Drafting a Restaurant Business Plan

When drafting a restaurant business plan it is essential that several key areas be examined. From market climate to competitors, a restaurant business plan must include vital information about sales projections, consumer patterns and marketing trends within the industry. Read on to learn how you can create an effective business plan for your restaurant.

Instructions

1. Evaluate the strength of the business concept. Outline the business concept for investors, based on the strength of the restaurant in the industry. Explain how the cuisine, business idea or business team will establish an edge over similar restaurants or competitors currently visible within the market. Think in terms of theme. Will you partner with Chef Gordon Ramsel to open the first Ethiopian style cuisine in Glasgow, Scotland? Or will you franchise the first vegan-influenced Indian restaurant across Latin America?

2. Evaluate the market. Perform a cross-analysis projection of how you expect the business to perform in the market. Provide a market analysis to inform investors of projected sales and revenue for the business. Include specific details about how the product or service will change the industry or impact competitive markets. Consider ancillary rights and sales. For example, will the restaurant market a brand of cooking oils or pasta sauces for sale at the restaurant or online? What about cookbooks? Will the restaurant offer a catering service?

3. Outline a marketing strategy. Overview the market, paying attention to competition and consumer patterns within the industry, to determine a marketing and sales strategy. Use the model to answer the question of risk, customer need, development opportunity within the market and the target market. Consider if you will market the restaurant to an upscale, professional, wealthy clientele or a modern, sophisticated, artistic client base or a young, hip and trendy consumer segment? This will determine pricing and menu options, as well as the overall style and design of the business.

4. Name the players. Name key investors, management, departmental heads. Name the players invested in the restaurant and include information about stock holdings, if applicable, holding votes, equity ownership and property owned.

5. Showcase your restaurant. Use the above information to package and showcase your restaurant for management, investors and potential investors. The outline will define the business, instruct how management governs the restaurant and identify key areas of interest that directly contribute to future successes.

Tips & Warnings

• Hire a professional if you do not have the skills necessary to accurately analyze the market or create a marketing plan.

• Avoid using a template; instead go for a unique and interesting approach that will help bring in new investors or more clearly identify the objectives of the restaurant.

Resources

• Hire a professional