Stay or Move On? Life Circle’s Unique Challenge

Subject area of the teaching case Principles of management. Student level (postgraduate level) Entrepreneurship, principles of management, business strategy. Brief overview of the teaching case The case revolves around the founder, Anant Kumar, of Life Circle, a home care start-up, and the struggles he went through even before the commencement of the firm. The case delves deep into the details of the system set in place to manage the different processes involved in carrying out the day-to-day operations. It also describes the planning, organizing, directing and controlling that are needed to face a major challenge of the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic and the current challenges of expansion. In sum, Life Circle’s bumpy ride in a topsy-turvy pandemic period provides several insights relating to the activities that a new firm with paper-thin margins can perform to survive and thrive. Expected learning outcomes The readers are expected to learn how Henry Fayol’s four basic principles of management including planning, organizing, directing and controlling work for a start-up during periods of shocks.