Mad Munch Grilled Cheezer Co.

Follow the story below of Mad Munch: It's long strange trip from the prairies of Illinois to the sunny shores of Ocean Beach, San Diego....

29 October 2024

The Numbers Don't Lie

Keeping good records is one of the most important things when it comes to running your own business.  From the very start of Mad Munch in San Diego, I wrote down a ledger on a legal pad & kept my receipts from every related purchase.  That was something we didn't do at all in the early days at Lincoln College.

"How much money are you guys actually making?" our friends would often ask.  

I'm a firm believer that the phrase, "That is none of your business," is an age old rebuttal to an outsider asking how much money someone is earning at running their own operation.  I feel that you should never share numbers with anyone not working on your team.  That would be like showing your playbook to the opposing football team.  And besides, you should never ask them how much money they make at their job.  It's in poor taste. 

At Lincoln, the easy response was that we had no idea, because without keeping a running tally of your expenses (or sales for that matter) we had no clue.  We knew the profit margins were good since we had no overhead outside of gas for Yuri to drive to Walmart & our prices per sandwich & pizza cost almost twice what we paid for supply.  

Also, we were fortunate not to pay an electric bill, health permits, insurance & taxes on our sales.  Employee payroll, which is the largest expense a business will pay out, was always cash "under the table."  We kept track of hours worked on a time sheet, but those were rarely filled out & no one was following up on them.

You must track everything that goes into & out of your business.  If it's not measured than you have no way of knowing how well your actually doing.  

An old boss of mine at Jimmy John's always used to say, "The numbers don't lie."  I wasn't a big fan of the guy overall, but I've found that statement to be true time & time again.  

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