Daily Covers Served · 28 Days
28 days. One metric. One turn.
The turn was clear in Week 3.
Week 4 was already too late.
Read the turn. Not the crash.
67Mean
3Signal pts
↓ 44%MA drop
Metriq.OneDoes it matter? — Measure it‼️
Demo Stack · Food Stall · Base Configuration
Running a Food Stall — and Knowing If It Is Actually Working
A plain language deployment guide for a food stall, food cart, or home-based food operation. The most dangerous day is not when customers stop coming — it is the first day you borrow money to buy tomorrow's ingredients. These 27 indicators show whether that day is approaching.
The Idea
A food operation runs on a simple chain. Every link must hold. When one breaks — even quietly — the whole chain fails within weeks.
1
Buy ingredients at a recorded costEvery purchase written down. Cost per portion calculated before the selling price is set.
2
Prepare at consistent quality and portion sizeSame size every day. Waste tracked. Customers return because they know what they are getting.
3
Sell at a price that covers every costIngredients, fuel, packaging, transport, stall fee — all costs included. Not just ingredients.
4
Cash at day's end exceeds cash spent that morningThe difference — however small — is real income. It must exist every single day.
5
Tomorrow's ingredients come from today's income — never a loanThe moment this breaks, the operation is funding a debt — not a business.
An operation that borrows to buy today's ingredients is not running a food business — it is running a loan repayment mechanism that happens to sell food. The loan does not disappear when sales drop. The operation does.
MCA — Context (Fill in for your operation)
| What the operation sells | Type of food prepared and sold. Portion format — plate, pack, cup, skewer. Eat-in, takeaway, or delivery. |
| Who operates it | Number of people. Who cooks, who sells, who buys ingredients, who records cash. |
| Where it operates | Fixed stall, mobile cart, home kitchen, market pitch. Operating hours. Days per week. |
| What resources it has | Starting capital or cash reserve. Equipment owned. Supplier relationships. Space available. |
| What has gone wrong before | Ingredient prices spiked. Customers moved to a competitor. Rainy season killed foot traffic. A loan was taken and not repaid. |
| The main challenge right now | State as something you can count or observe — not a feeling. |
| What the operation is working toward | A measurable improvement — more portions sold, a specific margin, a cash reserve target. |
The Stack — 3 CSI · 9 Modules · 27 PI · 3 CRI
DESIGNATION BRIDGE
Every portion sold covers its full cost, generates real income, and leaves the operation stronger tomorrow than it was today.
PI
What to count
How to collect it — who, when
CSI-1
Stability
Is every portion covering its cost and leaving real cash at the end of each day?
Stability in a food operation is not about being busy — it is about whether being busy produces cash. A stall can serve 200 customers a day and still run out of money if the portion cost is wrong, the waste is too high, or the selling price does not cover everything.
MOD-1.1
Daily Cash Position
Does cash in exceed cash out every day?
PI-1.1.1
Cash collected today vs cash spent today on ingredients, fuel, and fees
End-of-day cash count — operator records both figures before closing
PI-1.1.2
Number of days this period when cash collected was less than cash spent
Daily cash log — any negative day marked and reason noted
PI-1.1.3
Number of times this period money was borrowed to cover ingredient purchases
Operator records each borrowing event on the day it happens
MOD-1.2
Portion and Waste Control
Is portion size consistent and waste low?
PI-1.2.1
Number of portions sold today vs number of portions prepared
Preparation count and sales count recorded at start and end of trading
PI-1.2.2
Number of unsold or wasted portions disposed of today
Leftover count recorded at close — cause noted if above normal
PI-1.2.3
Cost of ingredients per portion today vs the target cost per portion
Ingredient spend divided by portions prepared — recorded daily
MOD-1.3
Supply and Pricing
Are ingredient costs under control and supply reliable?
PI-1.3.1
Number of days this period a critical ingredient was unavailable or substituted
Operator notes on the day — unavailability and substitution both recorded
PI-1.3.2
Number of ingredient price increases this period that were not reflected in the selling price
Purchase receipts compared to previous week — price change flagged when found
PI-1.3.3
Number of operating days lost this period due to supply failure or weather
Operator log — missed trading days recorded with cause
CRI-1
Is cash collected exceeding cash spent every day — with no borrowing to fund ingredients and no uncontrolled waste?
