Writing A Business Plan:
The 7 Step Coffee Shop Business Plan,
Where Great Aromas and Great Financing Brew

A restaurant business plan will bring the banker a little bit closer to your kitchen.

KEY CONSIDERATION

One of my very favorite restaurants is a small mom and pop that seats about 40 people and offers one prix fixe dinner each day. It is hugely successful. And I pass by about six hamburger joints on the way to the best one. Even truckers frequent the best greasy spoon.   

Moral: You don't have to be big to be successful. But you do have to offer excellent cuisine.

STRONGEST ADVANTAGE IN YOUR RESTAURANT BUSINESS PLAN

Having a meal out is an international custom. That's not going to change anytime soon.  

STRONGEST DISADVANTAGE IN YOUR BUSINESS PLAN FOR A RESTAURANT

In spite of what we said above, knowing how to cook is not the secret to success. Marketing is. Nobody is going to find that great little restaurant, or even the hamburger joint, without some serious promotion. It doesn't have to be freebie coupons or full page ads, but there must be a way of getting word out about your business. Without that, you will have a tough time.

It is a lot easier promoting a business in a smaller geographic area than in larger ones. For instance, a new restaurant in Tucson, Arizona, has a better chance than a new one in New York. It just costs so much more to advertise and promote in big cities. If you're in a smaller town, you've got a head start.

You've also got a head start if you can tie your restaurant to a defined ethnic group or specialty. People from all over the world stop at the Giant Artichoke in Castroville, California. It's not a great restaurant. But it's got a great niche.

OVERCOMING THE DISADVANTAGE WITH YOUR RESTAURANT BUSINESS PLAN

Focus your efforts on a defined geographic area.

Unless your restaurant will be on Chicago's State Street, or the Golden Triangle in Beverly Hills, not a lot of people are going to drive very far to visit you. Find out all you can about your potential area, such as

• Number of people
• Income level
• Educational level
• Ethnic hubs nearby
• Family composition
• Number and location of existing restaurants

... and anything else you can dig up.

Prove restaurant business plans that you have the marketing background and skill to make the restaurant successful.

Hit the decks running with a full blown marketing plan ready. More than anything else, this is what will demonstrate to the lender/investor that you have what it takes to successfully operate a restaurant. Your lender may not especially enjoy Taiwanese cuisine, but she will recognize a great marketing plan.

Devote a minimum of 5-8 pages of your restaurant business plan to your specific marketing plan.  

• Identify your core clientele.  
• Identify the number of your core clientele in your immediate area.  
• Have some initial ads or promotions developed to demonstrate your skill in this area.  
• If you have any celebrity endorsements, flaunt it.
• Present menus that you have developed.
• Detail how you will get free publicity -- this will be essential for your success.

Base your projections of valid, provable statistics. No pie in the sky here -- it just won't fly. Business plans for restaurants need to be on solid footing.

OTHER PLUSSES FROM YOUR RESTAURANT BUSINESS PLAN

This is a business that demands a broad spectrum of knowledge and experience, from health department regulations to parking and signage issues, and your business plan for a restaurant needs to demonstrate your knowledge. There is no on the job training. If you are going to successfully operate a restaurant of any size, know your stuff before ever approaching a lender or investor.  

A free sample restaurant business plan can provide the outline, such as those at the end of this book. But you need to dig for the local rules and regs that will affect your business. Prove that you have done so, and that your business plan takes these rules and regs into consideration.

THE TYPES OF STATS YOU WILL NEED

Different types of restaurants have different industry averages. [Note: There is a whole section on identifying your client base and quantifying it.]

Locating -- and effectively using -- this type of industry information will set you head shoulders above the rest.  This is exactly the kind of information your restaurant business plan needs to really punch it up a few notches.

YOUR LIKELY LENDER/INVESTOR FOR YOUR RESTAURANT BUSINESS PLAN

The SBA is usually your best bet.  

If, however, you are planning on regional or national expansion, or if this is NOT your first restaurant, check out appropriate venture capital groups in your area. And be sure to check out the newest development in venture capital: venture lending.

YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE

I know one very popular little restaurant in New York whose sole promotion is putting out a newsletter via email every month.  It is a chatty newsletter, usually with a recipe.  Thousands of people, most whom were customers, subscribe (for free) to this newsletter.  And the little restaurant is jammed to the ceiling every single day. Don't discount the Power of the Web.  It is immense power.

Odds are that you will want to promote your business online. Potential guests, as well as lenders/investors, want to see what you can do. So strut your stuff.

YOUR RESTAURANT BUSINESS PLAN

Restaurants have one of the highest failure rates of all businesses. Your lender knows that. It is your job to convince your lender that you know what you're doing, and a strong business plan is just the ticket to get you there.  Start out with a restaurant business plan, then continue to demonstrate your own strength as an entrepreneur.