April Fools Special: The Worst Business Ever Built – F.O.O.L Ltd

April Fools Special: The Worst Business Ever Built – F.O.O.L Ltd

From 'PERFPOD' and 'PM in the PM' by Richard Guyver - Performance Management Tutor

March 30, 2026 · 10 min

About this episode

This episode analyzes a poorly run business, F.O.O.L Ltd, to illustrate key performance management concepts.

In this episode of PM in the PM , Richard takes a different approach… Instead of showing how to run a good business, we analyse a terrible one. Welcome to F.O.O.L Ltd — where: ❌ Costs are reduced at the expense of quality ❌ Sales increase but profit falls ❌ Transfer pricing decisions destroy group value ❌ Zero-based budgeting is used the wrong way ❌ Targets are unrealistic and drive poor behaviour 👀 Through a “fly-on-the-wall” view of management meetings, this episode shows how key ACCA PM topics play out in practice: Variance analysis (and interrelationships) Sales price vs sales volume Transfer pricing & goal congruence Zero-based budgeting vs incremental budgeting Behavioural aspects of performance management Key takeaway: Performance Management is not about isolated calculations it’s about understanding how decisions impact the wider organisation. If you're preparing for ACCA PM, this episode will help you: ✔ Improve your Section C answers ✔ Add depth to your explanations ✔ Spot hidden marks in exam questions Like, subscribe, and share with other PM students Follow for more exam-focused content

People in this episode

Host: Richard Guyver

Topics covered

  • performance management
  • business analysis
  • budgeting
  • management meetings
  • decision making

Keywords

  • performance management
  • F.O.O.L Ltd
  • variance analysis
  • zero-based budgeting
  • ACCA PM
  • business decisions
  • management meetings

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: F.O.O.L Ltd, ACCA

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