startup business plan for fast food

Fast Food Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Business Plan Outline

• Fast Food Business Plan Home
• 1. Executive Summary
• 2. Company Overview
• 3. Industry Analysis
• 4. Customer Analysis
• 5. Competitive Analysis
• 6. Marketing Plan
• 7. Operations Plan
• 8. Management Team
• 9. Financial Plan

Fast Food Restaurant Business Plan & Template

You’ve come to the right place to create your fast food business plan.

We have helped over 100,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their fast food businesses.

Fast Food Business Plan Example

Below are links to each section of a fast food restaurant business plan sample:

Next Section: Executive Summary >

Fast Food Business Plan FAQs

What is a fast food business plan.

A fast food business plan is a plan to start and/or grow your fast food restaurant. Among other things, it outlines your business concept, identifies your target customers, presents your marketing plan and details your financial projections.

You can  easily complete your fast food business plan using our Fast Food Business Plan Template here .

What Are the Main Types of Fast Food Businesses?

There are many types of fast food businesses. The most common fast food restaurants serve hamburgers, fries, and soft drinks. Other common fast food establishments serve chicken, Chinese food, Mexican food, and pizza. There is a recent trend in fast food restaurants serving healthier options such as smoothies, wraps, sandwiches, and salads. A fast food restaurant can be centered around any food genre that is able to be prepared fast and in large quantities to serve multiple customers daily.

What Are the Main Sources of Revenue and Expenses for a Fast Food Restaurant?

The primary source of revenue for a fast food restaurant are the food and drink items sold at the establishment.

The key expenses are the costs to source the ingredients for the menu items, kitchen equipment and supplies, overhead expenses for the staff and rent, and any marketing costs the restaurant chooses to partake in.

What is the Difference Between a Franchise and Non-Franchise Fast Food Restaurant?

A franchise fast food restaurant is a business that is owned and operated by someone who has a contract with a larger company. That company provides the products, training, and marketing for the smaller business. A non-franchise fast food restaurant is a business that is independently owned and operated.

Franchise fast-food restaurants have a set of guidelines and standards to which they must adhere in order to use the franchise name. Non-franchise fast food restaurants do not have these guidelines and can vary greatly in terms of quality, cleanliness, and customer service.

How Do You Get Funding for Your Fast Food Business?

Fast food businesses are most likely to receive funding from banks. Typically you will find a local bank and present your business plan to them. Another option for a fast food business is to obtain a small business loan. SBA loans are a popular option as they offer longer loan terms with lower interest rates. Outside investors, crowdfunding, and/or friends or family are other typical funding options. This is true for a fast casual restaurant business plan or a takeout restaurant business plan.

What are the Steps To Start a Fast Food Business?

Starting a fast food restaurant can be an exciting endeavor. Having a clear roadmap of the steps to start a successful fast food business will help you stay focused on your goals and get started faster.

1. Write A Fast Food Business Plan - The first step in starting a business is to create a detailed fast food business plan that outlines all aspects of the venture. This should include market research on the fast food industry and potential target market size, information on your fast food menu, marketing strategy, pricing strategy and a detailed financial forecast.  

2. Choose Your Legal Structure - It's important to select an appropriate legal entity for your fast food business. This could be a limited liability company (LLC), corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. Each type has its own benefits and drawbacks so it’s important to do research and choose wisely so that your fast food business is in compliance with local laws.

3. Register Your Fast Food Restaurant   - Once you have chosen a legal structure, the next step is to register your fast food business with the government or state where you’re operating from. This includes obtaining licenses and permits as required by federal, state, and local laws. 

4. Identify Financing Options - It’s likely that you’ll need some capital to start your fast food business, so take some time to identify what financing options are available such as bank loans, investor funding, grants, or crowdfunding platforms. 

5. Choose a Location - Whether you plan on operating out of a physical location or not, you should always have an idea of where you’ll be based should it become necessary in the future as well as what kind of space would be suitable for your operations. 

6. Hire Employees - There are several ways to find qualified employees including job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed as well as hiring agencies if needed – depending on what type of employees you need it might also be more effective to reach out directly through networking events. 

7. Acquire Necessary Fast Food Equipment & Supplies - In order to start your fast food business, you'll need to purchase all of the necessary equipment and supplies to run a successful operation. 

8. Market & Promote Your Business - Once you have all the necessary pieces in place, it’s time to start promoting and marketing your fast food business. Marketing efforts includes creating a website, utilizing social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and having an effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. You should also consider traditional marketing techniques such as radio or print advertising to reach your target audience.

Where Can I Get a Fast Food Business Plan PDF?

You can download our free fast food business plan template PDF here. This is a sample fast food business plan template you can use in PDF format.

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Fast Food Restaurant Business Plan

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How To Write A Fast Food Restaurant Business Plan?

Writing a fast food restaurant business plan is a crucial step toward the success of your business. Here are the key steps to consider when writing a business plan:

1. Executive Summary

An executive summary is the first section planned to offer an overview of the entire business plan. However, it is written after the whole business plan is ready and summarizes each section of your plan.

Here are a few key components to include in your executive summary:

Introduce your Business:

Start your executive summary by briefly introducing your business to your readers.

Market Opportunity:

Products and services:.

• For instance, your products and services may include menu items, combo meals, takeout and delivery services, combo meals, and catering services.

Marketing & Sales Strategies:

Financial highlights:, call to action:.

Ensure your executive summary is clear, concise, easy to understand, and jargon-free.

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2. Business Overview

The business overview section of your business plan offers detailed information about your restaurant. The details you add will depend on how important they are to your business. Yet, business name, location, business history, and future goals are some of the foundational elements you must consider adding to this section:

Business Description:

• Vegetarian fast food restaurants
• Pizza chains
• Mexican fast food restaurants
• Asian fast food restaurants
• Sandwich shops
• Fried seafood restaurants

Describe the legal structure of your fast food restaurant, whether it is a sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership, or others.

Mission Statement:

Business history:.

• Additionally, If you have received any awards or recognition for excellent work, describe them.

Future Goals:

This section should provide a thorough understanding of your business, its history, and its future plans. Keep this section engaging, precise, and to the point.

3. Market Analysis

The market analysis section of your business plan should offer a thorough understanding of the industry with the target market, competitors, and growth opportunities. You should include the following components in this section.

Target market:

• For instance, young adults, millennials, and busy professionals can be an ideal target market for a fast food restaurant.

Market size and growth potential:

Competitive analysis:, market trends:.

• For instance, there is an increasing demand for healthier food options; explain how you plan to cater to this growing market.

Regulatory Environment:

Here are a few tips for writing the market analysis section of your fast food business plan:

• Conduct market research, industry reports, and surveys to gather data.
• Provide specific and detailed information whenever possible.
• Illustrate your points with charts and graphs.
• Write your business plan keeping your target audience in mind.

4. Products And Services

The product and services section should describe the specific services and products that will be offered to customers. To write this section should include the following:

Fast Food Menu:

Beverages and desserts:.

• For instance, dramatic style involves using longer & thicker lashes for a glamorous look.

Food Preparation and Safety Measures:

This section should explain your food preparation process, cooking methods, and how your business aligns with food safety regulations.

Special Services:

In short, this section of your fast food restaurant plan must be informative, precise, and client-focused. By providing a clear and compelling description of your offerings, you can help potential investors and readers understand the value of your business.

5. Sales And Marketing Strategies

Writing the sales and marketing strategies section means a list of strategies you will use to attract and retain your clients. Here are some key elements to include in your sales & marketing plan:

Unique Selling Proposition (USP):

• For example, fresh and quality ingredients, unique menu items, sustainability, and ethical practices could be some of the great USPs for a fast-food restaurant.

Pricing Strategy:

Marketing strategies:, sales strategies:, customer retention:.

Overall, this section of your fast food restaurant business plan should focus on customer acquisition and retention.

Have a specific, realistic, and data-driven approach while planning sales and marketing strategies for your fast food restaurant, and be prepared to adapt or make strategic changes in your strategies based on feedback and results.

6. Operations Plan

The operations plan section of your business plan should outline the processes and procedures involved in your business operations, such as staffing requirements and operational processes. Here are a few components to add to your operations plan:

Staffing & Training:

Operational process:, equipment & machinery:.

• Explain how these technologies help you maintain quality standards and improve the efficiency of your business operations.

Adding these components to your operations plan will help you lay out your business operations, which will eventually help you manage your business effectively.

7. Management Team

The management team section provides an overview of your fast food restaurant’s management team. This section should provide a detailed description of each manager’s experience and qualifications, as well as their responsibilities and roles.

Founders/CEO:

Key managers:.

• It should include key executives, master chefs, senior management, and other department managers (e.g. operations manager.) involved in the fast food restaurant operations, including their education, professional background, and any relevant experience in the food industry.

Organizational structure:

Compensation plan:, advisors/consultants:.

Mentioning advisors or consultants in your business plans adds credibility to your business idea.

This section should describe the key personnel for your fast food restaurant, highlighting how you have the perfect team to succeed.

8. Financial Plan

Your financial plan section should provide a summary of your business’s financial projections for the first few years. Here are some key elements to include in your financial plan:

Profit & loss statement:

Cash flow statement:, balance sheet:, break-even point:.

• This exercise will help you understand how much revenue you need to generate to sustain or be profitable.

Financing Needs:

Be realistic with your financial projections, and make sure you offer relevant information and evidence to support your estimates.

9. Appendix

The appendix section of your plan should include any additional information supporting your business plan’s main content, such as market research, legal documentation, financial statements, and other relevant information.

• Add a table of contents for the appendix section to help readers easily find specific information or sections.
• In addition to your financial statements, provide additional financial documents like tax returns, a list of assets within the business, credit history, and more. These statements must be the latest and offer financial projections for at least the first three or five years of business operations.
• Provide data derived from market research, including stats about the restaurant industry, user demographics, and industry trends.
• Include any legal documents such as permits, licenses, and contracts.
• Include any additional documentation related to your business plan, such as product brochures, marketing materials, operational procedures, etc.

Use clear headings and labels for each section of the appendix so that readers can easily find the necessary information.

Remember, the appendix section of your fast food restaurant business plan should only include relevant and important information supporting your plan’s main content.

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This sample fast food restaurant business plan will provide an idea for writing a successful fast food restaurant plan, including all the essential components of your business.

After this, if you still need clarification about writing an investment-ready business plan to impress your audience, download our fast food restaurant business plan pdf .

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Frequently asked questions, why do you need a fast food restaurant business plan.

A business plan is an essential tool for anyone looking to start or run a successful fast food restaurant business. It helps to get clarity in your business, secures funding, and identifies potential challenges while starting and growing your business.

Overall, a well-written plan can help you make informed decisions, which can contribute to the long-term success of your fast food restaurant.

How to get funding for your fast food restaurant business?

There are several ways to get funding for your fast food restaurant business, but self-funding is one of the most efficient and speedy funding options. Other options for funding are:

• Bank loan – You may apply for a loan in government or private banks.
• Small Business Administration (SBA) loan – SBA loans and schemes are available at affordable interest rates, so check the eligibility criteria before applying for it.
• Crowdfunding – The process of supporting a project or business by getting a lot of people to invest in your business, usually online.
• Angel investors – Getting funds from angel investors is one of the most sought startup options.

Apart from all these options, there are small business grants available, check for the same in your location and you can apply for it.

Where to find business plan writers for your fast food restaurant business?

There are many business plan writers available, but no one knows your business and ideas better than you, so we recommend you write your fast food restaurant business plan and outline your vision as you have in your mind.

What is the easiest way to write your fast food restaurant business plan?

A lot of research is necessary for writing a business plan, but you can write your plan most efficiently with the help of any fast food restaurant business plan example and edit it as per your need. You can also quickly finish your plan in just a few hours or less with the help of our   business plan software .

About the Author

Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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Fast Food Restaurant Business Plan PDF Example

• February 28, 2024
• Business Plan

Creating a comprehensive business plan is crucial for launching and running a successful fast food restaurant. This plan serves as your roadmap, detailing your vision, operational strategies, and financial plan. It helps establish your fast food restaurant’s identity, navigate the competitive market, and secure funding for growth.

This article not only breaks down the critical components of a fast food restaurant business plan, but also provides an example of a business plan to help you craft your own.

Whether you’re an experienced entrepreneur or new to the food and beverage industry, this guide, complete with a business plan example, lays the groundwork for turning your fast food restaurant concept into reality. Let’s dive in!

Our fast food restaurant business plan is structured to cover all essential aspects needed for a comprehensive strategy. It outlines the restaurant’s operations, marketing strategy , market environment, competitors, management team, and financial forecasts.

