restaurant business plan template

restaurant business plan template

Developing a Successful Restaurant Business Plan

1. Introduction

The menu is a major influencer in a restaurant’s success. With the growing diversity in the restaurant industry, the menu wars being fought over market share are intense, if not cutthroat. We have designed these articles in order to provide a clearer understanding of the market and the strategic devices to win. It provides the necessary guidance to produce a dynamic and adaptable menu.

– The menu and its phases of development – The relationship between planning and control and innovation on the menu – Marketing and the menu: Emphasizing the 4Ps of marketing mix and how they apply to a restaurant’s menu – Organizational involvement and commitment, plus putting on the customer’s shoes, in striving to deliver quality food and service – Steps in menu pricing strategy – Cost control on a specific menu item and a sample food cost statement – An approach to a more marketable menu through increased variety and health considerations

To promote the restaurant industry and common understanding of service marketing, the industry’s special characteristics, and the role of customer service in the success of a restaurant business. Customer service is interrelated to a restaurant business’s menu in many ways. The central focus of a restaurant is its menu and menu planning is the single most important factor in directing the restaurant’s operations. At the same time, the menu is a major tool in creating the restaurant’s competitive position. A menu has a multifunctional nature; it is a communication device, a financial device, a control mechanism, and a selling tool. The articles provide a comprehensive explanation of:

2. Market Analysis

A market analysis is a comprehensive look at the set of circumstances a business faces. It serves as a great tool to better understand a business’s environment, with a systematic and thorough analysis to ensure the business is tailored towards the company’s objectives. The purpose of the market analysis is to ensure and instill confidence in the entrepreneurs/owners/investors that the business will succeed. At which point the findings within the market analysis will bring good fortune through the information seeking to avoid mishaps of large capital investment such as “bleeding”, which is taking a loss in an area in which there is little to no chance of gaining customers. A market analysis is consisted of 2 sections, primary and secondary and an examination of each section enabling the business with methods and hope to maximise chances of success. The primary examination of the market is measured as a viable market of size, where the company will be matching their services with that of prospects to meet their requirements with their product, whilst making a profit. Here the companies want to assess the real demand for what the product represents as an increase in demand for what they can offer their product is an ideal situation. A sizeable market will ensure that a company makes a successful revenue with rate of profits increasing over time. A good sign of a correct market is one which is increasing in size, where companies will use a market growth rate as a quick indication of market potential. Providing data on market growth the company can compare how it is related to the growth of sales of a particular product in comparison. This then leads to the analysis of market trends from which a company can use to distinguish whether a product will be successful now and in future. These findings will allow the company to set somewhat accurate objectives and not be forced to make a product trying to alter consumer attitudes and habits. The last step is an analysis of competitive situation where businesses will identify direct rivals and assess what makes their product different. This is the point where companies using other findings can produce a SWOT analysis to further understand what is necessary to capitalise on a market opportunity into a business and how it can be done. The secondary examination is the assessment of factors which can affect the businesses industry environment and the identification of key buyer/market segments. This is done for the better understanding of external factors which will affect decision making and the tailoring of a product to meet the needs of the factors of different consumer types. An assessment of general economic environment is vital as any business which sets to give a product to a customer in return for profit relies on the customers’ purchasing power. Should an economy go into a depression, the product-based industry will be hit hard and will face low demand. Any company needs to monitor the situation and forecast an economic future so that it can be ready to take actions of drastic changes in the economic conditions. A customer type factor, considering their social class, age, sex, etc., will affect the nature of any product as they are being designed to meet a need. Finally, the analysis of government will ascertain if a company can operate without any legal or regulatory restrictions.

3. Business Operations

Quality control procedures: Write out a plan that specifies exactly how you want delivered food product to look and taste when compared to the product that you have in mind. It is important to have an exact idea of what you want so that it can be communicated effectively to your staff. For example, a cheeseburger consists of a bun, 4oz beef patty, slice of American cheese, hand-leafed lettuce, sliced tomato, 2oz red onion, dill pickle spear, and served with French fries. Staff training procedures should be detailed here. A well-trained staff is critical in delivering a product that meets your expectations.

Suppliers: Decide what criteria you will use to choose your food and beverage suppliers. Give a brief outline of potential suppliers and how you will develop a relationship with them. Keep in mind when writing this, the idea that a potential investor or partner may know little about the food service industry so explain any details fully.

Operating Procedures: This section should be a codified outline of how the day-to-day operations of the restaurant will function. You can refer to the concept development to refresh yourself and your partners about the ideas that were considered during planning. This section is particularly helpful for someone entering your employment 6 months to a year after you’ve got everything going by giving them a document to learn about your expectations.

Developing a restaurant business plan should include both creative ideas about how you’d like your concept to function and a more formal procedure about how you will bring it into fruition. Your business plan serves this purpose through a system of procedures, systems of operation, and resource control for an idea. Basically, it provides the how you will achieve your desired goals. Below are the business plan subsections that need to be included:

4. Marketing and Promotion

Having a strong Hispanic customer base in the San Jose area, the Silicon Valley Postcard campaign can draw people to the San Jose restaurant with a free entrée on the back of the postcard and Hispanic themed Saturdays entailing Spanish music and various drink specials.

Selecting the college students as his primary target customer, El Jefe’s owner can make San Jose promotions a long-term strategy with the San Jose building having by far the most staying power. Reasonable pricing and depending on the area, more of a focus on quality instead of pure ambiance can satisfy the needs of Silicon Valley youth.

Psychographic Segmentation: using El Jefe posters and strong vibrant college students having a good time postcards can pique the interest of Silicon Valley young adults craving excitement and flavor.

Geographic Segmentation: print advertisement in English and Spanish newspapers, as well as Spanish coupon book distribution in the Santa Clara County.

We develop an advertising plan which is aimed at the specific market you have chosen to draw up in your proposed restaurant. It is essential to study, analyze, and identify the demographic, geographic, and psychographic factors of the market. This would provide a clear understanding about the customers of that area, and then the advertising strategy can be tailored accordingly. Let’s say you have decided to set up a Mexican restaurant. One can target the geographic demography, psychography, and consumers of Mexican food with advertising in the following ways:

5. Financial Projections

Sales forecasts It is important to be realistic when forecasting sales. How much you expect to sell determines the level of sales required to make a profit. There are two things that you can forecast sales on. Known, that which has a track record, and unknown which you must forecast based on your assessment of the market. For example, it would be a mistake to forecast 25% of a market share if you are a new player in the market as this would not be realistic. A good approach is to break the forecast into segments. For a restaurant, this could be food sales, wine sales, and liquor sales. Then assign each segment a level of sales based on a projected customer count. A restaurant should break sales forecasts down into daily, weekly, and annually. This will make it far easier to gauge the accuracy of your projections and take action if sales are less than expected. Fill out the worksheet available by clicking the link at the bottom of the page. This worksheet will take into account the seasonal variability of sales and provide a month-to-month estimate of sales for your business.

Estimate of starting capital Fail to plan, plan to fail. Here is where budgeting has its advantages. With figures from your business plan, you now know how much money you need to start and operate your restaurant until it starts to break even. Create an Excel worksheet to make these projections. You can’t do a budget too much. Remember, your aim is to provide a realistic view of the financial viability and potential of your restaurant.