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How to Write a Restaurant Business Plan: Complete Guide

• January 31, 2023
• Food & Beverage

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Whether you’re looking to raise funding from private investors or to get a loan from a bank (like a SBA loan) to open a restaurant , you will need to prepare a solid business plan.

In this article we go through, step-by-step, all the different sections you need in the business plan of your restaurant . Use this template to create a complete, clear and solid business plan that get you funded. Let’s dive in!

1. Restaurant Executive Summary

The executive summary of a business plan gives a sneak peek of the information about your business plan to lenders and/or investors.

If the information you provide here is not concise, informative, and scannable, potential lenders and investors will lose interest.

Though the executive summary is the first and the most important section, it should normally be the last section you write because it will have the summary of different sections included in the entire plan.

Why do you need a business plan for a restaurant?

The purpose of a business plan is to secure funding through one of the following channels:

• Obtain bank financing or secure a loan from other lenders (such as a SBA loan )
• Obtain private investments from investment funds, angel investors, etc.
• Obtain a public or a private grant

How to write your restaurant’s executive summary?

Provide a precise and high-level summary of every section that you have included in your business plan. The information and the data you include in this segment should grab the attention of potential investors and lenders immediately.

Also make sure that the executive summary doesn’t exceed 2 pages in total: it’s supposed to be a summary for investors and lenders who don’t have time to scroll through 40-50 pages, so keep it short and brief.

The executive summary usually consists of 5 major sub-sections:

• Business overview : start by introducing your restaurant and the products and services that you intend offer. Mention the type of restaurant you intend to open (such as fine dining, casual dining, fast casual, ghost restaurant, café, pub, etc.), the menu and prices. Also add here the total number of customers your restaurant can host at once, its location, and some details on the surface and the design layout
• Market analysis : summarise the market where you will operate and provide a brief about the target audience, market size , competitors, etc. No need to provide granular data here, save it for the Market Overview section later on (or the appendix)
• People : introduce your restaurant’s management and employee structure. Provide a brief (no more than a couple of sentences each) of the knowledge and experience of the team. Also, speak about your hiring plans.
• Financial plan : how much profit and revenue do you expect in the next 5 years? When will you reach the break-even point and start making profits? You can include here a chart depicting your key financials statements
• Funding ask : what loan/investment/grant are you seeking? How much do you need? How long will this last?

Restaurant Financial Model

Download an expert-built 5-year Excel financial model for your business plan

2. Restaurant Business Overview

This is the section where you will provide details about your restaurant and the chosen business model. You must address some important questions that lenders and/or investors generally ask .

Here is a quick list of some of those questions you must address:

• What is the rationale behind you opening this type of restaurant today?
• What’s the restaurant’s location and why did you select that location?
• Why did you select the type of restaurant you want to open?
• What will be the products and services you will offer?
• What will be your pricing strategy and why?
• What will be your opening days / hours?
• How many customers can you serve at once (capacity)?
• What is the surface of your restaurant? How is the restaurant designed (incl. dining rooms and kitchen area)?
• What will be the legal structure of your company?

a) History of the Project

Any business must have two components:

• Passion & experience of the business owner
• Rationale behind starting this type of business today

Passion & experience

You may or may not have prior experience. If you have experience, speak about it and how it will help you to run your business. For instance, you may have been a restaurant manager in a popular restaurant for 6 years, and now you want to start your own restaurant and use your knowledge to run it more efficiently.

However, if you don’t already have experience, that’s fine. You must demonstrate your passion and some industry knowledge (you may have conducted thorough research).

What is your restaurant’s mission?

For example, there may not be any fine dining restaurant in your area where wealthy residents or tourists can enjoy an upscale meal experience in a sophisticated and elegant environment.

But that’s not all: your market must be suitable for your business to thrive.

For instance, if you are planning to open a fine dining restaurant in a low-income area, it is probably not going to attract many customers. Similarly, if the population of the target market has a high percentage of people preferring takeaway/delivery food options because of their busy lifestyle, a fine dining restaurant may not be a good idea.

b) Business Model

This sub-section of the Business Overview will explain your business model. Describe the following points briefly:

• Will you buy an existing restaurant and do some remodeling, or will you start a new restaurant and design it from scratch?
• Will you buy a franchise or do you plan to open an independent restaurant instead?
• The type of restaurant you want to open and why

What are the different types of restaurants?

There are multiple types of restaurants. Some of them that you may consider include, but are not limited to:

• Fine Dining : They provide upscale meal experience with several courses. The atmosphere is sophisticated and classy. They can be franchises or individually owned. Of course, they are quite expensive.
• Casual Dining : This type of restaurants serve customers at their tables and the food prices are moderate. The atmosphere is not very sophisticated. Though the décor is often unique, it can be based on the type of food a restaurant serves.
• Fast Casual : These restaurants will make your food available quickly, but the food is healthier than fast food. Also, food is cheaper than casual dining. They have a counter service (you must collect food from the counter) and the décor is more contemporary.
• Ghost Kitchens : ghost kitchens (or “dark kitchen”) restaurants do not have a storefront, a dining room, signage, or décor. They operate using food delivery partners and take orders through online ordering or phone ordering.
• Fast Food : Think of Taco Bell , KFC, Burger King, etc. The food is relatively cheap and is served quickly. Food ingredients are usually preheated or precooked, and food delivery happens over the counter or via a drive-through window.
• Buffet Style : These restaurants are similar to the Family Style restaurants but with a fundamental difference. People get to select from a selection of food that are made available against a fixed price. However, customers need to serve themselves and they are allowed to return to the buffet for as many times as they want.

c) Products & Services

Of course, the products you will offer in your restaurant will depend on the type of restaurant you are opening. A Buffet Style restaurant, for example, usually prefer specialty cuisines like Indian, pizza, home cooking, Chinese, etc. Similarly, if you are opting for a Diner, you will most likely offer fried foods (fish & chicken), breakfast items, burgers, etc. at a low cost.

It is a good idea to give a list of food and drinks that you want to sell. Depending on the scale of your operations, you may have too many menu items. It is not possible to list every item on your menu, but make sure that you are listing the most important ones. If you specialize in one or a few specific dishes, mention that, too.

d) Pricing Strategy

In this sub-section, you must explain the pricing strategy of your restaurant. If you have multiple competitors (in the same niche) in the vicinity, you cannot have huge pricing variation, especially for the similar food items. Pricing will, of course, depend on the type of restaurant you are opening, and the food items you are offering.

For example, if you are sourcing the raw materials only from organic farms that do not use fertilizers and pesticides, your menu items will have a higher price tag.

Similarly, you cannot expect to charge expensive Fine Dining-like prices if you are opening a Casual Dining restaurant instead.

Create a pricing table and ensure to provide an average price range for your products. You don’t need to provide exact pricing for each product. Use price ranges instead.

Offering a pricing table is important because your pricing strategy will allow investors to tie your pricing strategy with your financial projections .

e) Legal Structure

Finally, your business overview section should specify what type of business structure you want. Is this a corporation or a partnership (LLC)? Who are the investors? How much equity percentage do they own? Is there a Board of Directors? If so, whom? Do they have experience in the industry?

3. Restaurant Market Overview

A complete understanding of the market where you want to operate is important for the success of your business.

For example, if your intentions are to open a classy Fine Dining restaurant in a low-income area, you will not attract enough customers. Similarly, if you want to open a fast-food restaurant in a place where family dining is more popular, it will be a disaster.

Therefore, you must cover here 3 important areas:

• Market size & growth : how big is the restaurant industry in your area? What is its growth rate (or decline rate) and what are the factors contributing to its growth or decline?
• Competition overview : how many competitors are there? How do they compare vs. your business? How can you differentiate yourself from them?
• Customer analysis : who is your target audience? What type of restaurants do they prefer? How regularly do they visit restaurants for dining? What type of food do they prefer? How much do they spend at restaurants on average?

a) Restaurant Industry Status Quo

How big is the restaurant industry in the us.

According to Finance Online , there were over 1 million restaurants (all types combined) in the US in 2021. The industry recovered post a 60% drop in sales in April 2020 due to the pandemic, and recorded an annualised market size of over $1 trillion dollars in July 2022 ($1,033 billion)..!

How big is the restaurant industry in your area?

Once you provide the overall picture of the US, divert your attention to the area where you want to operate. It might not be possible to find region or area-specific studies, and hence, you must estimate the market size .

For example, if there are 1,000,000 restaurants in the country with total annual revenue of $1 trillion, the average annual revenue for each establishment is around $1 million.

Therefore, if the area where you want to open your restaurant has 30 restaurants, you can safely assume that the restaurant industry in your area is worth approximately $30 million.

How fast is the restaurant industry growing in the area?

You must show the expected growth rate of the restaurant industry in your area. This information may not be available via online research papers. However, assessing the growth rate will not be difficult as you can use metrics such as the number of competitors in your area.

For instance, if there were 25 restaurants in 2018 and 30 restaurants in 2022, the average annual growth rate would be 5%.

What are the current restaurant market trends in your area?

It is vital to understand the trends of the restaurant industry in your area. Understanding trends will allow you to devise marketing strategies.

Understanding trends won’t be easy. You must conduct research and talk with your target audience. Additionally, you must also study your competitors to understand their target audience, the products they sell, etc.

Some common questions you may ask the target audience include:

• What type of restaurants do they prefer?
• At what time of the day do they prefer to visit a restaurant (breakfast, lunch, dinner)?
• How frequently do they visit restaurants?
• What type of foods do they usually order?

You can ask as many questions as you need to understand the evolving trends.

b) Competition Overview

Studying your competitors’ business models is vital. You need to understand what makes them successful or why they fail. A clear understanding of their food offerings, marketing strategies, etc., will allow you to provide a better service.

If your competitors are offering nearly the same products & services, then what is their market share and how do they market their products & services to attract new customers?

It is always a good idea to do some research (if necessary, physically visit your competitors without revealing your business intentions) and create a comparative table summarizing their product & service offerings, marketing strategies, target audience, etc.

Here is a sample table that you can use:

The table you will create will depend on what information you need and want to include based on your proposed business model.

Restaurant SWOT Analysis

Try to provide a SWOT analysis . It must be crisp and highly focused. SWOT stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats.

Here is a sample that you can use as a reference:

• Strength: 8 years of senior manager experience in a reputed Michelin Star Fine Dining restaurant operated & owned by a renowned chef and a master’s degree in Hospitality management, experienced senior chef with 22 years of experience
• Weakness: Startup cost, zero reputation
• Opportunities: An affluent neighborhood with a rising demand for fine dining establishments, only one fine dining restaurant in the 3-mile radius
• Threats: Increasing cost of raw materials because of geo-political turmoil restricting international trade routes

A clear understanding of your strengths and weakness along with opportunities and threats in the real market can help you to design your marketing strategy. It also helps potential investors to assess the risk and reward profile of your business.

c) Customer Analysis

This is the sub-section where you will provide a detailed analysis of your target audience.

Some important points that you must include in your customer analysis include:

• Age and gender distribution (you can get local demographic data from census.gov )
• Per capita expenditure on dining
• Frequency of restaurant visits
• Average monthly income and disposable income
• Average bill size per visit
• Average yearly or monthly spending on food at restaurants
• Type of restaurants preferred
• The expected price range for food
• Inclination towards loyalty programs & free perks
• Things they dislike about existing restaurants and what they expect to be improved

You can add as many data points as required to validate your business decision. The idea here is to display your deep understanding of the target audience and their needs, preferences, and expectations. This knowledge can help you to tailor your products & services to attract new customers and increase sales .

4. Sales & Marketing Strategy

This is the segment where you outline your customer acquisition strategy. Try to answer the following questions:

• What is your USP ?
• What are the different marketing strategies you will use?
• How do you intend to track the success of your marketing strategy?
• What is your CAC or customer acquisition cost ?
• What is your marketing budget?
• What introductory promos and offers do you intend to provide for attracting new customers?

Let’s expand a bit on a few questions below:

What marketing channels do restaurants use?

A few marketing channels that restaurants typically use are:

• Word-of-mouth, recommendations,
• Local listing & reviews (e.g. Google reviews)
• Online booking platforms (e.g. TheFork , Opentable , etc.)
• Influencer marketing
• Print media, etc.

It is not necessary to use all channels. You can start by focusing on a few of them and include other marketing strategies later instead.

What is your unique selling proposition?

In other words, how do you differentiate yourself vs. competitors? This is very important as you might need to win customers from competitors.

A few examples of USPs can be:

• Organic raw materials : we source organic farm fresh raw materials from local farmers
• Authentic Indian food : prepared by a Michelin Star chef from India
• Family run restaurant : run by a family, helping families connect over delicious food
• Price : affordable food & menu for the quality vs. competitors
• Location : the restaurant is located in a busy street, thereby attracting many customers who can easily glance over the menu
• Uniqueness : you may be the only tapas-style restaurant around, in an area where people are fond of this type of restaurant

5. Management & People

You must address 2 things here:

• The management team and their experience / track record
• The organizational structure : different team members and who reports to whom?

a) Management

Small businesses often fail because of managerial weaknesses. Thus, having a strong management team is vital. Highlight the experience and education of senior managers that you intend to hire to oversee your restaurant business.

Describe their duties, responsibilities, and roles. Also, highlight their previous experience and explain how they succeeded in their previous roles.

It is also important that you explain how their experiences and qualifications help you in implementing the restaurant you are proposing. If they have specialized training, achievement, and experience (such as a degree in hospitality management, 3 Michelin stars, experience in developing menus for 5-star hotels, etc.), add that information.

b) Organization Structure

Even if you haven’t already hired a restaurant manager, server, chef, head cook, busser, cashier, bartenders, and other relevant staff members, you must provide here a chart of the organizational structure defining the hierarchy of reporting.

6. Financial Plan

The financial plan is perhaps, with the executive summary, the most important section of any business plan for a restaurant.

Indeed, a solid financial plan tells lenders that your business is viable and can repay the loan you need from them. If you’re looking to raise equity from private investors, a solid financial plan will prove them your restaurant is an attractive investment.

There should be 2 sections to your financial plan section:

• The startup costs of your project (if you plan to start a new restaurant, renovate your restaurant, etc.)
• The 5-year financial projections

a) Startup Costs

Before we expand on 5-year financial projections in the following section, it’s always best practice to start with listing the startup costs of your restaurant . For a restaurant, startup costs are all the expenses you incur before you open your restaurant and start making sales . These expenses typically are:

• The leasing deposit for the space (if you rent) or to buy the real estate (if you buy)
• Renovations and improvements
• Equipment & appliances
• Furniture & tableware

Of course, the startup costs depend on a number of factors, like the size of your restaurant, its location, the facilities, the menu, etc.

On average, it costs $484,000 to $685,000 to open a casual restaurant with 150 seats (2,500 sq. ft.) in the US.

