Money Making and Cash Flow | Earning and Spending in the Early Game
Selling unwanted items or equipment taken from other venues can provide an early cash injection. For steady income, keep your venue running and review ingredient costs and wages. Treat one-off sales separately from operating profit.
Choose an early money-making method
| Situation | What to do first |
|---|---|
| Not enough money for ingredients or equipment | Sell items you do not need. Stealing from other venues is another in-game way to raise funds. |
| Your money falls while the venue is open | Check ingredient costs and individual staff wages in Venue Finances. Review restock targets, budgets and shifts. |
| Earn money while staff run the venue | Sell spare fish and greenhouse crops. Keep the ingredients your venue needs. |
| Save for a new venue | Budget for furniture, ingredients, wages and rent as well as the contract fee before expanding. |
Stealing and selling equipment from other venues
During curfew, portable furniture and cooking equipment from other venues can be carried to your own venue. Use it to save on equipment or sell it for cash. The steps below are based on comparisons of Steam player reports. These actions raise suspicion, so watch the alert meter as well as your money.
- Prepare a destination during the day.Clear enough floor space in your venue to place the furniture. Early on, a nearby venue within walking distance of Ramen Noir makes the return route easier to follow.
- Check that curfew has started.Wait for the on-screen curfew notice before entering another venue. The same action is not available during the day.
- Pick up a portable item.Aim at the equipment or furniture and use the displayed lift action. Players report X as the default PC key. If no prompt appears, try another item.
- Carry it back to your own venue.You do not put it straight into your inventory where you steal it. Return to your venue while watching cameras and the alert meter.
- Place it in your venue once.Put it in the space you cleared. To sell it, lift it again and use the store action to move it into your inventory. Players report that right-click works on PC.
- Take it to a merchant who buys it.Open your inventory in the trading screen and select furniture or equipment the merchant accepts. Check the item, quantity and offer before selling. Leave equipment installed if you want to use it in your own venue.
Players report that being caught can prevent further theft that night, trigger a fine or raise the alert level. Do not rely on a fixed number of attempts or a fixed sale price. Check the on-screen alert and the merchant's actual offer.
Sell unwanted items
Sell unused furniture and belongings through a merchant who accepts them. If selling your starting furniture, keep anything you will need later.
- Put the item in your inventory. Lift and store furniture that is currently placed.
- Talk to a merchant who deals in that item and open the trading screen.
- Select the item from your belongings and check the quantity and sale price.
- After selling, check your money and remaining items. Make sure you have a replacement before selling equipment your venue uses.
A one-off sale is separate from daily business income. Once the immediate shortage is covered, check restocking so the next ingredient purchase does not drain your funds.
Keep your venue profitable
Revenue is the amount earned from sales. Profit is what remains after costs. High ingredient costs or wages can prevent your balance from growing even when you are making sales.
- For the venue you want to check, openVenue Overviewand confirm the venue name.
- Venue Financesand select a period, then compare revenue and costs over the same period.
- Staff tabto check each employee's wages. Payments from before Update #5 may appear only in the Staff total rather than individual entries.
- Open the venue'smenuand check for missing-item icons. Resolve missing ingredients or cooking equipment before selling the affected dish.
- Staff and Work Scheduleto check assignments, roles and shifts. Make sure cooks and waiters work at the same time.
Before adding seats or hiring more staff, check whether your current setup can serve dishes properly.Adding dishes and moving ingredients to venue stock、Hiring stafffor more details.
Reduce ingredient costs
Automatic restocking sets a target stock level, not a number to buy every time. Set the quantity needed and daily spending limit separately for each venue.
- From the relevant Venue Overview, openVenue Management Settings.
- Check the restock setting: Lean targets 2 of each item, Normal 5 and Extra 10. Recent Sales uses sales over the last four in-game hours.
- If stock builds up faster than it sells, try a lower target first. The shopping list also shows which ingredients are being restocked.
- Daily Restock Budgetand the amount spent today. If a low budget causes shortages, adjust it alongside the stock target.
Automatic restocking requires an on-duty manager.Manager Restocking Settingscovers stock targets, budgets and greenhouse stock in more detail.
Supplement income with fishing and crops
Sell fish
Fish can supply your venue or be sold at a market. Once fishing is unlocked, keep what your venue needs and take the surplus to a merchant who buys it. Use the offers in the trading screen to decide what to sell.
Use or sell greenhouse crops
Greenhouse produce can be used as ingredients or sold at a market. Set aside the crops your venue needs first, then sell the surplus.
To use crops in your venue, put them in greenhouse storage and enableUse Greenhouse Stockin Venue Management Settings. The manager will use greenhouse stock before buying ingredients. Automation equipment is an extra investment; you do not need to buy it while money is tight.
Spending priorities
| Priority | Use | How to decide |
|---|---|---|
| Reserve first | Ingredients, wages and rent | Keep enough working capital to stay open. |
| Fix shortages | Required cooking and storage equipment | Buy what lets you prepare listed dishes and store the ingredients. |
| Once funds allow | New venue contracts and greenhouse equipment | Consider ongoing costs as well as the initial investment. |
| Personal preference | Housing, furniture and decoration | If progression is your priority, secure operating funds first. |
For the requirements and licences needed to rent another venue, seeLicences and Expansion. Having more cash does not mean you can sustain another venue. Avoid spending everything on the contract alone.