• Executive Summary : Offers a snapshot of your fast food restaurant’s business idea, market study, team, and money plan.
• Restaurant & Location: Talks about the restaurant’s look, features, and why the spot is good for customers.
• Menu & Pricing: Shows what food your place serves and how much it costs.
• Key Stats: Tells about how big the market is, how it’s growing, and important numbers for fast food.
• Key Trends: Points out new changes in fast food, like healthier options or tech for ordering.
• Key Competitors : Look at the main other fast food places and how your restaurant is different.
• SWOT: Lists your restaurant’s strengths, weaknesses, chances, and risks.
• Marketing Plan : Plans for how to get and keep customers.
• Timeline : Important steps and goals from starting to the first year.
• Management: Gives information on who runs the restaurant and their jobs.
• Financial Plan: Shows how your restaurant might do money-wise over 5 years, including sales, profit, and costs.

Fast Food Restaurant Business Plan

Download an expert-built 30+ slides Powerpoint business plan template

Executive Summary

The Executive Summary introduces the business plan for your fast food restaurant , providing a concise overview of your establishment and its offerings. It should highlight your market positioning, the variety of fast food items and services you provide, its location, size, and a summary of daily operations.

This section should also delve into how your fast food restaurant will fit into the local market, including the number of direct competitors in the vicinity, identifying who they are, along with your restaurant’s unique selling points that set it apart from these competitors.

Moreover, it should include information about the management and co-founding team, outlining their roles and contributions to the restaurant’s success. Additionally, a synopsis of your financial projections, including revenue and profits for the next five years, should be included here to give a clear overview of your restaurant’s financial strategy.

Make sure to cover here _ Business Overview _ Market Overview _ Management Team _ Financial Plan

Dive deeper into Executive Summary

Business Overview

For a Fast Food Restaurant, the Business Overview section can be effectively divided into 2 main categories:

Restaurant & Location

Provide a detailed description of the restaurant’s physical environment, focusing on its design, ambiance, and welcoming atmosphere that appeals to customers. Mention the restaurant’s location, emphasizing its accessibility and convenience for customers, such as proximity to busy shopping areas or availability of parking. Explain why this location is particularly beneficial in attracting your target customer base.

Menu & Pricing

Describe the variety of fast food items and beverages offered, ranging from classic favorites to unique specialties that differentiate your restaurant from competitors. Detail your pricing strategy , ensuring it aligns with the quality of food served and appeals to the market segment you are targeting. Highlight any special deals, combo offers, or loyalty programs that add value for customers, promoting frequent visits and customer loyalty.

Make sure to cover here _ Restaurant & Location _ Menu & Pricing

Market Overview

Industry size & growth.

In the Market Overview of your fast food restaurant business plan, start by looking at how big the fast food industry is and how much it could grow. This helps you see how much room there is in the market and where you might grow.

Key Market Trends

Talk about what’s new in the fast food world, like how people want different and healthy options, meals they can get quickly, and new kinds of food. Mention how people are looking for good food that fits their busy lives and how they like to try new flavors from different places.

Key Competitors

Look at who else is selling fast food, from big chains to local places. Talk about what makes your restaurant stand out, like special menu items, great prices, or a fun place to eat. This part helps show why people would choose your restaurant and how you fit into the busy fast food world.

Make sure to cover here _ Industry size & growth _ Key market trends _ Key competitors

Dive deeper into Key competitors

First, do a SWOT analysis for your fast food restaurant . Talk about Strengths (like a great menu and quick service), Weaknesses (like lots of competition or high costs), Opportunities (like more people wanting fast, tasty food), and Threats (like changes in what people want to eat or less money to spend on eating out).

Marketing Plan

Next, make a marketing plan that shows how you’ll get and keep customers. You can use ads, special deals, fun posts on social media, and events in the community.

Lastly, make a clear timeline with important steps for starting your restaurant, getting the word out, getting more customers, and growing your business. This helps you stay on track and focused.

Make sure to cover here _ SWOT _ Marketing Plan _ Timeline

Dive deeper into SWOT

Dive deeper into Marketing Plan

The Management section focuses on the fast food restaurant’s management and their direct roles in daily operations and strategic direction. This part is crucial for understanding who is responsible for making key decisions and driving the fast food restaurant towards its financial and operational goals.

For your fast food restaurant business plan, list the core team members, their specific responsibilities, and how their expertise supports the business.

Financial Plan

The Financial Plan section is a comprehensive analysis of your financial projections for revenue, expenses, and profitability. It lays out your fast food restaurant’s approach to securing funding, managing cash flow, and achieving breakeven.

This section typically includes detailed forecasts for the first 5 years of operation, highlighting expected revenue, operating costs and capital expenditures.

For your fast food restaurant business plan, provide a snapshot of your financial statement (profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow statement), as well as your key assumptions (e.g. number of customers and prices, expenses, etc.).

Make sure to cover here _ Profit and Loss _ Cash Flow Statement _ Balance Sheet _ Use of Funds

Privacy Overview

Fast Food Business Plan Template & Guidebook

Starting a fast food business can be one of the most lucrative endeavors for entrepreneurs. With the right planning and guidance, any aspiring restauranteur can build a successful eatery and create a long-lasting enterprise. The #1 Fast Food Business Plan Template & Guidebook provides invaluable insight into setting up a business, organizing finances, marketing effectively, and achieving success in the fast food industry. Unlock the secrets of this dynamic market with this essential guide!

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• How to Start a Profitable Fast Food Business [11 Steps]
• 10+ Best & Profitable Fast Food Business Ideas [2023]
• List of the Best Marketing Ideas For Your Fast Food Business:

How to Write a Fast Food Business Plan in 7 Steps:

1. describe the purpose of your fast food business..

The first step to writing your business plan is to describe the purpose of your fast food business. This includes describing why you are starting this type of business, and what problems it will solve for customers. This is a quick way to get your mind thinking about the customers’ problems. It also helps you identify what makes your business different from others in its industry.

It also helps to include a vision statement so that readers can understand what type of company you want to build.

Here is an example of a purpose mission statement for a fast food business:

Our mission at [Business Name] is to provide delicious and convenient fast food items to our customers in an atmosphere of friendliness and speed, while ensuring that employees are treated with respect and dignity.

2. Products & Services Offered by Your Fast Food Business.

The next step is to outline your products and services for your fast food business. 

When you think about the products and services that you offer, it's helpful to ask yourself the following questions:

• What is my business?
• What are the products and/or services that I offer?
• Why am I offering these particular products and/or services?
• How do I differentiate myself from competitors with similar offerings?
• How will I market my products and services?

You may want to do a comparison of your business plan against those of other competitors in the area, or even with online reviews. This way, you can find out what people like about them and what they don’t like, so that you can either improve upon their offerings or avoid doing so altogether.

3. Build a Creative Marketing Stratgey.

If you don't have a marketing plan for your fast food business, it's time to write one. Your marketing plan should be part of your business plan and be a roadmap to your goals. 

A good marketing plan for your fast food business includes the following elements:

Target market

• Who is your target market?
• What do these customers have in common?
• How many of them are there?
• How can you best reach them with your message or product?

Customer base 

• Who are your current customers? 
• Where did they come from (i.e., referrals)?
• How can their experience with your fast food business help make them repeat customers, consumers, visitors, subscribers, or advocates for other people in their network or industry who might also benefit from using this service, product, or brand?

Product or service description

• How does it work, what features does it have, and what are its benefits?
• Can anyone use this product or service regardless of age or gender?
• Can anyone visually see themselves using this product or service?
• How will they feel when they do so? If so, how long will the feeling last after purchasing (or trying) the product/service for the first time?

Competitive analysis

• Which companies are competing with yours today (and why)? 
• Which ones may enter into competition with yours tomorrow if they find out about it now through word-of-mouth advertising; social media networks; friends' recommendations; etc.)
• What specific advantages does each competitor offer over yours currently?

Marketing channels

• Which marketing channel do you intend to leverage to attract new customers?
• What is your estimated marketing budget needed?
• What is the projected cost to acquire a new customer?
• How many of your customers do you instead will return?

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4. Write Your Operational Plan.

Next, you'll need to build your operational plan. This section describes the type of business you'll be running, and includes the steps involved in your operations. 

In it, you should list:

• The equipment and facilities needed
• Who will be involved in the business (employees, contractors)
• Financial requirements for each step
• Milestones & KPIs
• Location of your business
• Zoning & permits required for the business

What equipment, supplies, or permits are needed to run a fast food business?

In order to run a Fast Food business, you will need the following equipment, supplies, and permits:

• Commercial kitchen equipment such as ovens, fryers, grills, etc.
• Food ingredients such as meat, vegetables, and other food products
• Restaurant furniture such as tables, chairs, counters etc.
• Cleaning supplies such as dishwashing detergent and scrub brushes
• Food storage containers
• A serving line or counter to serve customers
• A POS system or cash register
• Permits from applicable federal, state and local governments (such as tax licenses and health permits)

5. Management & Organization of Your Fast Food Business.

The second part of your fast food business plan is to develop a management and organization section.

This section will cover all of the following:

• How many employees you need in order to run your fast food business. This should include the roles they will play (for example, one person may be responsible for managing administrative duties while another might be in charge of customer service).
• The structure of your management team. The higher-ups like yourself should be able to delegate tasks through lower-level managers who are directly responsible for their given department (inventory and sales, etc.).
• How you’re going to make sure that everyone on board is doing their job well. You’ll want check-ins with employees regularly so they have time to ask questions or voice concerns if needed; this also gives you time to offer support where necessary while staying informed on how things are going within individual departments too!

6. Fast Food Business Startup Expenses & Captial Needed.

This section should be broken down by month and year. If you are still in the planning stage of your business, it may be helpful to estimate how much money will be needed each month until you reach profitability.

Typically, expenses for your business can be broken into a few basic categories:

Startup Costs

Startup costs are typically the first expenses you will incur when beginning an enterprise. These include legal fees, accounting expenses, and other costs associated with getting your business off the ground. The amount of money needed to start a fast food business varies based on many different variables, but below are a few different types of startup costs for a fast food business.

Running & Operating Costs

Running costs refer to ongoing expenses related directly with operating your business over time like electricity bills or salaries paid out each month. These types of expenses will vary greatly depending on multiple variables such as location, team size, utility costs, etc.

Marketing & Sales Expenses

You should include any costs associated with marketing and sales, such as advertising and promotions, website design or maintenance. Also, consider any additional expenses that may be incurred if you decide to launch a new product or service line. For example, if your fast food business has an existing website that needs an upgrade in order to sell more products or services, then this should be listed here.

7. Financial Plan & Projections

A financial plan is an important part of any business plan, as it outlines how the business will generate revenue and profit, and how it will use that profit to grow and sustain itself. To devise a financial plan for your fast food business, you will need to consider a number of factors, including your start-up costs, operating costs, projected revenue, and expenses. 

Here are some steps you can follow to devise a financial plan for your fast food business plan:

• Determine your start-up costs: This will include the cost of purchasing or leasing the space where you will operate your business, as well as the cost of buying or leasing any equipment or supplies that you need to start the business.
• Estimate your operating costs: Operating costs will include utilities, such as electricity, gas, and water, as well as labor costs for employees, if any, and the cost of purchasing any materials or supplies that you will need to run your business.
• Project your revenue: To project your revenue, you will need to consider the number of customers you expect to have and the average amount they will spend on each visit. You can use this information to estimate how much money you will make from selling your products or services.
• Estimate your expenses: In addition to your operating costs, you will need to consider other expenses, such as insurance, marketing, and maintenance. You will also need to set aside money for taxes and other fees.
• Create a budget: Once you have estimated your start-up costs, operating costs, revenue, and expenses, you can use this information to create a budget for your business. This will help you to see how much money you will need to start the business, and how much profit you can expect to make.
• Develop a plan for using your profit: Finally, you will need to decide how you will use your profit to grow and sustain your business. This might include investing in new equipment, expanding the business, or saving for a rainy day.

Frequently Asked Questions About Fast Food Business Plans:

Why do you need a business plan for a fast food business.

A business plan is an essential tool for starting and running a successful fast food business. It outlines all the important aspects of the business such as the goals, market analysis, financial projections and budgeting, marketing strategies, key personnel and operations. Having a detailed business plan shows potential investors that you have done your research, thought through all the necessary details, and are serious and organized about starting your fast food business. Additionally, it helps you better understand your customer base and how to satisfy their needs.

Who should you ask for help with your fast food business plan?

You should consult a professional business planner or a qualified business consultant for assistance with developing a business plan for your fast food business. Additionally, you may benefit from seeking out the advice and guidance of a local Small Business Administration (SBA) member or other local services that offer assistance to small businesses.