Note that these costs are for illustrative purposes and may not be fully relevant for your business. For more information on how much it costs to open and run a restaurant, read our article here .

b) Financial Projections

In addition to startup costs, you will now need to build a solid 5-year financial model for your restaurant.

Your financial projections should be built using a spreadsheet (e.g. Excel or Google Sheets) and presented in the form of tables and charts in the business plan of your restaurant.

As usual, keep it concise here and save details (for example detailed financial statements, financial metrics, key assumptions used for the projections) for the appendix instead.

Your financial projections should answer at least the following questions:

• How much revenue do you expect to generate over the next 5 years?
• When do you expect to break even ?
• How much cash will you burn until you get there?
• What’s the impact of a change in pricing (say 15%) on your margins?
• What is your average customer acquisition cost?

You should include here your 3 financial statements (income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement). This means you must forecast:

• The number of covers (customers or orders) over time ;
• Your expected revenue ;
• Operating costs to run the business ;
• Any other cash flow items (e.g. capex, debt repayment, etc.).

When projecting your revenue, make sure to sensitize pricing, cost of raw materials (food supplies) and your sales volume. Indeed, a small change in these assumptions may have a significant impact on your revenues and profits.

7. Use of Funds

This is the last section of the business plan of your restaurant. Now that we have explained what your restaurant’s business model and concept are, what is your menu, your marketing strategy, etc., this section must now answer the following questions:

• How much funding do you need ?
• What financial instrument(s) do you need: is this equity or debt, or even a free-money public grant?
• How long will this funding last?
• Where else does the money come from? If you apply for a SBA loan for example, where does the other part of the investment come from (your own capital, private investors?)

If you raise debt:

• What percentage of the total funding the loan represents?
• What is the corresponding Debt Service Coverage Ratio ?

If you raise equity

• What percentage ownership are you selling as part of this funding round?
• What is the corresponding valuation of your business?

Use of Funds

Any restaurant business plan should include a clear use of funds section. This is where you explain how the money will be spent.

Will you spend most of the loan / investment in paying your employees’ salaries? Or will it cover mostly the cost for the lease deposit and the renovation?

Those are very important questions you should be able to answer in the blink of an eye. Don’t worry, this should come straight from your financial projections. If you’ve built solid projections like in our restaurant financial model template , you won’t have any issues answering these questions.

For the use of funds, we also recommend using a pie chart like the one we have in our financial model template where we outline the main expenses categories as shown below.

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Table of Contents

The restaurant industry is as dynamic as it is diverse, with various types of restaurants catering to different culinary preferences. For those aspiring to open a new restaurant, understanding this vast landscape is crucial. One of the pivotal steps before diving into this venture is to create a business plan. It not only defines the unique essence of your eatery but also lays out a roadmap for its successful operation. Familiarizing oneself with the different types of restaurants is essential to pinpoint your niche and stand out in a bustling market.

What is A Restaurant Business Plan? 

When you’re planning to open a restaurant, a comprehensive restaurant business plan is your blueprint to success. It serves as a strategic guide, outlining your restaurant’s vision, objectives, and operational procedures. But beyond its functional use for the business owner, a well-crafted plan becomes a tool to attract potential investors.

Writing a business plan requires detailing every aspect of your restaurant dream, from the concept and target demographic to the financial projections and marketing strategies. For restaurant owners, this document encapsulates the essence of their establishment, ensuring they remain on the right track. Moreover, presenting this plan to potential investors offers a clear, organized view of your vision, increasing their confidence in the venture.

Ff you want to get your restaurant off the ground and appeal to both patrons and investors, a restaurant business plan is not just a recommendation—it’s a necessity.

Why A Business Plan Is Important For A Successful Restaurant Business?

Making a restaurant a reality isn’t just about great food or an attractive interior; it’s about laying the groundwork for success with a good business plan. A well-crafted restaurant business plan comes with a slew of benefits, not least of which are:

Clear Vision and Objectives: One of the foremost reasons to plan for your restaurant is to articulate a clear vision and set definitive objectives. This process helps you refine your restaurant ideas, making them more viable in the real world. With a concrete vision, you can maintain a consistent direction and avoid being swayed by fleeting trends that don’t align with your brand.

Financial Planning: Money is the lifeline of any venture. A restaurant business plan provides a detailed financial blueprint, determining startup costs, projecting revenues, and outlining budgetary constraints. It anticipates potential financial hurdles, allowing restaurant owners to make informed decisions. By meticulously charting out every financial detail, restaurant owners can ensure they have the necessary funds to sustain the business, even during lean periods.

Operational Efficiency: Operational hiccups can turn even the most promising restaurant ideas into failures. With a comprehensive business plan, you can optimize staffing, inventory management, customer service, and daily operations. A good plan streamlines the restaurant’s workflow, enhancing efficiency and customer satisfaction.

In a world teeming with culinary ventures, a business plan is essential to stand out. It gives clarity to your vision, ensures sound financial footing, and optimizes operations, paving the way for the restaurant needs to thrive.

Step-by-step Guide To Write A  Restaurant Business Plan

Starting a restaurant is a dream for many, but to make that restaurant dream into a reality, one needs a structured approach. A winning restaurant business plan provides a comprehensive roadmap to bring your vision to life. Here’s how to craft that perfect plan:

1. Executive Summary

The executive summary is a snapshot of your entire restaurant business plan. Typically, it should be concise, about one to two pages long, capturing the essence of what your restaurant is about and what it aims to achieve.

What should you cover in an Executive Summary?

• Introduce your bakery business : Begin by describing the kind of restaurant you’re opening.
• State your mission and vision : Your mission statement reflects your restaurant’s core purpose, while the vision paints a picture of its future.
• Outline your objective : Define the goals for your new business.
• Provide a financial overview : Offer a brief insight into the financial state of your business.

2. Restaurant Business Description

This section provides an in-depth look into what your restaurant is and what it aims to offer to the diner.

What should you cover in the restaurant description section?

• Talk about your bakery concept : Describe your restaurant, its theme, and its unique approach to serving patrons.
• Explain your unique selling proposition (USP) : What sets your restaurant apart?
• Operational model : Explain how you’ll operate your restaurant before and after opening.

3. Market Analysis

Market analysis provides data-driven insights derived from thorough market research. It helps restaurant owners understand their audience and the market landscape.

• Target market : Delve into the demographics of your potential clientele.
• Location : Describe where your restaurant fits geographically and why it’s an ideal spot.
• Competition : Analyze other restaurants in the area and their offerings.

4. Organization and Management

This section presents the business structure and the key players driving your restaurant’s operations.

What should you cover in the organization and management plan?

• Restaurant ownership information : Detail the type of business entity (e.g., LLC, Partnership) and ownership distribution.
• Profiles of your Restaurant management team : Introduce your core team members, their roles, and their experience in the restaurant industry.

5. Sample Menu

This section is a sneak peek into what diners can expect when they visit.

What should you consider when creating a sample menu?

• Menu items : List down dishes and beverages you’ll offer.
• Unique Selling Proposition (USP) : What makes your menu stand out?
• Menu Pricing : Provide a range or specific prices for your offerings.

6. Marketing Strategy

The marketing strategy outlines how you plan to market your restaurant and drive sales.

What should you cover in the marketing strategy for your restaurant business?

• Define your brand : Discuss the brand identity – from logo to restaurant design.
• Plan how you’ll attract diners, from online promotions to loyalty programs,  SEO for website, and partnerships with local local businesses
• Considering using an  online food ordering system  in your food truck
• Create a  digital menu with QR code  to make your menu easy for your customers to access online

7. Business Operations

This section delves into the day-to-day operations of running your restaurant.

What operational issues should you address in your business plan?

• Supply chain : Detail how you’ll procure ingredients and manage inventory.
• Operating hours : What days and hours will you operate? Consider peak meal times and special events.
• Staffing : Discuss hiring, training, and staff management plans.
• Equipment : List the equipment needed to run the restaurant.

8. Financial and Loans

How Much Does It Cost to Start a Restaurant?

Depending on the type of restaurant you’re opening, costs can vary significantly. Starting a bar business, for instance, can range anywhere from $95,000 to over $2 million. Several factors can influence these numbers. The size of the restaurant, its location, and the culinary offerings play crucial roles in the total investment. Want to delve deeper into the specifics? This comprehensive guide on how much it costs to open a small restaurant breaks down the various expenses you can expect.

How Many Ways to Fund Your Restaurant?

For every restaurant dream, funding is a pivotal aspect. From traditional bank loans to seeking angel investors or crowd-funding, there’s a multitude of avenues available for those considering opening a restaurant.

Important Questions to Consider When You Create Your Funding Request

Beyond just how much you plan to spend, you’ll want to include details on projected ROI, repayment strategies, and how the funds will directly help grow your business. Remember, lenders and investors are most interested in understanding how their contributions will help the restaurant flourish and ensure a return on their investment.

9. Financial Projections

Financial projections are a crucial aspect of the business plan, providing a roadmap for operating the restaurant and giving potential investors a clear picture of your business strategy.

Break-even analysis

This analysis tells you when your restaurant may start to turn a profit, balancing out initial investments and operational costs.  It’s essential to understand this when you plan to gain traction and open the restaurant.

To calculate the break-even point, use this formula:  Fixed Costs / (Price – Variable Costs) = Break Even Point  

Projected profit and loss statement

This section should include estimations of your future revenues, costs, and profits over a specific period, helping you and investors visualize the financial health of your restaurant.

Cash flow analysis

A comprehensive cash flow analysis is part of your business plan, showing the movement of cash in and out of your business. This plan can help identify periods of potential cash shortages and allow for strategic preparations.

Restaurant Business Plan Template

As you embark on the journey to make your restaurant dream come true, using a free template for guidance can be invaluable. This example provides a glimpse into what a business plan can look like. However, always remember to choose your restaurant’s features that align with your vision and market demand. For more insights, consider consulting various restaurant business plan examples and business plan samples to get a holistic view.

Mission : “To provide an unforgettable dining experience by blending authentic flavors with a modern twist.”

Vision : “To be the leading global chain offering our signature fusion cuisine.”

Restaurant Description : “DineFusion, an innovative blend of Italian and Japanese cuisines, located at the heart of downtown.”

Costs : Initial investment of $150,000.

Profits : Expected yearly net profit of $75,000 after operating costs.

2. Description of the Restaurant

Restaurant Concept : A fusion of Italian and Japanese cuisines, bringing together the best of both worlds.

Restaurant Name : “DineFusion”

Restaurant Type : Casual dining

Restaurant Location : 123 Downtown Street, Metropolis

Order Fulfillment : Dine-in, takeaway, and online delivery through partnering platforms.

Working Hours : 10 AM – 10 PM daily.

Type of Cuisine : Italian-Japanese Fusion

Offer : From sushi rolls with a twist of Italian herbs to pizzas topped with sashimi. Include a sample menu for a detailed look.

Unique Selling Point : “Where East meets West on a Plate!”

4. Market and Competition Analysis

Market Analysis : 

Target Customer : Young professionals aged 25-40 and tourists.

Size of the Target Customer : Approximately 150,000 individuals fit our target profile in Metropolis.

Competition Analysis : 

Size of the Competition : Collectively serve an estimated 500 customers daily.

Competitors’ Offer : Traditional fusion dishes without the unique Italian-Japanese blend.

Competitors’ Prices : Average meal price is $25.

5. Investment Plan (Detailed Cost Analysis)

Investment Cost :

• Renovation: $50,000
• Kitchen Equipment: $40,000
• Initial Inventory: $10,000
• Licenses and Permits: $5,000
• Marketing and Promotion: $20,000
• Miscellaneous: $25,000

Operating Costs (Monthly) :

• Rent: $5,000
• Salaries: $15,000
• Utilities: $1,000
• Inventory Replenishment: $4,000
• Marketing: $2,000
• Miscellaneous: $3,000

Total Cost : Estimated monthly operating cost of $30,000.

6. Financial Forecast

Based on the expected customer footfall and average ticket size, we anticipate monthly revenues of $60,000, with a profit of $30,000 before taxes.

Owner/Manager : Jane Smith, with 10 years of experience in the restaurant industry.

Chef : Marco Tanaka, a specialist in both Italian and Japanese cuisines.

Supporting Staff : 10 members, including servers, cleaners, and kitchen assistants.

8. Marketing Plan

Our marketing strategy involves an initial launch on social media platforms, collaborations with influencers, and partnerships with delivery platforms. Periodic offers, loyalty programs, and events like “fusion food fests” will help in consistent customer engagement.

Tips For Creating A Successful Restaurant Business Plan 

Opening your restaurant is exhilarating, but to transform your culinary dreams into business a reality, a well-crafted business plan is paramount. Here are some tips to ensure success:

Thorough Research : Before you put pen to paper, conduct in-depth research. Understand your target market, competition, and potential challenges. This will not only guide the rest of your plan but also demonstrate your commitment and seriousness to potential restaurant investors.

Use a Template : If you’re unsure where to begin, use a business plan template to get started. It will offer structure and ensure you cover essential sections of your business plan.

Clarity is Key : Your business plan should be concise yet comprehensive. Avoid jargon. Remember, you may be presenting this to individuals who might not be familiar with restaurant terminologies.

Be Realistic with Projections : Overestimating your future success can be as detrimental as underselling it. Ensure your financial forecasts are realistic and achievable.

Highlight What Sets You Apart : Whether it’s a unique theme, a special dish, or an innovative service model, pinpoint what makes your restaurant stand out.

Seek Feedback : Before finalizing, seek feedback. Whether from industry peers, potential restaurant investors, or mentors, a fresh set of eyes can offer invaluable insights.

Remember, to make a restaurant business plan truly effective, it should be a living document, revised and updated as you gather more information, make decisions, and choose your restaurant’s path forward. Keep refining and adjusting to ensure the best path to make the business a thriving success.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. what should be included in a restaurant plan, 2. what is a strategy plan of a restaurant, 3.  how do i write a business proposal for a food business, 4. how do you write a marketing plan for a restaurant.

A marketing plan for a restaurant should start with an understanding of your target customers. Identify where they spend their time online and offline and strategize accordingly. Outline your brand voice and how you’ll communicate your unique selling proposition. Factor in promotions, advertising campaigns, and loyalty programs. Also, consider modern restaurant technology tools that can aid in marketing, such as CRM systems or social media analytics tools. Ensure that each marketing initiative has clear objectives, a set budget, and methods to track effectiveness.

Opening a restaurant is a thrilling yet intricate endeavor. Every section of the restaurant business plan serves as a roadmap, guiding entrepreneurs towards realizing their culinary dreams. As you choose your restaurant’s concept, location, and design, always revert to your business plan to ensure alignment with your vision. In essence, a meticulously crafted plan not only provides clarity and direction but also instills confidence in potential stakeholders. Remember, success in the restaurant industry goes beyond delectable dishes; it lies in foresight, strategy, and relentless execution.

