Why Your Profitable Store Is Always Short on Cash
A positive P&L and an empty bank account are both true at once. The usual culprits: spent sales tax, ignored employer payroll tax, and inventory paid before revenue lands.
Read Article →🩺 Store Health & Diagnosis
Store Health & Diagnosis
Diagnose the store you already run — cash, KPIs, hidden costs, and a sustainability verdict from your real numbers.
Articles in Store Health & Diagnosis
7 Store KPIs You Should Check Every Month
Gross margin, net profit, rent %, labor %, COGS %, inventory turnover, and break-even — healthy ranges and the red lines that signal trouble.
Read Article →The Hidden-Cost Audit: 9 Line Items Eroding Your Margin
Card processing, employer payroll tax, NNN load, shrinkage, platform fees — nine line items that quietly take 20-40% off the top if you never model them.
Read Article →Diagnosing a Restaurant: Read Prime Cost, Not Just Sales
Your P&L top line hides the problem. Diagnose with prime cost by segment, the rent and labor red lines, and a weekly tracking rhythm that catches drift early.
Read Article →Diagnosing a Retail Store: GMROI Beats Guesswork
Sales can look healthy while cash is trapped in dead stock. Diagnose with GMROI, sell-through, turnover, gross margin, and occupancy — and catch markdown erosion early.
Read Article →Diagnosing a Salon or Service Business: Labor Is 50-60%
Service businesses are labor-heavy by nature. Diagnose with labor %, chair utilization, revenue per stylist, and retail attach — and learn why repricing beats pay cuts.
Read Article →Diagnosing a Food Truck: The Commissary Is the Hidden Lease
A food truck skips retail rent but pays a required commissary fee, city-specific permits, and insurance. Diagnose the real monthly load and the location-permit bottleneck.
Read Article →Diagnosing a Fitness Studio: Churn Eats Margin Faster Than Rent
A studio can have full classes and still lose money through member churn. Diagnose with monthly retention, revenue per sqft, ARPM, and class utilization — and learn why retention beats acquisition.
Read Article →Diagnosing a Convenience Store: Shrink and Mix, Not Traffic
A c-store can have steady foot traffic and still net 2-6%. Diagnose with category mix, shrink, labor percent, and cooler productivity — and learn why tobacco-and-lottery stores underperform.
Read Article →Diagnosing an Auto Repair Shop: Labor Margin Is the Scoreboard
Repair shops are won or lost on labor margin and ARO. Diagnose with labor gross margin, parts margin, effective labor rate, and ARO — and learn why a low rate with full bays still loses.
Read Article →Diagnosing a Bakery: Product Mix Decides the Net
Bakeries net just 4-9% on average, but custom cakes (60-75%) and specialty pastries (50-65%) carry the store. Diagnose with COGS, labor, rent, and product-mix margin.
Read Article →Diagnosing a Bar or Tavern: Pour Cost Creep Kills Profit
Bars post high beverage gross margins (70-80%) but only 5-15% net. Diagnose with pour cost by drink, food cost, labor, and rent — and learn why free-pouring erases the bottom line.
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