Can you write a fast food business plan yourself?

Yes, you can write your own fast food business plan. The process is relatively straightforward, but can be time consuming. A basic fast food business plan typically includes the following sections: Executive Summary, Company Overview, Market Analysis, Competitive Analysis, Product/Service Offering, Marketing Plan, Operations Plan, Financial Plan and Appendices. Each section should include information about your company's mission and goals, target market and industry trends, strategies for success and potential risks. You should also consider including projections for future growth of your business and how you might address any potential challenges.

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I'm Nick, co-founder of newfoundr.com, dedicated to helping aspiring entrepreneurs succeed. As a small business owner with over five years of experience, I have garnered valuable knowledge and insights across a diverse range of industries. My passion for entrepreneurship drives me to share my expertise with aspiring entrepreneurs, empowering them to turn their business dreams into reality.

Through meticulous research and firsthand experience, I uncover the essential steps, software, tools, and costs associated with launching and maintaining a successful business. By demystifying the complexities of entrepreneurship, I provide the guidance and support needed for others to embark on their journey with confidence.

From assessing market viability and formulating business plans to selecting the right technology and navigating the financial landscape, I am dedicated to helping fellow entrepreneurs overcome challenges and unlock their full potential. As a steadfast advocate for small business success, my mission is to pave the way for a new generation of innovative and driven entrepreneurs who are ready to make their mark on the world.

How to write a business plan for a fast food restaurant?

Writing a business plan for a fast food restaurant can be an intimidating task, especially for those just starting.

This in-depth guide is designed to help entrepreneurs like you understand how to create a comprehensive business plan so that you can approach the exercise with method and confidence.

We'll cover: why writing a fast food restaurant business plan is so important - both when starting up, and when running and growing the business - what information you need to include in your plan, how it should be structured, and what tools you can use to get the job done efficiently.

Let's get started!

In this guide:

Why write a business plan for a fast food restaurant?

What information is needed to create a business plan for a fast food restaurant.

• What goes in the financial forecast for a fast food restaurant?
• What goes in the written part of a fast food restaurant business plan?
• What tool can I use to write my fast food restaurant business plan?

Being clear on the scope and goals of the document will make it easier to understand its structure and content. So before diving into the actual content of the plan, let's have a quick look at the main reasons why you would want to write a fast food restaurant business plan in the first place.

To have a clear roadmap to grow the business

It's rarely business as usual for small businesses. The economy follows cycles where years of growth are followed by recessions, and the business environment is always changing with new technologies, new regulations, new competitors, and new consumer behaviours appearing all the time...

In this context, running a business without a clear roadmap is like driving blindfolded: it's dangerous at best. That's why writing a business plan for a fast food restaurant is essential to create successful and sustainable businesses.

To write an effective business plan, you will need to take stock of where you are (if you are already in business) and where you want the business to go in the next three to five years.

Once you know where you want your fast food restaurant to be, you'll have to identify:

• what resources (human, equipment, and capital) are needed to get there,
• at what pace the business needs to progress to get there in time,
• and what risks you'll face along the way.

Going through this process regularly is beneficial, both for startups and existing companies, as it helps make informed decisions about how best to allocate resources to ensure the long-term success of the business.

To anticipate future cash flows

Regularly comparing your actual financial performance to the projections in the financial forecast of your fast food restaurant's business plan gives you the ability to monitor your business's financial health and make necessary adjustments as needed.

This practice allows you to detect potential financial issues, such as unexpected cash shortfalls before they escalate into major problems. Giving you time to find additional financing or put in place corrective measures.

Additionally, it helps you identify growth opportunities, like excess cash flow that could be allocated to launch new products and services or expand into new markets.

Staying on track with these regular comparisons enables you to make well-informed decisions about the amount of financing your business might require, or the excess cash flow you can expect to generate from your main business activities.

To secure financing

Crafting a comprehensive business plan for your fast food restaurant, whether you're starting up or already established, is paramount when you're seeking financing from banks or investors.

Given how fragile small businesses are, financiers will want to ensure that you have a clear roadmap in place as well as command and control of your future cash flows before entertaining the idea of funding you.

For banks, the information in your business plan will be used to assess your borrowing capacity - which is defined as the maximum amount of debt your business can afford alongside your ability to repay the loan. This evaluation helps them decide whether to extend credit to your business and under what terms (interest rate, duration, repayment options, collateral, etc.).

Similarly, investors will thoroughly review your plan to determine if their investment can yield an attractive return. They'll be looking for evidence that your fast food restaurant has the potential for healthy growth, profitability, and consistent cash flow generation over time.

Now that you understand the importance of creating a business plan for your fast food restaurant, let's delve into the necessary information needed to craft an effective plan.

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Writing a fast food restaurant business plan requires research so that you can project sales, investments and cost accurately in your financial forecast.

In this section, we cover three key pieces of information you should gather before drafting your business plan!

Carrying out market research for a fast food restaurant

Carrying out market research before writing a business plan for a fast food restaurant is essential to ensure that the financial projections are accurate and realistic.

Market research helps you gain insight into your target customer base, competitors, pricing strategies and other key factors which can have an impact on the commercial success of your business.

In particular, it is useful in forecasting revenue as it provides valuable data regarding potential customers’ spending habits and preferences.

You may find that customers prefer meals with fresh, locally-sourced ingredients. They could also be attracted to meals that are customized with different toppings and sauces.

This information can then be used to create more accurate financial projections which will help investors make informed decisions about investing in your fast food restaurant.

Developing the sales and marketing plan for a fast food restaurant

As you embark on creating your fast food restaurant business plan, it is crucial to budget sales and marketing expenses beforehand.

A well-defined sales and marketing plan should include precise projections of the actions required to acquire and retain customers. It will also outline the necessary workforce to execute these initiatives and the budget required for promotions, advertising, and other marketing efforts.

This approach ensures that the appropriate amount of resources is allocated to these activities, aligning with the sales and growth objectives outlined in your business plan.

The staffing and equipment needs of a fast food restaurant

Whether you are at the beginning stages of your fast food restaurant or expanding its horizons, having a clear plan for recruitment and capital expenditures (investment in equipment and real estate) is vital to ensure your business's success.

To achieve this, both the recruitment and investment plans must align coherently with the projected timing and level of growth in your forecast. It is essential to secure appropriate funding for these plans.

Staffing costs for a fast food restaurant might include wages for employees, the cost of workers' compensation insurance, and any other benefits the restaurant offers. Equipment costs might include the purchase and maintenance of kitchen equipment such as fryers, grills, ovens, and refrigerators, as well as the cost of smallwares such as pots, pans, and utensils.

To create a financial forecast that accurately represents your business's outlook, remember to factor in other day-to-day operating expenses.

Now that you have all the necessary information, it's time to dive in and start creating your business plan and developing the financial forecast for your fast food restaurant.

What goes into your fast food restaurant's financial forecast?

The financial forecast of your fast food restaurant's business plan will enable you to assess the growth, profitability, funding requirements, and cash generation potential of your business in the coming years.

The four key outputs of a financial forecast for a fast food restaurant are:

• The profit and loss (P&L) statement ,
• The projected balance sheet ,
• The cash flow forecast ,
• And the sources and uses table .

Let's look at each of these in a bit more detail.

The projected P&L statement

The projected P&L statement for a fast food restaurant shows how much revenue and profits your business is expected to generate in the future.

Ideally, your fast food restaurant's P&L statement should show:

• Healthy growth - above inflation level
• Improving or stable profit margins
• Positive net profit

Expectations will vary based on the stage of your business. A startup will be expected to grow faster than an established fast food restaurant. And similarly, an established company should showcase a higher level of profitability than a new venture.

The projected balance sheet of your fast food restaurant

The balance sheet for a fast food restaurant is a financial document that provides a snapshot of your business’s financial health at a given point in time.

It shows three main components: assets, liabilities and equity:

• Assets: are resources owned by the business, such as cash, equipment, and accounts receivable (money owed by clients).
• Liabilities: are debts owed to creditors and other entities, such as accounts payable (money owed to suppliers) and loans.
• Equity: includes the sums invested by the shareholders or business owners and the cumulative profits and losses of the business to date (called retained earnings). It is a proxy for the value of the owner's stake in the business.

Examining the balance sheet is important for lenders, investors, or other stakeholders who are interested in assessing your fast food restaurant's liquidity and solvency:

• Liquidity: assesses whether or not your business has sufficient cash and short-term assets to honour its liabilities due over the next 12 months. It is a short-term focus.
• Solvency: assesses whether or not your business has the capacity to repay its debt over the medium-term.

Looking at the balance sheet can also provide insights into your fast food restaurant's investment and financing policies.

In particular, stakeholders can compare the value of equity to the value of the outstanding financial debt to assess how the business is funded and what level of financial risk has been taken by the owners (financial debt is riskier because it has to be repaid, while equity doesn't need to be repaid).

The cash flow forecast

As we've seen earlier in this guide, monitoring future cash flows is the key to success and the only way of ensuring that your fast food restaurant has enough cash to operate.

As you can expect showing future cash flows is the main role of the cash flow forecast in your fast food restaurant business plan.

It is best practice to organise the cash flow statement by nature in order to show the cash impact of the following areas:

• Cash flow generated from operations: the operating cash flow shows how much cash is generated or consumed by the business's commercial activities
• Cash flow from investing activities: the investing cash flow shows how much cash is being invested in capital expenditure (equipment, real estate, etc.) either to maintain the business's equipment or to expand its capabilities
• Cash flow from financing activities: the financing cash flow shows how much cash is raised or distributed to financiers

Looking at the cash flow forecast helps you to make sure that your business has enough cash to keep running, and can help you anticipate potential cash shortfalls.

Your fast food restaurant business plan will normally include both yearly and monthly cash flow forecasts so that the readers can view the impact of seasonality on your business cash position and generation.

The initial financing plan

The initial financing plan, also known as a sources and uses table, is a valuable resource to have in your business plan when starting your fast food restaurant as it reveals the origins of the money needed to establish the business (sources) and how it will be allocated (uses).

Having this table helps show what costs are involved in setting up your fast food restaurant, how risks are shared between founders, investors and lenders, and what the starting cash position will be. This cash position needs to be sufficient to sustain operations until the business reaches a break-even point.

Now that you have a clear understanding of what goes into the financial forecast of your fast food restaurant business plan, let's shift our focus to the written part of the plan.

Need inspiration for your business plan?

The Business Plan Shop has dozens of business plan templates that you can use to get a clear idea of what a complete business plan looks like.

The written part of a fast food restaurant business plan

The written part of a fast food restaurant business plan plays a key role: it lays out the plan of action you intend to execute to seize the commercial opportunity you've identified on the market and provides the context needed for the reader to decide if they believe your plan to be achievable and your financial forecast to be realistic.

The written part of a fast food restaurant business plan is composed of 7 main sections:

• The executive summary
• The presentation of the company
• The products and services
• The market analysis
• The strategy
• The operations
• The financial plan

Let's go through the content of each section in more detail!

1. The executive summary

The executive summary, the first section of your fast food restaurant's business plan, serves as an inviting snapshot of your entire plan, leaving readers eager to know more about your business.

To compose an effective executive summary, start with a concise introduction of your business, covering its name, concept, location, history, and unique aspects. Share insights about the services or products you intend to offer and your target customer base.

Subsequently, provide an overview of your fast food restaurant's addressable market, highlighting current trends and potential growth opportunities.

Then, present a summary of critical financial figures, such as projected revenues, profits, and cash flows.

You should then include a summary of your key financial figures such as projected revenues, profits, and cash flows.

Lastly, address any funding needs in the "ask" section of your executive summary.

2. The presentation of the company

As you build your fast food restaurant business plan, the second section deserves attention as it delves into the structure and ownership, location, and management team of your company.

In the structure and ownership part, you'll provide valuable insights into the legal structure of the business, the identities of the owners, and their respective investments and ownership stakes. This level of transparency is vital, particularly if you're seeking financing, as it clarifies which legal entity will receive the funds and who holds the reins of the business.

Moving to the location part, you'll offer a comprehensive view of the company's premises and articulate why this specific location is strategic for the business, emphasizing factors like catchment area, accessibility, and nearby amenities.

When describing the location of your fast food restaurant, you may find it beneficial to focus on the potential customer base that could be drawn in. You could emphasize the area's population, noting that it could be a great place for your restaurant to thrive due to the high amount of people that could visit. Additionally, it may be wise to point out possible advantages such as nearby retail locations, public transportation, and other amenities that could make the restaurant more attractive to customers. Lastly, you could discuss the potential for increased foot traffic due to the location's proximity to popular attractions, such as stadiums, museums, or parks. All of these factors could make the potential financier more interested in the restaurant's location.