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Restaurant Business Plan: What To Include, Plus 8 Examples

• Business Growth & Management , Templates & Guides

Do you want to ensure the success of your new foodservice endeavor? Write a restaurant business plan.

In this article, the experts at Sling tell you why a business plan is vital for both new and existing businesses and give you tips on what to include.

Table Of Contents

What Is A Restaurant Business Plan?

Why is a restaurant business plan important, questions to ask first, what to include in an effective restaurant business plan, how to format a restaurant business plan, efficient workforce management is essential for success.

At its most basic, a restaurant business plan is a written document that describes your restaurant’s goals and the steps you will take to make those goals a reality.

This business plan also describes the nature of the business itself, financial projections, background information, and organizational strategies  that govern the day-to-day activity of your restaurant.

A restaurant business plan is vital for the success of your endeavor because, without one, it is very difficult — sometimes even impossible — to obtain funding from an investor or a bank.

Without that all-important starting or operational capital, you may not be able to keep your doors open for long, if at all.

Even if funding isn’t a primary concern, a business plan provides you — the business owner or manager — with clear direction on how to translate general strategies into actionable plans  for reaching your goals.

The plan can help solidify everything from the boots-on-the-ground functional strategy  to the mid-level business strategy  all the way up to the driving-force corporate strategy .

Think of this plan as a roadmap that guides your way when things are going smoothly and, more importantly, when they aren’t.

If you want to give your restaurant the best chance for success, start by writing a business plan.

Sitting down to write a restaurant business plan can be a daunting task.

As you’ll see in the What To Include In An Effective Restaurant Business Plan section below, you’ll need a lot of information and detail to ensure that the final document is both complete and effective.

Instead of starting with word one, it is hugely beneficial to answer a number of general questions first.

These questions will help you narrow down the information to include in your plan so the composition process feels less difficult.

The questions are:

• What problem does the business’s product or service solve?
• What niche will the business fill?
• What is the business’s solution to the problem?
• Who are the business’s customers?
• How will the business market and sell its products to them?
• What is the size of the market for this solution?
• What is the business model for the business?
• How will the business make money?
• Who are the competitors?
• How will the business maintain a competitive advantage?
• How does the business plan to manage growth?
• Who will run the business?
• What makes those individuals qualified to do so?
• What are the risks and threats confronting the business?
• What can you do to mitigate those risks and threats?
• What are the business’s capital and resource requirements?
• What are the business’s historical and projected financial statements?

Depending on your business, some of these questions may not apply or you may not have applicable answers.

Nevertheless, it helps to think about, and try to provide details for, the whole list so your finished restaurant business plan is as complete as possible.

Once you’ve answered the questions for your business, you can transfer a large portion of that information to the business plan itself.

We’ll discuss exactly what to include in the next section.

In this section, we’ll show you what to include in an effective restaurant business plan and provide a brief example of each component.

1) Executive Summary

You should always start any business plan with an executive summary. This gives the reader a brief introduction into common elements, such as:

• Mission statement
• Overhead costs
• Labor costs
• Return on investment (ROI)

This portion of your plan should pique the reader’s interest and make them want to read more.

Fanty & Mingo’s is a 50-seat fine-dining restaurant that will focus on Sweruvian (Swedish/Peruvian) fusion fare.

We will keep overhead and labor costs low thanks to simple but elegant decor , highly skilled food-prep staff, and well-trained servers.

Because of the location and surrounding booming economy, we estimate ROI at 20 percent per annum.

2) Mission Statement

A mission statement is a short description of what your business does for its customers, employees, and owners.

This is in contrast to your business’s vision statement which is a declaration of objectives that guide internal decision-making.

While the two are closely related and can be hard to distinguish, it often helps to think in terms of who, what, why, and where.

The vision statement is the where of your business — where you want your business to be and where you want your customers and community to be as a result.

The mission statement is the who , what , and why of your business — it’s an action plan that makes the vision statement a reality

Here’s an example of a mission statement for our fictional company:

Fanty and Mingo’s takes pride in making the best Sweruvian food, providing fast, friendly, and accurate service. It is our goal to be the employer of choice and offer team members opportunities for growth, advancement, and a rewarding career in a fun and safe working environment.

3) Company Description

In this section of your restaurant business plan, you fully introduce your company to the reader. Every business’s company description will be different and include its own pertinent information.

Useful details to include are:

• Owner’s details
• Brief description of their experience
• Legal standing
• Short-term goals
• Long-term goals
• Brief market study
• An understanding of the trends in your niche
• Why your business will succeed in these market conditions

Again, you don’t have to include all of this information in your company description. Choose the ones that are most relevant to your business and make the most sense to communicate to your readers.

Fanty & Mingo’s will start out as an LLC, owned and operated by founders Malcolm Reynolds and Zoe Washburne. Mr. Reynolds will serve as managing partner and Ms. Washburne as general manager.

We will combine atmosphere, friendly and knowledgeable staff, and menu variety to create a unique experience for our diners and to reach our goal of high value in the fusion food niche.

Our gross margin is higher than industry average, but we plan to spend more on payroll to attract the best team.

We estimate moderate growth for the first two years while word-of-mouth about our restaurant spreads through the area.

4) Market Analysis

A market analysis is a combination of three different views of the niche you want to enter:

• The industry  as a whole
• The competition your restaurant will face
• The marketing  you’ll execute to bring in customers

This section should be a brief introduction to these concepts. You can expand on them in other sections of your restaurant business plan.

The restaurant industry in our chosen location is wide open thanks in large part to the revitalization of the city’s center.

A few restaurants have already staked their claim there, but most are bars and non-family-friendly offerings.

Fanty & Mingo’s will focus on both tourist and local restaurant clientele. We want to bring in people that have a desire for delicious food and an exotic atmosphere.

We break down our market into five distinct categories:

• High-end singles
• Businessmen and businesswomen

We will target those markets to grow our restaurant  by up to 17 percent per year.

Every restaurant needs a good menu, and this is the section within your restaurant business plan that you describe the food you’ll serve in as much detail as possible.

You may not have your menu design complete, but you’ll likely have at least a handful of dishes that serve as the foundation of your offerings.

It’s also essential to discuss pricing and how it reflects your overall goals and operating model. This will give potential investors and partners a better understanding of your business’s target price point and profit strategy.

We don’t have room to describe a sample menu in this article, but for more information on menu engineering, menu pricing, and even a menu template, check out these helpful articles from the Sling blog:

• Menu Engineering: What It Is And How It Can Increase Profits
• Restaurant Menu Pricing: 7 Tips To Maximize Profitability
• How To Design Your Menu | Free Restaurant Menu Template

6) Location

In this section, describe your potential location (or locations) so that you and your investors have a clear image of what the restaurant will look like.

Include plenty of information about the location — square footage, floor plan , design , demographics of the area, parking, etc. — to make it feel as real as possible.

We will locate Fanty & Mingo’s in the booming and rapidly expanding downtown sector of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Ideally, we will secure at least 2,000 square feet of space with a large, open-plan dining room and rich color scheme near the newly built baseball stadium to capitalize on the pre- and post-game traffic and to appeal to the young urban professionals that live in the area.

Parking will be available along side streets and in the 1,000-vehicle parking garage two blocks away.

7) Marketing

The marketing section of your restaurant business plan is where you should elaborate on the information you introduced in the Market Analysis section.

Go into detail about the plans you have to introduce your restaurant to the public and keep it at the top of their mind.

Fanty & Mingo’s will employ three distinct marketing tactics to increase and maintain customer awareness:

• Word-of-mouth/in-restaurant marketing
• Partnering with other local businesses
• Media exposure

We will direct each tactic at a different segment of our potential clientele in order to maximize coverage.

In the process of marketing to our target audience, we will endeavor to harness the reach of direct mail and broadcast media, the exclusivity of the VIP party, and the elegance of a highly trained sommelier and wait staff.

8) Financials

Even though the Financials section is further down in your restaurant business plan, it is one of the most important components for securing investors and bank funding.

We recommend hiring a trained accountant  to help you prepare this section so that it will be as accurate and informative as possible.

Fanty & Mingo’s needs $250,000 of capital investment over the next year and a half for the following:

• Renovations to leased space
• Dining room furniture
• Kitchen and food-prep equipment
• Liquor license

Projected profit and loss won’t jump drastically in the first year, but, over time, Fanty & Mingo’s will develop its reputation and client base. This will lead to more rapid growth toward the third and fourth years of business.

Most entrepreneurs starting a new business find it valuable to have multiple formats of their business plan.

The information, data, and details remain the same, but the length and how you present them will change to fit a specific set of circumstances.

Below we discuss the four most common business plan formats to cover a multitude of potential situations.

Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch is a short summary of your restaurant business plan’s executive summary.

Rather than being packed full of details, the elevator pitch is a quick teaser of sorts that you use on a short elevator ride (hence the name) to stimulate interest in potential customers, partners, and investors

As such, an effective elevator pitch is between 30 and 60 seconds and hits the high points of your restaurant business plan.

A pitch deck is a slide show and oral presentation that is designed to stimulate discussion and motivate interested parties to investigate deeper into your stakeholder plan (more on that below).

Most pitch decks are designed to cover the executive summary and include key graphs that illustrate market trends and benchmarks you used (and will use) to make decisions about your business.

Some entrepreneurs even include time and space in their pitch deck to demonstrate new products coming down the pipeline.

This won’t necessarily apply to a restaurant business plan, but, if logistics permit, you could distribute small samples of your current fare or tasting portions of new dishes you’re developing.

Stakeholder Plan (External)

A stakeholder plan is the standard written presentation that business owners use to describe the details of their business model to customers, partners, and potential investors.

The stakeholder plan can be as long as is necessary to communicate the current and future state of your business, but it must be well-written, well-formatted, and targeted at those looking at your business from the outside in.

Think of your stakeholder plan as a tool to convince others that they should get involved in making your business a reality. Write it in such a way that readers will want to partner with you to help your business grow.

Management Plan (Internal)

A management plan is a form of your restaurant business plan that describes the details that the owners and managers need to make the business run smoothly.

While the stakeholder plan is an external document, the management plan is an internal document.

Most of the details in the management plan will be of little or no interest to external stakeholders so you can write it with a higher degree of candor and informality.

After you’ve created your restaurant business plan, it’s time to take steps to make it a reality.

One of the biggest challenges in ensuring that your business runs smoothly and successfully is managing  and optimizing  your team. The Sling  app can help.

Sling not only includes powerful and intuitive artificial-intelligence-based scheduling tools but also many other features to help make your workforce management more efficient, including:

• Time and attendance tracking
• Built-in time clock
• Labor cost  optimization
• Data analysis and reporting
• Messaging and communication
• And much more…

With Sling, you can schedule faster, communicate better, and organize and manage your work from a single, integrated platform. And when you use Sling for all of your scheduling  needs, you’ll have more time to focus on bringing your restaurant business plan to life.

For more free resources to help you manage your business better, organize and schedule your team, and track and calculate labor costs, visit GetSling.com  today.

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This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, HR, or any other professional advice. Please contact an attorney or other professional for specific advice.

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How to Write a Comprehensive Restaurant Business Plan

From branding to financial mastery, pave the way for a thriving culinary business with a well-written restaurant business plan.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when opening a restaurant , especially when you’re trying to keep profits high while prioritizing a memorable guest experience. Of course, you want to foolproof everything in your restaurant, from your staffing needs to the cost of your food supplies , to ensure operations run as smoothly as possible. That's where a restaurant business plan comes into play, a powerful planning tool that any new restaurant owner or manager can utilize to keep everything in place, all while preparing for any future hiccups that might come your way.

According to Forbes , a restaurant business plan will help define your restaurant’s overall vision and even pave a path for future opportunities for growth. Investors, in particular, will treat your restaurant business plan as a litmus test to see if your restaurant is viable as a business itself.

Writing a restaurant business plan may seem daunting to the untrained eye since you’ll be thinking about information that can’t be found in a simple Google search or even a restaurant business plan template. But we're here to help.

Below you'll find an easy guide to help anyone looking to open a new restaurant for the first time. This guide covers the vital first steps, essential factors to consider before starting, and other helpful information to ensure your business plan looks and sounds as professional as possible.

Table of Contents

What is a restaurant business plan, benefits of having a restaurant business plan, restaurant business plan components.

A restaurant business plan explores the various costs, concepts, and strategies planned for a new restaurant to succeed. The elements of a business plan are comprehensive and go beyond what guests see while dining. A business plan for restaurants covers the expenses you’d allocate for a restaurant point-of-sale system, the management structure with restaurant staff , and more, so you can condense the idea of your restaurant into a more physical, tangible place.

Think of a restaurant business plan as the blueprint for a new commercial building. Before that first wall is even built, the blueprint acts as a guide to show the construction crew the exact directions and materials needed for the building in the first place. All the materials and directions are chosen to create a stable and sustainable structure.

Did you know that most new restaurants tend to fail because they haven’t planned out the logistics of their business beyond the first few months? That means they haven’t considered how they’ll approach staff management, marketing, their point-of-sale tech, or even the best ways to create a solid menu that solidifies the restaurant’s concept. Thankfully, a comprehensive restaurant business plan can help solidify those factors before those front doors open for the first time.

A restaurant business plan provides a sense of reassurance and preparedness to anyone thinking about raising capital and opening a restaurant. This preparation is especially true for restaurant owners and restaurant managers struggling to focus their idea of the restaurant into one cohesive place they can reference later on.

When you write a restaurant business plan, you get a good sense of your restaurant’s branding and revenues contributing to its overall growth. However, suppose you only limit your focus on one aspect of your restaurant, such as the restaurant's image. When that happens, you neglect the other factors contributing to a comfortable dining experience like your daily overall expenses.

A restaurant business plan will also help you grow confidence in larger restaurant decisions down the road, such as opening a new location, adding an online ordering system , and managing your restaurant staff. And when new restaurants prioritize the right point-of-sale tech and solutions, you get access to a ton of tools and solutions to match the goals specified in your business plan. From acing your marketing needs to streamlining operations and managing your staff, a restaurant POS system is more than a glorified cash register.

Below are the nine main components of a restaurant business plan. Many people would claim that there isn’t one right way to write a restaurant business plan since there isn’t one right way to run a restaurant. While that’s technically true, restaurant business plans are still expected to have certain sections covering their operations' essential elements.

We’ve provided below all the basic components of a business plan that apply to most restaurant types, such as family & casual dining , fine dining , fast casual, quick service , and bars & nightclubs , so you won’t feel like you’re missing anything vital.

• Executive summary
• Restaurant overview
• Company description
• Competitive analysis a. Target market analysis b. Location analysis c. Marketing analysis
• Ownership & management structure
• Staffing needs
• Marketing strategy
• Cost analysis
• Financial projections

You can certainly include additional subsections within each section to cover different factors your restaurant will need to consider, such as the type of guests your restaurant will serve . Just remember to keep these subsections aligned with the overall purpose: to give you, your business partners, and your investors a clear blueprint of your hospitality business.

