Understand your group's business scenario, constraints, and target outcome.
Milestone 1 — Plan Your Scenario and Set Up Your Workbook
Lessons 1-7 taught you how to sort costs, calculate contribution margin, test break-even, reverse-solve for target profit, build sensitivity tables, and summarize a recommendation. Now your group will apply that same logic to a new business scenario. Today is not about starting from scratch — it is about planning the work, opening the correct workbook, and building the first sheets cleanly.
In Lesson 07, the whole class rehearsed with the same teacher-provided data so everyone could learn the workbook structure and quality standard together. Today, each group gets its own business with different costs, capacity limits, and profit targets. This is on purpose.
The workbook structure stays exactly the same. What changes is the data you plug in and the recommendation your team builds from that data. If your workbook architecture matches Lesson 07, you are on the right track.
- Understand your assigned business, constraints, and profit target
- Sort raw costs into fixed and variable categories with clear reasoning
- Choose a starting price strategy to investigate in your analysis
- Plan how your team will justify one final recommendation using workbook evidence
- Download the correct group workbook and save your team copy with a clear name
- Complete the CostSetup sheet by classifying each cost item
- Check that fixed cost, variable cost, capacity, and target cells update correctly
- Build or verify the first analysis tabs: PriceOptions and Feasibility
Use only the workbook for your assigned group. Do not switch scenarios. Your workbook already contains the project tab structure from Lesson 07. Your job is to fill it in, test it, and defend your pricing recommendation with evidence.
Group 1: Neighborhood Shine
Mobile Car Detailing
- Capacity: 45 units/month
- Target Profit: $400/month
Group 2: Northside Print Lab
Custom Hoodie Print Shop
- Capacity: 220 units/month
- Target Profit: $500/month
Group 3: Fresh Fork Weekly
Meal Prep Delivery
- Capacity: 420 units/month
- Target Profit: $900/month
Group 4: CitySpark Studio
Social Media Content Studio
- Capacity: 30 units/month
- Target Profit: $800/month
File naming rule: Save your workbook as Period-TeamName-Unit06-Project.xlsx(e.g., P3-ShineTeam-Unit06-Project.xlsx). This helps your teacher find and grade your work quickly.
Your workbook has the exact same seven-sheet structure you rehearsed in Lesson 07. Today you will complete the first three sheets and start planning the rest.
- Minutes 0-5: Download your team workbook and rename it with your class period and team name
- Minutes 5-15: Read your group's business scenario together. Discuss constraints and target profit.
- Minutes 15-25: Complete the CostSetup sheet — sort every cost item into fixed or variable
- Minutes 25-30: Check the totals on the right side. Make sure your assumptions block is updating correctly.
- Minutes 30-40: Use those totals to complete PriceOptions and Feasibility
- Minutes 40-45: Write one sentence about which option looks strongest so far and why. Check in with your teacher.
Your team must meet all five criteria before the end of class:
- Your team has the correct workbook open and renamed with the naming convention
- Every cost item is classified in CostSetup as fixed or variable
- Fixed cost total and variable cost per unit are correct and match your scenario
- PriceOptions and Feasibility sheets are complete with calculations
- Your team has a draft claim about the best current option with at least one supporting number
- Technical Accuracy — 50%: Correct modeling, formulas, validations
- Strategic Rationale — 20%: Aligns to business goals and trade-offs
- Communication & Clarity — 15%: Concise story, visuals, audience fit
- Time Management — 10%: Pacing, clean transitions
- Q&A Readiness — 5%: Confident, concise responses
- Team workbook saved with a clear file name following the naming convention
- Completed CostSetup, PriceOptions, and Feasibility tabs
- One written sentence naming the most promising option so far with at least one cited number