Start a Restaurant

What is working Capital?

In a business it can be defined as its current assets less its current liabilities. Current assets comprise cash, stocks of raw materials, work in progress & finished goods, marketable securities such as Treasury bills & amounts receivable from from debtors. Current liabilities comprise creditors falling due within one year, & may include amounts owned to trade creditors, taxation payable, dividend payments due, short term loans, long term debts maturing within one year & so on.

Every business needs adequate liquid resources to maintain day to day cash flow. It needs enough to pay wages & salaries as they fall due & enough to pay creditors if it is to keep its workforce & ensure its supplies. Maintaining adequate working working capital is not just important in the short term. Sufficient liquidity must be maintained in order to ensure the survival of the business in the long term as well. Even a profitable company may fail if it does not have adequate cash flow to meet its liabilities as they fall due. (more…)

Restaurants are, and will continue to be, an extremely profitable business. As a result, shareholders who have interest in brands such as McDonalds and Starbucks need not to worry about negative implications for the food giants compared to more risky industries. One company in particular, Yum! Brands (YUM), is another brand investors should become familiar with. Consumers may recognize the more specific stores the company owns such as Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, but investors should realize the sales and earnings growth associated with this organization. In addition, while there are many companies in the restaurant industry, Yum not only rings familiar with consumers like Starbucks, but Yum engenders excellent financial news at a level above its competitors.

However, before trying to access these financial statements, it is important to understand more specifics about Yum’s business model. According to Reuters, Yum “is a quick service restaurant (QSR) with over 34,000 units in more than 100 countries and territories.” These quick service restaurants include consumer favorites such as Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s, and KFC. Whether the operating segment sells pizza or chicken, “Yum develops, operates, franchises and licenses a worldwide system of restaurants, which prepare, package and sell a menu of food items.” (more…)