1. Executive summary

Every restaurant business plan should start with an executive summary. This section is your moment to capture the reader’s attention and get them excited to invest in your business. An executive summary should include a general mission statement describing your restaurant’s concept and explain how you will execute your restaurant business plan in the future.

Remember, your mission statement should be direct and logical. Give a high-level overview of your restaurant idea, its current status, and a clear vision for its future by clarifying your restaurant’s values and general work culture. Make sure to also show the cost of your business operations by defining a clear path to profitability . It’ll show any reader that you’re ready to dedicate the right time, energy, and resources to your business for long-term success.

2. Restaurant overview

In this section, you're going to include a brief overview of your restaurant's operations and general concept. Give a simple introduction to your restaurant, including its name and main goals that would set it apart from other restaurants in the area. This gives a glimpse into your business's identity and purpose while further solidifying key details. Treat this section as a simple introduction to your restaurant that you will then explore further in the later sections of the business plan.

3. Company description

The company overview introduces the type of restaurant, service style, location, demographics, and general company business information. This is a deeper dive into the logistics and image of your restaurant beyond what's explained in the restaurant overview. Talk about the history of the founders, their experience in the hospitality business, and anything else to help build the story of your restaurant. Imagine what you’ll say to your future guests when they ask how long you’ve been open.

Since restaurants require a lot of labor, don’t hesitate to explain who can help you get the business started. Emphasize the value they’ll bring and why they’re the perfect fit for your restaurant. Finally, dive into your brand and how you will separate yourself from your competition.

Think of your brand as a vital voice in a conversation between your competitors. What can you say that’ll make guests appreciate your business in ways they wouldn’t find with your competitors?

4. Competitive analysis

Restaurants are the center of every community, but not every community is the same. Take time to explain the importance of your location, typical diners, other restaurants, nearby businesses, and residences. Each of those factors will be beneficial in reaching your goals and objectives since they help establish an awareness of your community and your future presence there. We’ve distilled this section into three main categories you can explore further.

a. Target market analysis

If you choose to have a target market analysis section, define the people who will eat at your restaurant. This section will help your potential investors know you've done the right amount of market research and who will choose to eat there in the first place. Will potential customers eat there every day? Once a week? Only on birthdays and anniversaries? Why would existing customers eat at your restaurant again, compared to your restaurant or other similar businesses? Providing a target market overview should also help solidify your restaurant's brand, hours of operation, menu design, pricing , and the different ways your guests can order .

b. Location analysis

Traditional locations are becoming less important with the growth of online ordering and pickup. Provide the reason for the location or area that you chose for your restaurant. Economy, travel, and other events should be the top priority when predicting cover counts, reservations, and parking. It’s often beneficial to include comparisons of your business type with other businesses in similar locations. This comparison to other restaurants will help solidify even more context by proving your restaurant concept.

c. Marketing analysis

When writing about your competitor’s marketing strategies, focus on how you will promote your restaurant over other restaurants with a similar service style. Does your neighborhood need another pizza restaurant? Would another ice cream shop in a family shopping area make sense?

You should also talk about the promotions you’ll run, the channels you will use, and how you’ll manage guest interactions online and in person. This section will continue to prove that you aren’t just deciding to open up a random restaurant on a whim since you’ve taken the time to explore how others will find your business.

5. Ownership & management structure

Opening a restaurant is more than creating a unique dining experience or feeding hungry construction workers at lunch. It is a business that needs the right management team and structure to protect you, your restaurant staff, and potential investors. That’s why, for this section of the restaurant business plan, you must establish the different roles and responsibilities of the key people needed for your restaurant to succeed.

As a business owner, drafting and revising multiple business plans for the same restaurant can be a great way to solidify your restaurant's overall goals and branding.

For example, let’s say you’re creating a restaurant business plan for a new pizza joint in the neighborhood. In this section, you should explain the organization and requirements for different managerial staff needed to keep operations running. Who can efficiently cover the front-of-house of a restaurant? Who will be in charge of your back-of-house staff? How will you ensure that your management team has the right experience to accomplish daily tasks correctly? Can they work a night shift at a moment’s notice? Will they report to the owner or someone else?

6. Staffing needs

A restaurant can’t function without the right team to serve every guest. That’s why, for this section, you’ll want to describe the various staff needed to ensure your restaurant operates efficiently in the long run. Alongside the management described in the previous section, you should cover the most important roles first, listing the needed experience and the approximate number of each employee role you’d like to see when the restaurant opens.

From the managers to new hires, mention the key contributors and how their roles dovetail into the restaurant’s success. Will you need to hire someone who greets guests? How many bartenders do you need to hire? Do you need to hire both line cooks and prep cooks?

Remember to keep your staffing plans generalized and flexible. It’ll show potential investors that you’ve taken the time to create an informed goal based on the right experience, all while making sure there is room for realistic changes as time goes on. You can also mention how you’ll utilize a restaurant labor management tool to monitor projected labor needs versus actual labor needs to help ensure efficiency and keep labor costs in check.

7. Marketing strategy

Simply creating a restaurant and expecting guests to show up isn’t enough. For this section, you cover all the possible ways you’re going to let people know you are opening and the general time frame on how you’ll continue your marketing strategy in the future as well. Similar to your competitive marketing analysis, take your competition into consideration and explore how you’ll set yourself apart from them in the long run.

Be specific and mention different campaigns you have in mind that would best fit your restaurant type. Keep in mind that restaurants should have a solid plan for their marketing at different stages of their opening.

How will you meet your target market 2-3 months before opening? Will you create a social media campaign, utilize an email marketing database, or hire a PR firm?

Likewise, how will your marketing strategy change in the weeks immediately after your grand opening?

And how will it evolve 3 - 6 months after your grand opening, when the initial buzz and excitement have died down?

To get a good timeline down, try creating a detailed calendar that highlights your marketing goals two months before opening, the marketing leading up to the soft opening, and then ninety days after opening. This calendar will help potential investors see that you have a long-term plan that goes beyond the usual early hype restaurants experience in the first three months after they first open.

8. Cost analysis

The cost analysis section of a restaurant business plan is an assessment of how much you’re willing to spend and the various costs of running a restaurant. Unless you have a background in finance, you should probably see a professional accountant familiar with the restaurant industry to complete a detailed cost analysis for your restaurant business plan. In particular, you’ll want your accountant to understand the key cost of goods sold (otherwise known as COGS) , which all successful restaurants use to measure against themselves.

This section is a great way to illustrate that you are speaking the same language about the restaurant industry standards as potential investors and restaurant professionals. Of course, you want to craft delicious food for your guests, but finances are still a vital indicator of any restaurant’s success. If you’re not realistically explaining your COGS metrics, cash flow, and other metrics in relation to your overall operations, then you’ll have a weaker cost analysis and business plan in place for your restaurant’s future.

Make sure to include all factors that contribute to the success of your new restaurant in your cost analysis. Are you satisfied with your restaurant's overall idea? Have you considered how technology can impact your expenses and revenue? Check out the blog post below for more essential components to consider in your cost analysis.

9. Financial projections

In the final section of the restaurant business plan, you will describe your restaurant’s finances and potential earnings after opening. Similar to cost analysis, it’s best to consult an accountant or some similar type of financial professional with restaurant experience for this section. They’ll help you create realistic financial projections that won’t make potential investors and other industry professionals question the logistics of your restaurant.

To strengthen that sense of your restaurant’s potential to earn, you can even create a projected restaurant profit and loss statement that shows how much revenue can be expected. While there are plenty of factors that go into a restaurant’s success, you’ll show a strong sense of awareness and preparedness when using a P&L to provide a structured estimate of your spending and earnings.

When you write a restaurant business plan, you're creating one of the many tools needed to open a restaurant with a strong start. Alongside a profit and loss statement, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and more, your restaurant business plan will lay a solid foundation for how your restaurant will realistically operate given its specific location, marketing, competition, and more. New restaurant owners will definitely value the restaurant business plan since it also compels them to cover topics and ideas that would’ve been overlooked.

Your restaurant point-of-sale system and integrated restaurant management software is another vital aspect you’ll want to consider. With a modern, cloud-based POS system like SpotOn, you aren’t simply using a glorified cash register . You get access to a suite of products and tools, from labor management to instant reporting and more, designed to streamline your operations and maximize profits. SpotOn reviews from real restaurant POS users highlight why more and restaurant operators choose SpotOn over the competition. Click on the banner below for a tech demo on how SpotOn can help you launch a successful new restaurant.

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How to write a comprehensive restaurant business plan

fanWhen opening a new restaurant, having a solid restaurant business plan is key for the success of a a business. The best ones identify, describe and analyse business opportunities while setting a blueprint. Here, we’ve put together a guide for how to write a restaurant business plan so life at your spot starts off on the right foot.  

What your restaurant business plan should cover

The strongest restaurant business plans always include all or most of the components described below. Charles Bililies , founder and CEO of Souvla , advises that first-time restaurateurs read plenty of different business plans for other restaurants, technology and retail companies to get a better sense of layout options, writing styles and clarity of concept. Put the sections that you feel would be most compelling to someone who’s never met you first: the “Management Team” section if you’re coming from high-profile establishments, for example. The goal is for the reader to keep turning the page.

Quick links Branded cover Concept Sample menu Service Management team Design Target market Location Market overview Marketing and publicity Specialists and consultants Business structure Financials

1. Branded cover

Include your logo (even if it’s not finalised), the date, and your name.

Describe your restaurant concept and get the reader excited about your idea. Go into detail about the food you’ll be serving, inspiration behind your concept and an overview of service style. Define clearly what will be unique about your restaurant.

3. Sample menu

The menu is the most important touchpoint of any restaurant’s brand, so this should be more than just a simple list of items. Incorporate your logo and mock up a formatted menu design (tap a designer for help if needed).

Your sample menu should also include prices based on a detailed cost analysis. This will give investors a clear understanding of your targeted price point, provide the first building block to figuring out average bill estimations needed to create financial projections and show investors that you’ve done the homework needed to be confident that you’ll be able to sell these items at these prices and operate within your budget.

This section is most relevant for fine-dining concepts, concepts that have a unique service style or if you have particularly strong feelings about what role service will play in your restaurant. It can be a powerful way of conveying your approach to hospitality to investors by explaining the details of the guest’s service experience.

Will your restaurant have counter service designed to get guests on their way as quickly as possible, or will it look more like theatre, with captains putting plates in front of guests simultaneously? If an extensive wine program is an integral part of what you’re doing, will you have a sommelier? If you don’t feel that service is a noteworthy component of your operation, address it briefly in the concept section.

5. Management team

Write a brief overview of yourself and the team you have established so far. You want to demonstrate that the work experience you’ve acquired over the course of your career has provided you with the necessary skills to run a successful restaurant. Ideally, once you have described the strong suit of every member of your team, you’ll be presenting a full deck. Most independent restaurant investors are in this for more than just money, so giving some indication of what you value and who you are outside of work may also be helpful.

6. Menu Design

Incorporate some visuals. Create a mood board that shows images related to the design and feeling of your restaurant. Planning on cooking in a wood-burning oven? Include that. Photos of materials and snippets of other restaurants that you love that are similar to the brand you’re building are also helpful.

7. Restaurant target market

Who is going to eat at your restaurant? What do they do for a living, how old are they, and what’s their average income? Once you’ve described them in detail, reiterate why your specific concept will be appealing to them.

8. Location

There should be a natural and very clear connection between the information you present in the ‘Target Market’ section and this one. You probably won’t have a specific site identified at this point in the process, but you should talk about viable neighbourhoods. Don’t assume that potential investors will be familiar with the areas you’re discussing and who works or lives there — make the connections clear. You want readers to be confident that your restaurant’s ‘ideal’ diner intersects with the neighbourhood(s) you’re proposing as often as possible.

If you don’t have a site, this is a good place to discuss what you’re looking for in terms of square footage, foot traffic, parking, road accessibility and other important details.

9. Market overview

Address the micro and macro market conditions in your area. At a macro level, what are the local and regional economic conditions? If restaurants are doing poorly, explain why yours won’t; if restaurants are doing well, explain how you’ll be able to compete in an already booming restaurant climate. At a micro level, discuss your direct competitors. Talk about what restaurants share your target market and how you’ll differentiate yourself.

10. Marketing and publicity

The restaurant landscape is only getting more competitive. Talk about your pre- and post-opening marketing plan to show investors how you will gain traction leading up to opening day, as well as how you’ll keep the momentum going. If you’re going to retain a PR/marketing company, introduce them and explain why you’ve chosen them over other companies (including some of their best-known clients helps). If not, convey that you have a solid plan in place to generate attention on your own through social media , your website , and media connections. To help you get started be sure to check out our zero budget marketing checklist .

11. Specialists and consultants

List any outside contractors you plan to retain, such as:

• Main Contractor
• PR & Marketing

Briefly explain the services they’ll be providing for you and why you chose them, along with any notable accomplishments.

12. Business structure

This section should be short and sweet. What type of business structure have you set up and why did you make that specific decision? You will need to work with a lawyer to help you determine what business structure is best for you.

“ Step one : write a restaurant business plan. Step two : hire a good lawyer. In addition to helping me build a smart, sustainable business structure, my lawyer was also a great resource for reviewing my business plan because she’s read thousands of them. She was a very helpful, experienced outside perspective for more than just legal matters”, Charles Bililies explains.

13. Restaurant financials and funding

Let your accountant guide you through this portion of your business plan. It is crucial that whoever you retain to help you with your finances has a wealth of restaurant experience (not just one or two places), as they should be familiar with the specifics of restaurant finances and know what questions to ask you.

Before creating realistic financial projections, your accountant will want to know approximately how many seats you’re planning on having, what your average bill will be, and how many covers you expect per day. Being conservative in these estimations is key as these three data points will be used as the basis for figuring out whether your concept is financially feasible.

Lou Guerrero, Principal at Kross, Baumgarten, Kniss & Guerrero, emphasises that, “You’ll get a lot of accountants that tell you that they’ve done a couple of restaurants, but you have to choose someone that has a deep expertise in what you’re doing. There’s nothing to gain from going with someone that doesn’t have a very restaurant-centric practice.”

A well-vetted accountant with restaurant experience will know exactly what you’ll need to have prepared to show investors. The key projections you can expect to work on are:

• Pro forma profit and loss statement for the first three to five years of operation
• Break even analysis
• Capital requirements budget

Free tools to build a restaurant business plan in Australia:

If design is not your forte, consider using a free online template. There are plenty of templates available on the web that can aid in this process. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or need help getting started, there are some great options

• Canva : Bring your descriptions and its templates will help you do the rest. Canva hosts a library of thousands of free menu templates to choose from.
• Australian Government:   a collection of free tools and templates to help you build your first business plan
• VistaCreate:  The plug-and-play menu templates are easy to use, and the platform has the option for print and delivery.

