SNYDER GARDENS, INC.

Snyder Gardens was founded in 1997 when Benjamin Snyder quit his job as landscape designer for
the well-known Dallas landscaping firm Rogers & Co. to start his own independent company.
Starting with only a handful of customers, no personnel and a used pickup truck, Benjamin Snyder
slowly built up an enviable reputation as a very creative, high-quality landscaping architect catering to
the upscale Park Cities neighborhood in Dallas, Texas. His low overhead, unusual floral creations
and superb reputation for customer service allowed him to carve out a profitable niche in the highly
competitive Dallas landscaping market.

Over the years, as business outgrew the capabilities of one single person, Benjamin Snyder started
hiring landscaping personnel to help him meet customer demand. Additional trucks were bought to
support a promising lawn maintenance operation, and in 2003, Snyder started his own nursery to
maintain better quality control over the bulbs, flowers, trees and other landscaping supplies needed
in his business. The nursery sold landscaping supplies mainly to Snyder's longtime clients, who
hired him for both the plants as well as the creative process of designing the yard and the labor to do
the actual planting. Lately, the nursery had also started catering to individuals who wished to do their
own yard work and simply walked in to buy plants and bulbs.

Diversifying into the growing and selling of plants and flowers required the acquisition of a small
office building surrounded by sufficient land to develop the nursery. Because of the substantial
capital requirements that far exceeded his own assets, Snyder incorporated his business and raised
the necessary capital from various relatives and friends who were given equity participation in the
enterprise. Temporary funds for operations were generated by the company's internally generated
cash flow (Snyder Gardens had never paid dividends), and were supplemented by a line of credit
provided by First Intertown Bancorp, Ben Snyder's longtime bank.

Recently, however, Ben Snyder's relationship with his banker had deteriorated. His line of credit,
initially set at $250,000, had rapidly been exhausted, and Snyder had had to ask several extensions
of the loan. Because of his excellent payment history, the bank's commercial loan officer had initially
met Snyder's request with little fuss. Subsequent requests by Snyder to raise the loan limit had not
been so enthusiastically received, however. While Snyder's most recent request to raise the credit
limit to $825,000 had ultimately been approved, the process had been painful. The bank's loan
officer had initially turned down Snyder's request, and it had taken a direct appeal to the bank's
senior vice-president (who occasionally played golf with Snyder) to get the loan approved. Even
then, the vice-president had been rather cool and insisted that his bank would not allow Snyder to
exceed this final limit of $825,000. While happy to have secured the financing he so desperately
needed, Snyder did not understand the bank's position. After all, his company was consistently
profitable, as he had taken pains to explain to the bank, and he felt that he was not getting a fair deal.

* *
Copyright 2009 by Michel R. Vetsuypens. This case has been written as the basis for class discussion rather than
illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation .
 SNYDER GARDENS, INC.

INCOME STATEMENT 2007 2006 2005

Net Sales 6,271,500 4,666,400 3,917,100

-Cost of Goods Sold 4,501,200 3,316,500 2,813,700

=Gross Profit 1,770,300 1,349,900 1,103,400

-Operating Expenses 1,513,000 1,143,500 980,100
-Depreciation 37,000 33,500 30,000
-Interest Expenses 57,650 42,822 32,844

=Pretax Profit 162,650 130,078 60,456

-Taxes paid 56,927 45,527 21,160

=Net Income 105,722 84,550 39,296

ASSETS 2007 2006 2005

Cash 95,700 141,900 135,300

Accounts Receivable 745,600 511,500 396,000
Inventory 969,600 785,400 551,100

Current 1,810,900 1,438,800 1,082,400

Property, Gross 548,900 446,900 387,600

-accumulated Depreciation 160,500 123,500 90,000
Net Property 388,400 323,400 297,600

Total Assets 2,199,300 1,762,200 1,380,000

LIABILITIES & NET WORTH 2007 2006 2005

Bank Debt 743,577 526,750 379,200

Accounts Payable 561,750 442,200 287,100
Long Term Debt 80,000 85,000 90,000

Total Debt 1,385,327 1,053,950 756,300

Net Worth 813,973 708,250 623,700

Tot Liab + Net Worth 2,199,300 1,762,200 1,380,000