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They are crucial if you are seeking investors and need to summarize your restaurant's current earnings and future revenue potential.
They help you see challenges before they arise, allowing you to avoid some disasters and be better prepared for others.
Approximately 26% of restaurants go bankrupt within a year of opening, and lack of planning is one of the main reasons for these closures. Create a business plan and position yourself on the right side of this statistic.
Before learning how to write a business plan, it is crucial to understand what a business plan is and what it is not.
The purpose of a business plan is to create a guide that will help you at every stage of starting and running your business. This plan should also be comprehensive and clear enough that a complete stranger, such as an investor, can read it and easily understand your vision, goals, and how you plan to turn your restaurant dream into reality.
Business plans come in various structures and can be as short as a single page or long enough to be a booklet. You may want to start with a lean startup plan that focuses on addressing your strategy at a high level, then follow up with a more detailed plan that elaborates key points and offers investors more information.
In short, your business plan should communicate everything you have and plan to put into your restaurant to ensure continuous success. Here are 7 elements that should be in every restaurant business plan:
This is a brief overview of your company, why the community wants or needs it, and why it will succeed. Many different types of restaurants appeal to various demographics, and knowing what type of restaurant you want to operate is important. Are you opening a quick-service deli focused on takeout sandwiches and ready-to-eat salads? Or will you be the first tapas restaurant in a city seeking more variety?
If you are using your business plan to seek funding, the SBA recommends also including financial information and high-level growth plans in your executive summary.
Think of your summary as your opportunity to capture your reader's attention. Many investors will make a snap decision based solely on the executive summary - if it's the only section they read, make every word count.
Now it's time to begin a more detailed description of the company, including the company's key differentiator(s), target audience, and all other factors that might impress investors, such as experts you've brought in as consultants or a location you've already discovered or secured.
You'll want to include the legal structure of the business by explaining whether you're a sole proprietorship, LLC, etc., and list current management and their roles (including your own).
Now comes the fun part: writing a description of your concept. This is where you can unleash your creative side by showcasing your passion for what you hope to create and using plenty of adjectives to engage your readers and bring your concept to life. You've already decided what type of restaurant you'll open, now detail all the other elements:
If you're a new restaurant, including a sample menu is the only way for investors to know what you plan to offer. Saying you'll offer "rustic Italian" isn't enough, as it can mean different things to different people. Most likely, your menu is your most important differentiator, or at least part of it. Otherwise, why would customers choose you over tried-and-true competitors already offering similar dishes?
Collaborate with your chef and keep the fundamental principles of great menu design in mind:
Detail your target market using buyer personas to indicate who you see as your primary customer and what their dining habits might be like. These personas should include information about where target customers live, their income levels, pain points (do they hate long waits or want restaurants that stay open later?), and how often they dine out or order delivery.
Support your business plan with an industry overview. This should include competitive research that gives insight into how other restaurants in your niche are performing, what successes they've had, and where they've faltered so you can learn from their mistakes. Look again at your key differentiators, this time explaining how your restaurant will appeal to the existing market and exceed customer expectations.
This is also a perfect place to include your marketing plan. For example, how will you promote your restaurant? Will marketing be handled in-house or outsourced?
Promotional events, social media, and paid advertising are just a few ways that can help bring your restaurant to life, and investors will be very interested in hearing what you have planned.
While you've touched on your organizational structure and management earlier in your business plan, you'll now explain your business structure and share a more comprehensive look at your team. An organizational chart can be helpful, as well as a summary of your collective experience. Some people include a bullet-point list of the team's most important achievements that is easy to scan and digest.
In addition to listing co-founders, managers, servers, etc., you can include resumes from your executive team or critical players like a renowned mixologist who helped develop your cocktail program.
Finally, it's time to address the financial aspect of your business, especially if you're using your business plan to obtain startup funds or additional capital after you're operational.
If you're pre-launch, your projections are just that: projections. However, these projections should be based on market research, actual expenses, and projected revenue, resulting in a five-year outlook of everything from estimated revenue to capital expenditure budgets.
If your business is operating, you'll ideally include actual financial records like cash flow statements for the past five years. Use colorful charts and graphs to highlight financial achievements and make it easy for investors to quickly gauge your company's financial health.
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