Get the tools, resources and fresh ideas for running a successful restaurant

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How to Start and Open a Restaurant Step by Step (2023) If you're interested in starting a restaurant business, this guide provides all the information necessary to open and operate a successful eatery.

By The Staff of Entrepreneur Media, Inc.

Starting and opening a new restaurant is an exciting venture. It can be both a rewarding and challenging experience, but the hard work you put in will pay off.

Opening a successful restaurant requires having a strong business plan, understanding the local market, finding the right location and staff, obtaining permits and your business license, managing inventory and supplies, creating menus that appeal to customers, and more.

There's a lot that goes into it. If it's your first time, you'll need to look beyond the grand opening and strategize for generating a cash flow that allows you to do more than just break even. Still, with the right guidance, you can make your dreams of owning a successful restaurant come true.

This guide will give you all the information you need to know about starting and opening a restaurant. It will cover everything from creating a new business plan to setting up operations and marketing your restaurant. By following this guide step by step, you can open a restaurant that will thrive and last for years.

What's Inside

• Target Markets

Restaurant Service Styles

Carving your niche, writing a business plan, choosing a location, creating a menu, hiring employees, marketing and promotions, more articles on restaurant businesses ".

No single food-service operation has universal appeal. This is a fact that many newer entrepreneurs have trouble accepting, but the reality is that you will never capture 100 percent of the market. When you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one. So focus on the 5 or 10 percent of the market that you can get, and forget about the rest.

With that said, who is eating at restaurants? Let's look at the main market categories of food-service business customers:

• Generation Y . This generation, also tagged the "millennial generation," the "echo" or the "boomlet" generation, includes those born between 1980 and 2000. Generation Y is the most ethnically diverse generation yet and is more than three times the size of generation X. They are a prime target for a food-service business. Members of Generation Y go for fast-food and quick-service items. About 25 percent of their restaurant visits are to burger franchises, follow by pizza restaurants at 12 percent.
• Generation X . Generation X is a label applied to those who were born between 1965 and 1980. This group is known for strong family values. While earlier generations strove to do better financially than their parents, Gen Xers are more likely to focus on their relationship with their children. They are concerned with value, and they favor quick-service restaurants and midscale operations that offer all-you-can-eat salad bars and buffets. To appeal to this market group, offer a comfortable atmosphere that focuses on value and ambience.
• Baby boomers . Born between 1946 and 1964, baby boomers make up the largest segment of the U.S. population. Prominent in this generation are affluent professionals who can afford to visit upscale restaurants and spend money freely. During the 1980s, they were the main customer group for upscale, trendy restaurants. In the 1990s, many baby boomer were two-income households with children. Today, those on the leading edge of the boomer generation are becoming grandparents, making them a target of restaurants that offer a family-friendly atmosphere and those that provide an upscale, formal dining experience.
• Empty nesters . This group consists of people in the age range between the high end of the baby boomers and seniors (people in their early 50s to about age 64). Empty nesters typically have grown children who no longer live at home, and their ranks will continue to increase as the baby boomers grow older and their children leave home. With the most discretionary income and the highest per-capita income of all the generations, this group typically visits upscale restaurants. They are less concerned with price and are more focused on excellent service and outstanding food. Appeal to this group with elegant surroundings and a sophisticated ambience.
• Seniors . The senior market covers the large age group of people age 65 and older. Generally, the majority of seniors are on fixed incomes and may not often be able to afford upscale restaurants often, so they tend to visit family-style restaurants that offer good service and reasonable prices. "Younger" seniors are likely to be more active and have more disposable income than "older" seniors, whose health may be declining. Seniors typically appreciate restaurants that offer early-bird specials and senior menus with lower prices and smaller portions, since their appetites are less hearty than those of younger people.

Restaurants are classified into three primary categories: quick-service, midscale and upscale. Quick-service restaurants are also known as fast-food restaurants. These establishments offer limited menus of items that are prepared quickly and sold for a relatively low price. In addition to very casual dining areas, they typically offer drive-thru windows and take-out service.

When people think of fast-food restaurants, they often think of hamburgers and french fries, but establishments in this category also serve chicken, hot dogs, sandwiches, pizza, fresh seafood and ethnic foods.

More Articles on Restaurant Businesses "

Midscale restaurants, as the name implies, occupy the middle ground between quick-service and upscale restaurants. They offer full meals but charge prices that customers perceive as providing good value with plenty of special offers . Midscale restaurants offer a range of limited- and full-service options. In a full-service restaurant, patrons place and receive their orders at their tables; in a limited-service operation, patrons order their food at a counter and then receive their meals at their tables. Many limited-service restaurants offer salad bars and buffets.

Upscale restaurants offer full table service and do not necessarily promote their meals as offering great value; instead, they focus on the quality of their cuisine and the ambience of their facilities. These are the places that are find themselves on a list of trip ideas for tourists looking for great food from a renowned chef. Fine-dining establishments are at the highest end of the upscale restaurant category and charge the highest prices.

Selecting a Food Concept

Restaurant patrons want to be delighted with their dining experience, but they don't necessarily want to be surprised. If you're anticipating a family-style steakhouse (based on the name or the décor of the establishment), but you find yourself in a more formal environment with a bewildering--and pricey--gourmet menu, the surprise may keep you from enjoying the restaurant. Concepts give restaurateurs a way to let patrons know in advance what to expect and also to provide some structure for their operation. Here are some of the more popular restaurant concepts:

• Seafood. Quick-service seafood restaurants generally offer a limited range of choices, often restricted to fried seafood. Midscale and upscale seafood restaurants offer a wider selection, prepared in ways other than fried, such as baked, broiled and grilled. Seafood can be a risky area on which to focus, as prices are always changing, and many kinds of seafood are seasonal. Also, quality can vary tremendously. When shopping for seafood, make sure the items are fresh and meet your standards of quality. If you are not happy with what a distributor offers, you can be sure your customers won't be, either.
• Steakhouses. Steakhouses are part of the midscale and upscale markets. Midscale steakhouses are typically family-oriented and offer a casual environment with meals perceived as good values. In terms of décor, comfort is emphasized and Western themes are popular. Upscale steakhouses offer a more formal atmosphere and may serve larger cuts of meat that are of better quality than those served in midscale restaurants. Upscale establishments also charge higher prices, and their décor may be similar to that of other fine-dining establishments, offering guests more privacy and focusing more on adult patrons than on families.
• Family-style restaurants. As the name implies, these establishments are geared toward family fun. Since they charge reasonable prices, they also appeal to seniors. They offer speedy service that falls somewhere between that of quick-service places and full-service restaurants. Their menus offer a variety of selections to appeal to the interests of a broad range of customers, from children to seniors. Family-style restaurant prices may be higher than those at fast-food restaurants, but these establishments provide table service to compensate. The décor of family-style restaurants is generally comfortable, with muted tones, unremarkable artwork, and plenty of booths and wide chairs. Booster seats and highchairs for children are readily available.
• Casual-dining restaurants. These establishments appeal to a wide audience, ranging from members of Generation Y to Generation X to baby boomers with families to seniors, and they provide a variety of food items, from appetizers and salads to main dishes and ice cream for dessert. Casual-dining restaurants offer comfortable atmospheres with midrange prices. Many center on a theme that's incorporated into their menus and décor. You may need to get your liquor license, depending on what you plan to serve.
• Ethnic restaurants. Ethnic restaurants enjoy a significant share of the U.S. restaurant market. They range from quick-service places with limited selections to upscale eateries with a wide variety of menu items. Their menus typically include Americanized versions of ethnic dishes with unique flavor, as well as more authentic food. The three most popular kinds of ethnic restaurants are Italian, Chinese and Mexican. Other popular ethnic restaurant types include Indian, Thai, Caribbean, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Mediterranean and Vietnamese. An even wider variety of ethnic restaurants can thrive in areas with a culturally diverse population, such as large metropolitan areas.
• Pizzeria. You have two primary choices when entering starting a pizzeria. One is a to-go restaurant in a modest facility with a specialized menu highlighted by pizza and beer, limited seating and a self-service atmosphere. The other is a full-service pizza restaurant with a menu that features not only a variety of pizzas, beer and wine, but also Italian entrees like spaghetti, ravioli and lasagna, side dishes such as salads (or even a salad bar), and a few desserts. The foundation of a pizzeria is, of course, the pizza. If you don't know how to make a good pizza, hire a good pizza cook who does. Invest in top-quality ingredients and preparation methods, and make every pizza as if you're going to eat it yourself. Do that, and your customers will keep coming back for more.
• Sandwich Shop/Delicatessen. One reason sandwich shops are so successful is that they enjoy high profit margins. Sandwich shops and delicatessens can also change their menus quickly and easily to adapt to current tastes. For example, with the growing interest in health and nutrition in the United States, sandwich shops and delicatessens have started offering more low-fat, healthy ingredients in their sandwiches, salads and other menu items. In addition, many sandwich shops and delis have been able to keep up with workers who eat at their workplaces by adding delivery and catering to their sit-down and take-out operations. Sandwich shops and delicatessens can be differentiated by the foods they serve. Most sandwich shops serve only sandwiches, possibly with some side dishes or desserts. A delicatessen usually offers a more extensive menu, including sandwiches, prepared meats, smoked fish, cheeses, salads, relishes and various hot entrees.
• Coffeehouse. With more than 400 billion cups consumed every year, coffee is the world's most popular beverage. But beyond the beverage itself, people frequent coffeehouses and espresso bars for a variety of reasons: to meet with friends, for a quick lunch and a drink to perk up the afternoon, or simply to start off each morning with a great cup of coffee to start off each morning. Most successful coffeehouses have heavy foot traffic and high-volume sales. The majority will serve up to 500 customers per day and manage up to five customer turnovers during the lunch hour, despite having limited floor space and modest seating capacity. Profit margins for coffee and espresso drinks are extremely high--after all, you're dealing with a product that's more than 95 percent water. At the same time, your average ticket amount is around $3, so you need volume to reach and maintain profitability. Besides specialty roasted coffee by the cup, most coffeehouses also have espresso-based drinks (cappuccinos, lattes, etc.), assorted teas, bottled water and fruit juices, along with an inviting assortment of baked goods, a selection of desserts, and coffee beans by the pound.
• Bakery. With the emergence of strip malls and competition from supermarkets that have in-store bakeries, "bread-only" retail bakeries have almost disappeared from the United States. Bakeries today offer cakes, scones, bagels and coffee drinks, and sometimes even offer full dining menus, including sandwiches, hot entrees, beer and wine. Consumers love fresh bakery goods, but the market is extremely competitive. As you develop your particular bakery concept, you'll need to find a way to differentiate yourself from other bakeries in town.

Before you can begin any serious business planning, you must first decide what specific segment of the food-service industry you want to enter. While there are many commonalities among the various types of food-service businesses, there are also many differences. And while there is much overlap in the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful, your own personality and preferences will dictate whether you choose to open a commercial bakery, a coffee cart, a fine-dining restaurant or another type of operation. Then, once you have decided what business best suits you, you must figure out the niche you'll occupy in the marketplace.

For example, are you an early riser, or do you prefer to stay up late and sleep late? If you like--or at least don't mind--getting up before dawn, your niche may be a bakery or a casual breakfast-and-lunch operation. Night owls are going to be drawn to the hours required for bar-and-grill types of restaurants, fine-dining establishments and even pizzerias.

Do you like dealing with the public, or are you happier in the kitchen? If you're a people person, choose a food-service business that gives you plenty of opportunity to connect with your customers. If you're not especially gregarious, you'll probably lean more toward a commercial type of business, perhaps a bakery or even a catering service, where you can deal more with operational issues than with people.

Some other types of questions to ask yourself include, Do you have a passion for a particular type of cuisine? Do you enjoy a predictable routine, or do you prefer something different every day? Are you willing to deal with the additional responsibilities and liabilities that come with serving alcoholic beverages?

As you do this self-analysis, think about your ideal day. If you could be doing exactly what you wanted to do, what would it be?

Once you've decided on the best niche for you as an individual, it's time to determine if you can develop a niche in the market for your food-service business.

Working in a Restaurant

Dealing graciously with customers and playing the role of elegant host are only part of a restaurateur's many duties. Food-service business operators spend most of their time developing menus; ordering inventory and supplies; managing personnel; creating and implementing marketing campaigns; making sure their operation is in compliance with a myriad of local, state and federal regulations; completing a wide range of paperwork; and performing other administrative chores. Certainly the financial opportunities are there--as are the fun aspects of the business--but starting, running and growing a food-service business is also hard work.

Regardless of the type of food-service business you intend to start, the best way to learn the ropes is to work for a similar operation for a while before striking out on your own. Doing so will give you significant insight into the realities and logistics of the business.

Successful restaurateurs agree that the best preparation for owning a restaurant is to work in someone else's first. Think of it as getting paid to be educated. Certainly you should read books and take courses, but you should also plan to work in a restaurant for at least a few years doing as many different jobs as possible. And if you're not actually doing the job, pay attention to the person who is--you may find yourself doing it when your own restaurant is unexpectedly shorthanded.

Ideally, you should work in a restaurant similar to the type you want to open. You may find you don't like the business. Or you may find you're more suited to a different type of operation than you originally thought. Hopefully, you'll discover you're in exactly the right place.

"As soon as I started working in a restaurant, I realized this was my passion," says Scott Redler, "when you have a busy restaurant, and you're watching everything happen as it should, it's just a wonderful feeling of satisfaction." Redler has worked in various restaurants for 11 years, he opened a Chinese fast-food place at the age of 26. That venture failed within eight months, then Redler went to work for a large restaurant company, where he eventually advanced to the position of senior vice president, overseeing 15 operations. But he still yearned for his own place, so he developed the concept that became Timberline Steakhouse & Grill in Kansas (which he sold in 2011). He recognized that the fast, casual segment was gaining momentum, so he created Freddy's Frozen Custard, which offers hot dogs, hamburgers, and (as you might expect) frozen custard. Freddy's Frozen Custard is now a franchise operation with 60 stores in nine states.

Armed with practical experience, you're ready to put together your business plan—the most critical element of your restaurant. Map out everything on paper before you buy the first spoon or crack the first egg.

When you're writing a business plan you should include:

• A clear definition of your concept
• A description of your market
• Your menu and pricing
• Detailed financial information, including data on your startup capital (amount and sources) and your long-term income and expense forecasts (including operating costs such as kitchen equipment and food costs)
• A marketing plan including target customers
• Employee hiring
• Training and retention programs
• Detailed plans that outline how you'll deal with the challenges restaurateurs face every day (including health department compliance, customer experience, and expansion)
• An exit strategy

A well-crafted business plan is the cornerstone of any successful restaurant. It's best to have it professionally written, but if you're short on cash, you can also draft a document yourself. Just be sure that your plan is comprehensive and as accurate as possible. Include realistic projections, research data (such as current industry trends), and thorough analyses of the competition.

No matter what you decide, your business plan should be a living document that you update and refine as your restaurant evolves.

