Essay/Term paper: Math and owning a restaraunt

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Miscellaneous

Math is an

essential asset in the business world. Without mathematics businesses

wouldn"t be able to operate effectively. In order to run a restaurant math plays

an important role in a lot of different areas. For instance the items on the menu

may change due to the way it sells. Bookkeeping and math allow you to both

figures out what items are profitable and what items are selling. The business

world revolves around math, from profit and loss statements, to graphs, to

taxes. Everything in business requires mathematics. Owning a restaurant is no

different then any other field of business when it comes to math. The simplest

things in a restaurant could not happen without math such as paying for your

meal. Math is used to add up the total cost of a person"s bill as well as adding

in the sales tax. More advanced math is used in the restaurant business as

well. Using equations to determine what your business can afford to buy as

well as the difference in the cost of the product and the profit it turns over is all

determined by math. Jobs you might not even think require math do, such as

portioning products or prepping food. When you are preparing food you need

to measure amounts of ingredients and measurements are a form of

mathematics. Wheatley-2 Keeping your books up to date requires math as

well. When keeping records of your restaurant"s sales you can keep track of

your busy periods to know when you are required to order more food or

alcohol. Equations are used then to determine what and how much you need

of a product. Using math to determine a product markup is an important

process to a successful business as well. Determining the overall cost of a

dinner special and factoring in each amount of the ingredients used all goes

towards the final cost of a dinner special. The main objective in owning a

restaurant or any business for that matter is to turn profit. Math allows you to

take a look at just how productive your restaurant is and what steps you need

to take in order to keep it successful. Profit and Loss statements are a big part

of owning a restaurant. Profit and Loss statements revolve around math too.

These statements using your bookkeeping records show what times you

turned profit and what times you took a loss. Using this mathematical step an

owner can get ideas about what was working for them and what wasn"t.

Doing your business taxes requires a lot of math. Showing your business

expenses and your sales are required. A lot of restaurant owners hire

bookkeepers and accountants to do the math work for them because it is

such a vital part of the restaurant"s success. Math is used to figure out all your

restaurant"s expenses such as,advertising, cost of goods and employees

wages. A restaurant owner needs to be aware of the exchanges in money

both coming in and going out. Without math it would be impossible to

determine what wages the owner can afford to pay his/her employees. Wages

are Wheatley-3 determined by the bookkeeping and the knowledge of how

much profit is being brought into the business. Restaurant owners often use

graphs for visuals of what is working for their company. Graphs are also used

to look at how your business is doing next to your competition. Math allows

an owner to determine the best time to do markup or markdown prices on

their menu. For restaurant owners the markup period is usually in the

summertime. A lot of marketing research comes into play in determining how

your business should be run. Determining location and types of food is one

aspect of the decision process. Another is taking a look at records of average

wages and spending of the particular area you want to have your restaurant in.

By using math these steps help determine the price range of your menu and

what products you as an owner can afford to use to turn profit. If you are

located in a geographical area that is not known for it"s money then lobster

and caviar are not going to be items on your menu. Algebraic equations,

graphs, accounting, and simple math such as adding subtracting multiplying

and dividing are used everyday when owning a restaurant. Looking over this

paper I hope it shows just how important math is in the restaurant and

business world. Without math business wouldn"t exist, as we know it and it

would be very difficult to run a restaurant. In order to have a successful

business you need to be successful in the math you use and make sure you use

it correctly.