What Your Profit & Loss Statement is Telling You—If You Speak Fluent Campfire

A Simple Guide to Understanding Financial Reports for Outdoor Business Owners

Let’s be honest: most business owners would rather be out on the water or trail than staring at a Profit & Loss (P&L) report. But knowing how to read this one simple report can tell you if your business is healthy—or quietly draining cash behind your back.

No fancy accounting terms here. Just a straightforward way to understand what your numbers are trying to say.

1. Revenue: What You Brought In

This is all the money that came into your business. Gear sales, rentals, tours, lessons—whatever people paid you for.

Think of it as your business "fuel." The more that comes in, the more you’ve got to work with.

2. Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): The Cost of What You Sell

COGS is what you spend just to make the sale happen.

If you sold a paddleboard, the cost you paid to buy that paddleboard counts here. If you rent out kayaks, the paddles and life jackets you provide as part of the rental stay out of COGS—they’re part of your supplies or equipment (unless you sold them).

COGS only includes things you sell to customers.

If you don’t sell physical products—just tours or rentals—this number may be small or zero.

3. Gross Profit: What’s Left After the Sale

Take all the money you brought in (Revenue) and subtract what you spent to make those sales happen (COGS).

What’s left is Gross Profit—the part you can now use to actually run the business.

4. Expenses: The Cost to Keep Things Running

These are the everyday costs of doing business: rent, insurance, advertising, payroll, office supplies, repairs, and more.

If you guide tours or rent out paddleboards, this includes the things you buy to keep your operation smooth—like replacing worn-out paddles or fixing a cracked kayak.

5. Net Profit: What You Actually Get to Keep

When you subtract your expenses from your Gross Profit, you get your Net Profit.

This is the “bottom line”—what the business really made after everything else was paid. If this number is positive, great—you made money. If it’s negative, your business spent more than it earned (and it might be time to make some changes).

Why This All Matters

A P&L is like your business’s report card. It shows:

✅ Are you bringing in enough money?

✅ Are your costs to sell products under control?

✅ Are your business expenses too high?

✅ Are you actually making a profit—or just working hard to break even?

One Last Thing: Watch for These Signs

🚩 Low Gross Profit? Maybe you’re undercharging or overpaying for the things you sell.🚩 High Expenses? Your overhead (like rent, insurance, or payroll) could be dragging your profits down.🚩 Negative Net Profit? Time to review pricing, spending, or sales volume.

The Bottom Line

Your P&L isn’t just for accountants—it’s for you. It tells you: "Am I making money—or just busy being busy?"

Not sure what your numbers are saying? I help adventure businesses like yours understand this stuff in plain English. No confusing finance talk. Just clear answers, so you can run your business with confidence.

Want a simple walkthrough of your own P&L? Let’s chat. I’ll help you read the map—no compass required.