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Restaurant Business Plan
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The business plan is arguably the most
important part of any start-up venture. It is an exercise in focusing your
ideas for the business and taking a comprehensive view of all the factors
involved in its success.
The business plan has three major
sections:
- A narrative document describing the various aspects of the venture
and supporting documents
- A set of financial statements that
demonstrate the profitability of the project
- A set of supporting documents (Appendix) such as menus,
resumes, leases, floor plans, etc.
The Narrative Document
This part of a restaurant
business plan takes focused time and effort and is
best done by the principals themselves. We recommend that you give it a try.
To help you we have researched and created a concise,
easy to follow
outline and sample narrative business plan from the most
reputable sources then customized it for restaurant use. This plan format
has been tested in real-life deals and received raves from bankers,
private investors and venture capitalists.
Hundreds of aspiring restaurant owners have virtually
copied this plan (changing names, dates, etc. of course) and used it as
their own. We do not recommend this and suggest you use it only as a
structural guide. The research and planning you will be forced to do will be
invaluable and greatly increase your chances of success. This product
has been recently updated and includes bonuses such as cover letter and
confidentiality agreement samples.
The Financial Statements
The financials are best done with the help of an expert, as they involve complex
legal and accounting principles. This is where Virtual Restaurant can make life easier and
save you money!
Our
Financial Modeling Spreadsheets is a set of reports designed to
compliment and complete the narrative portion of your restaurant business
plan. It demonstrates (among many other thins) how you will obtain startup
funds, how they will be spent, and a projection of
your sales and revenue for the first year of operation.
This portion of the business plan is
every bit as important as the narrative and perhaps even more so. If
this part is done thoroughly and honestly, it serves as a valuable and very
accurate tool for predicting financial success (or failure) in the critical
first year of operation. Many projects have not moved forward (and
thereby saving countless hours and thousands of dollars) after a
careful analysis using this tool.
For
this part of the project,
we do not recommend that you do it on your own or even with the help of
inexpensive "shrink-wrapped" software. When I opened my restaurants, I used
very expensive accountants and lawyers to build my financials, and if you do
not buy the package that I am selling, I suggest should do the same. It will
probably cost around $3,000. But with an initial investment of over $100,000
and in an industry that has an over 80% startup failure within the first
year (that's right!), why take a chance with sloppy financial planning?
The Appendix
These are any documents or information that either weren't appropriate or
important enough to be included in the main narrative. Mostly, they are a
collection of items such as a copy of your lease, menus, personal resumes
or financial statements, marketing studies, competitive analysis, etc. The
appendix is perhaps the easiest part of the business plan to create, but
very important as well. You never know what a prospective investor or
lender will be looking for.
Virtual Restaurant would like to help you create your business plan at any
level you need:
An outline and sample plan including samples of the financial statements
and supporting documents ($39)
Restaurant Business Plan Part 2: Financial Modeling Spreadsheets
A set of Excel spreadsheets that let you easily and quickly create
powerful pro forma statements.
You
will be able to generate a set of reports that will have bankers, private
investors, management groups and even venture capitalists smiling with
surprise and approval. And most importantly, it will tell YOU, very
accurately, if your business will be a success.($199)
Restaurant Business Plan: Complete Package with Consulting
A complete business plan package including the sample plan and outline,
the Excel spreadsheets and 1/2 hour of telephone consulting that can be
used to get review and expert advice about any aspect of your
project ($249)
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