What changes when the student team’s sales count changes?
Defend an event budget and explain the part you owned.
The question
You are in the personal interview for a fictional full-time commercial trainee role after a campus group discussion. Your festival team committed to produce 200 kits. You collected the supplier quote and checked the budget. Other teammates handled sales. Use only the stated costs and prices.
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Kits committed to production | 200 |
| Planned paid kits | 200 |
| Price per paid kit (INR) | 160 |
| Cost per produced kit (INR) | 90 |
| Fixed event cost (INR) | 8000 |
These are projected cash amounts for one event. Ignore taxes and other costs.
“Explain your budget contribution and revise the recommendation when the panel changes the sales assumption.”
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A strong answer, step by step
Open each step in turn. This is one strong answer, not the only one.
Step 1: Build the budget
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Report projected revenue, both costs and the surplus.
The strong move. Include both production and fixed event costs.
Report ₹14,000 as the final cash surplus.
Tempting, but it misses something. That amount omits the ₹8,000 fixed event cost.
See how a strong candidate says it
“The plan forecasts ₹32,000 from 200 paid kits. Production costs ₹18,000 and fixed costs are ₹8,000. The projected cash surplus is ₹6,000.”
Why it works: Include both production and fixed event costs.
Step 2: Make your role clear
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Credit the team and explain the forecast you checked.
The strong move. State your contribution and the sales assumption.
Say you booked ₹6,000 profit from an event you ran.
Tempting, but it misses something. The packet gives projected cash, and your role was the supplier quote and budget check.
See how a strong candidate says it
“I collected the supplier quote and checked the budget against paid volume. My teammates owned sales. The ₹6,000 was a forecast based on selling all 200 kits.”
Why it works: State your contribution and the sales assumption.
Step 3: Answer the allocation change
The revised event brief reserves 40 kits as complimentary for a sponsor. The sponsor has committed no cash. The production commitment remains 200 kits and costs stay the same.
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Keep the 200-kit cost and price only the 160 paid kits.
The strong move. Complimentary kits retain their production cost.
Reduce production cost to 160 kits.
Tempting, but it misses something. The production commitment covers 200 kits even though 40 are complimentary.
See how a strong candidate says it
“All 200 kits still cost ₹18,000 to produce. With fixed costs of ₹8,000 and 160 paid kits at ₹160, projected revenue is ₹25,600. The revised projected cash result is a ₹400 shortfall.”
Why it works: Complimentary kits retain their production cost.
Step 4: Revise the recommendation
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Name the cash shortfall and the break-even conditions.
The strong move. Use committed amounts and check the downside.
Count the sponsor’s uncommitted cash as revenue.
Tempting, but it misses something. The new brief contains no cash commitment. The budget cannot use that cash to cover the shortfall.
See how a strong candidate says it
“I would ask for at least ₹400 in committed sponsor cash at the revised volume, or renegotiate before taking on new costs. At the current price, 163 paid kits cover ₹26,000 of cost. If eight of the 160 expected buyers drop out, the shortfall rises to ₹1,680.”
Why it works: Use committed amounts and check the downside.
The answer, in short
- Decision
- Get a cash commitment or revise the plan before adding costs.
- Because
- At 160 paid kits, the event has a projected ₹400 shortfall.
- What would change it
- A committed sponsor contribution or a feasible cost and price change could close the gap.
Common traps
- Counting complimentary units as paid sales.
- Reporting expected cash as booked income.
Check your answer
- I included both types of cost.
- I described my part in the budget.
- I kept the production commitment.
- I explained the break-even and downside.
Last reviewed Nov 10, 2026