LiFin Lab · Gamified case · Capital budgeting

☕ Kaapi Express: The Kiosk Decision

One junior analyst. Nine shortcuts. Find the traps, rebuild the model, and tell the board the truth.

The story. Kaapi Express runs 40 filter-coffee cafés across South India. Founder Meera wants automated filter-coffee kiosks at metro stations. Junior analyst Rohan built a quick model and recommends the café upgrade instead, because its IRR is higher. The board meets tomorrow. You are the analyst Meera trusts to check his work.

How you score. Each mission is one of Rohan’s shortcuts. Answer the concept question, then calculate. First-try answers score most; hints cost points; perfect missions build a 🔥 streak. Finish with a bonus round and the board decision.

📂 Step 1: Read the case data (₹ lakh)

You can reopen this data any time during the game with the 📂 Case data button.

Step 2: Sign in and open the model

🏷️ Your name

🎓 Roll number

👥 Group (optional)

🧑‍🏫 For instructors

Works solo or in pairs in about 40–50 minutes. Each student’s progress is saved in their own browser. At the end, students can download a score card or copy it to submit (for example, through a Google Form or Google Classroom).

Ranks: Intern < 700 · Analyst 700+ · Associate 1,100+ · VP Finance 1,450+ · CFO Material 1,750+ (maximum about 1,900). Suggested debrief: ask which shortcut the class would have taken, then show the scorecard in the final screen.

Companion materials: the Kaapi Express slides and the problem-and-solution handout.

🧮 Your model (₹ lakh)

🏅 Badges

📋 Rohan’s scorecard: what each shortcut does to NPV

Each row changes one thing; everything else is the correct analysis.

🎓 What to remember

Assumptions behind the numbers

Tax depreciation is straight-line to zero over 5 years in the main case; the kiosks are sold in Year 4 at ₹30L.
Working capital (10% of the coming year’s revenue) is funded at the start of each year and fully recovered at the end of Year 4.
The option to expand is a simplified decision tree: ₹200L value and ₹150L cost both at the end of Year 2, a given 50% probability, discounted at the 14% project rate.
In the depreciation round, total tax is the same under every method only if each deduction is used when it arises (the Year 1 WDV loss offsets café profits). The 40% WDV rate is illustrative; India’s Income Tax Act applies WDV by block of assets.