Lastly, you should introduce your esteemed management team. Provide a thorough explanation of each member's role, background, and extensive experience.

It's equally important to highlight any past successes the management team has achieved and underscore the duration they've been working together. This information will instil trust in potential lenders or investors, showcasing the strength and expertise of your leadership team and their ability to deliver the business plan.

3. The products and services section

The products and services section of your business plan should include a detailed description of the offerings that your company provides to its customers. 

For example, your fast food restaurant might offer hamburgers, chicken nuggets, and salads to its customers. These items are common, quick to prepare, and appeal to a wide range of tastes. Additionally, your restaurant might offer a variety of sides such as french fries, onion rings, and coleslaw, as well as desserts like ice cream and milkshakes. To meet the needs of customers on the go, you could also provide online ordering and delivery services.

When drafting this section, you should be precise about the categories of products or services you sell, the types of customers you are targeting and how customers can buy them.

4. The market analysis

When you present your market analysis in your fast food restaurant business plan, it's crucial to include detailed information about customers' demographics and segmentation, target market, competition, barriers to entry, and any relevant regulations.

The main objective of this section is to help the reader understand the size and attractiveness of the market while demonstrating your solid understanding of the industry.

Begin with the demographics and segmentation subsection, providing an overview of the addressable market for your fast food restaurant, the key trends in the marketplace, and introducing different customer segments along with their preferences in terms of purchasing habits and budgets.

Next, focus on your target market, zooming in on the specific customer segments your fast food restaurant aims to serve and explaining how your products and services fulfil their distinct needs.

For example, your target market might include busy professionals in their late 20s to mid 40s. These people are looking for convenience, so they would be drawn to the quick service and affordability of a fast food restaurant. They might be looking for healthier options as well, so you could focus on providing them with a variety of lower-calorie and plant-based meals.

Then proceed to the competition subsection, where you introduce your main competitors and highlight what sets you apart from them.

Finally, conclude your market analysis with an overview of the key regulations applicable to your fast food restaurant.

5. The strategy section

When crafting the strategy section of your business plan for your fast food restaurant, it's important to cover several key aspects, including your competitive edge, pricing strategy, sales & marketing plan, milestones, and risks and mitigants.

In the competitive edge subsection, clearly explain what sets your company apart from competitors. This is particularly critical if you're a startup, as you'll be trying to establish your presence in the marketplace among entrenched players.

The pricing strategy subsection should demonstrate how you aim to maintain profitability while offering competitive prices to your customers.

For the sales & marketing plan, outline how you plan to reach and acquire new customers, as well as retain existing ones through loyalty programs or special offers.

In the milestones subsection, detail what your company has achieved thus far and outline your primary objectives for the coming years by including specific dates for expected progress. This ensures everyone involved has clear expectations.

Lastly, in the risks and mitigants subsection, list the main risks that could potentially impact the execution of your plan. Explain the measures you've taken to minimize these risks. This is vital for investors or lenders to feel confident in supporting your venture - try to proactively address any objection they might have.

Your fast food restaurant may face the risk of food contamination. This could occur if food is not stored, prepared, or served properly. Also, there might be potential legal risks if employees do not comply with local labor laws and regulations. This could lead to costly fines or other legal repercussions.

6. The operations section

The operations of your fast food restaurant must be presented in detail in your business plan.

Begin by addressing your staff, specifying the main roles and your recruitment plan to support the anticipated growth. Outline the qualifications and experience needed for each role and discuss your recruitment strategies, which may involve using job boards, referrals, or headhunters.

Next, clearly state your fast food restaurant's operating hours, allowing the reader to gauge the adequacy of your staffing levels. Additionally, mention any considerations for varying opening times during peak seasons and your approach to handling customer queries outside regular operating hours.

The key assets and intellectual property (IP) required to run your business should also be highlighted. If you rely on licenses, trademarks, physical structures like equipment or property, or lease agreements, ensure they are well-documented in this section.

You may have key assets such as unique recipes and proprietary food preparation methods. These could be a valuable source of intellectual property and give your restaurant an edge over the competition. You might also have a unique brand identity and logo that could be used to distinguish your restaurant from others in the industry.

Finally, provide a comprehensive list of suppliers you intend to collaborate with, along with a breakdown of their services and main commercial terms, such as price, payment terms, break clauses and contract duration. Investors often seek insight into the reasons behind your supplier choices, which may include a preference for higher-quality products or established relationships from past ventures.

7. The presentation of the financial plan

The financial plan section is where we will include the financial forecast we talked about earlier in this guide.

Now that you have a clear idea of the content of a fast food restaurant business plan, let's look at some of the tools you can use to create yours.

What tool should I use to write my fast food restaurant's business plan?

In this section, we will be reviewing the two main solutions for creating a fast food restaurant business plan:

• Using specialized online business plan software,
• Outsourcing the plan to the business plan writer.

Using an online business plan software for your fast food restaurant's business plan

Using online business planning software is the most efficient and modern way to create a fast food restaurant business plan.

There are several advantages to using specialized software:

• You can easily create your financial forecast by letting the software take care of the financial calculations for you without errors
• You are guided through the writing process by detailed instructions and examples for each part of the plan
• You can access a library of dozens of complete business plan samples and templates for inspiration
• You get a professional business plan, formatted and ready to be sent to your bank or investors
• You can easily track your actual financial performance against your financial forecast
• You can create scenarios to stress test your forecast's main assumptions
• You can easily update your forecast as time goes by to maintain visibility on future cash flows
• You have a friendly support team on standby to assist you when you are stuck

If you're interested in using this type of solution, you can try The Business Plan Shop for free by signing up here .

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Hiring a business plan writer to write your fast food restaurant's business plan

Outsourcing your fast food restaurant business plan to a business plan writer can also be a viable option.

Business plan writers are experienced in writing business plans and adept at creating financial forecasts without errors. Furthermore, hiring a consultant can save you time and allow you to focus on the day-to-day operations of your business.

However, hiring business plan writers is expensive as you are paying for the software used by the consultant, plus their time, and their profit margin of course.

From experience, you need to budget at least £1.5k ($2.0k) excluding tax for a complete business plan, more if you need to make changes after the initial version (which happens frequently after the initial meetings with lenders or investors).

You also need to be careful when seeking investment. Investors want their money to be used to grow the business, not spent on consulting fees. Therefore, the amount you spend on business plan writing services (and other consulting services such as legal services) needs to be negligible relative to the amount raised.

The other drawback is that you usually don't own the business plan itself: you just get the output, while the actual document is saved in the consultant's business plan software - which makes it difficult to maintain the document up to date without hiring the consultant on a retainer.

For these reasons, outsourcing the fast food restaurant business plan to a business plan writer should be considered carefully, weighing both the advantages and disadvantages of hiring outside help.

Ultimately, it may be the right decision for some businesses, while others may find it beneficial to write their business plan using online software.

Why not create your fast food restaurant's business plan using Word or Excel?

Using Microsoft Excel and Word (or their Google, Apple, or open-source equivalents) to write a fast food restaurant business plan is a terrible idea.

For starters, creating an accurate and error-free financial forecast on Excel (or any spreadsheet) is very technical and requires both a strong grasp of accounting principles and solid skills in financial modelling.

As a result, it is unlikely anyone will trust your numbers unless - like us at The Business Plan Shop - you hold a degree in finance and accounting and have significant financial modelling experience in your past.

The second reason is that it is inefficient. Building forecasts on spreadsheets was the only option in the 1990s and early 2000s, nowadays technology has advanced and software can do it much faster and much more accurately.

And with the rise of AI, software is also becoming smarter at helping us detect mistakes in our forecasts and helping us analyse the numbers to make better decisions.

Also, using software makes it easy to compare actuals vs. forecasts and maintain our forecasts up to date to maintain visibility on future cash flows - as we discussed earlier in this guide - whereas this is a pain to do with a spreadsheet.

That's for the forecast, but what about the written part of my fast food restaurant business plan?

This part is less error-prone, but here also software brings tremendous gains in productivity:

• Word processors don't include instructions and examples for each part of your business plan
• Word processors don't update your numbers automatically when they change in your forecast
• Word processors don't handle the formatting for you

Overall, while Word or Excel may be viable options for creating a fast food restaurant business plan for some entrepreneurs, it is by far not the best or most efficient solution.

• Using business plan software is a modern and cost-effective way of writing and maintaining business plans.
• A business plan is not a one-shot exercise as maintaining it current is the only way to keep visibility on your future cash flows.
• A business plan has 2 main parts: a financial forecast outlining the funding requirements of your fast food restaurant and the expected growth, profits and cash flows for the next 3 to 5 years; and a written part which gives the reader the information needed to decide if they believe the forecast is achievable.

We hope that this in-depth guide met your expectations and that you now have a clear understanding of how to write your fast food restaurant business plan. Do not hesitate to contact our friendly team if you have questions additional questions we haven't addressed here.

Also on The Business Plan Shop

• How to write a business plan to secure a bank loan?
• Key steps to write a business plan?
• Top mistakes to avoid in your business plan

Do you know entrepreneurs interested in starting or growing a fast food restaurant? Share this article with them!

Founder & CEO at The Business Plan Shop Ltd

Guillaume Le Brouster is a seasoned entrepreneur and financier.

Guillaume has been an entrepreneur for more than a decade and has first-hand experience of starting, running, and growing a successful business.

Prior to being a business owner, Guillaume worked in investment banking and private equity, where he spent most of his time creating complex financial forecasts, writing business plans, and analysing financial statements to make financing and investment decisions.

Guillaume holds a Master's Degree in Finance from ESCP Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Business & Management from Paris Dauphine University.

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Fast-Food Business Plan: Essential Ingredients for Success

A smart fast food business plan is a fundamental part of starting and growing your business. Here's how you do it...

A smart fast food business plan is a fundamental part of starting and growing your business. It not only shows lenders and investors the validity of your concept in order to secure funding, but it also serves as a guidepost and map for continued success.

A strong resource to help get you started is available from the U.S. Small Business Administration. This can help you outline the key sections of a traditional business plan . Offering a brief description for each section of a traditional business plan, it recommends using whatever combination of the following sections are best suited to meet your business plan’s needs: executive summary, company description, market analysis, organization and management, product or service line, marketing and sales plan, funding request (if applicable), financial projections, and an appendix of supporting documents.

This process becomes a lot simpler if you have decided to open a fast-casual restaurant as a franchisee, rather than go it on your own. While you still have to build your own business plan to secure financing, one of the biggest upsides to franchising is guidance from the franchisor and access to the brand’s operational best practices.

Executive Summary

You’ve already done a lot of research and planning (or you should have!) before you even sit down to begin constructing your business plan. You’ve considered which offerings your menu will feature, how you’ll stand out among the competition, and much more.

The Executive Summary is your opportunity to tell this story. It should be your “elevator pitch,” summarizing your vision, including everything from where you’ll obtain your ingredients to the atmosphere and service level your restaurant will offer, to the headcount and roles of your staff, to your site selection criteria, and beyond.

Franchising takes the guesswork out of this piece. You still have the opportunity to tell your story, but also include why you have chosen this fast-casual brand and how you plan to succeed as a franchisee.

Company Description

More detail about your vision (or the franchisor’s) for the company goes here.

What demand or niche will your fast food or fast-casual concept answer or fill? Where do your target customers live and work? What do they do? What are their income levels? What site will you select in order to be visible and available to them? Your Company Description should answer all these questions.

You can also explain what types of funding and resources you already have, if any. This may include partial funding as well as planned sweat equity and expertise in foodservice you or a partner have.

Market Analysis

Your Market Analysis should showcase insight from research you’ve conducted of the competition and your market area.

Are you competing with Taco Bell or Chipotle or a couple of independent hamburger shops — or a mix of chains and local dives? Where are they located? What will be the key differentiators of your fast food or fast-casual restaurant? How many people live in the area? What other businesses and workplaces are nearby? Talk again about the criteria for choosing a location (lease terms, square footage, visibility, etc.) or your chosen site/location, if you’ve gotten that far.

If you are working with a franchise, they typically provide you with an overview of what their target markets look like, and, in some cases, a detailed analysis of the markets or territories available to you.

Organization and Management

Most likely, you’ve already considered potential stars for the team you’ll build. Perhaps you’ve chosen a manager who has some experience managing a similar type of restaurant. Maybe you have already secured the commitment or interest of a talented chef to engineer your menu. Emphasize the skills of the people you’ve chosen for high-level roles, and highlight what you expect from managers and employees for both the front and back of the house.

