Academy

1. Costs

Picture a restaurant. The rent falls due every month, customers or not. Ingredients only cost when a plate goes out. And the fryer is bought once. Three families: fixed, variable, one-off — your whole plan rests on this distinction.

2. Salaries

A 5,000 CHF gross salary costs the company about 6,000 CHF: pension, social insurance — the employer contributions. In a plan, always count the employer cost, never the gross alone.

3. Products & pricing

The price is what the customer pays. The margin, what's left after the product's cost. The profit, what's left after ALL costs. You can sell at a high price and lose money — it's even common.

4. Distribution

Selling direct, through a reseller, on a platform: every path to the customer is a channel, and each takes its share. A 30% commission doesn't shrink your revenue — it devours your margin.

5. The forecast

A forecast isn't a promise: it's a DEFENSIBLE assumption. "50 sales a month because the local market absorbs 5,000" can be discussed. "50 because we need it" cannot be defended.

6. Investments & financing

The 10,000 CHF fryer wears out over 5 years: each year "consumes" 2,000. That's depreciation — the money leaves once, the cost spreads out. Your cash and your profitability live different lives.

7. Reading your results

Sales minus costs, month by month: that's your profitability. The first months are red — that's normal, and precisely what your financing must cover. The question: when do you turn green?