cash flow

The  store  turned  over  £480,000  in  2018,  but  cost  of  goods  sold  was  £360,000  and staff and other operating costs were £140,000. The only good news is that it appears that while the previous manager had run down the stock, he had increased the cash at the bank and there is a positive balance of £136,000 in the store’s bank account. Only  £10,000  is  due  to  suppliers  who  provide  the  feed  and  agricultural  supplies  on 30  days  credit  terms.  Customers  of  Aggro  also  receive  30  days  credit  and  the debtors balance is currently £80,000. The manager meets with the Chairman of the Board and discusses the following: Stocks and margins: The  manager  observes  that  stocks  have  been  run  down  and  that  the  store  cannot sell  what  it  does  not  have.  Additionally,  the  lack  of  stock  is  reducing  customer interest in the store and leading to less footfall in the premises. Further, the focus on agricultural  products,  particularly  animal  feed  has  led  to  very  low  margins  as  the market  for  these  products  is  very  competitive  and  particularly  so  with  the  haulage contractors  undercutting  them  on  the  feed.  The  manager  would  like  to  introduce  a wider  range  of  stock  lines,  such  as  hardware  and  other  goods,  which  have  much higher margins. The manager calculates that the animal feed has an average margin of 10 %, with the other agricultural products having an average margin of 35%. The current  product  mix  is  40 %  animal  feed  and  60 %  other  agricultural  products.  The manager argues that the goods he would like to introduce carry margins of 60-100% with an average of 80 % envisaged. He estimates that any such stock introduced will turnover  every  six  months, but accepts  that  there  is uncertainty as they  have  never sold this type of thing before, so he suggests that there is a 20 % chance that stocks might turn over every four months and a 30 % chance that they might only turn over every 12 months. The  Chairman  acknowledges  the  problem  and  concedes  that  there  is  a  market  for other  products  as  the  islanders  currently  have  to  order  many  things  on  the  internet and wait for their delivery by sea. This is expensive as mainland companies always charge  a  premium  for  delivery  to  the  islands.  Nevertheless,  he  is  unsure  of diversifying  in  this  way.  He  has  been  chairing  the  board  for  the  last  15  years  and feels  strongly  that  there  is  a  need  to  ensure  a  retention  of  focus  on  the  agricultural side as that was the original purpose of the business. He also argues that to bring in these  new  lines  would  require  the  purchase  of  a  lot  of  new  stock,  which  would  be very expensive. Also, the store in its current configuration does not have the display racking for new lines and display racking is also very expensive. On  this  last  point  the  manger  observes  that  the  large  food  store  on  the  island  is currently being upgraded and he has spoken to its manager about their old racks. He has  got an  assurance  that he can have  as much  of the racking as  he wants as the food  store  would  otherwise  have  to  pay  for  its  disposal.  Using  staff  from  Aggro Stores,  supported  by  casual  workers  to  collect  and  assemble  the  racking  could  be done  for  about  £3,000,  he  argues.  This  would  allow  for  up  to  £160,000  of  stock  (at cost) to be carried. He also argues that some redecoration is required to the area of the store that he plans to use, but that it can be done for another £3,000. As soon as possible he would like to redecorate and refit the rest of the store at a further cost of £10,000.