In the Steaming Bean Coffee Cart example, sales rose and then fell as competitors entered the good coffee-to-go business. Can you think of ways that the Steaming Bean could have protected its sales; in other words, how could competitive entry been slowed?

Example: Estimating Cash Flows for the Steaming Bean Coffee Cart Coffee drinking is becoming an art form. In Seattle, Washington, coffee drinkers have a special la from the hundreds of corner coffee carts that are an institution in that city. Small towns are catching the coffee fever, too. The owners of the Smalltown Bakery and Coffee Shop want to know whether a coffee cart would be a profitable in- vestment for them. They would pull the cart to a busy corner near the local col- lege. This particular corner is across the campus from the union building, the only place on campus where students can get a quick cup of coffee. The cart costs $18,000 and will require about $500 of maintenance per year ge for ordering their favorite lattes, espressos, or mochas