A Small Take Away Shop Earns What a Year before Tax? You'll Be Surprised!

Aerith-Waifu on 28/06/2022 - 15:58
Last edited 28/06/2022 - 17:17 by 1 other user

I recently started a bit of UberEats driving and getting to know some of the owners very well, the most stand out one is a small Asian Take Away shop which purely rely on UberEats, DoorDash etc and he said the times are so tough he now makes less than $100k a year after all expenses before tax, this seems like a reasonable amount until he told me how many hours he work per week, 12 hours a day for 7 days.

I was shocked to see the work he putting in and not earning that much, works out to be around $22.89 an hour no superannuation included…………….

Does anyone know a small takeaway shop earns decent money or owns one or knows someone who has one and like to share their story?

Food & Grocery

Comments

  • Fredfloresjr on 28/06/2022 - 16:00
    +43

    I am surprised!!!!!!!

    • Aerith-Waifu on 28/06/2022 - 20:09
      +10

      What were you expecting?

      • anonymous01 on 29/06/2022 - 19:18
        +29

        You must work for a newspaper/magazine, since you are pretty good at click-bait titles.

        • Serapis on 29/06/2022 - 19:48
          +1

          Motley Fool

        • Click_It on 29/06/2022 - 19:53
          -1

          You're right, he should hire his services to all the YouTube influencers, oh wait maybe he already does 🤔

    • Ade99 on 29/06/2022 - 07:31
      +6

      cash business?

  • onetwothreefour on 28/06/2022 - 16:03
    +16

    Surprising!

    • HumbleCat on 29/06/2022 - 22:22
      +8

      Sometimes, just sometimes…people don't tell you the truth.

      No way the owner will tell a random uber driver his earnings. He probably earns way more with all the govt rebates and small business help. Usually, staff at these places is paid in cash.

      • hopper on 30/06/2022 - 11:25

        can't agree more.

  • notdealbot on 28/06/2022 - 16:04
    +20

    Wow! I cannot believe it.

  • FSTB on 28/06/2022 - 16:07
    +184

    What this takeaway shop earns will truly shock you! Subscribe to this thread to hear more insider stories.

    • orangetrain on 28/06/2022 - 16:36
      +43

      How do I add a paywall to avoid this??

      • SF3 on 28/06/2022 - 22:22
        +12

        Upgrade to OzBargain Platinum membership.

        • eyeLikeCarrots on 29/06/2022 - 12:51
          +6

          When will Platinum membership be on discount ?

          • Gaz1 on 29/06/2022 - 14:38
            +8

            @eyeLikeCarrots: Buy through Ebay at 30% more but use a 20% off voucher and then price match at Officeworks….

    • SydStrand on 28/06/2022 - 17:55
      +26

      Small takeaway shop owner making money: has science gone too far?

      • Aerith-Waifu on 28/06/2022 - 20:25

        They should or we would have to eat Mac everyday which is not a good option at all……………..

        • MrBear on 30/06/2022 - 15:41
          +1

          Or you could just cook/make your own meals…

    • qwijibo on 29/06/2022 - 16:50
      +6

      Find out how a takeaway shop owner earns a below-average salary using this one weird trick!

    • OldnBroke on 30/06/2022 - 14:29

      Only if you promise to tell me "What I need to know" even though I don't need to know any of it.

    • MrFrugalSpend on 01/07/2022 - 17:43
      +5

      … and then it starts the clickbait slideshow…

      < 1 / 60 >
      It was a cold rainy day in 2009 that Mr Chen had an idea. A 'For Lease' sign appeared over the window of a small shopfront downtown.
      A future of opportunity and financial freedom would seemingly lie ahead of him as a pioneer of Chinese Takeaway in the food industry of the region.
      But then it all started to go so wrong…

      <INSERT ADVERT> [ NEXT ]

      < 2 / 60 >
      It all started in Shandong province in China 30 years earlier. The son of a poor farmer, Mr Chen was raised to perfect his cooking skills by his Aunty's friend's mother, Mrs Liu.

      <INSERT ADVERT> [ NEXT ]

      < 3 / 60 >
      Mrs Liu was a strict culinary teacher, having been educated in…

      <INSERT ADVERT> [ADVERT] <<< Placed where next button was so you click it instead!
      [ NEXT ]

      ….
      You get the idea

    • buffalo bill on 01/07/2022 - 19:33

      I felt like clicking this was going to open up a bunch of browser windows and send ad-block crazy.

