Catering Business Plan | PDF | Word
Sponsored Links
Whether you are pitching your catering business to investors or clients, you need to develop a comprehensive and persuasive business plan that tells the reader specifically what services you offer, outlines the costs, and convinces the reader to choose you. Persuading customers is the central task that should orient every aspect of the business plan.
Sponsored Links
Your Customers
Before you know exactly what services you will offer, you have to research your customers to know exactly what they want to buy. This will require you to research local catering businesses to understand what products and services they offer, their prices, and how they market themselves. