Lesson 6
More Costs of Running a Restaurant
Let’s explore how much it costs to run a restaurant.
6.1: Are We Making Money?
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Restaurants have many more expenses than just the cost of the food.
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Make a list of other items you would have to spend money on if you were running a restaurant.
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Identify which expenses on your list depend on the number of meals ordered and which are independent of the number of meals ordered.
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Identify which of the expenses that are independent of the number of meals ordered only have to be paid once and which are ongoing.
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Estimate the monthly cost for each of the ongoing expenses on your list. Next, calculate the total of these monthly expenses.
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Tell whether each restaurant is making a profit or losing money if they have to pay the amount you predicted in ongoing expenses per month. Organize your thinking so it can be followed by others.
- Restaurant A sells 6,000 meals in one month, at an average price of $17 per meal and an average cost of $4.60 per meal.
- Restaurant B sells 8,500 meals in one month, at an average price of $8 per meal and an average cost of $2.20 per meal.
- Restaurant C sells 4,800 meals in one month, at an average price of $29 per meal and an average cost of $6.90 per meal.
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Predict how many meals your restaurant would sell in one month.
- How much money would you need to charge for each meal to be able to cover all the ongoing costs of running a restaurant?
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What percentage of the cost of the ingredients is the markup on your meal?
6.2: Disposable or Reusable?
A sample of full service restaurants and a sample of fast food restaurants were surveyed about the average number of customers they serve per day.
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How does the average number of customers served per day at a full service restaurant generally compare to the number served at a fast food restaurant? Explain your reasoning.
- About how many customers do you think your restaurant will serve per day? Explain your reasoning.
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Here are prices for plates and forks:
plates forks disposable 165 paper plates for $12.50 600 plastic forks for $10 reusable 12 ceramic plates for $28.80 24 metal forks for $30 -
Using your predicted number of customers per day from the previous question, write an equation for the total cost, d, of using disposable plates and forks for every customer for n days.
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Is d proportional to n? Explain your reasoning.
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Use your equation to predict the cost of using disposable plates and forks for 1 year. Explain any assumptions you make with this calculation.
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- How much would it cost to buy enough reusable plates and forks for your predicted number of customers per day?
- If it costs $10.75 a day to wash the reusable plates and forks, write an expression that represents the total cost, r, of buying and washing reusable plates and forks after n days.
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Is r proportional to n? Explain your reasoning.
- How many days can you use the reusable plates and forks for the same cost that you calculated for using disposable plates and forks for 1 year?