  • mbck on 28/06/2022 - 16:09
    +22

    I can't believe it's not butter!

    • Aerith-Waifu on 28/06/2022 - 16:25
      +5

      opens at 11am, close at 11pm, 7 days a week, I sometimes even pick up orders just before 12am and they are still working.

      Most of the time there is 5-6 of them, the 2 owners are always there, i am yet to see a day either one of them is not there yet……………….

      • Chong on 30/06/2022 - 12:02

        well at less than 23 dollars an hour, they can't afford to hire someone for min wage…

    • oO0Dam0Oo on 28/06/2022 - 20:25

      https://tenor.com/GYj5.gif

  • spackbace on 28/06/2022 - 16:10
    +53

    Nope, not surprised

    Why do you think they usually just hire family? They can't afford to pay award wages

    • Jason Genova on 28/06/2022 - 16:48
      +26

      or tax usually

      • Aerith-Waifu on 28/06/2022 - 22:27
        +1

        These 2 are linked…………one can not offset the other

  • bobbified on 28/06/2022 - 16:12
    +21

    Not surprised at all. Small business is not easy and it's not for everyone. Most will fail.

    When I was at school, I watched my friends' parents run takeaway shops and it was obvious that they had to put in a LOT of time and hard work.

  • rektrading on 28/06/2022 - 16:14
    +2

    the most stand out one is a small Asian Take Away shop which purely rely on UberEats, DoorDash etc and he said the times are so tough he now makes less than $100k a year after all expenses before tax,

    How much if he included cash Tx?

    • Aerith-Waifu on 28/06/2022 - 16:22
      +13

      I have to say hardly any, no one pays cash these days, i been working casually during the most busy times in this zone and I have only seen 1 customer paid with cash while waiting in 2 months (thats when i started it)

      • rektrading on 28/06/2022 - 17:34
        -8

        I have to say hardly any, no one pays cash these days,

        I pay cash all the time. Cafes, eateries, restaurants, corner deli, etc.

        I don't carry much cash but when I do use it so that the shop can get that bit of extra tip at the end of the day.

        • mskeggs on 28/06/2022 - 18:59
          +10

          Should pay crypto, so you can get some BTC in change!

          • rektrading on 28/06/2022 - 19:05
            -1

            @mskeggs: .#Bitcoin can be paid in #Satoshi.

            Fractional upto 100,000,000 $sats per $BTC.

          • MrFrugalSpend on 01/07/2022 - 17:53

            @mskeggs: … except at the moment they'd have to change the BTC prices up daily due to the volatility

        • Aerith-Waifu on 28/06/2022 - 20:10
          +8

          You are one of the few then………….I can honestly say I rarely see anyone pay with cash these days at restaurants.

          • Adz81 on 29/06/2022 - 07:19
            +1

            @Aerith-Waifu: People absolutely still pay cash.
            Not a huge portion, but I'd say a decent 10%, at least in our business.

        • bozbargain on 01/07/2022 - 16:27
          +1

          What's with all the downvotes? Are we not allowed to pay with cash anymore?

          • rektrading on 01/07/2022 - 16:29

            @bozbargain: It looks like people hate my cash posts more than other forms of payments.

            • MrFrugalSpend on 01/07/2022 - 18:00
              -1

              @rektrading: Ah yes, I have heard about cash. I remember seeing it when I was younger. Fairly sure my parents have some samples stashed around somewhere with the other old keepsakes, right next to their VHS collection, CDs and discman, and other rare antiquities of decades gone by in a world without connectivity… you stick to that nostalgia :)

              Except of course you are handing the people who handle our food grubby bits of old circulating paper and chunks of metal, you know, the pandemic gave cash the kick into obscurity it was waiting for in case you missed it!

          • MrFrugalSpend on 01/07/2022 - 18:04

            @bozbargain: … not to mention what is being talked about by 'extra tip' is actually tax evasion, which is definitely not allowed. Just so the rest of us who get paid electronically and have to contribute all of our "fair share" of taxes get slugged more next time they assess tax brackets…

            • Vater Woods on 02/07/2022 - 01:19

              @MrFrugalSpend: Except when tax gets included in the price of the food, since there is no cash to offset anything, people starts to cry why is the food price going up 20-30%.

              Not realising that is the 'fair share' tax they have been asking for.

