The CIMA OCS is out, where sitters will become the finance officer of TreadCushy, an ethical athletic shoe designer.
So, what do we learn? The owners are passionate about the environment, sustainability and using natural materials. They left a worldwide brand leader because they had become ‘frustrated’ with its lack of focus on the environment.
There’s some venture capital in there and some private investment too.
Selling through their own website they have kept the production in-house to they can control the craftmanship and sustainability of the manufacturing process. The vast majority of athletic shoe s are manufactured in Asia to keep cost down. The small players, however have proved manufacturing in-house can be profitable.
They have opened retail outlets too – and have eight at home and six abroad. Interestingly there seems to be a season for buying TreadCushy shoes!
One area that may come up in the case is TreadCushy’s conservative approach to the management of finished goods inventory at the Distribution Centre.
From selling 25,000 pairs of shoes in its first year it now sells 700,000, has a revenue of K$68 million and profit of K$6 million. Its prices are slightly above the market average for similar products
If you read the directors profiles you will see FD Emily Queda believes that the business is on a sound financial footing and that now is the time to invest in new products and markets. Your immediate boss is finance manager Ben Numa.
All-in-all a case for you to run with…
