Using this in a case and in real work
What to ask, what to calculate and what to say, so every piece of a case ends with a so what. A worked 30-second close, and the same habits in your first weeks at work.
Key takeaways
- In a case, every piece of analysis ends with a so what: the number, what it means for the goal, and what it suggests doing.
- The So what drill builds short situations from the industry briefs: a cost going up, a price cut, a margin target, a profit table, an investment or a growth move.
- What to ask: what decision the client faces, and what success looks like as a number (a profit target, a payback limit, a market share).
- What to calculate: the number that decides it, set next to its bar. "USD 3,600 a flight" means little until you add "and it breaks even at 70 percent full".
- What to say after each calculation: "So this means..." in one sentence, before you move on.
Key idea
In a case, every piece of analysis ends with a so what: the number, what it means for the goal, and what it suggests doing. The close is just the best of those, said first.
In a case interview
- What to ask: what decision the client faces, and what success looks like as a number (a profit target, a payback limit, a market share).
- What to calculate: the number that decides it, set next to its bar. "USD 3,600 a flight" means little until you add "and it breaks even at 70 percent full".
- What to say after each calculation: "So this means..." in one sentence, before you move on.
- What to say at the end: the answer first, two reasons with numbers, the main risk, the next step.
Worked case
A new daily flight: the 30-second close
The prompt
A Gulf airline asks whether to add a daily flight to a new city. Turn the case numbers into a 30-second close.
Each flight has 180 seats and is expected to be 80 percent full at an average fare of USD 200. Each flight costs USD 25,200 to run, including fuel, crew, airport charges and the aircraft. All figures are illustrative.
The structure
- Does a daily flight make money, and with how much room?
- Revenue per flight: seats, how full, fare
- Profit per flight and per year
- Breakeven: how full the plane must be
Working it through
1. Passengers
80 percent of 180 seats.
Passengers per flight:180 × 0.8 = 1442. Revenue per flight
144 passengers at USD 200.
Revenue per flight (USD):144 × 200 = 28,8003. Profit per flight
Revenue minus the cost of the flight.
Profit per flight (USD):28,800 - 25,200 = 3,6004. Profit a year
One flight a day, 365 days, in USD millions.
Profit a year (USD millions):3,600 × 365 ÷ 1,000,000 = 1.315. Breakeven
Passengers needed to cover the cost, as a share of seats.
Breakeven share of seats (percent):25,200 ÷ 200 ÷ 180 × 100 = 70
The recommendation
Yes, add the daily flight, because at 80 percent full it earns about USD 3,600 a flight, or about USD 1.3 million a year. It also has room to spare, since it breaks even at 70 percent full. The main risk is that a rival adds the same route and fares fall; at a fare of USD 175 the flight would only break even. As a next step, I would check how full the airline's other new routes were in their first six months.
Risks: A rival on the route pushes fares down; at USD 175 the flight only breaks even.
Next steps: Check how full other new routes were in their first six months.
A strong candidate
Answer first, with the profit, the breakeven and a risk that is itself sized (the fare at which it stops paying). About 30 seconds.
A weak candidate
"So we calculated revenue per flight, which was USD 28,800, and then costs, which were USD 25,200, so there is a profit, and then the annual figure is about 1.3 million, so overall it seems positive." The answer comes last and is hedged.
At work, from the first week
- End every piece of analysis with one sentence that starts with the so what, before you send it.
- Write the subject line of an email last, once you know your point, and make it the point.
- Before a meeting, write the one thing you want the room to decide.
- When someone pushes back, ask what they are seeing, and test the answer with their number.
- Keep a model's inputs, calculations, outputs and checks apart, so anyone can follow it after you.
The So what drill builds short situations from the industry briefs: a cost going up, a price cut, a margin target, a profit table, an investment or a growth move. Write the so what, get five checks and a model answer.
Open the So what drillIn the flight case above, a rival joins the route and fares fall. At 80 percent full (144 passengers), what average fare in USD makes the flight just break even on its USD 25,200 cost?
You have just worked out that a new product breaks even at 40,000 units, and the market study says 55,000. What do you say next?
Sources for this lesson (1)
- Recognized public explanations of case-interview concepts and terms
My notes on this lesson
0 of 5,000 characters. Saves automatically.
Try the 2 remaining checks and drills above to complete this lesson (0 of 2 done).
Spotted something wrong or out of date? Report a mistake. We check every report and correct the page.