Business case
Free
Illustrative case: a subscription coffee roastery
A fictional, illustrative case showing a complete pre-mortem from failure story to action plan.
Published 18 Oct 2026
This is a fictional case created for demonstration purposes. Any resemblance to real businesses is coincidental.
The business
A small roastery sells coffee subscriptions online and supplies six local cafés.
The failure story
Three years from now, the roastery has closed. Green coffee prices rose sharply, subscription churn doubled after a price increase and the largest café customer switched suppliers.
Top risks identified
- Dependence on a single green coffee importer (likelihood 3, impact 4)
- Subscription churn after price increases (likelihood 4, impact 4)
- One café accounts for a large share of wholesale revenue (likelihood 3, impact 3)
Preventive actions
- Qualify a second importer within six months
- Test a smaller subscription tier before any price increase
- Add two new wholesale clients this year
Demonstration content.