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My case question and framework. New to this so any feedback is appreciated

Our Client is QT Co, a US-based baby product manufacturing company. They are a market leader in baby strollers and car seats. Offering the safest products on the market. They have also managed to keep their prices competitive, especially relative to the competitors in the premium market in which they play. 

Despite their market leadership, their profits have declined significantly over the past 2 years. The last quarter saw profits 30% lower than the same quarter 2 years prior. 

CEO is wondering how to correct this trend of declining profitability. 

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Lukas
Coach
edited on Jul 24, 2025
~10yrs experience in consulting | ex-BCG Project Leader | Personalized prep & coaching | INSEAD MBA

Hi,

It is not uncommon to struggle with these kind of questions at first. Looking at your approach I see you are already looking at it in a very comprehensive way.
 

However, given that the questions reads like a typical profitability case (profit is down), I would suggest to use a more target profit framework:

 Profit = Revenue - Cost

This way you can structure your thinking around the drivers of profit (Revenue and Cost) and then deep dive into their respective drivers (revenue mix, price, variable cost, volume, fixed cost,...).
 

To improve on this type of question:

  1. have a look at the following preplounge article on profitability cases:
    https://www.preplounge.com/en/case-interview-basics/profitability-case
  2. practice writing out your framework based on sample questions in 3-5 minutes
  3. practice with peers or (better yet) coaches on preplounge
     

Feel free to send me a message in case you have further questions or need any support!

Anonymous A
on Jul 24, 2025
I appreciate the feedback so much. Thank you.

In the case soluton video, potential additional profit was linked to distribution channels and shifting to online distribution to increase sales by 10%. I'm just curious as to how I would fit in distribution channels in the profitability framework.
on Jul 24, 2025
#1 Rated McKinsey Coach | Top MBB Coach | Verifiable success rates

Hi there, 

Thanks for sharing your proposed structure.

You've got lots of relevant things that you're looking at there, so it's a good start.

However, to begin with, I'd warn against using such a typical structure e.g., market, products,... Anything that you've come across repeatedly in case books (the 3Cs, 4Ps, Porter's 5 forces, internal / external), is at best going to lead to an average result. 

You need to root your structures in first principles thinking, and try and develop operational frameworks that you can work with the client through in order to arrive at an answer.

You might find this article helpful:


And this masterclass:


Best,
Cristian

Mariana
Coach
on Jul 24, 2025
xMckinsey | Consulting and Tech | 1.5h session | +200 sessions | Free 20-min introductory call

Hello there,

First you have to isolate the problem. Easiest way to do this in a profitability type of case is using the profitability equation, taylored to the business and the context. Google “profitability + crafting cases” for a very good article about this topic.

Sarah
Coach
edited on Jul 24, 2025
Ex-McKinsey EM in London, foreign student with no prior consulting internship experience

Hey there,

You're thinking about all the right points but your top level structure isn't the best for profitability. Right now the bullets under client and product are overlapping, you're missing major cost components because you jumped straight into logistics cost. I would suggest using the profitability framework for this case

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