CSI-2
Safety
Does the operation have enough reserve to survive a bad week — and is it protected from the risks that end food operations?
Food operations fail fast. A price spike, a week of rain, a food complaint, or a missed supply run can eliminate the margin in days. Safety is not about having a large reserve — it is about having any reserve, and knowing the early signs before the crisis arrives.
MOD-2.1
Cash Reserve
Could the operation survive one week without income?
PI-2.1.1
Number of days of operating costs covered by cash on hand at end of this period
Cash on hand divided by average daily cost — recorded at end of each week
PI-2.1.2
Total outstanding debt this period vs average weekly revenue
All loans and unpaid supplier accounts totalled — compared to last 4-week average revenue
PI-2.1.3
Number of supplier accounts that required payment on credit this period
Operator notes each credit purchase at the time of transaction
MOD-2.2
Quality and Customer Safety
Is food prepared safely and served consistently?
PI-2.2.1
Number of customer complaints about food quality or portion size this period
Operator records every complaint on the day — nature and response noted
PI-2.2.2
Number of days this period the preparation area and equipment met basic hygiene standard
Self-check at start of each trading day — pass or fail recorded
PI-2.2.3
Number of servings rejected or returned by customers this period
Operator notes each return at point of sale
MOD-2.3
Location and Access Conditions
What disrupted trading this period — and was it recorded?
PI-2.3.1
Number of trading days lost this period due to weather, access, or location disruption
Operator log — each missed day recorded with cause at the time
PI-2.3.2
Number of competitors operating within the same location this period vs previous period
Operator count — noted at start of each week
PI-2.3.3
Number of days this period when peak trading hours were disrupted
Operator notes disruption start and end time on the day it occurs
CRI-2
Does the operation have a cash reserve covering at least three days of costs — with no unresolved quality complaints and all trading disruptions documented?
CSI-3
Continuity
Are regular customers returning — and is the operation improving based on what the numbers show?
Continuity is the hardest CSI to see without measurement. Customers drift away quietly. A regular who stops coming does not send a notice. By the time the operator notices the drop in daily sales, the departure is already weeks old. These indicators catch the drift while it can still be reversed.
MOD-3.1
Customer Return Rate
Are the same people coming back?
PI-3.1.1
Number of recognisable regular customers served this week vs last week
Operator estimates at end of each trading day — count of familiar faces
PI-3.1.2
Number of first-time customers this week who said they came on a recommendation
Operator asks or notes when a new customer mentions how they found the stall
PI-3.1.3
Number of regular customers not seen this week who were seen the previous week
Operator notes absent regulars at end of week — pattern tracked across periods
MOD-3.2
Menu Performance
Is what is being sold what customers actually want?
PI-3.2.1
Number of menu items available today vs planned menu
Opening check — items available vs full menu noted before trading starts
PI-3.2.2
Number of customer requests for items not currently offered this period
Operator notes each request on the day — item name recorded
PI-3.2.3
Best-selling item this period vs worst-selling item — portions sold each
Sales tally per item at close of each trading day
MOD-3.3
Improvement and Learning
Is the operation getting better based on its own data?
PI-3.3.1
Average daily portions sold this period vs average daily portions sold last period
Weekly total divided by trading days — compared to previous week total
PI-3.3.2
Number of changes made this period based on a pattern seen in the previous period's data
Operator notes each deliberate change and the data observation that prompted it
PI-3.3.3
Number of days this period daily sales exceeded the upper target
Daily sales log compared to target — upper threshold crossed noted at close
CRI-3
Are regular customers returning, is the menu reflecting what customers want, and is the operation making deliberate improvements based on its own recorded data?
When You Present This — What to Say
1
This fits in one notebook and takes ten minutes a day.
Every indicator is collected at a natural point in the trading day — before opening, after closing, or when something happens. No spreadsheet. No computer. One pen. One record.
2
The borrowing warning appears weeks before the crisis.
PI-1.1.3 catches the first borrowing event the day it happens. A single event is a warning. Two events in one week is a signal. Three in one period means the chain has already broken.
3
Environmental conditions are recorded — not blamed on anyone.
Rain, a market closure, a supplier price spike — these go into MOD-2.3. They explain a bad week without assigning fault. The record protects the operator.
4
When a lender or programme officer asks for evidence — it exists.
Twenty-eight days of daily cash logs, portion counts, and supply records is evidence. It is more convincing than any application form. It shows the operation knows itself.