      • OssieA on 05/07/2022 - 23:00

        There's a pure cash business in Glebe, NSW that's been around for a while. The food, price and service are so good that people flock there. They're not on any apps and you have to call if you want to order pickup.

  • Stopback on 28/06/2022 - 16:15
    +8

    Chicken shops are where the money is.

    • Quantumcat on 28/06/2022 - 16:47
      +8

      I heard it's car washes

      • prisonmike on 28/06/2022 - 17:10
        +2

        That’s where the launder and casinos

        • s1Lence on 29/06/2022 - 19:51

          Then what about laundromats?

    • mskeggs on 28/06/2022 - 19:01
      +1

      Was gonna say I did know a bloke in the late 1990s making $300k from a chicken shop. Long hours and 7 days, but still.
      I am sure these days with $11 coles chooks it is a lot less.

      • Aerith-Waifu on 28/06/2022 - 20:11
        +2

        That is insane amount of money back then, in 1990 the house and land packages are selling at around $45k in Perth in SOR.

        Just saying………………

        • mskeggs on 28/06/2022 - 20:35
          +1

          This was 1998 or 99.
          Average house price in Sydney would have been about $300k.
          It was a lot of money, and a surprising income from a chicken shop.
          That said, I think a small chicken was about $2.50 raw at Woolies, and $10 cooked at their shop, so definitely high margins. If they were shifting a bit over 100 chooks a day it was achievable.

          • Aerith-Waifu on 28/06/2022 - 22:28
            +2

            @mskeggs: Back in late 1990, the price of a land in Coogee Beach and North Fremantle is around the $100k mark and it was expensive by then.

            Its always been cheaper at the west regardless. But the wages back then can get you a lot more compares to what we are earning now.

          • Kangal on 30/06/2022 - 10:56

            @mskeggs: Sounds like El-Jalnah on Granville Station. Best chicken in Australia.

            • Dose Pipe Sutututu on 30/06/2022 - 13:39

              @Kangal: Should try HC Hawa down the road, you might retract that statement.

            • D6C1 on 02/07/2022 - 01:58
              -1

              @Kangal: Small and very salty, saturated in oil. Not worth it IMO

      • Metzy187 on 01/07/2022 - 18:17

        Wait, I heard about this place, Los Pollos Hermanos right?!! Owner's name is Gus or something?

    • Hangryuman on 29/06/2022 - 13:42
      +6

      'Chicken shops are where the money is.'

      I think an ABC TV doco showed that in Korea this is the most common way that retiring public servants or office workers lose their life savings

      banks earn no interest - and everybody eats chicken, right ? - let's open a chicken shop - looks easy - what could go wrong ?

      except there are chicken shops on every corner - they don't sell as much as they expected, rent and costs blow out, they feel shame and take out usurious loans to try to avoid public shame - which makes things worse - then 2 years down the track they lose their home which they posted as loan security for their business

      so not only have they lost their life savings, but they have also lost their home.

      Easy - right ?

      • Dr Techno on 29/06/2022 - 19:26
        +9

        TIL - Dont open a chicken shop in Korea.

      • CommuterPolluter on 29/06/2022 - 21:43

        Korea today is not Australia 30 years ago.

      • localhost on 30/06/2022 - 19:04
        +2

        There is always a Squid Game to get your money back :)

  • belesci on 28/06/2022 - 16:19
    -6

    Work smart not hard….

  • Archi on 28/06/2022 - 16:22

    lots of work and hours are invested in food and beverage, some do better than others but mainly they do enough to get by if they are lucky.

    • Aerith-Waifu on 28/06/2022 - 20:12
      +2

      Or at least the freedom in doing something they enjoy……….i hope anyway

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 28/06/2022 - 16:29
    +7

    nah no surprise

    for many in this kind of operation its to do with

    *poor English skills (hard to integrate/ not be bullied)
    *be your own boss (livin the dream?)
    *tax deduct all the things

    • freefall101 on 28/06/2022 - 16:47
      +8

      If you're running a take away restaurant and "expenses" doesn't include all your groceries, petrol expenses, etc then you're doing it wrong. Along with every family member being an employee for tax purposes (to be fair, they probably actually do work there).

      $100k a year being a bad year is actually surprisingly high IMO. The market is saturated with restaurants and cafes, particularly with low entry costs to getting your own franchise up and running but then it rarely makes any money in the long run.

