How does a business make money?

Sources

• McDonald's Corporation annual report (Form 10-K), fiscal 2025 · McDonald's Corporation, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2025
• New Association report helps operators gauge their restaurant performance (2025 Restaurant Operations Data Abstract) · National Restaurant Association, 2024
• Merchant Fees & Pricing: Marketplace plans (Basic, Plus, Premier) · DoorDash, 2026
• Planet Fitness, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 · Planet Fitness, Inc. (filed with the U.S. SEC), 2025
• Adobe Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended November 28, 2025 · Adobe Inc. (filed with the U.S. SEC), 2025
• Etsy, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 · Etsy, Inc. (filed with the U.S. SEC), 2025
• Square fees: payment processing rates (Square Free plan) · Square (Block, Inc.)
• Average price: coffee, 100%, ground roast, all sizes, per pound, U.S. city average (series APU0000717311) · U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026
• Average price: milk, fresh, whole, fortified, per gallon, U.S. city average (series APU0000709112) · U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026

Every number

• $26.9Bsec.gov ·2025 · Total revenues, fiscal 2025.
• $9.7Bsec.gov ·2025 · Sales at the restaurants McDonald's owns and runs itself, fiscal 2025.
• $10.4Bsec.gov ·2025 · Rent paid by franchisees, fiscal 2025.
• $6Bsec.gov ·2025 · Royalties paid by franchisees, fiscal 2025.
• $735Msec.gov ·2025 · Initial fees from new franchisees plus other revenues (technology fees and brand licensing), added up from the annual report, fiscal 2025.
• 36%sec.gov ·2025 · Worked out from the annual report: sales at its own restaurants divided by total revenues, fiscal 2025.
• 61.6%sec.gov ·2025 · Worked out from the annual report: revenues from franchised restaurants divided by total revenues, fiscal 2025.
• 95%sec.gov ·2025 · Share of McDonald's restaurants run by franchisees at the end of fiscal 2025 (the report says about this much).
• 45,356sec.gov ·2025 · McDonald's restaurants worldwide at the end of fiscal 2025.
• 31.9%sec.gov ·2025 · Net income divided by total revenue for the whole company, fiscal 2025, worked out from the annual report.
• 4%restaurant.org ·2024 · Income before taxes: the median for counter-service restaurants in 2024.
• 240 guestsexample(example number: Simplified example: a busy Saturday at a small café.) · Simplified example: a busy Saturday at a small café.
• $18example(example number: Simplified example: coffee and a brunch plate, the same check as the café in the first restaurant lesson.) · Simplified example: coffee and a brunch plate, the same check as the café in the first restaurant lesson.
• $4,320example(example number: Simplified example: the example guests times the example average check.) · Simplified example: the example guests times the example average check.
• $600example(example number: Simplified example: a day's delivery orders, food total.) · Simplified example: a day's delivery orders, food total.
• 25%doordash.com ·2026 · DoorDash's published delivery commission on its Plus plan, as a share of each order's subtotal.
• $150example(example number: Simplified example: DoorDash's Plus rate on the example delivery orders.) · Simplified example: DoorDash's Plus rate on the example delivery orders.
• $4,920example(example number: Simplified example: sales in the café plus delivery orders.) · Simplified example: sales in the café plus delivery orders.
• $4,770example(example number: Simplified example: total sales minus the app's commission.) · Simplified example: total sales minus the app's commission.
• 2 times a weekexample(example number: Simplified example: a regular who stops in twice a week.) · Simplified example: a regular who stops in twice a week.
• $9example(example number: Simplified example: a coffee and a pastry.) · Simplified example: a coffee and a pastry.
• $936example(example number: Worked out from the examples: two visits a week, every week of the year, at the example spend.) · Worked out from the examples: two visits a week, every week of the year, at the example spend.
• $15/monthsec.gov ·2025 · Classic Card monthly dues for new members, 2025.
• $49/yearsec.gov ·2025 · Planet Fitness's standard annual fee, 2025.
• $229sec.gov ·2025 · Worked out from the annual report's prices: twelve months of Classic dues plus the annual fee.
• 96%sec.gov ·2025 · Subscription revenue as a share of Adobe's total revenue, fiscal 2025.
• 6.5%sec.gov ·2025 · Etsy's transaction fee on each completed sale, including shipping, fiscal 2025.
• 2.6%squareup.com · Square's published rate for a tapped, dipped or swiped card.
• $0.15squareup.com · Square's published fee per card payment, on top of the percentage.
• $25example(example number: Simplified example: a monthly coffee club price.) · Simplified example: a monthly coffee club price.
• 80example(example number: Simplified example: regulars who sign up.) · Simplified example: regulars who sign up.
• 4 cupsexample(example number: Simplified example: cups a member drinks in a week.) · Simplified example: cups a member drinks in a week.
• $0.56example(example number: Simplified example built from BLS grocery prices: a little ground coffee and a splash of whole milk at September 2026 US averages, plus a cup and lid.) · Simplified example built from BLS grocery prices: a little ground coffee and a splash of whole milk at September 2026 US averages, plus a cup and lid.
• $9.33/lbbls.gov ·2026 · US average grocery price, September 2026. Cafés buying wholesale usually pay less.
• $4.11/gallonbls.gov ·2026 · US average grocery price, September 2026. Cafés buying wholesale usually pay less.
• 15%doordash.com ·2026 · DoorDash's published delivery commission on its Basic plan, as a share of each order's subtotal.
• 30%doordash.com ·2026 · DoorDash's published delivery commission on its Premier plan, as a share of each order's subtotal.
• 6%doordash.com ·2026 · DoorDash's published commission on pickup orders, on every plan.
• 20.8 million memberssec.gov ·2025 · Members at the end of 2025 (the report says about this many).
• 2,896sec.gov ·2025 · Planet Fitness clubs at the end of 2025.
• 7,200 memberssec.gov ·2025 · Worked out from the annual report and rounded: members divided by clubs. An average; real clubs vary a lot.
• $24.99/monthsec.gov ·2025 · PF Black Card monthly dues for new members, 2025.
• $1.3Bsec.gov ·2025 · Total revenue, fiscal 2025.
• $546.1Msec.gov ·2025 · Revenue from the clubs Planet Fitness runs itself, fiscal 2025.
• 292sec.gov ·2025 · Clubs Planet Fitness owned and ran itself at the end of 2025.
• $381Msec.gov ·2025 · Franchise revenue: royalties and fees from franchisees, fiscal 2025.
• 7%sec.gov ·2025 · The royalty new US franchisees pay: a share of their members' monthly dues and annual fees.
• $310.1Msec.gov ·2025 · Equipment revenue: machines sold to franchisees, fiscal 2025.
• 2,604sec.gov ·2025 · Clubs run by franchisees at the end of 2025.
• $87Msec.gov ·2025 · National advertising fund revenue: what franchisees pay in for national ads, fiscal 2025.
• 90%sec.gov ·2025 · The report says more than this share of its own clubs' and franchise revenue was recurring (royalties, monthly dues and annual fees) in 2025.
• $69/monthsec.gov ·2025 · The 2024 industry average for gym dues, which the annual report quotes from the Health & Fitness Association.
• $5.3Bsec.gov ·2025 · Monthly dues and annual fees billed by Planet Fitness and its franchisees in 2025 (what the report calls system-wide sales).