When it comes to starting a catering business, as with any other business, a business plan is crucial for starting out in a clear direction, setting goals to aspire to and for measuring progress along the way.
When researching a business everyone from you business partners to your bank manager or investors will want to see a business plan. But a business plan is also a way for you, as the owner to get all your information down in one master document that will help you to stay organized and focused.
But where should you start? How do you set out a business plan? This article will look at the main components of a catering business plan and towards the end will let you know how you can go about getting a sample business plan from an already successful catering company that you can use as a base to assemble your own.
1) An Executive Summary - A brief outline to introduce the reader and let them know what the business is about.
2) Objectives - Basic goals for the company over the medium term (3 or 4 years). What should be achieved and when it should be achieved by.
3) The company's mission (values, ideals)
4) Ownership structure
5) Start-up details - what equipment is needed, what are the start-up costs
6) Market Analysis - In depth market research should be included here as well as details on which niche catering markets are targeted and what services or products will be offered to them. Research into competitors should be included here along with how the business will gain a competitive edge over those competitors.
7) Marketing Strategy - Including advertising and sales methods. Sales forecasts should also be included.
8) Management - Outline the management structure of the new business.
9) Employees - Set out a plan for when employees will be hired and try to get estimates on how much overall staffing costs will be on an annual basis.
10) Financial details - This is perhaps the most important part of the plan. Estimated revenues and costs should be set out in spreadsheets over a hypothetical 3 or 4-year period. Then profits and losses can be projected based on these estimates. You may also insert optimistic figures and pessimistic figures to get an idea of 'best case scenario' and 'worst case scenarios'. The financial analysis should also attempt to identify the date upon which 'break even' point will be met. This can be a little technical and if you are not an accountant some guidance is needed.
You can get generic business plans and guides that tell you how to write them, but it would be great if you had something specifically related to a catering start-up. Getting a hold of an example of a real catering business plan can be tough as successful business owners usually keep business plan details private. If you could get a hold of a plan to use as a basis for putting your own plan together it would definitely make your job much easier.
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