Guides
Cash flow and money
What cash flow is, why a profitable food business can still run out of money, and how to line up money in, money out and dates so every bill gets paid.
Read the guide: Cash flow for small food businesses: a practical guide
- Cash flow for small food businesses: a practical guideWhat cash flow is, why a profitable food business can still run out of money, and how to line up money in, money out and dates so every bill gets paid.→
- How to make a simple cash flow forecastBuild a week-by-week cash flow forecast for your food business on one sheet: opening balance, money in, money out, and the week you would run short.→
- Working capital: how much money you need to operateWork out the working capital your food business needs from the cycle between paying for ingredients and getting paid, and how to shorten it so you need less.→
- How to separate business and personal moneyKeep your food business money apart from household money with its own account, a fixed draw and a simple log, so you can see what the business really makes.→
- Selling on credit: payment terms with shops and cafésHow to sell to shops and cafés on credit without running out of cash: what terms to offer, how to set a limit, what waiting costs and how to get paid.→
- How much it costs to start a small food businessWork out how much money you need to start a small food business: the five cost categories, how to estimate each one, and when you earn it back.→
- How to build a cash buffer for a small food businessHow much cash a small food business should keep as a buffer, how to build it week by week, and the rules that stop it being spent on the wrong things.→
- Bookkeeping basics for food entrepreneursThe minimum records a small food business needs: what to note for sales and expenses, how to check your cash each week and how to close the month.→
- Loans for small food businesses: what to askWhat to ask before taking a loan for your food business, and how to compare the repayment and total cost of the money with the margin each product leaves.→
- How inventory ties up cash in a food businessHow much money you have sitting in ingredients, packaging and finished stock, how to measure it in days of inventory, and how to free it without running out.→
What does it really cost you?
Put your recipe into the free calculator: ingredients, packaging, your time and the gas. You get the cost per unit and your margin in two minutes, no account needed.