(Start of Week 17. Theo's Balance: $59,545.00)
Week 17 – Monday
The frantic energy of the previous weeks had dissipated, leaving behind a residue of nervous tension and the cold, hard currency of Theo's survival. Week 17 began not with a bang, but with the quiet intensity of calculation. Sixty grand felt like a fortune compared to the abyss he'd stared into less than two months ago, yet it felt perilously small measured against his vaulting ambition, especially now that the GPU cash machine had been so abruptly shut down. The 'Tool Enhancement' strategy, validated by the coffee trials and the chicken shop experiment, was the clear path forward, but the application required surgical precision. One wrong move, one poorly chosen venture, could evaporate his hard-won capital and leave him back at square one.
He spent Monday locked in his apartment, the space transformed into a war room dedicated to analysing his prime target: Maria's Charcoal Chicken. This wasn't going to be an impulse buy. It was a calculated acquisition, demanding the same analytical rigor he'd once applied to rooting out fraud at the bank. He dove deep, his enhanced laptop humming as he cross-referenced data streams, building a comparative financial model on a fresh spreadsheet.
First, the grim reality: Jono's Current Operation. He pulled up commercial real estate listings for similarly sized retail spaces in comparable suburban strip malls nearby, estimating Jono's likely rent. Maybe $3000/month, translating to $700 per week, probably lower if his parents secured a legacy lease, but better to estimate conservatively. Utilities, gas for the rotisserie and fryers, electricity for the lights and fridges, water, likely ran $150-$200 a week minimum for a food operation, even a poorly run one. Packaging, cleaning supplies, POS fees, insurance, another $200-$250 a week, optimistically.
Then, revenue. Based on the trickle of negative reviews before the weekend anomaly and his own observations of the empty shop, Theo estimated Jono was lucky to be serving 25 customers a day on average. Maybe 175 customers a week? With an average order value around $16 (half chicken, chips, maybe a drink), that was a weekly revenue of $2800. Pitiful.
Food cost was the killer. For a place like this, aiming for 30-35% was standard. But Jono? With his apathy, likely inconsistent ordering, and probable high wastage from improperly cooked, dried-out chickens? Theo plugged in a pessimistic 45%. That meant $1260 a week just for ingredients.
He tallied Jono's estimated weekly costs: $1260 (Food) + $700 (Rent) + $175 (Utilities) + $225 (Supplies/Other) = $2360.
Profit before Jono takes anything? Theo typed the formula: $2800 (Revenue) - $2360 (Costs) = $440 per week.Less than minimum wage for running a business full-time, Theo scoffed internally. No wonder he's desperate to sell and chasing crypto pipe dreams. He was essentially losing money from running the store.
Now, the critical part: Theo's Model – Enhanced Operation. He duplicated the spreadsheet tab. The core difference: permanent +1 enhancements on the rotisserie and deep fryer. That the just the beginning, there was other +1 enhancements he could look into, but this formed the initial base. He hypothesized the effects:
Reduced Food Waste: +1 Consistency on the rotisserie meant perfectly cooked chickens every time, minimal drying out, virtually zero waste. +1 Temp Stability/Recovery on the fryer meant consistently perfect chips, less oil absorption, less oil degradation. He adjusted the Food Cost down aggressively, aiming for 30%.
Increased Throughput: More consistent cooking might slightly speed up processes, but the main driver would be reputation and repeat business.
Revenue Growth: With restored quality matching (or even exceeding) Maria's original standard, positive word-of-mouth and online reviews should drive customer volume back up. He projected a conservative return to 55 customers a day average within 3-4 months – 385 customers per week.
He plugged the new numbers in. Revenue: 385 customers * $16/sale = $6160 per week. Costs:
Food Cost (30% of $6160): $1848 per week.
Rent: $700/week (assuming same lease).
Utilities: $175/week (maybe slightly higher with volume, but efficiency gains might offset).
Supplies/Other: $225/week (kept same for now).
Labor: Initially, $0. Theo planned to run it himself, at least at first, maximizing profit extraction.
Total Costs: $1848 + $700 + $175 + $225 = $2948 per week.
Projected Weekly Profit (Theo's Model): $6160 (Revenue) - $2948 (Costs) = $3212.
Theo stared at the number. Over three thousand dollars a week. Net. From a rundown neighborhood chicken shop. Just by ensuring the two core pieces of equipment performed flawlessly, consistently, every single time, overcoming the operator's indifference. The leverage was immense. The profit potential, even with conservative estimates, was enough to rapidly rebuild his capital and fund much larger ambitions. There was even room in the numbers to hire help, to take the load off things, and then eventually let them run it on Theo's behalf, which is the long term gameplan. The risk felt disproportionately low compared to the GPU venture's nerve-shredding exposure.
His eyes began to blur, the columns of projected operating expenses swimming together on the laptop screen. He stretched back in his chair, feeling the need for a boost, a jolt of focus to push through the final stages of analysis, researching licenses, health codes, supplier contracts. His hand automatically reached towards the counter where the coffee grinder sat. The muscle memory was strong. But then, the sensory ghost of the coffee trials from earlier assaulted him. The phantom taste of six vastly different, yet equally potent brews mingling on his tongue, the memory of staring wild-eyed at his ceiling at 4 AM while his heart hammered like a drum machine against his ribs. He physically shuddered, pulling his hand back as if the grinder itself radiated unpleasant energy. No. Absolutely not.