How to use Business Plan Software for a Catering Business

A catering business should have a business plan to officially have on paper the ideas of developing repeat catering business and to develop relationships with local businesses. Using business plan software to accomplish this goal is a smart idea.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Gather all your paperwork that you've used for your business. Even with business plan software, writing a business plan is no small task. Gather any record keeping you have for catering jobs and expenditures. You want to have all this information handy while you work on the plan.
2. Select business plan options on the software that will pertain to your business. You want sections on expenditures for travel, equipment, food and salaries. You want sections on income for business and residential customers.
3. Create a plan with your target consumers in mind. For a catering business, that could be most anyone, so look back at the history of jobs you've been hired for and/or consider specializing in a certain type of catering.
4. Type your catering business plan into the software, using the prompts. Specialize your plan to your catering business by creating headers for your specific needs like "Marketing plan for residential customers" and "Marketing plan for commercial business." Catering companies are unique in that they are basically restaurants on wheels and offer a wide variety of services. Your business plan should reflect that.
5. Hit the Print button on the business plan software and keep a copy of your plan handy. Send a copy to your prospective lenders, if necessary.