| Course | MGT 401 Small Business: Structure, Planning, Funding (MGT/401) |
|---|---|
| Week | 2 |
| Paper type | Business model design |
| Length | about 1,126 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 2
Roast Visibly, Sell Wholesale, Keep Regulars: Designing a Business Model That Can Compete for Copper Kettle Roasters
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
MGT/401: Small Business: Structure, Planning, Funding
Week 2 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Copper Kettle Roasters and all figures are composites written for a model paper.
Copper Kettle Roasters, the composite Albuquerque coffee business, completed a feasibility study in Week 1 showing that wholesale and retail beans are feasible now and that a café needs about 260 customers a day to break even. Founder Dana Whitfield now needs a business model that explains how the business will make money and why customers will choose it over a national chain and two independent cafés nearby. A business model is the story of how a company makes money, told in enough detail that each part can be checked against the others and against competitors. This paper designs and tests Copper Kettle's model.
What a Business Model Is
Teece (2010) described a business model as the logic by which a firm creates and delivers value to customers and converts payments into profits, and argued that a good model is necessary but not enough for advantage unless parts of it are hard to imitate. Zott et al. (2011) noted that business models describe how activities connect across a firm and its partners. Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010) turned these ideas into a canvas with nine building blocks.
Customer Segments
Copper Kettle serves three segments. Neighborhood café customers include residents, students and university staff. Home brewers buy whole beans at markets and online and value freshness and unusual blends. Wholesale customers include restaurants, two bakeries and office managers who want a local coffee supplier.
Value Propositions
For café customers, the value is a neighborhood place where coffee is roasted on site, with seasonal New Mexico blends. For home brewers, it is beans roasted within days and sold by the roaster herself. For wholesale customers, it is consistent quality, a local story they can share with diners, delivery and staff training on brewing.
Channels
Café customers come through the storefront. Home brewers buy at farmers markets, online and in the café. Wholesale customers are reached by direct sales visits, with delivery by Dana or a part-time driver twice a week.
Customer Relationships
Café regulars are built through friendly service and a loyalty card. Home brewers are kept through a subscription that ships beans every two weeks. Wholesale relationships rest on personal visits, tastings and training sessions for restaurant staff.
Revenue Streams
Revenue comes from café drinks and pastries, retail bags, subscriptions and wholesale. Projected first-year revenue, assuming a modest café, is $210,000 from the café, $70,000 from retail bags, $40,000 from subscriptions and $115,000 from wholesale.
Key Resources and Activities
Key resources are the roaster, Dana's roasting skill and recipes, the market customer base and the Nob Hill location. Key activities are sourcing green coffee, roasting, café operations, wholesale sales and delivery and online sales.
Key Partners
Partners include green coffee importers, a local bakery supplying pastries, the farmers markets and a shipping service for subscriptions. A partnership with a local chile roaster for a seasonal blend adds a distinctive product.
Cost Structure
The largest costs are labor, rent, green coffee and equipment loan payments. Roasting has high fixed costs and low variable costs, so using more of the roaster's capacity spreads costs. The roaster can produce far more than the café uses, which makes wholesale and subscriptions valuable.
Competitor Analysis: The Chain
The national chain wins on convenience, a mobile app and consistency, and its prices are similar. It cannot offer locally roasted beans or a personal relationship with the roaster. Copper Kettle should not compete on speed or app features.
Competitor Analysis: Independent Cafés
One independent shop roasts its own beans and has a strong following, competing directly on Copper Kettle's main distinction. The other buys beans from a regional roaster and competes on atmosphere. Copper Kettle's differences from the roasting rival are New Mexico blends, market loyalty and wholesale relationships.
Industry Forces
Porter (1985) built on an analysis of competitive forces that suggests looking at rivals, buyers, suppliers, substitutes and new entrants. In Albuquerque, rivalry is strong in cafés but weaker in local wholesale, buyers can switch easily, green coffee prices are volatile, substitutes include home brewing and energy drinks and new cafés can open at modest cost.
What Is Hard to Copy
Equipment and good coffee can be copied. What is harder to copy is Dana's following of hundreds of repeat buyers, her relationships with restaurants and the combination of café, roastery, subscriptions and wholesale that share one roaster. That combination lowers costs and builds the brand in several places at once.
Testing the Fit Among Blocks
Checking fit reveals a problem. The café requires long hours from Dana at the counter, but wholesale requires her to make sales visits. The model must include a café manager so Dana can focus on roasting and wholesale.
Revising the Model
The revised model leads with wholesale and subscriptions, which use roaster capacity and provide steady revenue, and opens the café with limited hours, mornings and weekends, to start. A café manager is hired from the start. Café hours expand as traffic grows. This sequence reduces the risk identified in Week 1.
The Revised Revenue Mix
The revised first-year projection shifts toward wholesale, $160,000, and subscriptions, $65,000, with café revenue of $150,000 and retail bags of $70,000, for a total of $445,000. The mix is less dependent on daily café traffic.
