The quiet-stall surprise

Now rewind the same pretend day. Only three bookmarks sell. Tally has €9 in sales money, but the €16 batch outlay was already paid. Five bookmarks are still on the table.

There is a €7 cash shortfall compared with what went out. Those remaining bookmarks might sell later, but that is not guaranteed. Do not automatically call this a €7 accounting loss: stock remains and the accounting treatment is outside our simple exercise. For today's cash plan, the useful fact is that €9 has come back, not €24. Stop, learn and make the next test smaller if needed.

What you will learn

Explain why unsold stock is not cash in hand.

Worked example

Three sales: €9 cash in. €16 paid up front. Cash result: -€7. Five bookmarks remain, and their future sale value is unknown.

Your paper activity

Draw two boxes: money back and items left. Put €9 and five bookmarks in different boxes. Name one way to learn before paying for another batch.

For the grown-up

Distinguish the cash gap from accounting profit. Do not value unsold stock at the asking price or promise it will sell.

Next lesson: Test small. Learn. Improve.

Illustrations made with AI.