This is also a good spot to briefly discuss which business structure you’ll use, such as a corporation, LLC with other members, or a sole proprietorship. Seek advice from a trusted attorney before making this decision.

Service or Product Line

This section should illustrate that what you’re offering will be special and unique.

What makes your food and beverage offerings stand out from the competition? If your restaurant will utilize unique equipment or processes that your local competitors may not have, share that information. Are there emerging trends you’re exploiting that the place down the street is not? Maybe you’ve even collected feedback from consumers in the area on how other similar restaurants have failed to satisfy, and you have a plan for doing better.

The most successful franchises have built entire brands on recognizing a demand and providing a product or service to meet it.

Marketing and Sales

If you did not do so in the research phase(s) of your preparation, now would be the time to search for market reports that include psycho-demographic data and information about potential customers. This information will help you build a marketing plan that speaks to your target audience.

Understanding the characteristics of your customer base, such as age, gender, online use and presence, media consumption habits, etc. will allow you to determine the most effective social media channels for posting photos of mouth-watering cheeseburgers with limited-time offers, or how to reward customers who download your app.

Again, if you have chosen to go with a franchise, most of the heavy lifting has probably been done. All you have to do is provide an overview in your business plan and work within the guidelines provided.

Funding Request

The funding request should feel natural to the reader at this point; if you’ve made your case persuasively in previous sections. Show them you’ve crunched the numbers wisely — and ask for what you’ll require to get rolling.

Make sure you find out whether or not a franchise brand works with preferred lenders or has strategic partnerships with financial institutions. Many lenders that work with specific brands have already vetted the brand, which can simplify your request for financing and timeline.

Financial Projections

Take this opportunity to reassure potential investors or lenders with a set of data-based projections. You may choose to break down the first year by month, since you’ll incrementally be absorbing startup costs and may not break even within the first year. That’s perfectly normal. But your projections can then show, in detail, when you predict you’ll start to become profitable, and a longer-term forecast of revenue growth projections.

Because it’s best that your previous sections were efficient and relatively brief, in order to keep the reader’s attention, The Appendix is a reference repository for deeper learning. This may include business articles related to the kind of concept you are opening, formation documents, longer bios of key team members, and more.

Coming to this juncture in the journey, preparing the business plan upon which you will build your future and fast-casual restaurant is exciting, but often challenging. Remember to consider all your options before deciding on which path to take.

Opening a franchise location, with the support of an established brand, instead of starting your own concept from scratch, means you won’t have to “go it alone.” Joining a franchise means access to the franchisor’s guidance, systems, and best practices.

Franchise Opportunities with Wayback Burgers

Wayback Burgers offers qualified candidates the opportunity to open and operate a business in the highly sought-after fast-casual sector with a small footprint and a big upside. Currently operating in 30 states and seven countries, the Connecticut-based burger franchise increased its system size by 14 percent in 2018; and has reached 160 locations worldwide.

Wayback offers initial training and ongoing support for all its franchisees and works diligently on finding innovative ways to offer franchisees the opportunity to increase revenue while adding value to the customer experience.

Inquire Now

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What You Get

• A compelling & detailed pre-written Fast-Food business plan template in WORD
• A full & automatic Fast-Food financial plan model in EXCEL you can easily customize
• Customized text tailored to the Fast-Food business
• The ability to paste advanced charts and tables within a click
• No accounting or specialized financial knowledge needed
• A truly low-cost solution saving you time and money

Fast-Food Restaurant Business Plan Template Description

Our ready-made fast food business plan package includes a robust pre-written business plan in Word and a customizable automatic financial model in Excel tailored to the fast-food business. All you need is to spare a couple of hours customizing the documents to perfectly suit them to your own fast-food restaurant project. Your ready-made fast-food business plan is ideal to pitch your F&B venture to prospective investors and will you plan, execute, fund and launch a successful fast-food outlet. Check below the full content description.

Fast-Food Business Plan Document in Word

Our ready-made Fast-Food Restaurant business plan template is in Word format and includes 23 pages. The document is divided into multiple sections. Each section contains the essential points that are necessary to effectively present your Fast-Food Restaurant project. Each section and sub-section offers you a sample text that you can easily customize to make your business plan unique. Below is a short extract of your fast-food business plan template in Word.

Automatic Fast-Food Financial Model in Excel

Our pre-populated Fast-Food Restaurant financial model is in Excel format and includes multiples worksheets. You can easily edit the model’s inputs including changing costs and revenue assumptions to generate pro-forma financial forecasts including P&L, Cash flows and Balance Sheets. Below is small excerpt of your automatic fast-food financial plan in Excel.

The Benefits of Creating a Business Plan for a Fast-Food Restaurant:

There are many important benefits for creating a business plan for your upcoming fast-food project including:

• Clarifying your vision and goals: A business plan allows you to take the time to think through all aspects of your fast-food restaurant and how you envision it operating. You can consider your target market, menu offerings, and unique selling points, as well as your long-term goals for the business.
• Serving as a roadmap: A business plan can help you stay focused on your goals and make informed decisions as you move forward with your fast food project. It can help you anticipate challenges and plan for how to overcome them.
• Raise funding: If you need to borrow money to start your fast-food restaurant, a business plan can be an important tool for convincing lenders or investors to provide the funding you need. It should include financial projections and a clear explanation of how the funding will be used to grow the business.
• Reference tool for execution: As you move forward with your fast-food restaurant, you may encounter new challenges and opportunities. A business plan can be a useful reference tool to help you navigate these check points and stay on track. You can refer back to it to ensure you are staying true to your plan and making progress towards your long-term objectives.

This Ready-Made Fast-Food Business Plan is For:

• Entrepreneurs wishing to start a Fast-Food Restaurant
• Aspiring Fast-Food Restaurant owners who want to create a business plan fast and easy
• Fast-Food entrepreneurs who wish to pitch their project to investors
• F&B professionals who wish to better understand the potential of the opportunity

Immediate Delivery by Email

• Once you complete the order, you will receive an email with links to download your documents
• Your order will contain the full pre-written business plan in Word
• Your order will contain the full customizable financial model in Excel

Your Fast-Food Restaurant Business Plan Content

Executive Summary: Our Fast-Food Restaurant business plan template starts with a compelling Executive Summary. This key section is very important as it summarizes in 1 page your Fast-Food Restaurant business opportunity. It will introduce your business model, the key people behind the project as well as the unique selling proposition offered by your Fast-Food venture. This section will also mention how market conditions and consumer trends are favorable for launching your project.

The Problem Opportunity: Next, your ready-made Fast-Food Restaurant business plan will list a number of problems experienced by your prospects in your target market and will show how this presents a unique opportunity for your Fast-Food business. These can include issues such as lack of Fast-Food outlets in a certain location, low quality of food by existing players, undifferentiated offering by current actors in the market…etc.

The Solution:  This section explains how your Fast-Food Restaurant will take advantage of the current problems in the market and will detail your innovative solutions.

Mission & Vision: Your mission will explain in a couple of sentences your Fast-Food Restaurant’s business ethos. In other words, it will summarize your unique value proposition and will explain how you are different than the competition. Your vision will explain your long-term plans for this Fast-Food Restaurant concept. Are you planning to start with one branch today and expand into a multi-branch business model? Are you looking to transform your Fast-Food Restaurant business into a franchise model?…etc.

Business Model:  This section details your Fast-Food Restaurant concept using the business model canvas method. In a visually appealing table, we will detail your Fast-Food Restaurant’s key partners, activities, resources, value proposition, customer segments, customer relationship plan, marketing channels, cost structure and revenue streams.

Products & Services:  Next, we will talk in details about your various products and services. We will describe your different menu items including starters, main dishes, desserts, beverages…etc. We will also provide information about your pricing by product or line of items.

Market Analysis: This important section describes the various market statistics and consumer trends in the Fast-Food industry and explains how they support your own concept. The purpose of this section is to show that the market conditions are favorable for launching your new Fast-Food concept.

Global Market Trends: In this sub-section of the market analysis, we will discuss the latest global market trends in the Fast-Food industry. We will look at the global industry size, growth rate, growth diving factors and consumer trends.

Local Market Trends: This sub-section explains the local market trends that are relevant to your particular Fast-Food business.

Target Customers:  In this section, we will describe your various customer profiles by providing information about their demographics, behavior and purchasing habits.

Competitive Analysis:  We will analyze key competitors active in your target market and provide insights about their strengths and weaknesses.

Competitive Advantages: After looking at the competitive landscape, we will then show how your Fast-Food Restaurant is differentiating itself from the competition through a number of key advantages.

SWOT Analysis:  This section features a 4-quadrant table with explanations about how your Fast-Food Restaurant intends to leverage its key strengths, mitigate weaknesses, capture opportunities and thwart any future threats.

Marketing Plan : This chapter provides detailed information about your go-to-market strategy. It includes a detailed action plan to help you build brand awareness and generate sales.

Branding & Awareness:  We will describe in this sub-section your choice of key marketing channels to build branding and awareness.

Customer Acquisition:  We will describe in this sub-section your choice of key marketing channels to acquire customers and increase sales.

Operating Plan:  This chapter provides information about your Fast-Food Restaurant’s opening hours, internal processes and describes the interactions between various key departments and teams.

Management Team: It is very important to present the key people behind your Fast-Food project and thus we have dedicated a section for this very purpose. It is also important to talk here about the founder’s vision, his past education and professional experience.

Hiring Plan:  No business can succeed without having on board the right team. This section lists all the key positions you plan to hire with information about their salaries and expected start dates.

Key Milestones: To be able to launch and execute your Fast-Food project, you need to follow a set of actionable tasks with target deadlines. This section serves this purpose.

Financial Plan: Without a robust financial plan, your Fast-Food Restaurant business plan would be an incomplete document. This important section provides crucial information about your pro-forma financial projections and shows that you have really done your homework. The data mentioned in this and the following sections will be provided by the Excel financial model accompanying your Fast-Food business plan.

Projected Revenue:  This module shows your Fast-Food Restaurant’s revenue projections over the next three years.

Projected Profit and Loss:  This module shows your Fast-Food Restaurant’s income statement (also called profit and loss statement) over the next three years. Your income statement includes detailed projections about your sales and expenses and shows how your Fast-Food Restaurant’s revenue is converted into a net profit.

Projected Cash Flows:  This module shows your Fast-Food Restaurant’s cash flow projections over the next three years. The first year of operation is even detailed on a monthly basis. Your cash flow statement will detail the various cash inflows your Fast-Food Restaurant will generate from its day to day operations and from funding sources, as well as the various cash outflows required to pay for operating expenses and business investments.

Projected Balance Sheet : This module shows your Fast-Food Restaurant’s balance sheet projections over the next three years. The balance sheet will provide a summary of your Fast-Food Restaurant’s short term and long term assets in addition to your short term and long term liabilities and capital.

Profitability Analysis:  In this section, we will provide information about your gross margin, net margin and discuss the profitability of your Fast-Food Restaurant business.

Funding Requirement:  This module states the amount of funding your need to be able to comfortably launch your Fast-Food Restaurant business. It also describes the planned allocation of the funds between opex and capex.

Conclusion : Finally, we will conclude your business plan by recapitulating the key points that make your Fast-Food Restaurant project compelling and reiterate the rationale behind your business opportunity.

Why Use our Ready-Made Fast-Food Business Plan?

• Speed & Convenience: Once you complete your order, you will receive the Fast-Food Restaurant business plan directly in your mailbox. Since it is already pre-written with fully customizable financials, you will only need to spend a couple of hours to edit it and adapt it to your own F&B project.
• High Quality: Your Fast-Food Restaurant business plan has been written by our professional team of business plan writers and experts from the F&B industry. You will receive a professional Fast-Food business plan template ideal for presenting to potential investors or banks.
• Low-Cost: Our pre-written Fast-Food Restaurant business plan template is the most cost-effective solution in case you need to build a solid and professional Fast-Food business plan. We are confident you will save hundreds if not thousands of dollars by ordering our premium business plan compared to hiring a consultant or subscribing to complicated and expensive software.

If you have any question regarding our ready-made Fast-Food Restaurant business plan package, do not hesitate to contact us , we are here to help.

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Home » Food

How to Start a Fast Food Restaurant [Business Plan]

A fast-food restaurant is a restaurant where clients pay for quick-service food products before eating. The food purchased may be consumed in the restaurant, taken out, or delivered. Most fast-food outlets also sell beverages, such as water, juice, and soda, but usually not alcohol.

