Months 1–4

Founder equity committed; CIPC, SARS, Central Supplier Database and B-BBEE affidavit lodged

Months 3–5

Premises leased with the landlord installation allowance negotiated into the lease before signature

Months 4–8

Kitchen fit-out: floors, drainage, extraction, three-phase power; fire and municipal compliance

Months 6–9

Combi ovens, cold rooms, blast chiller, hot boxes and solar installed and commissioned

Month 9

Certificate of Acceptability issued by the local authority where the kitchen sits

Months 9–13

Costed menus built to the gram; food cost targets set by segment; temperature records begun

Month 10

First industrial contract signed, with an annual escalation clause

End Year 1

Gate 1: CoA held, food cost within 2 points of target for three months, first contract renewed

Year 2

Second vehicle; institutional contract won; events programme launched; production manager trained

End Year 2

Gate 2: EBITDA loss narrowing, working capital facility in place, production manager running the kitchen

Year 3

Growth equity of R2.10m drawn; kitchen capacity doubled; public sector tendering begins; HACCP implemented

End Year 3

Gate 3: government capped at one third of meals, EBITDA positive, HACCP-based system audited

Year 4

No new segment. Retention deepened, event volume grown, escalation clauses brought onto every contract

End Year 4

Gate 4: no single client above 25% of revenue, all contracts carrying escalation

Year 5

Fifth vehicle; expanded cold chain; management layer complete; cover 1.33x at 3 464 meals a day

Certificate of Acceptability

The first meal and every public tender

Applied for during fit-out; issued by the authority where the kitchen sits, not where the company is registered

Landlord installation allowance

R165 000 of the fit-out cost

Negotiated into the lease before signature; it cannot be obtained afterward

Fit-out before equipment

Commissioning and the first service

Drainage, extraction and three-phase power must precede oven installation

First contract before the kitchen is idle

Cash flow from month ten

Sold during fit-out, not after; a commissioned kitchen with no contract burns cash daily

Costed menus before the first bid

Every price quoted thereafter

Built during fit-out; a bid priced without a costed menu is a guess

Production manager trained

The Year 2 gate and every growth item above it

Recruited Year 1, trained through Year 2; frees the founder for commercial work

Working capital facility

The Year 3 government work

Arranged in Year 2, before the 68-day debtor book exists

Temperature records from day one

HACCP audit at the Year 3 gate

An audit examines history; history cannot be reconstructed

Escalation clauses on every contract

The Year 4 gate

Negotiated at signature or renewal, when the caterer has leverage