      • mskeggs on 28/06/2022 - 19:02
        +6

        You can see plenty of cafes and restaurants with their books open if you go to buy one.
        Very usual to see $80k 'profit' but owners wages not included.

        • Aerith-Waifu on 28/06/2022 - 20:12
          +1

          That is indeed true, reiwa has many business for sale indicating profit of around 100k but never mentions about the owner wages………

        • freefall101 on 28/06/2022 - 20:53
          +4

          I'm saying $100k wage for the owner is good for a small take away shop. Many are earning a lot less than that.

          • Aerith-Waifu on 28/06/2022 - 22:14
            +4

            @freefall101: I think just profit for the shop without any wages been taken, then there is tax on the $100k, i dont think its good money.

            I know a few people earning at least $700 a week on commission working at thegoodguys working 25 hours a week on top of their pay

            • Quantumcat on 29/06/2022 - 07:45
              +2

              @Aerith-Waifu: If you pay yourself $100k then you just pay normal income tax on it. You don't pay company tax as well as income tax.

              • mskeggs on 29/06/2022 - 07:57
                +4

                @Quantumcat: And you would certainly divide between spouses etc to get the lowest bill.
                All the same, it is a pretty low income for no super, no holidays, no sick leave and long hours.

            • freefall101 on 29/06/2022 - 13:29

              @Aerith-Waifu: It sounds like you're expecting a small business to make a profit that's bigger than a salary, that's incredibly rare. People open very small businesses like this to be their own boss, to earn a good wage is the goal, to earn enough to have a profit on top of the salary of the person doing most of the work is pretty unlikely. Anything that profitable would quickly see competition pop up around them.

              The owner wants to spend that $100k on their living expenses, not leave it in the business, so they need to take it as a wage or a dividend. Regardless of which one it's only taxed once. So they get a salary that adds up to $100k for super/payroll tax/workers comp/wage or they take a $70k dividend with a $30k franking credit attached (so they pay no tax personally on it, probably get a tax refund). Most small businesses go salary because it's easier to spread the income through the family or a mix.

          • Brianqpr on 29/06/2022 - 18:58

            @freefall101: Not good when working 84 hours a week.

      • askme69 on 28/06/2022 - 21:07
        +3

        PS: you also have a little cabinet which has some grocery items. That's all your household groceries for the year, all your fruit, veg and meat, everything which is at least $25k for a family.

        • ozbjunkie on 29/06/2022 - 10:21
          +1

          And you have one or both partners at home above the shop, and you always have jobs for extended families and friends.

          That's if people put pride into their food, and it's competitive so many do.

          This is clearly one reason we have such great food in Aus I reckon

  • jjjaar on 28/06/2022 - 16:30
    -1

    If it is after all expenses, surely their pay should be factored into that calculation. If not, they’re not operating a successful business.

    • AustriaBargain on 28/06/2022 - 16:33
      +4

      There is something to be said for effectively making $30 an hour in a business you own vs making $30 or even $40 an hour in a soul sucking office job that you hate. Surely part of success is loving what you do, or at least not loathing it. There's probably people out there making hundreds per hour in jobs that make them want to neck themselves at the end of each day.

      • mskeggs on 28/06/2022 - 19:05
        +3

        Works both ways.
        Plenty of small business owners get no holidays and effectively no sick days.
        Turn up at a cafe 6 days a week for 5 years and you really need a break.
        You're your own boss, and can set your own hours, but you don't make enough to live on unless they are 60hr a week!

        • coffeeinmyveins on 30/06/2022 - 14:25
          +4

          I don't want to "be my own boss".

          I want to work and clock off at 5PM and not worry about a business until the next day.

          Being your own boss is overrated.

          • Miss B on 01/07/2022 - 15:48

            @coffeeinmyveins: Best of both worlds is enjoying working with the people you work with, being paid a decent salary, doing a job that you don't hate (even better if you like it) and having a reasonable amount of autonomy.

            Clock on at 7:30-9am, clock off 8 hours later, having had an hour of breaks (or take longer and clock off a bit later). Plus 4 weeks of paid holidays and paid sick leave.

            It would need to be a pretty successful business to compete and/or a shitty job you're leaving to prefer it. Most small businesses are not that successful.

      • jjjaar on 28/06/2022 - 20:03

        Agree, but there is a big difference between only taking business profits (if any), and paying yourself minimum wage for at least a 40 hour week.

        Fwiw, I didn’t neg you.

