How do you calculate food cost plus profit?

[Nanook]

Re: How do you calculate food cost plus profit?

excellent 40!!! I didn't know that about you! My grandfather came from Finland and was a baker. I did love the classes till they made us do the math and I up and quit. I hate math.

[f0rTyLeGz]

Re: How do you calculate food cost plus profit?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Nanook</div><div class="ubbcode-body">excellent 40!!! I didn't know that about you! My grandfather came from Finland and was a baker. I did love the classes till they made us do the math and I up and quit. I hate math. </div></div>
Haha I can understand. Of course in any biz you have to know what your costs are so you can compete in the market. I started my biz in my home kitchen, and really didnt know what my costs were for a while... I was lucky I was charging my first accounts enough that I made a good profit... When I did get a grip on my costs per unit I decided to add on five bucks for every item that left the bakery... I was a wholesaler, so when I got up to 500 cakes a week times five bucks... I was doing very well... this was twenty-five years ago.

Plus, once you know what your true costs are, you can often improve your own bottom line buying your ingredients wholesale, and all of a sudden people are competing for your orders. Math is important... but you can hire someone to suss it out, because once you know what your widget costs to produce, things start falling in place. Then you know how many you must sell to make a living, a good living, or a great living.

[Nanook]

Re: How do you calculate food cost plus profit?

I hear that loud and clear! At the time though, I was young and stupid (fresh outa high school)and would have been happy just working in a bakery so I didn't care how much the flour in each cookie cost. duh. I still love to bake but seldom do because I wouldn't fit through the door, lol.

I'm in the middle of caring about cost items in a big way with beads and jewelry now though!

I can see the value of my quickbooks program if I were to use it to it's potential. I just hate it but I know it is a necessary evil. Bottom line is I do need to keep track of every little thing right down to how long it takes me to package something to ship or I'm working for free.

[basint1]

Re: How do you calculate food cost plus profit?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Shebada</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RichD</div><div class="ubbcode-body">i know i appear obtuse but .....
</div></div>yu looking for a number? mi not sure yet mi haffie si how many treats per batch an how much dat cost and then the current market value.... mi hoping for 10% </div></div>

Maybe another angle for you to look at is to develop your snacks but sell them over the internet through a webpage. This will require more money to get it going and you would have to have other products available to make your site worth visiting- such as collars, clothes, just whatever out there that dog owners buy. I think you could make more money online cause to me it seems like almost every mail order/internet company out there just reams people for shipping costs. .

[Nanook]

Re: How do you calculate food cost plus profit?

Shipping is expensive! I just paid 10.00 to mail one small package yesterday with delivery confirmation and insurance usps. The other day another small but less heavy package was over 8.00.

I have a smaller glass order (2/12 lbs) coming UPS and it was 8.41 to ship so I paid 26.00 in shipping just last week.

On the other hand, the 10.00 package could have been only 7.10 if I had left off the insurance and delivery confirmation and the other one was only around 5.00 but for piece of mind, and dealing with strangers...I feel the insurance and confirmation is imperative for anything I cannot easily replace.

I've never charged over 4.00 for shipping even so, but cost is a huge factor and it is not the mail order companies so much as the shipping companies and usps.

[f0rTyLeGz]

Re: How do you calculate food cost plus profit?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Nanook</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
I can see the value of my quickbooks program if I were to use it to it's potential. I just hate it but I know it is a necessary evil. Bottom line is I do need to keep track of every little thing right down to how long it takes me to package something to ship or I'm working for free. </div></div>
Thing is once you know the cost of all ingredients in your products, and KNOW one time how much a complete widget (biscuit, necklace) costs... labor, ingredients, delivery, current, rent, whatever is involved, then you actually don't have to keep track of <span style="font-style: italic">everything</span>. It gives you a global perspective.

However, you don't need to keep track of your time. You know how long it takes you to make what you make... and if you start getting huge orders, you will get much faster at producing. If you employ other people, that is when you figure in what their time will cost you per widget.

Am I making sense?

[Nanook]

Re: How do you calculate food cost plus profit?

Yes that makes sense.

But now when it comes to jewelry... I can spend 40 or 100.00 on materials to make a piece but then go and spend 30 or 60 hours to make it or maybe just a couple of hours so I did have to start paying attention to time, especially since I am now making some of my own beads to use. I need to pay me an hourly labor wage but I see where if I was in a bakery business you are still getting paid but it's easier to break down.