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Your Go-To Business Case Framework: 3C-1P

Updated: Jul 19

When you’re solving a business case in an interview, you don’t want to waste time choosing between 10 different frameworks. That’s why many top candidates rely on a simple, powerful structure that works for most strategy cases: the 3C-1P framework.


You might see this referred to on some websites as the business framework—but the name 3C-1P is more memorable and intuitive. It helps you quickly think through the three key external and internal factors (Customer, Competitor, Company) and the Product itself.


Unless you’re dealing with a pure profitability or M&A case—which require specialized frameworks—you can apply 3C-1P to about 70–80% of business cases.


Let’s break it down.


What Is 3C-1P (and What to Ask Under Each Part)?

1. Customer

  • Who are we serving, and what do they need?

  • What segments exist within our customer base?

  • Are there changes in preferences, needs and behavior?

  • What problems are they trying to solve?

  • How are they currently solving those problems?

  • What’s their willingness to pay?


2. Competitors

  • Who else is addressing this customer need?

  • Who are the major players in this market?

  • What are their market shares and growth trends?

  • What’s their product positioning?

  • Are there new or substitute offerings emerging?

  • How do their prices, services, or delivery compare to ours?

  • What are their strengths and weaknesses?


3. Company

  • What do we bring to the table?

  • What are our core capabilities (brand, tech, ops, team)?

  • What are our recent financials and KPIs (revenue, margins, growth)?

  • Are we strong in distribution, sales, or customer loyalty?

  • Do we have the operational and financial capacity to scale?

  • Are there any internal bottlenecks or strategic misalignments?


4. Product

  • What exactly are we offering—and how well does it fit the market?

  • What are the features, pricing, and positioning of our product?

  • Is it meeting a real customer need?

  • Is there room for improvement or expansion?

  • How does our offering compare to competitors’?


When Should You Use 3C-1P?

This framework works well for:

  • Growth strategy

  • New product launches

  • Market entry

  • Competitive response

  • Revenue stagnation or decline

  • Repositioning a business


For profitability cases, you’ll need to pair this with a basic Revenue = Price × Volume and Cost = Fixed + Variable breakdown.

For M&A cases, you’ll also need to include valuation, synergies, and integration.


Example: Using 3C-1P in a Case

Case prompt:

Your client is a large consumer electronics retailer. Revenues have been flat for the past two years. What should they do?


Using 3C-1P:

  1. Customer: Are our core customers shifting to online-first competitors? Is a younger demographic buying elsewhere? Is price sensitivity increasing?

  2. Competitors: Are digital-native brands (e.g. Amazon, niche D2C players) eating into our market share? What are their key advantages—lower price, faster delivery, better UX?

  3. Company: Is our online channel underperforming? Do we lack efficient logistics or omnichannel capabilities? Are our margins eroding due to operational inefficiencies?

  4. Product: Is our assortment still relevant? Are we over-indexed on outdated tech (e.g. tablets)? Should we expand into smart home or gaming devices?


From this analysis, you can develop and test hypotheses—e.g. “We may need to invest in e-commerce UX and refocus the assortment toward growing categories.”


By mastering the 3C-1P framework, you’ll not only have a structured starting point in any case—you’ll also demonstrate to interviewers that you can think in a well-rounded, business-oriented way.

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