| Course | MGT 401 Small Business: Structure, Planning, Funding (MGT/401) |
|---|---|
| Week | 1 |
| Paper type | Business concept feasibility analysis |
| Length | about 1,077 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | BS in Business |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MGT 401 Week 1
Can a Home Coffee Roaster Become a Café and Wholesale Business? A Feasibility Evaluation of Copper Kettle Roasters in Albuquerque
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
MGT/401: Small Business: Structure, Planning, Funding
Week 1 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Copper Kettle Roasters, its founder and all figures are composites written for a model paper.
Dana Whitfield, the founder of composite business Copper Kettle Roasters, has roasted coffee in a rented commercial kitchen in Albuquerque for two years and sells bags of beans at two farmers markets and online. Sales reached $86,000 last year, and three restaurants have asked about buying her beans wholesale. She wants to lease a storefront in the Nob Hill neighborhood, open a café with a visible roaster and supply restaurants. She would invest $60,000 in savings and borrow the rest. An idea that customers love at a Saturday market is a promising start, but a café is a different business with rent, staff and seven-day hours. This paper evaluates whether the concept is feasible.
Feasibility Framework
Scarborough and Cornwall (2019) describe feasibility analysis as a set of tests that a business idea should pass before a full business plan is written: whether customers want the product, whether the industry and market are attractive, whether the founder and team can execute and whether the finances can work. Each test is applied below. Passing them does not guarantee success, but failing one is a warning that should change the plan.
The Business Concept
Copper Kettle would have three revenue streams: café sales of drinks and pastries, retail bags of beans and wholesale beans to restaurants and offices. The roaster in the café would serve all three and make the shop distinctive. The target customers are neighborhood residents, students and staff from the nearby university and local restaurants that want a local roaster.
Why Feasibility Comes First
Research suggests that testing ideas carefully improves outcomes. Camuffo et al. (2020) ran a randomized trial with Italian startups and found that founders trained to treat ideas as hypotheses and test them were more likely to change or drop weak ideas early and earned more revenue. A feasibility study applies the same discipline.
Product Feasibility
Two years of market sales provide evidence. Dana sells about 140 bags a week in peak season, and about 60 percent of buyers are repeat customers, based on her loyalty card records. Online reviews praise freshness and New Mexico pinon blends. The product is proven for retail beans; café drinks and service are not yet proven.
Market Feasibility: Customers
Nob Hill has heavy foot traffic, a university nearby and residents who spend on local food. A survey of 210 market customers found that 64 percent would visit a café in Nob Hill at least weekly, though surveys usually overstate behavior. Wholesale demand is supported by inquiries from three restaurants and an office manager.
Market Feasibility: Competition
Within a mile of the proposed site are a national chain café, two independent specialty shops and a bakery that serves coffee. One independent shop already roasts its own beans. Copper Kettle's distinctions are local blends, visible roasting and a loyal market following, but competition for café customers is strong.
Organizational Feasibility
Dana is a skilled roaster with strong customer relationships but has never managed a café, hired staff or run a lease. Her partner has bookkeeping experience. The gaps are café operations and staff management, which could be filled by hiring an experienced café manager.
Startup Costs
Estimated startup costs total about $310,000: $95,000 for leasehold improvements, $85,000 for a 12-kilo roaster and ventilation, $55,000 for espresso machines and café equipment, $20,000 for furniture and signage, $15,000 for initial inventory, $10,000 for permits and legal fees and $30,000 in working capital to cover early losses.
Monthly Fixed Costs
Fixed costs are estimated at about $31,000 a month: rent of $7,500, salaried manager and core staff of $16,000, loan payments of about $3,500, utilities and insurance of $2,500 and other costs of $1,500.
Break-Even for the Café
The average café ticket is estimated at $8.50, with variable costs of ingredients, cups and hourly labor of about $4.50, for a contribution of $4.00 per customer. Fixed costs of $31,000 divided by $4.00 equals 7,750 customers a month, or about 260 a day over 30 days. Established independent cafés in similar neighborhoods often serve 200 to 400 customers a day.
Wholesale Contribution
Wholesale beans sell at about $12 a pound with $6 in costs. If Copper Kettle sells 800 pounds a month to restaurants and offices, wholesale contributes $4,800 a month, lowering the café's break-even to about 220 customers a day. Retail bag sales add further margin.
Key Risks
The largest risks are slower café traffic than surveys suggest, rising rent and labor costs, competition from the existing roaster café and Dana's lack of café experience. Cassar (2010) found that people entering self-employment tend to overestimate their future sales and employment, a reminder to treat the survey with caution.
Sensitivity of the Break-Even
The break-even depends on assumptions that could easily be wrong. If the average ticket is $7.50 instead of $8.50, contribution falls to $3.00 and break-even rises to about 345 customers a day. If rent is negotiated down to $6,000, break-even falls by about 12 customers a day. Labor is the largest controllable cost; scheduling fewer staff in slow afternoon hours could reduce fixed costs meaningfully. These comparisons show which numbers Dana should verify most carefully.
Location Alternatives
A smaller storefront without seating, focused on takeout and retail beans, would cost about $180,000 to open and break even near 160 customers a day. A shared space with an existing bakery could cut rent in half. These options reduce risk while keeping the visible roaster that makes the concept distinctive, and they should be priced before choosing Nob Hill.
