Your cash flow statement reflects the inflow of revenue and outflow of expenses resulting from all your restaurant activities during a specific time period—usually a month or a financial quarter. Unless you happen to be independently wealthy, you’ll likely need some funding from somewhere for starting a restaurant. Clover POS: Best POS system for quick-service restaurants. These loans work similarly to traditional term loans but cover amounts in the $2,500 to $250,000 range with terms of between three and 18 months. To obtain an employer identification number, apply online at the IRS website. Here you’ll find some of the highlights you should expect to encounter to get up to code in your area. Most attorneys tend to put restaurants in this high-liability category, so a C-corporation structure is most likely to be recommended. How is your restaurant going to function in a day-to-day capacity? JustBusiness strives to keep information up-to-date but, at times, information may be different on a product In a restaurant business plan, the executive summary will get readers interested, and then your company overview has more in-depth information that you can give them to give a complete overview of your new restaurant. © 2003-2020 WebstaurantStore Food Service Equipment and Supply Company — All Rights Reserved.Do Not Sell My Personal InformationVariation ID: How to Write a Restaurant Business Plan: The Definitive Guide, The Leading Distributor of Restaurant Supplies and Equipment. Over the years we have expanded our selection of commercial equipment and wholesale supplies to include healthcare, educational, food, beverage, office, parts and hotel supplies. A restaurant business plan should always begin with an executive summary. Do you have any logos or marketing materials prepared? The growth of the alternative lending industry has brought about a wide variety of loan products to meet the needs of entrepreneurs, each with different costs, payment structures, and application processes. Here's a brief overview of some of the most popular business ownerships in the restaurant industry: In addition to listing how your new business will be organized, you need to consider how your new restaurant is going to run on a day-to-day basis and how it's going to be managed. Sales forecasting based on previous experience or competitor data. How much capital you have on hand currently. What sort of management structure are you planning to use? Expected costs, business goals, and financial projections for starting your restaurant. The market analysis portion of the restaurant business plan is typically divided into three parts. To obtain an employer identification number, Registration, requirements, and filing procedures vary widely from state to state, so, , but we would recommend starting by finding your state’s. Take a look at the 12 biggest questions you should be answering as part of the business planning process for your future restaurant: If you plan to use a unique name for your restaurant, go ahead and file your “doing business as” (DBA) name with your state’s agency, as this will keep you from losing your name idea to another business. If you feel a bit overwhelmed by these accounting protocols, we recommend asking around for a certified public accountant. Offer promotions such as discounts for first-time customers or a customer referral program. The key element of your sample menu though should be pricing. The consequences for failing to file your state and federal business taxes are severe—as in you could lose your business and even face criminal charges. This financial statement enables you to analyze your restaurant's financial progress. To better understand your business’s growth, see our guide below to create and understand your own restaurant profit and loss statement. A restaurant business plan is the foundation when starting a new restaurant, whether you're opening a franchise or a small family-owned restaurant.Your business plan will act as a roadmap for starting your restaurant… Structured very similarly to a regular C-corporation, S-Corporations stand out because they’re taxed at the individual business owner level, rather than being taxed corporately. Along with getting your books in order, understanding and fulfilling tax requirements should be a first priority in the financial management of your restaurant. Business plans are typically split it up into multiple sections to keep them organized. At a minimum, every restaurant owner should regularly maintain these three basic accounting documents: The balance sheet is essentially a snapshot of your restaurant’s financial standing at a given moment. While there are several ways to measure and ensure the success of your restaurant, the most tangible way to understand your restaurant’s progress is with a restaurant profit and loss statement. The health department has a lot to say about what is safe for the places you want to store, prepare, and serve your food. or service provider’s website. You could read the 600+ pages published by the FDA, but we would recommend starting by finding your state’s food service code regulation department. Learn about the specific IRS information about filing employment taxes for your business. What kind of offers will you provide your guests? you’ll find some of the highlights you should expect to encounter to get up to code in your area. Are you planning on opening a fine dining restaurant or a fast casual establishment? Would your market be best served by opening a pizza shop, starting a food truck, or opening a cafe? How many restaurants are in your target area? Structured very similarly to a regular C-corporation. Discuss the current economic conditions that could make opening a restaurant difficult, and how you aim to counteract that. Toast POS: Best restaurant POS system for Android. If you don't have a full mockup of your restaurant's menu, then list some of the items or recipes that you're planning on using. Requiring some of the most research, the market analysis section of your restaurant business plan will explain to potential investors how your new business will fit into the existing market. The FDA updates the Food Code every four years, but the details of what is required, strongly encouraged, and just optional will vary from state to state, and even between counties. Now that you know your financing options, you’re probably wondering exactly how much financing you’ll need. Have you decided to open a restaurant? The restaurant's core strengths, such as experienced management or talented chefs. If this isn’t narrowing down your options well enough, consider some of these popular restaurant concepts or maybe these top trends will help inspire you. A medium sized restaurant costs up to $375,500, and a large restaurant costs up to $750,500. The goal of an executive summary is to get your foot in the door with investors and banks to procure startup capital. That said, keep in mind that establishing a C-corporation requires having a board of directors as well as officers, and has more complicated tax filing requirements. A bakery business plan can be used to garner interest from potential investors or loans from a bank. Meredith is the founding editor of Fundera and has specialized in financial advice for small business owners for close to a decade. and services are provided without warranty from JustBusiness. Maintaining a “balanced” balance sheet—one in which total assets equals liabilities plus equity—is the foundational tenet of basic bookkeeping. In this section, you can lay out exactly what your staffing needs are, such as how many servers you'll need, kitchen staff requirements, as well as any employees, such as managers or chefs, that you already have on staff. Loyverse POS: Best free restaurant POS software. TouchBistro POS: Best POS system for full-service restaurants. Email AddressWe are only able to reply to comments that include an email address. It should be a very brief summary of the plan for opening your new restaurant and stress why your restaurant is worth investing in. of paperwork. She is a monthly columnist for AllBusiness, and has contributed to or been featured in the SBA, SCORE, Yahoo!, Amex OPEN Forum, Fox Business, Fortune, American Banker, Small Business Trends, MyCorporation, Small Biz Daily, StartupNation, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and more. It's easy to assume that everyone will visit your restaurant, so it is important to research your competition to make this a reality. Common elements of an executive summary include: An executive summary is imperative for those looking to get investors to fund their project. This is the part of the restaurant business plan where you fully introduce the company. Thanks! A restaurant plan shares a lot of similarities with a standard business plan. Running a restaurant involves a lot of paperwork. Even more, no matter how much you read or what research you do, there are certain things about being a restaurateur that you can truly only learn from experience. Even with all the necessary licenses and permits, you still need to have some extra safety nets in place. These licenses certify that you are safely handling, storing, and serving food. This can be achieved easily with a free food cost calculator. Understanding your target demographic is essential for success when opening a new restaurant. As well as any plans you may have to bring a PR company on board to help spread the word. Write a stellar business plan that highlights the uniqueness of your idea, and be prepared to have 20%-30% of your loan amount in cash—or to take out a mortgage on your home. Additionally, it is helpful to you as an owner. (Otherwise, you probably won’t be considered.). For many restaurants offering standard service, this section will be fairly short. Do any of these competitors offer similar menus or services to your new restaurant? A timeline of how long you expect it will take for your restaurant to become profitable. The main aim of an executive summary is to draw the reader (often times an investor) into the rest of your business plan. The most important element to launching your restaurant is by far the menu. With hundreds of thousands of products available and millions of orders shipped, we have everything your business needs to function at its best.