Creating a Winning Marketing, Management and Financial Plan
Why do you need a business plan? Is all that work really necessary? You bet it is.
A good business plan brings a spotlight to every aspect of your business and shows you where the holes are. You need to detail everything from your concept and why it can succeed to an estimated forecast of your sales and expenses. Crunching the numbers beforehand is necessary to see if your plan is feasible. It shows you what you need to change, tells you if your expectations are reasonable and will help you get financing if the plan is solid.
Current Demand
Spend time on market demographic analysis and research. You should go into great detail about how your concept is on trend and how it will build on what is already out there. You need to be able to show that there is a current demand for what you are selling. What will
set your restaurant apart? Why will people want to come to you?
Demographics
Preparing thorough demographics research shows you where your clientele will be coming from. You can access helpful statistics from the Census Bureau on population, average salaries and education levels. Who are you trying to target? Do these people exist in your area? How will you attract them?
Marketing
Marketing is crucial. You can't just open the doors and expect people to come and continue to come. There are always newer and even more exciting restaurants opening competing for the consumer's share of stomach. People have many choices of where to eat, from home to the local pizza parlor to your restaurant to the place next door, so you better provide a compelling reason as to why people should eat at your restaurant now.
Finance
Building a spreadsheet showing
expected expenses and sales (low, average and high) is crucial.
Turns need to look realistic. They'll be lower on a Tuesday and Wednesday and higher on a Saturday, as long as you're not catering to a downtown business district.
