Asset-light

A business that generates revenue with little owned capital, usually by renting, franchising or outsourcing the assets it uses.

A hotel company that manages rather than owns its properties might carry ₹1,200 crore of assets against ₹4,800 crore of system revenue, a quarter of what an owner would need.

The appeal is the arithmetic. Lower capital produces higher returns on capital and faster growth for the same funding, which is why franchising spread through hotels, restaurants and retail everywhere.

What the label often hides is that the capital did not disappear, it moved. A retailer that sold its stores and leased them back has the same economics and a lease liability, and after the lease accounting change that liability is on the balance sheet where it belongs.

Ask who owns the asset and who bears the risk. Those can be different people.