SC - other names for cola

[Christine A Seelye-King]

It occurred to me that it might be worth taking advantage of the 
expertise of this group to do a first pass on estimating the finances 
of the project. I will therefore list the categories that occur to 
me, and ask anyone who has information on the relevant costs to 
provide it, and anyone who thinks of addition categories to add them:

Tent Rental: 1 large tent

Cooking Equipment rental: Stoves, refrigerators, probably ovens, 
possibly a big (commercial) mixer, possibly microwaves. Are any of 
these things that people are in a position to borrow? Are there any 
that it would be worth buying?

Bowls, knives, pots etc. I am assuming that the participants can 
provide most of this, although it might be worth buying a few very 
large bowls, skillets, etc.

Table and chair rental? Again, participants might be able to provide 
some of this.

Raw Material purchases: My guess is that we can get an adequate 
estimate by looking at local grocery store prices. One of our friends 
is a wholesale butcher (but not in the Pennsic area); I don't know if 
he has contacts that would help.

Bread: We could try baking our own, which would be classy, but it 
would be a lot less trouble if we made arrangements with a local 
bakery.

Consumables: Paper towels, napkins, paper cups, bowls, etc. if we use them.

Bottled gas for the stoves.

Any fees that must be paid to the Coopers and/or the state of Pennsylvania.

Wages. I am assuming that the 2-6 people chiefly running it will work 
for fun and a share in the profits (if any), but that we may also 
have to pay some people. Could you do it with five people on site 
from (say) 10 A.M. to 10 P.M.? I'm imagining two cooks, one cook's 
helper, two people dishing stuff out, running the cash register, etc. 
Open for lunch at noon, close at 9:00 P.M., two hours before and one 
after for cleanup, advance preparation, etc. Would that be 
sufficient? Of course, we could be period and offer yesterday's 
leftovers for breakfast ...  .

If that does do it, assume six cooks working for a cut of the profit, 
each taking a four hour shift each day. Hire the other three 
people--which means you are paying for thirty hours a day of labor. 
What sort of wages are people usually paid to work at Pennsic?

Looking at the other end of it, assume you are getting $7 from each 
dinner customer, $5 from each lunch customer. I think that is a 
little less expensive than the current average. Judging from feast 
experience, the actual materials cost (i.e. the food) should be about 
$3 for dinner, $2 for lunch--less if you make a point of using dishes 
whose ingredients are inexpensive, or have better than normal soruces 
of supply. So you are making about $4/dinner, $3/lunch, from which 
you have to pay all the rest of the costs.

How many dinners and lunches per day could an establishment of that 
size produce? How many could it sell, judging by the experience of 
the other cookshops? Do we have anyone on the list who has worked for 
any of them, and has a reasonable estimate of how much business they 
do?

Speaking as a customer, my rough guess for the Mediterranean place 
when I have been there is two customers a minute. If we assume three 
hours of serving lunch and four of serving dinner, with that rate 
maintained throughout (I suspect that is too optimistic), that would 
be 360 lunches and 480 dinners per day, for a revenue net of food 
costs of 1080+1920=$3000/day. From that you have to pay wages, 
rental, etc.

Looking at the other side ...  . A 10 gallon pot of something gloppy 
should feed about 150 people at 1 cup per. So if half the people are 
eating gloppy things, and each burner produces two potfulls during 
the day (including the time it is keeping the stuff hot), you need 
two big burners. Add burners for frying etc., and I am guessing that 
about 6-8 burners would do it.

I've done feasts but never run a restaurant, so obviously this is 
very much a first pass--probably omitting some important costs and 
misestimating others. Comments?
- -- 
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/