Category: The Model
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Prime Cost for Restaurants: The Formula That Actually Predicts Survival
The prime cost formula for restaurant operators, worked through with real numbers, plus the weekly discipline that catches cash bleed before it hurts.
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Using AI in Restaurant Finance: What Actually Works (And What Doesn’t)
Where AI actually moves the needle in restaurant finance — forecasting, food cost variance, menu engineering — and where it still doesn’t.
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Restaurant Food Cost Calculator: Run the Math in Five Minutes
The actual restaurant food cost formula, worked example, and ideal-vs-actual gap analysis. Plus benchmarks by concept type.
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Restaurant Financial Dashboard: The 12 Numbers That Belong on One Screen
Twelve restaurant finance KPIs on one weekly dashboard, organized by sales, cost, profitability, and cash. Refresh cadence and benchmarks inside.
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How Much Cash Should a Restaurant Keep?
Restaurants should hold 8-12 weeks of fixed operating expenses in cash reserves. Three sizing variables, where to hold it, why most operators are under.
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Why Is My Restaurant Busy But Not Profitable?
Five common reasons busy restaurants still lose money: prime cost creep, occupancy load, channel mix, check compression, and discount drag.
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How to Prepare Your Restaurant for a Private Equity Exit
Preparing a restaurant for a private equity exit takes 18 to 24 months of disciplined cleanup: audited financials, clean unit-level P&Ls, a documented growth story, a stable management team, and a 4-wall EBITDA above 15%. Buyers pay for repeatability. The higher the multiple you want, the more the numbers have…
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What Private Equity Firms Look for in a Restaurant Company
Private equity firms buying restaurants look for six things: repeatable unit-level economics with 4-wall EBITDA above 15%, a proven expansion model, a management team below the founder, clean books, a defined growth story, and 20% to 30% year-over-year comparable sales momentum or a clear path to it. Miss two of…
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How to Create a Restaurant Budget (And Actually Use It)
A working restaurant budget is a monthly forecast built from twelve months of prior sales, a defined seasonality curve, and target cost percentages by line. It is reviewed weekly, not annually. Set the budget once in December, then compare actuals against it every Monday. Deviations of 200 basis points on…
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Why Is My Restaurant Losing Money?
Why is my restaurant losing money? The five most common reasons — high prime cost, below break-even, heavy occupancy, cash timing, and no tracking — and how to diagnose yours.