Available data shows that there are 204,555 Fast Food Restaurants businesses in the United States as of 2022, an increase of 1.3% from 2022. The US fast food industry market size (by revenue) is $317.5 billion as of 2022. The expected CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of the US fast food industry is 5.1% from 2020 to 2027.

Steps on How to Start a Fast Food Restaurant Business

Conduct market research.

It is important to note that starting a fast food restaurant business requires reliable market research to be able to maximize profits from the business. Please note that the first step in the market research process should be to develop market-based research questions in line with your overall business goal and objective.

In this regard, you should source for information that will help you maximize your business, give you a hint of what your potential market will be looking out for from a fast food restaurant business, and also help you operate your fast food restaurant business with less stress.

a. Who is the Target Market for Fast Food Restaurant Business?

If you are thinking of opening a fast-food restaurant then you should make target demographics all-encompassing. It should include corporate executives, socialites, students, migrants, entrepreneurs, tourists, business people, celebrities, and every adult in the neighborhood where your fast food restaurant will be located.

b. Is Fast Food Restaurant a Profitable Business?

Yes, the fast-food restaurant business is quite profitable. The industry is worth over 317.5 billion U.S. dollars and in the United States, food and beverages services contribute about 4 percent of GDP.

c. Are There Existing Niches in the Industry?

No, there are no existing niches when it comes to the fast-food restaurant business because fast food restaurant is a niche idea in the restaurant industry;

d. Who are the Major Competitors?

• McDonald’s
• Burger King
• Wendy’s
• Dunkin’ Donuts
• Chick-fil-A
• Panera Bread
• Domino’s
• Sonic Drive-In
• Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s
• Little Caesars
• Dairy Queen
• Arby’s
• Jack in the Box
• Papa John’s

e. Are There County or State Regulations or Zoning Laws for Fast Food Restaurant Business?

Yes, there are county and state regulations and zoning laws for fast food restaurant businesses in the United States. Please note that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sets the federal Food Code, but they don’t oversee individual fast-food restaurant businesses. Instead, the various states use the Food Code as the basis for their food codes. They may adopt its rules, interpret them differently or set their own rules.

Please note that in the United States, you are required to follow your state’s foodservice code. Visit the FDA website for a list of food service codes by state. Use this to find the state authority handling restaurants and bars and view the laws that apply in your state.

f. Is There a Franchise for Fast Food Restaurant Business?

Yes, there are franchise opportunities for fast food restaurants. Here are some of them;

g. What Do You Need to Start a Fast Food Restaurant Business?

• A Feasibility Report
• Business and Marketing Plans
• Business Licenses and Permits
• A Good Restaurant facility
• EIN (Employer Identification Number)/Federal Tax ID Number.
• A Corporate Bank Account
• Suppliers of food ingredients and drinks
• Startup Capital

Memorable Fast Food Restaurant Business Names

• Village Square© Fast Food Restaurant, Inc.
• Finicky® Fast Food Restaurant, LLC
• Lucas© Fast Food Restaurant, Inc.
• Food Nest® Fast Food Restaurant, Inc.
• Bob Robinson™ Fast Food Restaurant, Inc.
• Good Times™ Fast Food Restaurant, LLC.
• The Choice© Fast Food Restaurant, LLC
• Food Court® Fast Food Restaurant, Inc.
• Eagles Nest© Fast Food Restaurant, Inc.
• Sit Out© Fast Food Restaurant, Inc.
• Finger Licking® Fast Food Restaurant, LLC
• Finger Licking® Fast Foods, LLC
• Garvin Chickens™ Fast Foods, LLC
• Princess Daniella© Fast Foods, Inc.
• Finicky® Fast Foods, Inc.
• Aunty Estee™ Fast Foods, Inc.
• Tasty Tanya™ Fast Foods, Inc.
• The Food King© Fast Foods, Inc.
• Chicken Federation® Fast Foods, LLC
• Jeff Jules© Fast Foods, Inc.
• Taste Buds© Fast Foods, Inc.

Register Your Business

A. what type of business structure is best for fast food restaurant.

In reality, there are several options when it comes to the business structure of a fast-food restaurant, but the one most players in this line of business consider is an LLC. It is common to consider an LLC because providers want to protect themselves from lawsuits. Please note that an LLC will need an EIN if it has employees or if it will be required to file any of the excise tax forms listed below.

b. Steps to Form an LLC

• Choose a Name for Your LLC.
• File Articles of Organization.
• Choose a registered agent.
• Decide on member vs. manager management.
• Create an LLC operating agreement.
• Comply with other tax and regulatory requirements.
• File annual reports.

c. What Type of License is Needed to Open a Fast Food Restaurant Business?

• General Business License
• Health and Safety Permit
• FSSAI license
• Food Handler’s License
• Liquor license
• Health and trade license
• Lift clearance license
• Zonal Permits
• Signage Permit
• Operational State Facility Inspections
• A music license if you want to play live, recorded, or streaming music in your fast food restaurant
• A dumpster placement permit that specifies where you can put your dumpster outside your restaurant

d. What Type of Certification is Needed to Open a Fast Food Restaurant Business?

These are some of the certifications you can work towards achieving if you want to run a fast-food restaurant company;

• Clean Health Certificate
• Food handler Certification
• Catering Training Certificate

e. What Documents are Needed to Open a Fast Food Restaurant Business?

• Business and liability insurance
• Federal Tax Payer’s ID
• State Permit and Building Approval
• Certificate of Incorporation
• Business License
• Business Plan
• Employment Agreement (offer letters)
• Operating Agreement for LLCs
• Insurance Policy
• Online Terms of Use
• Online Privacy Policy Document
• Contract Document
• Company Bylaws
• Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

f. Do You Need a Trademark, Copyright, or Patent?

If you are considering opening a fast food restaurant business, usually you may not have any need to file for intellectual property protection or trademark. This is because the nature of the business makes it possible for you to successfully run it without having any cause to challenge anybody in court for illegally making use of your company’s intellectual properties.

Cost Analysis and Budgeting

A. how much does it cost to start a fast food restaurant business.

There is no clear-cut startup cost for a fast-food restaurant, but available data shows that the cost for a small to medium fast-food restaurant can range from $300,000 to over $750,000.

What are the Costs Involved in Starting a Fast Food Restaurant?

• Business Registration Fees – $750.
• Legal expenses for obtaining licenses and permits – $3,300.
• Marketing, Branding and Promotions – $2,000.
• Business Consultant Fee – $2,500.
• Insurance – $8,400.
• Rent/Lease – $200,000.
• Other start-up expenses include stationery ($500), and phone and utility deposits ($1,800).
• Operational Cost (salaries of employees, payments of bills et al) – $70,000
• Start-up Inventory – $35,000
• Store Equipment (cash register, security, ventilation, signage) – $1,750
• Furnishing and Equipping the Restaurant – $150,000
• Website: $600
• Opening party: $3,000
• Miscellaneous: $2,000

b. What Factors Determine the Cost of Opening a Fast Food Restaurant Business?

• The size of the fast-food restaurant
• The choice of location
• The required licenses and permits
• The type of facility
• The type of food and related products retailed in the fast-food restaurant
• The cost of hiring and paying a business consultant and attorney
• The cost for branding, promotion, and marketing of the fast-food restaurant business
• The cost for furnishing and equipping the fast-food restaurant business – facility
• The cost of insurance
• The cost for registering the business
• Source of your food ingredients, supplies, and ongoing expenses
• Cost of recruiting and training your staff
• The cost for the purchase and customizing of uniforms
• The cost for the grand opening of the fast-food restaurant business

c. Do You Need to Build a Facility? If YES, How Much Will It Cost?

It is not compulsory to build a new facility for your fast food restaurant business, but if you have the finance, it will pay you to build your own facility. The truth is that building or reconstructing a facility will help you come up with a facility that will perfectly fit into your overall business goals and vision.

d. What are the Ongoing Expenses of a Fast Food Restaurant Business?

• Supplies (inventory expenses)
• Utility bills (internet subscriptions, phone bills, signage and software renewal fees et al)
• Salaries of employees

e. What is the Average Salary of your Staff?

• Chief Executive Officer (Owner) – $65,000 Per Year
• Human Resources and Amin Manager – $43,000 Per Year
• Restaurant Manager – $40,000 Per Year
• Accountants/Cashiers – $33,000 Per Year
• Chefs (Cooks) – $30,000 Per Year
• Waiters/Waitress – $26,000 Per Year
• Cleaners – $25,000 Per Year
• Security Guard -$24,000 Per Year

f. How Do You Get Funding to Start a Fast Food Restaurant Business

• Raising money from personal savings and sale of personal stocks and properties
• Raising money from investors and business partners
• Sell shares to interested investors
• Applying for a loan from your bank/banks
• Pitching your business idea and applying for business grants and seed funding from the government, donor organizations, and angel investors
• Source for soft loans from your family members and your friends.

Write a Business Plan

A. executive summary.

Chicken Federation® Fast Foods, LLC is a registered fast food restaurant business that will be located along one of the busiest roads in San Diego – California. We have been able to lease a facility that is big enough for the kind of fast food restaurant we intend launching and the facility is located in a corner piece directly opposite the largest residential estate in San Diego – California.

b. Products and Service

• Non–alcoholic beverages

c. Mission Statement

Our mission is to establish a fast food restaurant that will make available varieties of well–prepared delicacies, snacks, and drinks at affordable prices to the residents of San Diego – California, and other cities in the United States of America where we intend to open our chains of franchises.

Vision Statement

Our vision is to become the leading fast-food brand in San Diego – California and to establish a one-stop fast food restaurant in San Diego – California and other cities in the United States of America.

d. Goals and Objectives

The goals and objectives of a fast food restaurant business are to provide an outlet where customers pay for quick-service food products before eating. They also provide an option that allows food purchased to be consumed in the restaurant, taken out, or delivered.

e. Organizational Structure

• Chief Executive Officer (Owner)
• Human Resources and Admin Manager
• Restaurant Manager
• Accountants/Cashiers
• Chefs (Cooks)
• Waiters/Waitress
• Security Guard

Marketing Plan

A. swot analysis.

• Ideal location for a fast food restaurant business
• Highly experienced and qualified employees and management
• Access to finance from business partners
• Availability of different types of fast food and snacks.
• Reliable and efficient inventory management system.
• Financial constraints may restrict the publicity and branding of the business
• A new business that will be competing with well-established fast-food restaurants and franchises in the city.
• Inability to retain our employees longer than we want during the teething stage of the business.

Opportunities:

• A rise in the number of young people who love fast food within our market space
• Online market, new services, new technology, and of course the opening of new markets.
• The arrival of a new fast food restaurant within our market space
• Economic uncertainty
• Liability problems
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could change its regulatory status and decide to enforce strict regulations that can strangulate new businesses like ours.

b. How Do Fast Food Restaurants Make Money?

Fast food restaurants make money by selling the following products;

c. Payment Options

• Payment with cash
• Payment via credit cards
• Payment via online bank transfer
• Payment via mobile money transfer

d. Sales & Advertising Strategies

• Introduce your fast food restaurant by sending introductory letters alongside your brochure to construction companies, campgrounds, corporate organizations, households, gyms, schools, and other key stakeholders throughout the city where your fast food restaurant is located.
• Advertise on the internet on blogs and forums, and also on social media like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn to get your message across
• Create a basic website for your business to give your business an online presence
• Directly market your products.
• Join local fast food restaurant business associations for industry trends and tips
• Provide discount days for your customers
• Advertise our business in community-based newspapers, local TV and radio stations
• List your business on yellow pages ads (local directories)
• Encourage the use of word-of-mouth marketing (referrals)

Financial Projection

A. how much should you charge for your product/service.

The average cost of a combo meal at a fast-food restaurant is $4 to $7.

b. How Much Profit Do Fast Food Restaurant Owners Make a Year?

It depends, but available reports show that on average, a restaurant that rings up $1-million in sales might only give the owner a profit of $25,000 to $40,000 each year, while a restaurant owner whose establishment brings in $3-million in revenue can likely afford to pay themselves between $75,000 and $120,000, depending on their profit margin.

c. What Factors Determine the Amount of Profit to Be Made?

• The capacity of the fast-food restaurant
• The types of food, snacks, and drinks retailed
• The location the fast-food restaurant is covering
• The management style of the fast-food restaurant
• The business approach of the fast-food restaurant
• The advertising and marketing strategies adopted by the fast-food restaurant.
• The number of years the fast-food restaurant is in business

d. What is the Profit Margin of a Fast Food Restaurant?

You can expect a net profit margin of around 7 to 10 percent. Although factors like franchise affiliation may affect profit margins.

e. What is the Sales Forecast?

