Each type of business has its own risks, opening a new establishment, there is a chance that the business will not pay off in the expected time frame. To avoid this, the entrepreneur who plans to open a cafe or restaurant, prescribes a business plan with cost figures, development strategy and plans for payback. In this article, we will tell you how to properly write a business plan for opening a cafe.
Purpose of creating a business plan
The purpose of a business plan is to describe the idea and concept of the institution. A properly drafted business plan will help to calculate the payback period of the institution, as well as take into account all costs.
To open a place you need to calculate not only the planned profit, but also to create a marketing strategy, assess competitors and write a list of equipment. All of this will combine a clearly structured business plan.
How to make a business plan for a cafe
In order for the document to include only important information and help develop a strategy, a general structure of the cafe business plan is used, where each point helps to see the full picture of the institution and really assess the prospects for payback of the institution.
Briefly describe the information on each section of the business plan: calculations, advertising plans, analytics, development strategy. The summary of the cafe business plan is usually put at the beginning of the document, but is written after all the sections are ready. The task of the summary – to interest a partner, investor or credit committee.
Description of the business and relevance of the idea
Here add information about your company: whether it is the first establishment you open, what are the founders, what is the initial capital. Also pay attention to the relevance of the idea and analyze such indicators:
Location. Pick a good area to open a cafe, it can be central downtown, where space will not be cheap, but there will be a large flow of visitors.
Competitors nearby. If in the selected area already has a lot of catering outlets, you can not meet the payback period.
Opening hours. Important role played by the hours of operation of the institution, if you open a cafe in the business district, it is worth paying attention to the schedule in the morning and lunch time. For a cafe in the city center more suitable evening schedule.
Target audience. Analyze the audience that will be interested in your institution – families with children, students and young people or employees of the business centers of the area.
The analysis will be useful for you, as the owner of the institution, and for the partners you will want to attract.
The concept of the institution
The concept of the cafe carefully think through and write all the ideas in the business plan. Attention should be paid to the integrity of the concept – interior, staff, menu. Everything should be in the same style and fit together.
Learn more about what the concept of the institution consists of:
- menu;
- pricing policy;
- the target audience;
- features and differences from competitors;
- special equipment;
- room and interior.
The purpose and task of the concept is to attract attention so that the guest will want to come back to you.
Marketing part
One of the main sections of the business plan is “Marketing”. In it, describe the sales market, analyze market and competitor indicators to determine the promotion strategy for the establishment.
Sales Market Description
The development of the cafe business plan includes an analysis of the market and industry in which you plan to operate. Describe the conditions and characteristics of doing business in the region, add information about the structure, growth rate and business prospects.
Market Analysis with Competitor Assessment
Every year there are new and interesting formats of establishments, so it is necessary to evaluate the competitors and their target audience in order to correctly draw up a strategy for the development of your institution. Such reconnaissance requires personal presence and your time, another option is to search for information about competitors on the Internet.
Sales and marketing
Any sphere of business needs advertising, especially catering establishments, because the competition is high. The marketing strategy should be painted step by step, specifying in each point the conditions and approximate costs of advertising.
The program includes:
- Advertising in social networks
- Website promotion
- Brand
- Participation in community events
- Loyalty programs
These are not all promotion options, you can also come up with special offers, gifts and promotions for the opening of the establishment and during the entire operation. All of the items in this section should come together into one cohesive marketing strategy that will help promote your establishment effectively.
Financial section
The most important section, because it counts the costs, and at the end of the calculations will be clear how much money will be needed to open the cafe, as well as for the first time, until the institution pays off.
There is a portion of the costs, which is a one-time payment: the purchase of space, equipment and furniture. Another part of the expenses will be monthly and it is more convenient to combine such expenses into categories to make it easier to calculate everything.
Risk Analysis
It is good when everything goes smoothly and according to plan, but there are situations when the real performance of the project differs from the planned. For this, you need to do a risk analysis.
Financial Results
Once the costs are calculated, the menu is created and there is an understanding of the concept, it all needs to be gathered and combined into one common thing – money. It is more convenient to create a financial plan for the cafe in the form of a table with planned profit calculations at the top and expenses at the bottom.
Such a table will show the holistic amounts of costs and profits, give an understanding of the payback period, based on capital and expenses. When you have a ready-made cafe business plan with calculations, you can approach investors or partners to attract investment and additional capital to open.
Conclusions
To open a cafe requires not only the initial capital and desire to make a profit, it is important the integrity of the concept, advertising, staffing and the choice of space. Writing a business plan for a cafe combines all of these factors into one document, with it will be easier for you to assess risks and opportunities, and to attract potential investors.
