How to Write a Small Business Plan for a Restaurant

The premise used to be that business plans were only for those looking for investors or business loans to fund their start-up. However, Entrepreneur magazine recommends that every entrepreneur and business owner create a solid business plan, especially in a market as fickle and volatile as the food industry. A restaurant business plan will lay out the reason for the restaurant's existence and what makes it unique, and show how it will make and spend money. A good restaurant business plan will help ensure success by focusing on turning your goals and ideals into actionable items.

• 1

  Open your word processor and type "Description of Business" at the top of the screen. Type "Objectives" as a subheading. Describe three to six goals of your restaurant that should operate as your heading objectives. They can be customer related, profit goals, management focuses or ethical standards to which you wish the business to abide. Start a new subheading and title it "Mission." Explain the purpose and overall goals of the restaurant in addition to how these items serve the previously listed objectives.

• 2

  Types a new subhead called "Keys to Success." Number the ways your restaurant will achieve success and explain how it will do so. Write a new section titled "Company Summary," and list the major selling points that will attract and keep customers in your restaurant. Specialty menu items, Sunday brunch, an extraordinary happy hour or live entertainment on the weekends are all examples of selling points for your restaurant.

• 3

  Start a new page with the heading "Marketing." Type the subheading "Services" and describe the services rendered in the restaurant along with operating hours. Write a new subheading titled "Competitive Comparison" and describe the local market, your main competition and how you will out-do them. You can go into detail about your marketing strategy here in regards to the way business is run, the restaurant's policies, customer service, advertising, in-house technology and even your future planned services and additions. Describe, under the new subheading "Marketing Analysis," your typical or ideal customers along with how you plan to target and lure them into your restaurant over your competition. Pricing details and sales forecasts are also very helpful in this section.

• 4

  Begin a fresh page and title it "Management." Type "Management Summary" and explain who the owners are by what percentage and who will run the restaurant day to day. Detail the hiring strategy of management and staff, noting any potential problems or issues such as the local labor market and economy. Describe in detail the hierarchy of the restaurant management and pay grades for each level of management over the next three years minimum.

• 5

  Write "Finances" on top of a new page. Type "Start-up Summary" as a new subheading and write out how your new restaurant's estimates for building, certification, design, decor and initial food and labor costs as well as the financial projections for capital, cost and profit for at least the next three years. List all the costs as you would in a ledger and calculate the totals for each section so you and your investors can clearly see all funding coming in and money going out.

• 6

  Start a new page titled "Financial Plan." List all anticipated annual cost categories with a dollar amount, description of the goods and/or services being paid for and why they are needed as well as for how long each good and/or service will be required. Helpful suggestions for restaurant business plans by Entrepreneur magazine are also listing "Important Assumptions" and "Key Financial Indicators" in addition to the standard "Break-Even Analysis" and "Project Profit and Loss" required in any business plan. List expected cash flow to anticipate problems, too.