Chinese common wisdom on business: break even, cash flow, margins, and other calculations

Detect where money is leaking

🔢 10 "BLOOD-AND-BONE" CALCULATIONS OF THE CHINESE BUSINESS MINDSET

Chinese business owners don't rely on theory or gut feelings.

They rely on simple, brutally practical calculations to make sure they survive first — and profit later.

These are 10 numbers they calculate again and again every day

— and every serious business owner must memorize them.

⚠️ SURVIVAL CALCULATIONS

1️⃣ Break-even Point

👉 "How many bowls, cups, or orders must I sell each day to start making money?"

This number decides whether a business lives or dies.

2️⃣ Cash Flow

👉 "Is the cash on hand enough to pay rent, salaries, and suppliers next month?"

Chinese business owners are obsessed with cash flow.

Paper profits mean nothing without real cash in the drawer.

💰 PROFIT OPTIMIZATION CALCULATIONS

3️⃣ Gross Profit Margin

👉 After raw materials, how much percentage is left?

Too low = prices too cheap or costs too high.

4️⃣ Food Cost Percentage

👉 For F&B, the "golden range" is 25–35%.

Above that, profits are being eaten away.

5️⃣ Labor Cost Percentage

👉 Should stay under 20–25% of revenue.

Go beyond that, and the system becomes bloated — profits disappear.

🧠 MANAGEMENT CALCULATIONS

6️⃣ Revenue per Square Meter

👉 Is your space generating money or just taking up rent?

7️⃣ Table Turnover Rate

👉 How many customers does one table serve per day?

Higher turnover = higher efficiency.

👥 CUSTOMER-BASED CALCULATIONS

8️⃣ Average Order Value (AOV)

👉 How much does each customer spend on average?

Increase AOV = higher profit without more customers.

9️⃣ Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

👉 How much marketing money is needed to get one new customer?

🔟 Customer Retention Rate

👉 What percentage of customers come back?

Chinese businesses treat repeat customers as living assets.

🔑 CORE LESSON

Business is not emotional.

Behind the Chinese "owner mindset"

is an obsession with survival numbers.

No fancy degrees required —

just absolute mastery of these core calculations.

👉 Whoever controls the numbers, controls the fate of the business.

📘 THE PRACTICAL SOLUTION FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

All of these critical metrics are clearly explained in the book:

"10 Indexes That Determine the Fate of a Business"

✔️ Simple, not academic

✔️ No accounting background needed

✔️ Designed for shop owners, cafés, small and growing businesses

👉 Learn more at: https://www.smartlifebooks.online/index?utm_source=a1

This book helps you:

Understand gross profit and net profit correctly

Know your real break-even point

Detect where money is leaking

Make decisions based on data, not intuition

That is why the world is populated by many Chinese and why many Chinese in the PHL are soooo rich

Why pursuing the company vision is the great and profitable way to go

What:  ABE on the importance of the company vision statement

Objectives:

1.  To have shared vision among the employees, staff and officers; and to increase the number of believers and BIDDA

2.  To ensure the future growth and profitability of the group

3.  To make sure that every body understands the priority, the right thing to do so that wrong moves are avoided.

Reality:

1.  Many projects:  crematorium are in limbo, recruitment at Chapel Memorial Services do not happen, the Interment Services are neglected, (the funds are not processed at once, and inefficiency on this portion of the business remain.  Repairs of the equipment for the memorial services are unattended to 

2. Not to be outdone in this pursuit are two leading memorial parks aggressively investing huge sums for memorial park jv and /or purchase;  on the other hand SPLP are making it great.

3.  The future of memorialization as foreseen by this post is in the services:   cremation, memorial services (funeral and interment) Thus these three components are in its vision for the next five years:   cremation, chapel services, and columbarium

4.  Many just  pay lip service to the vision statement

     Why funeral services: