Property, design & sourcing
Investing in a Coffee Plantation in India: Land Rules, Numbers and Risks
A coffee estate is a farm business wrapped in state land law. What the crop earns, who may buy plantation land, and what to check first.
Posts about finance
15 posts.
Places & perspectives
Strategic Patience: Why Long-Term Thinking Wins in Hospitality
Restaurants and hotels need time for regulars, teams and reputations to compound. Strategic patience is the plan that lets them survive long enough to get there.
Starting a restaurant
How Much Does It Cost to Open a Restaurant? A Line-by-Line Breakdown
A single headline figure for the cost to open a restaurant hides more than it shows. Here is the line-by-line structure, the reserve most budgets leave out and a way to price delay.
Starting a restaurant
Restaurant Business Plan: What Investors Actually Read
A restaurant business plan is read by people with a short list of questions. Lead with the answers: what you are asking for, what it buys, who runs it and how it survives a bad year.
Starting a restaurant
Restaurant Profit Margins: What Is Normal, Good and a Warning Sign
There is no single normal restaurant profit margin. There is a margin your format, rent and labour model make possible, and a few warning signs that show it slipping before the bank balance does.
Starting a restaurant
How to Fund a Restaurant: 8 Ways to Raise the Money
Eight ways to fund a restaurant, matched to the costs they suit. The usual mistake is using one source for every line of the budget.
Starting a restaurant
Restaurant Lease Red Flags: 12 Clauses to Read Twice
A restaurant lease is a long commitment that gets tested three ways: when you succeed, when you struggle and when you sell. Here are twelve clauses to read twice, sorted by the moment they bite.
Starting a restaurant
Why Restaurants Fail: The Real Reasons and How to Design Against Them
The famous 90 percent failure figure is not supported by the data. The real risk is structural: fixed costs, the wrong site and no exit plan. Here is how to design against each one.
Hotels & lodging
ADR, Occupancy and RevPAR Explained for Independent Hotel Owners
Three numbers run a hotel's top line. Here is how ADR, occupancy and RevPAR fit together, and why two hotels with the same RevPAR can earn very different profits.
Hotels & lodging
Hotel Pre-Opening Budget: Where the Money Really Goes
A hotel pre-opening budget is less about the building and more about people and time. Here is where the money goes, and how to price a week of delay.
Hotels & lodging
Is a Bed and Breakfast Still Worth It? A Small-Property Business Plan
A B&B can still work, but only if the lodging business pays you a fair wage on its own. Here is a plan built around two plain tests.
Menu, food & drink
Food Cost Percentage: Formula, Benchmarks and How to Lower It
Food cost percentage tells you how much of each sale goes on ingredients. The useful number is the gap between what it should be and what it is.
Technology & AI
7 Numbers a Restaurant Owner Should Know Every Week
Seven restaurant KPIs to check each week, from prime cost to RevPASH, with what each one tells you and the trap that comes with it.
Property, design & sourcing
Commercial Kitchen Equipment: What to Buy New, Used or Lease
Buy new, used or lease by asking what each machine does for the kitchen, not what it costs today. Here is a decision rule by category, with the compliance checks.
Property, design & sourcing
Franchise or Independent? Choosing a Restaurant Growth Model
A franchise sells you a bundle of functions for a share of your sales. The question is which of those you could do better, or cheaper, yourself.