Funding Your Business How much money you need to start depends on the type of business, the facility, how much equipment you need, whether you buy new or used, your inventory, marketing, and necessary operating capital (the amount of cash you need on hand to carry you until your business starts generating cash). It's easy to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars starting a restaurant, but it's not essential. For instance, when Borealis Breads owner Jim Amaral started his first bakery in Maine, he rented a space that had been a commercial bakery and came complete with mixers, benches, ovens and other equipment. He was able to start with just $10,000 he'd borrowed from family and friends, and used that primarily for inventory.

Regardless of how much you need, you will definitely need some cash to start your food-service business started. Here are some suggestions of where to go to raise your startup funds:

• Your own resources. Do a thorough inventory of your assets. People generally have more assets than they realize, including savings accounts, retirement accounts, equity in real estate, recreation equipment, vehicles, collections and other investments. You may opt to sell assets for cash or use them as collateral for a loan. Also look at your personal line of credit. Many a successful business has been started with credit cards.
• Family and friends. The logical next step after gathering your own resources is to approach friends and relatives who believe in you and want to help you succeed. Be cautious with these arrangements; no matter how close you are with the person, present yourself professionally, put everything in writing, and be sure the individuals you approach can afford to take the risk of investing in your business.
• Partners. Using the "strength in numbers" principle, look around for someone who may want to team up with you in your venture. You may choose someone who has financial resources and wants to work side by side with you in the business. Or you may find someone who has money to invest but no interest in doing the actual work. Be sure to create a written partnership agreement that clearly defines your respective responsibilities and obligations. And choose your partners carefully--especially when it comes to family members.

Government programs. Take advantage of the abundance of local, state and federal programs designed to support small businesses. Make your first stop the SBA, but be sure to investigate various other programs. Women, minorities and veterans should check out special financing programs designed to help them get into business. The business section of your local library is a good place to begin your research.

Banks and other lending institutions . Despite the general mood of tight credit, many banks are still willing to make small-business loans. They may even be more open now as they seek to increase their loan portfolios.

Be prepared with a business plan and financial projections . These help prove your concept and show lenders you are serious about your business. Also, compare rates from multiple lenders, and don't forget to factor in closing costs and other fees.

Venture capitalists and angels . If you have a capital-intensive concept with proven profitability potential, venture capitalists or angel investors may be willing to provide the funding you need for a stake in your business.

As you can see, there are many ways to get the capital you need to get your restaurant off the ground — you just need to be organized, prepared, and willing to do your research.

Depending on how much money you have to invest in your food-service business and the particular type of business you choose, you can spend anywhere between $70,000 and $1.5 million on a facility.

Not every food-service operation needs to be in a retail location, but for those that do depend on retail traffic, here are some factors to consider when deciding on a restaurant location:

• Anticipated sales volume. How will the location contribute to your sales volume?
• Accessibility to potential customers. Consider how easy it will be for customers to get into your business. If you are relying on strong pedestrian traffic, consider whether or not nearby businesses will generate foot traffic for you.
• The rent-paying capacity of your business. If you've done a sales-and-profit projection for your first year of operation, you will know approximately how much revenue you can expect to generate, and you can use that information to decide how much rent you can afford to pay.
• Restrictive ordinances. You may encounter unusually restrictive ordinances that make an otherwise strong site less than ideal, such as limitations on the hours of the day that trucks can legally load or unload.
• Traffic density. With careful examination of food traffic, you can determine the approximate sales potential of each pedestrian passing a given location. Two factors are especially important in this analysis: total pedestrian traffic during business hours and the percentage of it that is likely to patronize your food service business.
• Customer parking facilities. The site should provide convenient, adequate parking as well as easy access for customers.
• Proximity to other businesses. Neighboring businesses may influence your store's volume, and their presence can work for you or against you.
• History of the site. Find out the recent history of each site under consideration before you make a final selection. Who were the previous tenants, and why are they no longer there?
• Terms of the lease. Be sure you understand all the details of the lease, because it's possible that an excellent site may have unacceptable leasing terms.
• Future development. Check with the local planning board to see if anything is planned for the future that could affect your business, such as additional buildings nearby or road construction.
• Appearance . It's important that the building or site be attractive and inviting in order to draw customers.

Once you have chosen a location, it is time to establish the restaurant. You must decide on a concept for your restaurant, create a menu, design the layout of your business, secure staffing and start marketing your product. With a well-thought-out plan, you will be well on your way to having a successful food service business.

Layout and design are major factors in your restaurant's success. As you factor it into your startup costs, you'll need to take into account the size and layout of the dining room, kitchen space, storage space, and office. Typically, restaurants allot 45 to 65 percent of their space to the dining area, approximately 35 percent to the kitchen and prep area, and the remainder to storage and office space.

• Dining area. This is where you'll be making the bulk of your money, so don't cut corners when designing your dining room. Visit restaurants in your area and analyze the décor. Watch the diners; do they react positively to the décor? Is it comfortable, or are people shifting in their seats throughout their meals? Note what works well and what doesn't.

Much of your dining room design will depend on your concept. It will help you to know that studies indicate that 40 to 50 percent of all sit-down customers arrive in pairs; 30 percent come alone or in parties of three; and 20 percent come in groups of four or more.

To accommodate the different groups of customers, use tables for two that can be pushed together in areas where there is ample floor space. This gives you flexibility in accommodating both small and large parties. Place booths for four to six people along the walls.

• Production area. Too often, the production area in a restaurant is inefficiently designed--the result is a poorly organized kitchen and less than top-notch service. Keep your menu in mind as you determine each element in the production area. You'll need to include space for receiving, storage, food preparation, cooking, baking, dishwashing, production aisles, trash storage, employee facilities and an area for a small office where you can perform daily management duties.

Arrange your food production area so that everything is just a few steps away from the cook. Your design should also allow for two or more cooks to be able to work side by side during your busiest hours.

As you put together a plan for your food-service business, be aware of some of the trends in terms of menu content and design: These factors could--and, in fact, should--influence the type of food-service business you open.

Restaurant operators report that vegetarian items, tortillas, locally grown produce, organic items, fusion dishes (combining two or more ethnic cuisines in one dish or on one plate) and microbrewed or local beers are gaining in popularity. Pita dishes and wraps continue to be in high demand, too, as an easy-to-consume alternative to sandwiches. You will also see a strong demand for bagels, espresso and specialty coffees, and "real meals," which are typically an entree with a side order. Consumers are also eating more chicken, seafood and beef dishes than they have in recent years. At the same time, people expect to see meatless alternatives on the menu. Consumers are also demanding "comfort food"--the dishes that take them back to their childhoods, when mothers baked from scratch, and meat and potatoes were at the center of each plate.

Menus are also showing a number of ethnic dishes and spice-infused offerings. It's not surprising to find Thai, Vietnamese, Creole, Tuscan and even classic French cuisines on the same menu and even the same plate.

At the same time, be sure to keep the kids in mind as you plan your selections. If families are a key part of your target market, you'll want a range of four or five items in smaller portions that youngsters will enjoy. If you serve snack items as well as entrees, note that kids are choosing healthier snacks more often than they did a few years ago, thanks to concerned parents. For example, while both sweet and salty snacks remain popular, yogurt is the fastest growing snack food based on consumption frequency among kids ages 2 to 17. While most restaurants still offer fixed kids' meals, you might consider allowing your young diners to choose among a selection of nutritious options.

Though menu variety has increased over the years, menus themselves are growing shorter. Busy consumers don't want to read a lengthy menu before dinner; dining out is a recreational activity, so they're in the restaurant to relax. Keep your number of items in check and menu descriptions simple and straightforward, providing customers with a variety of choices in a concise format. Your menu should also indicate what dishes can be prepared to meet special dietary requirements. Items low in fat, sodium and cholesterol should also be marked as such.

Safety Regulations Though we don't think of food service as heavily regulated an industry as something like medical services or public utilities, the reality is that many aspects of your operation are strictly regulated and subject to inspection. Fail to meet regulations, and you could be subject to fines or get shut down by authorities. And if the violations involve tainted food, you could be responsible for your patrons' illnesses and even death. Issues such as sanitation and fire safety are critical. You must provide a safe environment in which your employees can work and your guests can dine, follow the laws of your state on sales of alcohol and tobacco products, and handle tax issues, including sales, beverage, payroll and more.

Most regulatory agencies will work with new operators to let them know what they must do to meet the necessary legal requirements. Your state's general information office can direct you to all the agencies you'll need to be concerned with.

One of the biggest challenges businesses in all industries face is a lack of qualified labor. As the food-service industry in general continues to grow and thrive, the demand for workers in an already-diminished labor pool is also increasing. Finding qualified workers and rising labor costs are two key concerns for food-service business owners.

The first step in developing a comprehensive HR program is to decide exactly what you want someone to do. The job description doesn't have to be as formal as one you might expect from a large corporation, but it needs to clearly outline the job's duties and responsibilities. It should also list any special skills or other required credentials, such as a valid driver's license and clean driving record for someone who is going to make deliveries for you.

Next, you need to establish a pay scale. You should do research to find out what the pay rates are in your area. You'll want to establish a minimum and maximum rate for each position. You'll pay more even at the start for better qualified and more experienced workers. Of course, the pay scale will be affected by whether or not the position is one that is regularly tipped.

Every prospective employee should fill out an application--even if it's someone you already know, and even if that person has submitted a detailed resume. A resume is not a signed, sworn statement acknowledging that you can fire the person if he or she lies about his or her background; the application, which includes a truth affidavit, is. The application will also help you verify the applicants' resumes, so you should compare the two and make sure the information is consistent.

Here are some tips to help you find and keep great people:

• Hire right. Take the time to thoroughly screen applicants. Be sure they understand what you expect of them. Do background checks. If you can't do this yourself, contract with a HR consultant to do it for you on an as-needed basis.
• Create detailed job descriptions. Don't make your employees guess about their responsibilities.
• Understand wage-and-hour and child labor laws. Check with your own state's Department of Labor to be sure you comply with regulations on issues such as minimum wage (which can vary depending on the age of the workers and whether they're eligible for tips), and when teenagers can work and what tasks they're allowed to do.
• Report tips properly. The IRS is very specific about how tips are to be reported; for details, check with your accountant or contact the IRS .
• Provide initial and ongoing training. Even experienced workers need to know how things are done in your restaurant. Well-trained employees are happier, more confident and more effective. Plus, ongoing training builds loyalty and reduces turnover. The National Restaurant Association can help you develop appropriate employee training programs.

There are several categories of personnel in the restaurant business: manager, cooks, servers, busboys, dishwashers, hosts and bartenders. When your restaurant is still new, some employees' duties may cross over from one category to another. For example, your manager may double as the host, and servers may also bus tables. Be sure to hire people who are willing to be flexible in their duties. Your payroll costs, including your own salary and that of your managers, should be about 24 to 35 percent of your total gross sales.

• Manager. The most important employee in most restaurants is the manager. Your best candidate will have already managed a restaurant or restaurants in your area and will be familiar with local buying sources, suppliers and methods. You'll also want a manager with leadership skills and the ability to supervise personnel while reflecting the style and character of your restaurant.

To get the quality of manager you want, you'll have to pay well. Depending on your location, expect to pay a seasoned manager $35,000 to $55,000 a year, plus a percentage of sales. An entry-level manager will earn $28,000 to $32,000 but won't have the skills of a more experienced candidate. If you can't offer a high salary, work out a profit-sharing arrangement-it's an excellent way to hire good people and motivate them to build a successful restaurant. Hire your manager at least a month before you open so he or she can help you set up your restaurant.

• Chefs and cooks. When you start out, you'll probably need three cooks--two full time cooks and one part time. Restaurant workers typically work shifts from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or 4 p.m. to closing. But one lead cook may need to arrive early in the morning to begin preparing soups, bread and other items to be served that day. One full-time cook should work days, and the other evenings. The part-time cook will help during peak hours, such as weekend rushes, and can work as a line cook during slower periods, doing simple preparation. Cooking schools can usually provide you with leads to the best in the business, but look around and place newspaper ads before you hire. Customers will become regulars only if they can expect the best every time they dine at your restaurant. To provide that, you'll need top-notch cooks and chefs.

Salaries for chefs and cooks vary according to their experience and your menu. Chefs command salaries significantly higher than cooks, averaging $1,300 to $1,800 a week. You may also find chefs who are willing to work under profit-sharing plans. If you have a fairly complex menu that requires a cook with lots of experience, you may have to pay anywhere from $575 to $650 a week. You can pay part-time cooks on an hourly basis; check around for the going rate in your area.

• Servers. Your servers will have the most interaction with customers, so they need to make a favorable impression and work well under pressure, meeting the demands of customers at several tables while maintaining a pleasant demeanor. There are two times of day for wait staff: very slow and very busy. Schedule your employees accordingly. The lunch rush, for example, starts around 11:30 a.m. and continues until 1:30 or 2 p.m. Restaurants are often slow again until the dinner crowd arrives around 5:30 to 6 p.m.

Because servers in most establishments earn a good portion of their income from tips, they're usually paid minimum wage or just slightly more. When your restaurant is new, you may want to hire only experienced servers so you don't have to provide extensive training. As you become established, however, you should develop training systems to help both new, inexperienced employees and veteran servers understand your philosophy and the image you want to project.

Every business needs a marketing plan, and your food-service business is no exception. But even as you consider various marketing vehicles, keep this in mind: Research conducted by the National Restaurant Association reveals that word-of-mouth is still the best method of advertising. More than four out of five consumers are likely to choose a table-service restaurant they haven't patronized before on the basis of a recommendation from a family member or friend. So make the foundation of your marketing program an absolutely dazzling dining experience that customers will want to talk about and repeat.

Ask every new customer how they found out about you, and make a note of this information so you know how well your various marketing efforts are working. You can then decide to increase certain programs and eliminate those that aren't working.

More articles on restaurant businesses "

A key question for restaurant owners is this: Do your marketing materials--menus, signs, table tents, ads and other items--send an accurate message about who you are and what you do?

The first step in creating a complete marketing package is to know your market, and it's not enough to gather demographic information once. Markets change, and food-service businesses that don't change their marketing strategies with population shifts are missing out on a lot of opportunities.

Next, step back and take a look at each element in your facility. Everything from the parking lot to the interior decor to the printed items contributes to your marketing message--and each should be an accurate reflection of what that message is.

One cheap and easy way to promote your food-service business is by giving away gift certificates--such as dinner for two, coffee and bagels for 10, or a free pizza. Call local radio stations that reach the demographics of your target market and ask to speak to their promotions manager. Offer to provide gift certificates or coupons to use as prizes for on-air contests and promotions. Your company name and location will be announced several times on the air during the contest, providing you with valuable free exposure, and it's always possible that the winner will become a paying customer.

You can also donate coupons and gift certificates to be used as door prizes at professional meetings or for nonprofit organizations to use as raffle prizes. Just be sure every coupon or gift certificate clearly identifies your business name, location, hours of operation and any restrictions on the prize.