Pricing Within the Model
Pricing must fit each segment. Café drinks are priced in line with the independent shops, about 50 cents above the chain, since customers pay for atmosphere and local roasting but will not pay much more. Retail bags sell at $17 for 12 ounces, matching specialty competitors. Wholesale prices of about $12 a pound are set to undercut regional roasters slightly while including delivery and training, which competitors charge for separately. Subscriptions carry a 10 percent discount to reward commitment and smooth roasting schedules.
Risks in the Model
Two risks stand out. Green coffee prices have risen sharply in recent years, and because wholesale contracts fix prices for months at a time, a spike could erase margins; contracts will include a price adjustment clause tied to green coffee costs. Second, losing one or two large wholesale accounts would hurt more under the revised model, so no single account should exceed 20 percent of wholesale volume.
Measuring the Model
Key measures include wholesale accounts and pounds sold, subscription retention, café customers per day and ticket size and gross margin by revenue stream. These will show whether the model works as designed.
Conclusion
Copper Kettle's business model creates value for three segments through a shared roaster, local blends and personal relationships. Competitors can copy equipment but not Dana's following or the combination of streams. Leading with wholesale and subscriptions and phasing café hours strengthens the model and reduces risk.
References
Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business model generation: A handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers. Wiley.
Porter, M. E. (1985). Competitive advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance. Free Press.
Teece, D. J. (2010). Business models, business strategy and innovation. Long Range Planning, 43(2-3), 172-194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2009.07.003
Zott, C., Amit, R., & Massa, L. (2011). The business model: Recent developments and future research. Journal of Management, 37(4), 1019-1042. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311406265
What the MGT 401 Week 2 instructions ask
The second MGT 401 assignment usually asks students to design a business model and show how it creates a competitive advantage. Typical requirements include describing customer segments and the value proposition for each, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key resources, activities and partners and the cost structure, along with a competitor analysis and an explanation of what makes the model hard to imitate. Many prompts suggest the Business Model Canvas. Use the concept from Week 1, connect each element to evidence, compare the model directly with competitors and cite sources in APA format. Include the completed canvas or a table, and explain any changes you make after testing the model.
How this MGT 401 Week 2 example is built
A small roaster competing against a national chain and two independent cafés needs more than good coffee, and the paper designs a model around what it does best. It identifies three customer segments: neighborhood café customers, home brewers buying beans and restaurants buying wholesale. Each segment receives a distinct value proposition. Channels, relationships and revenue streams follow. Key resources include the roaster, local blends and Dana's market following. A competitor comparison shows where Copper Kettle wins and loses. The paper revises the model to lead with wholesale and subscriptions, which use the roaster's capacity and smooth cash flow, before scaling café hours.
MGT 401 Week 2 grading rubric: where the points go
A strong business model paper explains how the venture will create, deliver and capture value, with each element supported by evidence and consistent with the others. Instructors credit distinct value propositions for distinct segments, realistic revenue and cost structures and a direct comparison with competitors. Identifying resources or relationships that are hard to copy shows strategic thinking. Revising the model based on analysis, rather than presenting a first draft as final, demonstrates the iterative nature of model design. A completed canvas or table, clear writing and APA citations round out the paper. Writers who check whether the founder's own time can stretch across every activity in the model often find the most important weakness, since small businesses depend heavily on one or two people.
MGT 401 Week 2 help: mistakes to avoid
Students often fill in each canvas block separately without checking that they fit together. Make sure channels suit the segments and costs match the activities. Another gap is a single value proposition for everyone; different segments value different things. Students also describe competitors vaguely. Name them and compare specific features. Avoid claiming advantages, such as quality, that rivals can easily match. Focus on what is hard to copy. Show how the model makes money with numbers. Finally, revise the model after the analysis, since the first version is rarely the best one. Show the old and new revenue mix side by side so readers can see the effect.
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MGT 401 Week 2 questions, answered
What does MGT 401 Week 2 usually cover?
It usually covers designing a business model, often with the Business Model Canvas, including segments, value propositions, channels, revenue, resources and costs, and comparing it with competitors.
Where can I find a free MGT 401 Week 2 sample paper?
The complete business model design for a coffee roaster, including a competitor comparison and notes, is shown on this page. MGT 401 students can request a free draft built on their own venture.
What is a business model?
A description of how a business creates value for customers, delivers that value and captures part of it as revenue and profit, including the resources, activities and partners involved.
What is the Business Model Canvas?
A one-page tool with nine blocks, customer segments, value propositions, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key resources, key activities, key partners and cost structure.
What makes a business model hard to copy?
Resources and relationships that take time to build, such as a loyal customer base, unique know-how, local partnerships or a combination of activities that fit together in ways competitors cannot easily replicate.
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