    • Aerith-Waifu on 28/06/2022 - 20:16
      +1

      Pretty certain they dont take any themself, as I once joked you guys are earning good money and the man jumped and says you know some of the delivery driver earns $400 a day delivering and we dont even earn that much combined.

      Not sure if you say successful, as the price of food is going over the roof, so is petrol and everything else, they are not losing money, they are still making money just long hours.

  • AustriaBargain on 28/06/2022 - 16:31
    -2

    Bakeries and pizza joints are capable of the best margins from what I can tell. And any restaurant is potentially capable of making the owner wealthy, but it's always a huge gamble in money and time for owners. For every success story there will probably be even more examples of restaurants closing within 12 months after they open or barely breaking even if you factor the owners making effectively just a modest hourly wage for themselves.

    What surprises me is that apparently plenty of crummy food places are making enough money to stay open longterm, so in a way it must be easy money as long as you basically know what you're doing. Then of course you see plenty of new food places constantly opening and closing so it must be harder than those crummy but solvent places make it look.

    • Jason Genova on 28/06/2022 - 16:49
      +7

      vietnamese bakeries are usually cash in hand, so they dodge tonnes of tax

      • jakka on 28/06/2022 - 17:07
        +7

        Yes, but then these were the ones complaining with the covid lockdowns that they did not get govt support as the sales on their books had not decreased.

        • Jason Genova on 28/06/2022 - 17:07

          yep

          most probably claimed loss too on their tax returns

          • Aerith-Waifu on 28/06/2022 - 22:30

            @Jason Genova: For how many years can do continuously getting away though?

            2 - 3 years I can understand, 5+ years ATO dont even take a look at them if they keep losing? How?

            • Jason Genova on 29/06/2022 - 08:49
              +1

              @Aerith-Waifu: youre asking a lot of questions like you want to open a business. is this the point of your thread?

        • Miss B on 29/06/2022 - 12:50

          Sales didn't need to actually decrease to get government support, just ask Gerry. Get to keep the money too, even if sales increase.

      • CyberMurning on 28/06/2022 - 17:20

        can we report when someone will do a job for me for $xx without gst but i need to pay cash ?

        • idonotknowwhy on 29/06/2022 - 12:30

          yeah

        • Archi on 29/06/2022 - 14:07

          you'll find… that people will word it in a way like,

          10% off for cash or i'll make it cheaper for cash…without actually mentioning not collecting GST, that would be illegal.

          and it will obviously not be written down.,

          • banana365 on 29/06/2022 - 15:54

            @Archi: Will they give you a receipt? If not, then that's proof enough for the ATO to get interested.

            Anyone that's doing a job for me, I want a receipt with date, costs and work done. You've got some some comeback if things go wrong (well, more than if you didn't get one).

      • nobro25 on 01/07/2022 - 01:45

        They're like charging $10 for a pork roll or you can get 2 crappy dominoes pizza.

  • [Deactivated] on 28/06/2022 - 16:36
    +14

    Not surprised, parents used to own a take away shop…barely broke even for years while being victims of theft and racists attacks. All this while working 12 hour days, 7 days a week, and through Christmas/New Years. Some people say they can't imagine working for someone else, which is fair, but to work for yourself and be competitive, you're going from a 9-5 to a 24/7 job. Unless you're just a contractor.

    • AustriaBargain on 28/06/2022 - 16:56
      +2

      These days success also hinges on whether you can run good social media ads. Or if you have the kind of business mind that can calculate exactly what your returns on your ad spend are. I've worked with a lot of tiny takeaway places and they all seem to be ran by the seat of the pants of regular people just figuring it all out as they go along, and they are competing for the same food spend that the likes of McDonald's and Colesworth are going after with their teams of business and marketing experts.

      • [Deactivated] on 28/06/2022 - 20:47
        +1

        Social media was not a thing back then. This was 2006ish I reckon

        • AustriaBargain on 28/06/2022 - 22:45

          I guess the only way to advertise in people's homes back then was paying for a menu or flyer drop or paying of ran ad in the local community paper. And relying on word of mouth. These days social media lets you appear on everyone's phone in your immediate area. Getting menus or at least a flyer with some kind of offer on it delivered still pays for itself too.

          • prodrome on 29/06/2022 - 05:08
            +2

            @AustriaBargain: Pre social media, small business paid $10000s for an annual ad in the Yellow Pages and spent $1000s per week on newspaper advertising.

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