Sweet Dreams: Creekside Maple Syrup

Karen Popovich; Virginie Khare; Kristin Juel

doi:10.4135/9781071980897

Amy Hill had hiked to the top of her 44-acre property with her 6-year-old son and was having second thoughts about her family starting a woman-owned small seasonal business, Creekside Maple Syrup. She had been approved for a $55,000 start-up loan at 5% interest for five years. She and her husband, Matt, had been considering this option for some time and had a post-and-beam barn that could house the new operation. Due to Matt’s job requiring travel, Amy knew she would have the sole responsibility to run the seasonal business. Second thoughts and questions that were on her mind included, “It’s not about making a ton of money because it is part-time, and I have my college teaching position. It is about building a future for our growing family and farming our land. Still, I wonder if we are taking on too much risk? What if the climate changes and the sugaring season shortens? Will we ever earn our investment back and turn a profit?” This decision-based critical incident includes building a 5-year decision model with scenario analysis for a “good” vs. “poor” climate of maple production and an (optional) NPV (net present value) calculation. It is designed for discussion use in an undergraduate entrepreneurship course or a family-entrepreneurship course. Alternatively, it can be used as an example of spreadsheet modeling and forecasting for data-driven decision-making for a small business in a management or finance course.