Naledi Threads Business Plan — Working Capital and Debt Service

Why stock ties up most of the capital in a boutique, the cash cycle it creates, and debt service cover of 1.54x.

Working Capital and Debt Service

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Inventory, supplier credit and stock turn
Figure 19. Inventory, supplier credit and stock turn.

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Inventory at year end

359 048

380 661

374 902

364 893

365 102

Cost of sales

933 525

1 141 983

1 237 178

1 313 614

1 387 389

Stock turn

2.6x

3.0x

3.3x

3.6x

3.8x

Purchases

1 067 573

1 163 596

1 231 419

1 303 605

1 387 598

Trade payables

70 197

95 638

118 081

135 718

152 066

Creditor days

24

30

35

38

40

Trade and other receivables

9 932

12 515

13 892

14 933

15 904

Movement in working capital

(73 783)

1 245

26 825

26 605

15 168

Stock turn improves from 2.6 times to 3.8 times, and creditor days from 24 to 40. Both matter more to cash than to profit. Working capital absorbs R73 784 in Year 1 as the store builds toward its first festive season, then releases cash in every subsequent year as supplier terms extend faster than inventory grows — R26 825 in Year 3 alone.

13.1 Debt service capacity

R

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Interest

58 378

49 509

37 801

24 411

9 097

Capital repaid

36 822

81 490

93 198

106 588

121 902

Total debt service

95 200

130 999

130 999

130 999

130 999

Loan balance at year end

403 178

321 688

228 490

121 902

EBITDA after owner remuneration

(7 636)

185 034

164 377

188 582

202 071

Debt service cover

-0.08x

1.41x

1.25x

1.44x

1.54x

EBITDA before owner remuneration

160 364

389 034

418 291

479 462

529 977

Cover before owner remuneration

1.68x

2.97x

3.19x

3.66x

4.05x

Cover after owner remuneration is negative in Year 1 by construction, then runs between 1.25 and 1.54 times. Before owner remuneration it runs between 1.68 and 4.10 times, which is the range a lender would normally quote. Both are shown because they answer different questions: the first asks whether the business can service its debt while paying the founder a living wage, and the second asks whether it can service its debt at all.

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