Below is the sales forecast of a fast-food restaurant. It is based on the location of the business and other factors as it relates to such startups in the United States;

• First Fiscal Year: $1.2 million
• Second Fiscal Year:  2.5 million
• Third Fiscal Year: $4.2 million

Set Up your Office

A. how do you choose a perfect location for fast food restaurant.

• The demography of the location
• The demand for fast foods, drinks, and other snacks in the location
• The purchasing power of residents of the location
• Accessibility of the location and the road network
• The number of fast-food restaurants, sandwich shops, food carts, mobile food trucks, regular restaurants, and canteens in the location
• The local laws and regulations in the community/state
• Traffic, parking and security et al

b. What State and City are Best to Open a Fast Food Restaurant?

• Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
• Atlanta, Georgia
• Boston, Massachusetts
• Palm Beach, Florida
• Washington, D.C.
• Scottsdale, Arizona
• Portland, Oregon
• Asheville, North Carolina
• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Los Angeles, California
• New York City, New York
• San Francisco, California
• Washington DC
• Chicago, Illinois

c. What Equipment is Needed to Operate a Fast Food Restaurant?

Before you can open a fast-food restaurant, you should budget and buy chairs and dining tables, POS and receipt issuing machines, storage hardware (bins, rack, shelves, food case), counter area equipment (countertop, sink, ice machine, etc.),

(Flat Screen TVs, sound system, DVD players, cooking gas, deep freezers, fridge, blenders, store equipment (cash register, security, ventilation, signage), serving utensils (plates, ashtrays, glasses, flatware) and fancy lightening amongst others.

Hire Employees

When it comes to hiring employees for a standard fast-food restaurant, you should make plans to hire a competent chief executive officer, human resource and admin manager, restaurant manager, chef (cook), waiters and waitresses, cleaners, and security guard.

Launch the Business Proper

No fast food restaurant opens its door for business without first organizing an opening party to officially launch the business. You can choose to do a soft opening if you are operating on a low budget or you can go for a grand opening party. The bottom line is that with a proper launching of the fast-food restaurant, you will officially inform people in your city that your fast food restaurant is open for business.

a. What Makes a Fast Food Restaurant Business Successful?

• Choose a good location and shop facility to launch the business
• Make sure you offer a wide variety of foods and drinks (give your customers options)
• Be deliberate with your marketing sales approach
• Encourage the use of word of mouth to promote your fast food restaurant business
• Leverage on all available online and offline platforms to promote your fast food restaurant business

b. What Happens During a Typical Day at a Fast Food Restaurant?

• The shop is open for the day’s work
• The kitchen staff prepares the food and snacks
• The serving areas, serving wares, chairs, and tables are properly arranged
• Walk-in customers are attended to
• Delivery of orders are made
• Stocks are taken and reports are written and submitted to superior officers
• The business is closed for the day.

c. What Skills and Experience Do You Need to Build a Fast Food Restaurant Business?

• Excellent culinary skills
• Excellent customer services skills
• Interpersonal skill
• Accounting and bookkeeping skills
• Business management skills
• Bargaining skill
• Work experience in a fast-food restaurant environment
• Experience in managing people
• Experience in business administration
• Experience in preparing a wide variety of fast food and snacks.

More on Food

Fast Food Business Plan Template

Fast food marketing plan.

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a fast food business plan, your marketing plan should include the following:

Product : in the product section you should reiterate the type of fast food business that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific products you will be offering. For example, in addition to burgers, will you offer items such as breakfast sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, or ice cream?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your marketing plan, you are presenting the menu items you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the location of your fast food business. Document your location and mention how the location will impact your success. For example, is your fast food business located next to a heavily populated office building, or gym, etc. Discuss how your location might provide a steady stream of customers.

Promotions : the final part of your fast food business marketing plan is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Making your fast food storefront extra appealing to attract passing customers
• Advertising in local papers and magazines
• Reaching out to local bloggers and websites
• Social media advertising
• Partnerships with local organizations (e.g., gym members get a free cup of coffee with each breakfast sandwich they purchase)
• Local radio advertising
• Banner ads at local venues

FAST FOOD BUSINESS PLAN OUTLINE

• Fast Food Business Plan Home
• 1. Executive Summary
• 2. Company Overview
• 3. Industry Analysis
• 4. Customer Analysis
• 5. Competitive Analysis
• 6. Marketing Plan
• 7. Operations Plan
• 8. Management Team
• 9. Financial Plan
• 10. Appendix
• Fast Food Business Plan Summary

Start Your Fast Food Plan Here

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Fast Food Service Business Plan

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QuickBite Express

Value proposition.

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.

The Problem

Many fast food chains compromise on quality, taste, and healthiness, leading to a poor dining experience for customers who desire quick and convenient meal options.

The Solution

QuickBite Express addresses these challenges by providing a fast food experience that combines quality, taste, and health-conscious options. Our menu features fresh ingredients, diverse flavors, and a selection of vegetarian and vegan choices.

Target Market

Our target market includes busy individuals and families seeking quick, delicious, and affordable meal options. We cater to a wide range of tastes and dietary preferences, making our services appealing to a broad audience.

Competitors and Differentiation

Key competitors include other fast food chains and local quick-service restaurants. QuickBite Express differentiates itself through:

• A diverse menu with a focus on quality and taste
• Health-conscious options, including vegetarian and vegan choices
• A commitment to exceptional customer service

Our team is passionate about providing customers with an exceptional fast food experience that doesn’t compromise on quality or taste. We are committed to maintaining high standards in food preparation, presentation, and service, ensuring customer satisfaction at every level.

Funding Needs

We are seeking an initial investment of $500,000 to secure a prime location, purchase equipment, and cover initial marketing expenses. This investment will enable us to establish a strong brand presence and attract a loyal customer base.

Sales Channels

Our primary sales channels are our physical restaurant location and online ordering through our website and mobile app. In the future, we will consider partnering with food delivery services to expand our reach.

Marketing Activities

To attract customers and build brand awareness, we will:

• Utilize local advertising channels, including billboards, radio, and print media.
• Offer grand opening promotions and discounts.
• Leverage social media platforms to showcase our menu and engage with the community.
• Establish partnerships with local businesses for cross-promotions and referrals.

Financial Projections

• Year 1: $750,000
• Year 2: $1,000,000
• Year 3: $1,300,000

Expenses/Costs

• Year 1: $600,000 (includes rent, utilities, food costs, equipment maintenance, and marketing)
• Year 2: $700,000
• Year 3: $800,000
• Year 1: $150,000
• Year 2: $300,000
• Year 3: $500,000
• Secure initial investment and establish business structure.
• Identify and secure a prime location for the restaurant.
• Successfully launch the business and attract a loyal customer base.
• Continuously refine and expand the menu to cater to customer preferences.
• Explore partnership opportunities with food delivery services.

Key Team and Roles

• Owner/Operator: Oversees the day-to-day operations, manages finances, and leads marketing efforts.
• Restaurant Manager: Supervises staff, ensures quality control, and maintains equipment.
• Chef: Develops and refines the menu, manages food preparation, and ensures food safety standards.
• Customer Service Representatives: Provide exceptional customer service and process orders.

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How to start a food truck business.

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If you’re interested in starting a food service business but don’t want to spend the time and money to set up a dedicated location, a food truck may be the way to go. Here’s a guide on how to start a food truck business to help aspiring food truck owners get started.

How to Start a Food Truck Business in 21 Simple Steps

Every food truck may look and operate a bit differently. Here are some common steps you can use to get started.

• Read More: Food Truck Business Plan

1. Research Food Trucks Locally

If you want to be a successful food truck owner, you need to understand your competition. Identify what cuisines are popular and what’s missing in the market. Research other food trucks in your area to find a unique niche and learn the hot spots and trends in your local food truck scene. Consider attending local food truck events to gather insights.

2. Choose a Niche and Know Your Target Market

Food truck customers often like unique menu items. Analyze demographic data to better understand customer preferences. Find something that sets your business apart, like interesting toppings on classics like burgers and tacos. Develop a menu that caters to local tastes and dietary preferences.

3. Name and Brand Your Business

A catchy name and brand will make your business more memorable. Ensure your brand reflects the culinary experience you offer. Choose consistent design elements that are easy to read and communicate a style that appeals to your target customers. Your brand should align well with the vibe of your food truck.

A catchy name and brand will make your business more memorable. Choose consistent design elements that are easy to read and communicate a style that appeals to your target customers.

4. Write a Food Truck Business Plan

Every business needs a plan; here are some things to include in your food truck business plan:

• Market analysis: Look at other food truck owners in your area and consider demand from local customers.
• Product and service list: What types of food will you offer? Consider ingredient cost and what you’ll charge for items; include any extra revenue streams like private catering.
• Marketing strategies: How will you market your business? And what expenses might come with your strategy?
• Financial projections: Based on your market and price list, what can you expect to earn? How does that compare to your projected expenses?

5. Look into Small Business Grants

Food truck owners may benefit from extra funds. Research local business development programs offering financial assistance. Look for available grants for new businesses in your area for extra support. Explore industry-specific grants, particularly those focused on culinary enterprises.

6. Develop a Menu and Set Your Prices

Within your niche, create a short list of items you can make with limited ingredients. Incorporate seasonal specialties to attract customers. Price items based on demand and costs. Consider the local economic landscape to set competitive and profitable prices.

7. Secure a Truck

You need a truck that’s large enough to prepare and serve food. Assess the layout for efficient food preparation and customer service. So, you have to find where to buy a food truck . You can find old vans or trucks in local classified ads and have them furbished with equipment. Evaluate the condition and potential modifications needed. Or buy an existing food truck from a business broker. You can also seek expert advice to make a cost-effective decision.

Read More: food truck ideas

8. Form a Legal Entity and Register Your Business

All businesses need a legal entity; here are some for food truck operators to consider:

• Sole proprietor: This can work for those who operate individually, but it offers no liability protection.
• LLC: Offers liability and low startup costs; this is quite common for food truck operations.
• Corporation: This offers liability protection and a different tax structure, but can be more complicated and costly to start.

9. Open a Business Bank Account

Keep your business and personal assets separate to simplify bookkeeping and build credit. Consider business credit cards for monthly purchases.

10. Get Business Insurance

Insurance can protect your assets if your business experiences any losses. Here are some common types for a mobile food business.

• General liability
• Commercial auto
• Workers comp
• Property coverage
• Read More: food truck name ideas

11. Get the Necessary Food Truck Equipment

The exact equipment needed depends on your niche and how much food you work with, but here are some common categories:

• Cooking equipment like a griddle or fryers
• Refrigeration equipment
• Shelves or cabinets to store ingredients
• Food containers
• Cleaning supplies

12. Get a POS System

A point of sale system helps successful food trucks manage transactions. Common options include TouchBistro, Toast, and Square .

13. Source Your Ingredients

Find wholesale suppliers for all the items you need to create your menu. These are often the same food industry suppliers that work with restaurants with a brick and mortar location.

14. Apply for Permits and Food Truck Licenses

Food trucks often need business licenses, vehicle registration and commercial driver’s license, parking permits for specific locations, and mobile food service permits. Check with your local health department to see what paperwork is required.

15. Prepare for Health Inspectors to Visit

Local officials will also likely visit to check for cleanliness and food safety.

• Read More: food truck festival

16. Sort Out Your Taxes

Taxes vary by state. But many food truck owners must pay:

• Business income taxes
• Payroll taxes
• State sales taxes

17. Create a Website and Market Your Business

Customers often research their local food truck community online. So create an online presence with your menu and social profiles to update your locations.

18. Decide Where to Park

Food truck vendors should seek out spots with lots of customers, like high foot traffic areas and special events. Make sure parking spots are approved through your local motor vehicle department.

19. Employ Staff

You may need a small team to make food and serve customers. Apply for a NIE number and meet other requirements of your state before interviewing and training.

20. Maintain Your Truck

Your food truck needs oil changes, tire rotations, and fluid flushes just like any vehicle.

21. Market Your Business and Expand

To bring in more customers, promote your brand on social media accounts, update your location on food truck finder apps, and set up at popular food truck festivals. Once you gain popularity, create a franchise to market your tasty food in new locations.

• Read More: food truck finder

Why You Should be Part of the Food Truck Industry

Food trucks offer plenty of exciting opportunities for entrepreneurs. Here are some benefits of choosing this niche:

• Location independence: Your truck can go wherever potential customers are. If there’s a big event or area with lots of foot traffic on any given night, you can set up there to reach more people.
• Low startup costs: You don’t need a dedicated location or a huge team to run a food truck. So it can be easier to break into the industry.
• Built-in advertising: When you set up at an event or drive across town, your truck gets seen. If you have a catchy logo or design, this automatically helps you build brand recognition without extra advertising.
• Multiple income streams: Food trucks don’t have to only offer food at festivals and high-traffic areas. You can also offer catering to diversify your income streams.