The Founder's Personal Finances
Dana would put $60,000 of savings into the business and personally guarantee loans. If the café fails, she could lose her savings and owe the bank. A realistic plan should include how long she can live without a salary, which she estimates at eight months.
Testing Before Committing
Before signing a lease, Dana can run tests: a three-month pop-up café in a shared space to measure daily traffic and ticket size, signed wholesale agreements with at least five accounts and quotes from contractors for the buildout.
Conclusion
Copper Kettle's wholesale and retail bean business is feasible now, with proven demand and modest costs. The café is possible but uncertain, needing about 260 customers a day without wholesale support. The recommended path is to grow wholesale first, test the café through a pop-up and hire an experienced manager before committing $310,000.
References
Camuffo, A., Cordova, A., Gambardella, A., & Spina, C. (2020). A scientific approach to entrepreneurial decision making: Evidence from a randomized control trial. Management Science, 66(2), 564-586. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2018.3249
Cassar, G. (2010). Are individuals entering self-employment overly optimistic? An empirical test of plans and projections on nascent entrepreneur expectations. Strategic Management Journal, 31(8), 822-840. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.833
Scarborough, N. M., & Cornwall, J. R. (2019). Essentials of entrepreneurship and small business management (9th ed.). Pearson.
What the MGT 401 Week 1 instructions ask
The first MGT 401 assignment commonly asks students to evaluate a small business concept. Typical requirements include describing the product or service and target customers, assessing market demand and competition, evaluating the founder's skills and resources, estimating startup costs and the sales needed to break even, identifying major risks and reaching a conclusion about feasibility. Some prompts ask students to use their own idea. Use evidence rather than assumptions, show simple calculations, be honest about weaknesses and cite sources in APA format. Many instructors expect the four standard feasibility areas, product, market, organization and finances, to appear as headings, and they look for a break-even figure supported by stated assumptions about price, cost and volume.
How this MGT 401 Week 1 example is built
A coffee roaster who sells out at farmers markets might assume a café will succeed, so the paper puts that belief to the test. It defines the concept: a small café with a visible roaster plus wholesale beans for restaurants. Product feasibility rests on two years of market sales and repeat customers. Market feasibility looks at Albuquerque's specialty coffee shops and restaurants. Organizational feasibility finds strong roasting skill but no café management experience. Financial feasibility estimates $310,000 in startup costs and break-even at about 260 customers a day. The paper concludes that wholesale is feasible now and the café only after testing with a pop-up.
MGT 401 Week 1 grading rubric: where the points go
Strong feasibility papers test an idea against evidence on product, market, organization and finances, then reach a clear conclusion. Instructors credit specific evidence of demand, a realistic look at competitors, an honest assessment of the founder's skills, startup costs broken into categories and a break-even calculation shown step by step. Identifying the biggest risks and proposing tests to reduce them shows entrepreneurial judgment. A conclusion that may be conditional, rather than automatically positive, signals critical thinking. Clear headings and APA citations complete the work. Extra credit tends to follow papers that separate parts of a concept, as when one revenue stream is ready and another is not, because real feasibility decisions are rarely all or nothing. Treating survey results with caution, and explaining why, shows maturity with evidence.
MGT 401 Week 1 help: mistakes to avoid
Many students write a sales pitch instead of an evaluation. Look for weaknesses as well as strengths. Another gap is assuming demand without evidence; use sales history, surveys or competitor data. Students also skip break-even analysis or make it too vague. Show the arithmetic. Avoid underestimating startup costs; list them by category. Be honest about the founder's gaps and how to fill them. Consider the competition directly. Close with a firm verdict and the next steps, such as tests to run before investing, since a feasibility study should guide a decision. If the idea has several parts, judge each one separately, because one may be ready while another needs more testing.
Related MGT 401 sample papers
Other MGT 401 week samples
- MGT 401 Week 2: Competitive Business Model
- MGT 401 Week 3: Comparing Forms of Ownership
- MGT 401 Week 4: Drafting the Business Plan
- MGT 401 Week 5: Funding Options
More BS in Business sample papers
- MGT 316 Week 1: Business Functions
- MGT 362 Week 1: Change and the Role of Analytics
- MGT 418 Week 1: Screening New Business Opportunities
- MGT 434 Week 1: EEO Law and Affirmative Action
MGT 401 Week 1 questions, answered
What does MGT 401 Week 1 usually cover?
It usually covers evaluating a small business concept: product, market, organizational and financial feasibility, startup costs, break-even and a conclusion about whether to proceed.
Where can I find a free MGT 401 Week 1 sample paper?
This page walks through a full feasibility study for a roaster's café and wholesale plan, including the break-even math. Send your concept and a free starting draft can be written.
What is a feasibility analysis?
An assessment of whether a business idea can work, usually covering product or service feasibility, market demand, the founder's and team's capabilities and financial viability, before major investment.
How do you calculate break-even for a small business?
Divide fixed costs by the contribution margin per unit, which is price minus variable cost. The result is the number of units or customers needed to cover all fixed costs.
Should a feasibility study always recommend going ahead?
No. A good feasibility study may recommend proceeding, changing the concept, testing further or stopping, depending on the evidence.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official University of Phoenix document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
Request this one custom, free · All MGT 401 week samples · All courses