Restaurant Business Plan Template

This sample template helps you to create a business plan for a restaurant, bar or cafe. A professional business plan is essential for any restaurant venture to obtain external financing. The template below gives you a quick and easy way to prepare a plan and help you think through the major topics that need to be addressed. Use this resource to speed up the preparation process with a proven outline to communicate your business plan in a professional, compelling format that will enhance your credibility and improve your chances of attracting bankers or investors.

• Executive Summary

  The executive summary is where you will list all of your previous restaurant experience, as well as any management and staffing skills you may possess. The executive summary serves a couple of important purposes, including showcasing your strengths as a business owner and detailing how you plan to go about starting a restaurant that will quickly become the premier destination in your town.

• Business Overview

  In the business overview section you actually get down to the nuts and bolts of how the business will operate. This section will include such vital details as where the restaurant will be located, what hours it will keep and what type of cuisine it will specialize in. It is important for the business overview section to provide a compelling argument for why starting a restaurant of the type you propose will be a successful endeavor.

• Products and Services

  Opening a restaurant or a bar means providing both products, namely the signature dishes you will create, and services, including the attention of your wait staff and the ambiance and elegance your restaurant creates. The products and services section gives you a chance to detail what your restaurant will offer, and what will set your new restaurant apart from the competition.

• Marketing Strategy

  Chances are there are already plenty of restaurants in town, and this section of the plan is designed to convince skeptical lenders and would-be investors why your plan to open a restaurant is a good one. In this part, you will detail the marketing strategy you will use to differentiate the new restaurant you open from others in the area. This section can also include details of the market research you have done, including efforts to identify and cater to underserved segments of the market.

• Management and Staffing

  The management and staffing section of your plan should lay out in detail your strategy for attracting and retaining talent, both in the kitchen and in the front of the house. This section should also detail the experience and core competencies of the management team, since those individuals are just as critical to the success of the enterprise.

• Implementation Plan

  The implementation plan portion of the business plan should include a detailed timeline for starting the restaurant, from renting or buying the space and obtaining the furnishings to stocking the kitchen and hiring the personnel who will run the operation.

• Investments

  Opening a restaurant requires a lot of capital investment, including purchasing the freezers used to store food at the proper temperature, the stainless steel sinks and dishwashers and the tables and chairs needed to make diners feel at home. The investment section of the business plan is where you will lay out the details about the items your new restaurant will need to get off the ground, as well as the ongoing investments that will be needed to keep it up and running.

• Funding

  The funding section of the business plan will include details on the funding it will take to get the new restaurant off the ground. This section is very important, since lenders and equity investors will need to see that you have done a thorough analysis that includes all the equipment and supplies you will need.

• Risk Analysis

  All businesses have risks, but restaurants have a number of risks that are specific to their line of business. Some of these risks include a bad report from the health inspector, a negative review from a respected food critic or the sudden loss of a top chef to a competitor. Addressing the possible risks of the restaurant business is a critical part of your plan document.

• Financials

  A set of financial projections is included with this section automatically.
  You may want to leave some comments here on the business financial plan.