Some other promotional methods you can try include local event or sporting team sponsorships, discount coupon books, frequent-dining clubs, menu promotions and contests.

Restaurant Startup Resources

• Restaurant and More: Step-By-Step Startup Guide : Entrepreneur 's official guide describes the ins and outs of starting and running a successful restaurant, pizzeria, coffeehouse, deli, bakery or catering service. Packed with tips on how to keep your restaurant growing and healthy, the book answers most commonly asked questions and covers the essential business basics.
• The Menu Maker : Having trouble creating that memorable menu for your restaurant? This site specializes in spicing up menus to increase your profits, complement your eatery and reinforce your desired image. It also offers tips for menu presentation and helps determine your menu needs.
• National Restaurant Association (NRA) : Founded in 1919, the NRA is the leading business association for the restaurant industry. Its site offers access to an information service and library, various publications and industry research. It also provides networking opportunities and training, and emphasizes the ways in which local restaurants can contribute to their communities.
• National Restaurant Association (NRA) Educational Foundation : This nonprofit organization is dedicated to fulfilling the NRA's educational mission. The site offers classes for professionals and listings of U.S. Food Safety Regulatory System laws and training requirements. Where available, county and municipal requirements are also listed.
• PlanMagic Restaurant : This comprehensive package is geared toward startup restaurants. It focuses on methods for writing a successful business plan, and helps you figure out specific financial calculations to beef up your proposal.
• Restaurant Associations (by State) : Find out state-specific information regarding the restaurant and food-service industry.
• Restaurant Business Plan from Bplans.com : This site is a collection of resources and tools for starting a restaurant, including a restaurant industry report, sample restaurant business plans and a link to a local Small Business Development Center finder.
• Restaurantfunds : This website allows you to order a package called the Restaurant Success Kit, which includes a restaurant business plan creation tool, restaurant financials creation software, and a complete e-book and user's manual to help answer all your restaurant questions.
• Restaurant Startup & Growth magazine : Here you'll find resources to help you get organized, increase sales, reduce theft, control costs, improve service, hire better employees, safeguard your cash and much more.
• SCORE : To get some practical, real-world advice, contact SCORE and ask to speak with small-business counselors who owned or managed a restaurant. Find offices or counselors in your area by visiting the website.
• Women's Foodservice Forum (WFF) : The WFF is dedicated to providing women in the food-service industry with the resources to succeed. It offers leadership development programs, market research, and a regional partnership program for networking. The site also provides answers to FAQs, advice and a community of peers.

Starting and opening a restaurant can be an exciting, rewarding, and sometimes overwhelming experience. When done correctly, the rewards will far outweigh any anxieties that may come along with it. With proper planning and research, you will have the necessary tools to make your dream of owning a successful eatery a reality.

Check out Entrepreneur's other guides and resources for more informational articles like this one!

Entrepreneur Staff

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BUSINESS STRATEGIES

How to create a restaurant business plan

• Nirit Braun

A restaurant business plan is a detailed and strategic document that outlines the fundamental aspects of establishing and operating a restaurant. It encompasses a comprehensive overview of the restaurant's concept, business website , target market, menu offerings, marketing strategies, operational procedures, financial projections and more. Essentially, it serves as a roadmap that guides entrepreneurs through the process of starting a business as well as managing and growing a successful restaurant venture.

When starting a food business , creating a clear business plan is of paramount importance. By meticulously detailing each aspect of your plan, entrepreneurs gain a deeper understanding of their business idea and the steps required to turn it into a reality.

Ready to start making a website for your restaurant venture? Give Wix’s website builder a try.

How to create a successful restaurant business plan in 6 steps

By following these six basic steps, you’ll produce a strategic plan that attracts investors, secures funding and guides your new restaurant venture to success. With a well-thought-out document that aligns with your goals, you’ll be set up for success in starting a business .

Executive summary

Company and domain name

Market analysis and research

Operations plan

Marketing and advertising plan

Financial plan

01. Executive summary

An executive summary is a concise overview of your entire restaurant business plan. It encapsulates the essence of the venture, highlighting key aspects such as the restaurant's concept, target market, competitive advantage and financial projections. This section serves as a hook to capture the reader's interest and provide a snapshot of what the business plan entails.

When writing an executive summary for a restaurant business, clarity and brevity are paramount. Begin by introducing the restaurant concept, its unique selling points and the specific cuisine or dining experience it offers. Outline the market opportunity, demonstrating a clear understanding of the target audience's preferences and needs. Address the competitive landscape by highlighting how the restaurant stands out in terms of menu, ambiance, location or other distinguishing factors.

Example of an executive summary

"Sumptuous Bites Café is a new upscale dining establishment poised to bring an innovative culinary experience to the heart of the city. With a focus on farm-to-table cuisine crafted from locally sourced ingredients, we aim to redefine gastronomy by blending tradition with modernity. Our contemporary ambiance and eclectic menu of fusion dishes, prepared by award-winning chefs, promise a memorable dining journey for both food enthusiasts and connoisseurs.

In a competitive market, Sumptuous Bites Café sets itself apart by offering a diverse menu that caters to various dietary preferences and a commitment to sustainability. Our prime downtown location and collaboration with local farmers create an authentic connection with the community, ensuring a loyal customer base.

With a proven business model and a projected 20% growth in revenue within the first year, Sumptuous Bites Café seeks an initial investment of $220,000 to cover startup costs and marketing initiatives. Our goal is to become the go-to destination for discerning diners seeking an exceptional culinary experience that celebrates flavor, innovation and community."

02. Company and domain name

Knowing how to name a business is crucial, as it forms the foundation of your brand identity and is a key first step as you make plans to register your business . It should reflect the restaurant's essence, be memorable and resonate with your target audience. Consider using a business name generator or restaurant name generator to brainstorm ideas and ensure the name aligns with your concept and values.

Similarly, selecting a domain name is essential for your online presence. The domain name should ideally match your restaurant's name and be easy to remember. Check its availability and secure it early to avoid complications.

Check out these restaurant name ideas for inspiration.

03. Market analysis and research

The restaurant industry is a saturated albeit successful market, with the 2023 sales forecast coming in at $997 billion in the U.S. alone. This is why it’s vital to do market and competitor research before you dive in.

Including a comprehensive market analysis and research section in your business plan helps you understand the competitive landscape and market trends. Identify your target audience, their preferences and spending habits. Analyze your competitors' strengths and weaknesses, learning from their successes and shortcomings to develop a better business strategy.

04. Operations plan

The operations plan outlines the practical aspects of running your restaurant. Detail the proposed location, explaining how it aligns with your target market and why it's strategically advantageous. Discuss the layout, interior design and ambiance, highlighting how they contribute to the overall dining experience.

Include equipment requirements too, from kitchen appliances to POS systems, ensuring they support efficient operations. You’ll also want to address staffing needs, outlining roles and responsibilities and emphasizing the importance of well-trained and customer-focused employees.

05. Marketing and advertising plan

A well-structured marketing and advertising plan is essential to attract customers to your restaurant. Outline a mix of online and offline strategies, including social media marketing, influencer partnerships, local events and promotions.

It’s critical that your business website acts as a hub for showcasing your menu, enabling online reservations and engaging with customers. This is where you’ll provide essential information such as your location, hours of operation and contact details. In today's digital landscape, an online presence is indispensable for all types of business , including restaurants.

As part of your marketing plan, you’ll want to make sure your branding is up to par as well. Ensure your business has a clean, professional logo to use on your website and all marketing materials. Use a logo maker to generate some ideas, or narrow down your options with a dedicated restaurant logo maker instead.

06. Financial plan

Opening a restaurant can be an expensive endeavor, with some estimates putting the cost between $175,000 and $750,000 . A financial plan is a critical component of your business plan. It encompasses startup costs, revenue projections and financial milestones. Detail how you will fund the initial investment and estimate the timeframe to achieve profitability. Include a comprehensive budget that covers all expenses, from lease payments to marketing campaigns, ensuring financial transparency and feasibility.

Restaurant business plan examples

These examples provide a framework for structuring a restaurant business plan, incorporating all the essential elements discussed earlier. Remember that each business plan should be tailored to the specific concept, target market and goals of your restaurant venture.

Restaurant business plan template 1: Taste of Tuscany Bistro

Taste of Tuscany Bistro is a sophisticated Italian eatery dedicated to providing an authentic culinary journey through the flavors of Tuscany. Located in the heart of the city, our bistro combines rustic charm with modern elegance, offering a menu that celebrates the region's traditional dishes using locally sourced ingredients. With a strong commitment to sustainability and community engagement, Taste of Tuscany Bistro is poised to become a culinary destination for food enthusiasts seeking an exceptional dining experience.

Company name: Taste of Tuscany Bistro

Domain name: www.tasteoftuscanybistro.com

Marketing analysis and research

Target audience: Discerning diners aged 25 to 45 seeking authentic Italian cuisine and a refined dining ambiance.

Competitive landscape: Analyzing local Italian restaurants reveals a gap in upscale, region-specific offerings.

Market trends: Growing demand for locally sourced, sustainable and organic ingredients.

Location: Prime downtown area, near cultural attractions and high foot traffic.

Premises: Rustic yet elegant interior design, reminiscent of Tuscan countryside.

Equipment: State-of-the-art kitchen appliances, traditional wood-fired oven for pizzas.

Staffing: Experienced chefs, skilled waitstaff and knowledgeable sommelier.

Online presence: Engaging social media platforms, regular blog posts on Italian cuisine and interaction with food influencers.

Local engagement: Partnerships with nearby cultural centers, participation in food festivals and collaboration with local farmers.

Website: The business website is a hub for the menu, online reservations and engaging content about Tuscan culinary traditions.

Initial funding: Seeking an investment of $300,000 to cover startup costs, interior design, equipment and initial marketing campaigns.

Projected revenue: Anticipate revenue growth of 15% in the first year, reaching profitability within 18 months.

Budget: Detailed budget covering all expenses, from lease payments to food costs and marketing initiatives.

Restaurant business plan template 2: FusionEats Café

FusionEats Café is a dynamic culinary haven that brings together diverse flavors from around the world. Our contemporary fusion concept aims to delight urban food enthusiasts with a menu that combines global ingredients and techniques in innovative ways. Nestled in a vibrant neighborhood, our café offers a relaxed and artistic atmosphere, creating an inviting space for people to explore culinary creativity.

Company name: FusionEats Café

Domain name: www.fusioneatscafe.com

Target audience: Millennials and Gen Z, seeking unique and Instagram-worthy food experiences.

Competitive landscape: Identifying a gap in the market for a café specializing in global fusion cuisine.

Market trends: Increased interest in diverse and fusion flavors, driven by adventurous palates.

Location: Eclectic neighborhood known for its artistic community and diverse population.

Premises: Modern interior with an open kitchen, allowing customers to observe food preparation.

Equipment: Versatile kitchen equipment for experimenting with fusion cooking techniques.

Staffing: Creative chefs and friendly service staff with a passion for engaging customers.

Social media engagement: Active presence on Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest, sharing visually appealing fusion creations.

Event collaborations: Collaborating with local art galleries and cultural centers for themed food and art events.

Website: The café's website showcases the ever-changing fusion menu and allows online orders and reservations.

Initial funding: Seeking $150,000 for startup costs, interior design, equipment and initial marketing efforts.

Projected revenue: Aiming for 20% revenue growth within the first year, with profitability expected in 12 months.

Budget: Comprehensive budget covering operational costs, creative ingredients and digital marketing campaigns.

Top benefits of creating a restaurant business plan

Crafting a business plan is essential when starting a restaurant business, as it offers a comprehensive roadmap to success. This detailed document holds a multitude of benefits that are vital for steering a restaurant venture toward prosperity.

Attracts investors and funding: A thoroughly outlined plan demonstrates a deep understanding of the industry, market trends and potential returns on investment. This instills confidence in potential backers and increases the likelihood of securing funding to raise money for your business .

Assists in resource management: A comprehensive restaurant business plan compels entrepreneurs to evaluate the resources, supplies and staffing needs required to initiate the restaurant business. This evaluation ensures that all necessary equipment, ingredients and skilled personnel are in place, facilitating a smooth launch and efficient operation.

Provides operational clarity: Starting a restaurant business involves a plethora of moving parts, from kitchen operations to customer service. A well-crafted business plan outlines these operational processes, enhancing efficiency, minimizing confusion and contributing to a seamless customer experience.

Allows for risk mitigation and contingency planning: Anticipating challenges and developing contingency plans are integral to any restaurant business. A well-structured business plan encourages entrepreneurs to identify potential obstacles and devise strategies to mitigate these risks, ensuring smoother operations and long-term sustainability.

Facilitates long-term profitability: Beyond the initial launch, a business plan provides a strategic foundation for the restaurant's long-term success. It outlines goals, growth strategies and measures to maintain the business's competitive edge in the dynamic restaurant industry.

By embracing these benefits, entrepreneurs can navigate the complexities of the restaurant industry and increase their chances of establishing a thriving and sustainable dining establishment.

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The New World Delicatessen will be an upscale deli specializing in a combination of fast hot or cold sandwiches and salads plus specific recipes focusing on the Pacific Northwest cuisine.

Ethnic Food Restaurant Business Plan

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Fast Food Restaurant Business Plan

Fresin Fries will entice youngsters to bring their friends and family with our innovative environment, fresh-cut Belgian fries, and selection of unique signature dipping sauces.

Fine Dining Restaurant Business Plan

Gabri’s Lounge & Restaurant will be the perfect place to stop in for a bite to eat, for a drink or for a small business meeting.

Franchise Sandwich Shop Business Plan

Franchise Sub Shop is a national franchise sub sandwich quick-service restaurant.

Healthy Restaurant Business Plan

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Italian Restaurant Business Plan

The Pasta House Co. is a start-up Italian Restaurant franchise. The owners of The Pasta House Co. will acquire restaurant space in a newer shopping mall, establishing a second franchise location.

Mediterranean Restaurant Business Plan

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Mexican Restaurant Business Plan

La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill is a franchise restaurant chain, opening its first storefront in this state. Menu items emphasize fresh ingredients.

Movie Theater Restaurant Business Plan

Second Run Pizza renovated an old theater, creating a venue where patrons can enjoy a pizza dinner while viewing second run movies.

Organic Restaurant Business Plan

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Sigmund's Gourmet Pasta restaurant specializes in unique and innovative pasta dishes.

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Pizzeria del Causamali is a start-up restaurant which will fill an empty niche. Currently there are few family-dining restaurants serving the rural communities surrounding the town of Deauville, and none serve freshly made pizza.

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Pita Pal is a new restaurant strategically located in downtown Washington, PA, that serves fresh and healthy pita sandwiches.

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Sagebrush Sam's will provide a unique combination of excellent food at value pricing with a fun and entertaining atmosphere.

