak times
  • Increase hours of operation
  • Increase / decrease prices
• Same Products, New Markets
  • Increase marketing efforts
  • Expand into new markets / regions geographically
• New Products, New Markets
  • Introduce a new product line (e.g. hot dogs, fries, veggie burgers)

Inorganic Growth

• Acquire a competitor to quickly gain market share and generate synergies
• Interviewee should stray away from a profitability framework (revenue and costs) and instead focus on ways to increase market share (improving sales).
• Interviewer should point to the acquisition option as the best path considering the short-term objectives of the owner. If they do not recognize this, continue to nudge the interviewee in the direction of inorganic growth. Next, show them Exhibit 1.