How Much Does it Cost to Start a Food Truck Business?

The cost of starting a food truck business can vary significantly based on numerous factors. In the United States, you can generally expect to spend from $28,000 to $180,000, with an average cost hovering around $100,000. This variation in cost is influenced by factors such as location, local licensing requirements, kitchen setup, and cooking equipment. The type of truck you choose plays a significant role in the overall cost. Options include:

• New Truck with a New Kitchen Setup : An all-new setup can cost between $120,000 to $200,000. This option is free from maintenance or hidden costs initially.
• Used Truck with a New Kitchen Setup : Opting for this setup could range from $80,000 to $115,000. While the initial cost is lower, a used truck may require more maintenance and repairs over time.
• Used Truck with a Used Kitchen Setup : This is the most cost-effective option, with costs ranging from $55,000 to $90,000. However, it comes with the risk of higher maintenance and repair costs.
• Renting a Food Truck : If you’re starting on a tight budget, renting a food truck is a viable option, generally costing $2,000 to $4,000 a month.

Additional expenses to consider include kitchen equipment and supplies (estimated at $10,000 to $25,000), inventory and food costs (around $1,000 to $3,000 initially), marketing and advertising expenses, professional service fees (legal, accounting, etc.), employee salaries and benefits, maintenance and fuel costs, commissary or storage fees, point-of-sale system and payment processing fees.

Moreover, mobile app development for enhanced branding and customer engagement can start at $5,000, with more complex apps costing upwards of $20,000. Accounting software like QuickBooks or Xero can add monthly costs of $20 to $60. Efficient inventory management is crucial, including costs for food ingredients, disposable supplies, cleaning supplies, fuel, propane, menu specials, and beverages. Marketing and branding efforts can also significantly impact your startup costs, with expenses for website development, advertising, branding materials, promotions, events, and food truck wrapping.

Securing the necessary licenses and permits is a must for legal operation. These include food service licenses, mobile food vendor permits, health department permits, fire department permits, parking permits, business licenses, sales tax permits, and commissary agreements. Utility costs such as electricity, water, and waste disposal also add to the operational expenses.

Finally, consider the cost of labor and talent required to run the food truck, including chefs, servers, and cleaners. Overall, a detailed budget and a robust business plan are crucial for a successful launch and sustainable operation of a food truck business

Is Owning a Food Truck Profitable?

Yes, starting your own food truck can be profitable. Many food trucks make over $100,000 per year. Once startup costs and ongoing expenses are factored in, an annual profit of about $50,000 is usually possible. However, the exact amount you earn depends on your food truck concept, operating hours, menu, and locations. You can also look into food truck franchise options to cut your initial startup cost.

Image: Depositphotos, Envato Elements

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California fast-food workers will get $20 minimum wage, starting Monday

Vanessa Romo

Alina Selyukh

A McDonald's worker hands food to a customer at a drive-thru window in Los Angeles, on Sept. 28. Damian Dovarganes/AP hide caption

A McDonald's worker hands food to a customer at a drive-thru window in Los Angeles, on Sept. 28.

California fast-food workers cooking Big Macs or whipping Frappuccinos will start making a minimum wage of $20 an hour on Monday. For many, this means a 25% raise.

The new state minimum uniquely focuses on a particular segment, fast food, affecting some of the country's biggest chains, including McDonald's, Starbucks, Subway and Pizza Hut.

It's a big win for cooks, cashiers and other fast-food workers – some of the lowest-paid jobs in the U.S. – whose wages have been growing at a faster clip since the pandemic, after decades of stagnation.

California is one of the country's most expensive states; about half a million people are estimated to work in fast food here, mostly women, immigrants and people of color. Many live below the poverty line.

Uber and Lyft threaten to halt operations in Minneapolis over minimum wage law

Sandra Jauregui from Sacramento is counting down the days to her first bigger paycheck in two weeks. After 18 years working at several Jack in the Box franchises, her pay will jump from $17.50 to $20. That means she could be bringing home another $120 each paycheck.

"It's super great," says Jauregui, 52, speaking in Spanish. "At the very least it'll give me some breathing room ... and make it easier to pay the rent and other bills."

Chipotle, McDonald's warn of price hikes, less work

But the dramatic pay raise has also touched off a heated debate about the impact on local businesses. Smaller franchise restaurant owners warn they'll have to raise prices, reduce worker's hours, cut jobs or even close shop.

California's pay hike is a result of a contentious deal struck by labor leaders, including the large Service Employees International Union, and fast-food companies last year. The new wage law applies to fast-food chains with at least 60 locations nationwide, with exemptions for some bakeries and smaller fast-food outposts inside grocery stores, airports and other venues.

Several fast-food executives have suggested prices would go up 2.5% to 3.5% to offset higher wages; Jack in the Box, Starbucks, McDonald's and Chipotle have all warned of upcoming price hikes. That's on top of price increases many restaurants have been rolling out for months. The cost of eating out has stubbornly inched higher even as inflation has cooled elsewhere .

Other chains plan to speed up their use of automation, including kiosks and robots. A major Pizza Hut franchisee cited the wage hike as the reason for layoffs of more than 1,000 delivery drivers this year, in a switch to apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash that pushes more delivery fees onto shoppers.

One big Pizza Hut franchisee in California cited the upcoming wage hike as a reason for laying off more than 1,000 delivery drivers in a shift to delivery apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

One big Pizza Hut franchisee in California cited the upcoming wage hike as a reason for laying off more than 1,000 delivery drivers in a shift to delivery apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash.

Franchisees weigh cuts to workers' hours

Many restaurant owners expect workers to be working fewer hours. That was the main side-effect a decade ago, when Seattle hiked its minimum wage to $15, research suggests .

"I am used to being a champion of labor and I'm in this odd position," says Michaela Mendelsohn, a longtime advocate for LGBT workers and also owner of six El Pollo Loco restaurants with about 170 employees.

Her restaurants lost shoppers after a pre-emptive price increase in February, she says. Now, the focus is on cutting costs by simplifying operations, changing how long it takes workers to make sauces, for example, or to close up for the night.

Minimum-wage workers in 22 states will be getting raises on Jan. 1

"We're having to get more efficient," Mendelsohn says. "So really what's left is ... to reduce labor hours. And I hate saying that."

In recent years, the battle for higher minimum wages has increasingly played out at the city, county and state levels as the federal minimum wallows at $7.25 an hour .

Broadly, California often sets the bar for many business decisions that other states later follow. Advocates hope something similar will happen with fast-food pay – spreading to other industries in the state and across the country.

California's minimum previously rose to $16 an hour on Jan. 1.

Workers are thrilled, but also anxious

Employers' warnings have left many workers with mixed feelings about the raise, despite the potential for extra spending power.

The Jack in the Box worker Jauregui, 52, has been cobbling together two salaries, working about 54 hours a week between the restaurant and a laundromat.

She says she's always trying to save a bit to treat her grandchildren – she has custody of three of them – who are constantly growing out of clothes and shoes. And although she marched alongside fellow SEIU members to win the wage increase, she is fearful of the downside.

These millionaires want to tax the rich, and they're lobbying working-class voters

"My boss told me that he won't reduce my hours but that he will cut others' hours," Jauregui said.

All this makes California's wage hike a high-profile case study for how exactly a higher minimum wage reverberates through the local economy.

"This policy is going to be really different in different parts of California," says Jacob Vigdor, professor of public policy and governance at the University of Washington, who has studied the effects of Seattle's 2014 minimum wage hike.

The research found that after the minimum wage rose from $9.47 to $13 – in the early years of the Fight For $15 labor campaign – workers generally didn't lose jobs even though they did lose hours. And they ended up with higher pay.

"The restaurant business is a really tough business," Vigdor says. "Restaurants open and close all the time, even in places where the minimum wage hasn't changed for more than a decade. ... Generally speaking, we found that in the restaurant industry, businesses were able to find ways to adapt to higher wage costs."

KQED's Farida Jhabvala Romero contributed to this report.

• fast food workers
• minimum wage

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McDonald's $25 'deal' goes viral; users blame California's minimum-wage increase: 'Your new normal'

Recent study finds that mcdonald's prices have risen by 100% since 2014, but the chain disputed the study's findings to fox business.

McDonald's spinoff restaurant 'CosMc's' to open in Chicago

McDonald’s is set to debut a new spinoff restaurant called 'CosMc's' in a Chicago suburb. (FOX 32)

A viral social media video about a $25 McDonald's "deal" recently sparked an online debate about California's minimum-wage increase.

A TikTok user who posts videos under the username @shannon_montipaya shared the video on March 27. She was in the drive-thru of a Southern California McDonald's location when she saw a sign for a 40-piece Chicken McNugget meal deal, which also included two large orders of fries.

The price of the meal bundle was $25.39 — including sales tax, it would come to roughly $27. In the video, the social media user lamented that the meal didn't even include a drink.

"OK, so it's $25.39 for 40-piece nuggets and two large fries," she said. "You couldn't even throw in the Sprite?

FIVE GUYS' PRICES SPARK OUTRAGE AFTER $24 RECEIPT GOES VIRAL: 'HIGHWAY ROBBERY'

The price of the meal bundle was $25.39 — including sales tax, it would come to roughly $27, no drink included. (iStock / Getty Images)

"You couldn't even throw in, like, a medium Sprite in there? Holy crap."

While the meal is designed to serve four people, it demonstrates how prices at the fast-food chain have risen over the years. A recent study by FinanceBuzz found that McDonald's prices have increased by 100% since 2014.

Ten years ago, the average price of a 10-piece McNugget meal was $5.99. Now, the meal usually goes for $10.99.

The video ended up amassing 2 million views, bringing thousands of TikTok users to its comments section — many of whom were nostalgic about past McDonald's prices.

"Remember when 40 pieces nuggets was $5 and a large drink was $1," one comment read.

"The managers special used to be 40 nuggets, a gallon of tea, and a LG fry for like 20 dollars SMH," another said.

"I spent $48 there yesterday…my jaw on the floor," a third commenter wrote.

WHAT YOU SHOULD ORDER AT MCDONALD'S, ACCORDING TO NUTRITIONISTS

Many TikTok users were nostalgic about the McDonald's prices of yore, before the price of McNuggets increased. (Brandon Bell / File / Getty Images)

Inevitably, some social media users pointed to the recent legislation in California that increased the minimum wage for fast-food workers from $16 to $20.

"20 minimum wage…..welcome to your new normal," one person said.

"Welcome to California," another chimed in.

Other users shared their local McDonald's prices — and very few came close to being as high as California's.

"50 nuggets here is 15 [dollars]," one Florida resident said.

"It’s $6.19 in Dallas for a 20 piece and 2 large fries," a Texan wrote.

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A TikTok user was shocked when she saw that a McDonald's meal deal for 40 McNuggets and two small orders of fries was priced at nearly $26. (iStock)

Some viewers thought the video was an overreaction and were unfazed by the price of the meal deal.

"12.50/person isn’t that crazy," a user wrote.

"You getting a good deal and you complaining," another said.

While the wage increase went into effect on April 1 — four days after the TikTok video was posted — fast-food businesses in the Golden State had been bracing for the wage increase for months.

MOD Pizza recently closed at least five California locations before the minimum-wage increase kicked in on April 1. Several California fast-food establishments, particularly pizza chains, have been laying off employees in recent months, The Wall Street Journal reported last month, including Pizza Hut and Round Table Pizza.

A former MOD Pizza employee in Clovis told FOX 26 Fresno that it "just kind of seemed like the right timing, two weeks before all of the fast-food locations in California got that increase that we closed."

Some TikTok users said a McNuggets meal cost far less at their McDonald's locations than at those in California. (McDonald's / Fox News)

McDonald's USA told FOX Business that the FinanceBuzz report is "not an accurate representation of pricing at McDonald's restaurants."

"As the [FinanceBuzz] report itself notes, pricing is set by individual franchisees and varies by restaurant," the statement read. "This is not an accurate representation of historical or current pricing at McDonald's restaurants, and the 2024 average prices listed are significantly inflated.

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"Value is part of McDonald's DNA, and we're committed to offering customers great value through everyday affordable pricing plus special offers and deals on our App and through the MyMcDonald's Rewards program."

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How One Family Lost $900,000 in a Timeshare Scam

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A massive scam targeting older Americans who own timeshare properties has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars sent to Mexico.

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