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Fire Fountain Grille is an upscale, casual, start-up steak restaurant that will emphasize high quality service, superb meats, special seasonings, and unique decor.

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Full of Bologna, A Taste of North Italy is a new High Renaissance themed Italian restaurant, starting up as an anchor retail establishment in the revitalized Greensward development.

Fast Food Service Business Plan

QuickBite Express offers delicious, high-quality fast food options with a focus on speed, convenience, and affordability. Our diverse menu caters to various tastes and dietary preferences, ensuring a satisfying experience for all customers.

Small Restaurant Business Plan

Bistro Locale offers an intimate and authentic dining experience by serving fresh, seasonal dishes inspired by local flavors and ingredients. With its warm, inviting atmosphere and exceptional customer service, it provides a unique destination for food lovers seeking a local, high-quality dining experience.

You’re a professional chef in the making. You have delicious recipes, a killer drink menu, and even a delicious secret sauce all ready to go, but what about your business plan? You can have the best food and dining experience in the world, but without a good business plan in place, your restaurant may be out of business before you ever fire up the oven.

Check out our library of sample restaurant business plans to be sure you have everything in order to confidently take your first order.

You can also read our comprehensive guide on how to write a small restaurant business plan .

The quickest way to turn a business idea into a business plan

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• MARKETPLACE

Coming this summer: a new restaurant at former Ford’s Lobster site in Noank

Groton ― A new seafood restaurant, to be called Haring’s, is anticipated to open this summer season at the former Ford’s Lobster property on Riverview Avenue in Noank.

The 85th Day Food Community , which owns the Oyster Club, The Port of Call, and the Engine Room in Mystic, as well as a catering and events operation, aims to start serving lobster rolls, chowder and seafood at the restaurant on Memorial Day weekend, or by Father’s Day at the latest, said 85th Day Food Community CEO and founder Dan Meiser.

“We’re excited to be up and running this summer,” Meiser said.

Meiser said the restaurant will operate this upcoming season in the same format and footprint of the former Ford’s Lobster restaurant, which closed last year after its lease ended , but the Mystic-based restaurant group is exploring changes for the 2025 season.

Meanwhile, Ford’s Lobster/Haring’s Marine, which said on Facebook in November that it was confident it would return in a new location after its lease ended, posted an update Wednesday that: “We are still working out where we'll be this summer, but we are confident we'll be close by and able to give you all some delicious lobsta! Stay tuned!!”

Zoning Enforcement Officer Bill Mulholland said the original approval to operate as a restaurant, including with BYOB and the existing seating capacity and parking requirements, stays with the Riverview Avenue property, so the 85th Day Food Community’ s restaurant can operate in the same manner without any additional approvals needed.

The Noank Zoning Commission last week heard about potential modifications the 85th Day Food Community would like to make at a future date during a non-binding “ pre-application review ,” said Mulholland. No application has been submitted yet, but a small addition for dining space, parking and alcohol were among the topics discussed.

Mulholland said the applicant would need to return to the commission to ask for approval for any proposed changes and there would be a public hearing.

Meiser said the restaurant group plans to operate BYOB this summer, but anticipates seeking a restaurant liquor permit for the 2025 season, which he said will put the sale of alcohol in the hands of trained professionals who ensure alcohol does not leave the property unregulated.

Meiser said the restaurant will accept reservations. The Mystic Seaport Museum, which holds a conservation easement on the property, will manage the dock space.

While conversations are continuing with the restaurant group’s architects and engineers, the zoning board and staff, and the public, the proposed vision for 2025 includes the addition of a 750-square-foot dining room between the lobster shack building and restaurant, as the current dining room is proposed as a fish market and welcoming space, Meiser explained.

The restaurant groups plans to landscape the property and shore up buildings and paint them. He said the only change to the buildings will be the removal of a dilapidated section of shed next to the lobster shack. The iconic lobster shack will be preserved and painted.

He said the sign for Haring’s Marine, a gas dock and bait and tackle business, will remain.

“There’s a lot of amazing stories from that community that we hope to not only preserve but to bring to light with our guests as they come to that iconic property,” Meiser said.

The restaurant group is working with the commission on different ideas for patio seating, he said.

Meiser said the idea is to create a casual vibe with a commitment to quality and service.

He anticipates submitting an application, which will include a parking plan, in the late summer or fall.

Cathy Maynard Osborne, a Branford resident who grew up in Noank right by Ford’s and continues to visit, said she already feels the area is overrun by restaurants and she is concerned about parking. She said she hopes the new operator would keep it small and nostalgic, so people see the landmarks of Noank.

According to Ford’s Lobster’s website, Orion Ford started a lobster shack on the property that Kris Nyman then was in charge of after Ford retired.

“In 2010 Kris and Kerrie purchased a hot dog cart with their last bit of savings, crossed their fingers and hoped people would come by for a lobster roll,” the website states. “They did! Two years later the indoor dining room was designed and the rest, as they say, is history!”

“My wish and my hope is that they keep the shoreline waterfront look of Noank, and for Orion Ford’s sake, keep it as it is,” Osborne said, speaking of her wishes for the new restaurateur of the Riverview Avenue property.

The website says that Ford’s plans to open in a new location and Fords Black & Blue at Spicer’s Marina remains open.

Editor’s note: this version corrects the spelling of Kris Nyman’s last name.

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Two businesses announce moves; more chicken restaurants coming to the Ozarks

This week in Springfield-area restaurant news: Two businesses announce their intent to move, a family-friendly spot for drinks and snacks is on its way and another chicken franchise is coming to Springfield.

Ice cream and waffle business to leave Springfield

Swirly's Ice Cream & Waffles will continue to operate — just not in Springfield. Former owners Jack and Kenzie Powderly shared on Facebook March 23 that they had sold the business and it will now operate out of Houston, Missouri.

"A huge thanks to our loyal customers who supported us over the past two years," the Powderlys said in the Facebook post. They had announced their intent to sell the business in late January due to health problems and a second child.

Any customers with unused gift cards are encouraged to reach out to the Powderlys for a refund.

Hungry for more Springfield food news? Get a weekly helping with the News-Leader's Restaurant Roundup newsletter

El Cafecito owners plan to open family-friendly spot for snacks, drinks

Owners Shanie and Cristhian Valdez are opening up another endeavor down the street from El Cafecito . El Escondite, 2528 S. Campbell Ave., is set for a grand opening on Cinco de Mayo, May 5.

The restaurant, whose name means "The Hiding Place," will serve snacks and drinks. Shanie Valdez is hoping she can make this space a welcoming one for parents and children alike.

"Our vision for the place is family-friendly environment," Shanie Valdez said. "What we really like to do is find places where we can take the kids and enjoy the night. Like a lot of the local breweries, you can take the kids with you and they have games, so you can relax and have a snack and have a drink."

El Escondite will feature a "fun bar menu" with cocktails served in glasses, pineapples and coconuts, as well as different Mexican snacks, crepes and seafood dishes like ceviche and aguachile.

There will also be plenty to do: El Escondite will have activities like ping pong, foosball, darts, video games, board games and an area for younger children where they can play games and color.

Another chicken franchise to open in Springfield by end of 2024

Chick N Max, a fast-casual franchise that calls itself "the Home of the Better Chicken Sandwich," will be coming to Christian and Greene counties. The restaurant specializes in chicken wings, sandwiches and fried chicken tenders.

Jason Kruse, who owns and operates six Subway restaurants in the area, expects to have the first of three Chick N Max locations open and operating by the end of the year.

“Chick N Max has carved out a unique niche in a saturated segment and created the 'Home of the Better Chicken Sandwich' by creating a lineup of chef-crafted sandwiches with a global array of flavors,” said Kruse in a press release.

Chick N Max was founded in 2017.

Smoothie, acai bowl spot is leaving Nixa food hall

Abby's Acai Co., 203 E. Mt. Vernon St. in Nixa, announced that April 26 will be its last day at 14 Mill Market.

According to a Facebook post , the smoothie and acai bowl business will operate exclusively from its food truck at Cherry and Pickwick streets.

Owner Abby Casiday said that the move is in order to pursue her "passion and goal of starting a private practice as a counselor."

Susan Szuch reports on health and food for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @szuchsm. Story idea? Email her at [email protected].

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Sprouts of Hope in a Gloomy Media Landscape

A handful of digital start-ups are finding success — so far, at least — by learning lessons from their troubled predecessors.

Credit... Peter Arkle

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By Katie Robertson and Benjamin Mullin

• March 12, 2024

This year is looking grim for the news business.

Facing a set of harsh financial realities — resulting from a mix of news fatigue, an unsteady advertising market and a precipitous fall in traffic from tech giants — many outlets have been forced to fold or make significant cuts in recent months.

But there are some signs of hope. A small cohort of for-profit digital media companies that sprang up during the pandemic have found success — at least for the moment — by taking the opposite approach of many predecessors, such as BuzzFeed and Vice, which fatefully relied on huge amounts of investor money to prioritize growth.

The new class of news start-ups — Puck , Punchbowl News , The Ankler and Semafor are among the most prominent — have kept spending down and hired carefully. They are all centered on newsletters covering specific niches with broad appeal. They have attracted top journalists by putting them at the heart of the enterprise, sometimes as part owners in the companies.

“There was possibly a mismatch 10 or 15 years ago between funding structures and media companies,” said Jon Kelly, the co-founder and editor in chief of Puck, whose 14 reporters write about topics including politics, finance and media. “And I think that the entire industry has learned from that.”

These start-ups exemplify a shift in the conventional wisdom about how to make money in digital publishing. A decade or so ago, many venture capitalists and top media executives thought the then-rising class of digital start-ups might eventually dominate the industry. The big influx of investor money was put toward chasing the biggest audience possible.

But traffic from social media giants like Facebook and Twitter dropped, and the economics of digital ads didn’t add up. Predictions of supplanting traditional TV networks or sprawling print empires never came to pass. The most recent outlet to try this playbook, The Messenger, folded in January, fewer than nine months after it launched.

The formula embraced by the new start-ups is instead sustainable growth built on a mix of revenue sources, including ads, paid subscriptions and sponsored events. Instead of trying to reach everybody on the internet, they have kept more narrow lanes of coverage and targeted high-income readers, following a path more similar to the 10-year-old tech website The Information or the politics outlet Politico.

“What all of them have in common is this intense need to serve specific audiences rather than to serve everybody,” said Jacob Cohen Donnelly, the founder of A Media Operator , a newsletter about the media business.

Some of the other new companies finding early traction include publications on the newsletter platform Substack, such as The Free Press and The Bulwark , which have attracted tens of thousands of paid subscribers. Several worker-owned publications, like Defector and Hell Gate , are showing promise. And some older digital outlets, like Vox Media , have survived by expanding into businesses such as podcasting, and cutting costs.

Punchbowl News, started in 2021 by three former Politico reporters, aggressively covers Congress and has become “the hometown newspaper of Capitol Hill in a lot of ways,” said Anna Palmer, a founder and the chief executive. Now with 30 employees, Punchbowl publishes three newsletters a day and has added coverage of the financial services industry. It is looking to expand into other policy areas.

“What we have really focused on is not being something that people might find interesting, but that they actually need to be able to do their job,” she said.

Punchbowl offers its morning newsletter for free, while a subscription to its other newsletters is $350 a year. Access to Punchbowl’s policy reporting starts at $1,200 a year. The model is akin to Politico Pro (which starts at the low five-figures per year), Axios Pro ($599 a year) and The Information Pro ($999 a year), the premium offerings from those websites.

Ms. Palmer said Punchbowl had been profitable since its first year and generated $20 million in revenue in 2023, though she declined to discuss subscription figures. A person with knowledge of Punchbowl’s finances said that in the first two months of this year, the company had already booked 90 percent of its annual newsletter sponsorship goal.

The Ankler, a paid newsletter focused on Hollywood, is anchored by Richard Rushfield, an entertainment journalist who has emerged as Hollywood’s unsparing gadfly, narrating the industry’s unending chaos and skewering the actors, agents and executives responsible for creating it.

Ankler Media has raised $1.3 million at a valuation of $20 million and has been profitable for more than a year, said Janice Min , the company’s chief executive and founder, who previously helmed The Hollywood Reporter and Us Weekly. The Ankler now has seven employees and publishes several newsletters, including Wake Up, a Hollywood news digest.

“If we want to make a Hollywood analogy, it’s like these growing franchises are multiverses,” Ms. Min said. “People like what we do and see our newsletters as an extension of the voice that might have drawn them in in the beginning.”

Semafor is the largest of the group, with about 75 employees and ambitions to provide global news. But the company is charting a careful path, said Justin Smith, one of the founders and its chief executive.

Semafor launched in late 2022, with 30 to 40 percent fewer employees than its original business plan had called for, Mr. Smith said. The company decided to start smaller as interest rates were creeping up and the economic outlook was darkening.

“The pandemic really marked the transition from the social media era to what we call the post-social media era,” Mr. Smith said, noting that outlets must now focus on direct relationships with their audience.

For Semafor, that has meant committing to newsletters centered on a handful of topics, as well as the geographic areas of the United States and sub-Saharan Africa. Semafor now has more than 650,000 unpaid newsletter subscriptions, according to a spokeswoman. The outlet is hiring for an editor in the Middle East and plans to add a newsletter focused on the region.

The company generates revenue from advertising and events, and has a sponsorship deal with Microsoft for a global elections tracker and a news feed aided by generative artificial intelligence. Mr. Smith declined to share specific financial figures for the company but said it had a couple of profitable months in the last six months of 2023.

Of course, nothing in media lasts forever — particularly in the fast-changing digital world. So there’s no guarantee that the early success of these companies will translate into sustained growth.

Many of these start-ups are also taking a somewhat risky bet on talent.

At Puck, the start-up that covers topics including entertainment and finance, early hires such as Matt Belloni, who is a definitive chronicler of modern Hollywood, and Julia Ioffe, who has established herself as a must-read on Russian politics, are “founding partners.” In addition to a salary, they receive bonuses based on the number of people who subscribe to their email newsletters and how many of them stick around. New employees also get a small ownership stake in the company.

Puck, which has about 40 employees, now has roughly 40,000 paid subscribers. Shortly after the company launched, Mr. Belloni accounted for about 30 percent of paid subscribers, according to a person with knowledge of the figures.

If one or more of the star journalists leave the publication, would Puck’s subscribers follow?

Mr. Kelly said he didn’t “want to even contemplate a world” in which one of Puck’s journalists exited.

“We made a promise to everyone: You will do the best work of your career here, and we will find a way to make sure that you are valued for it,” Mr. Kelly said. “And I really think that our model is actually becoming one of the moats of our business.”

Katie Robertson covers the media industry for The Times. Email:  [email protected]   More about Katie Robertson

Benjamin Mullin reports on the major companies behind news and entertainment. Contact Ben securely on Signal at +1 530-961-3223 or email at [email protected]. More about Benjamin Mullin

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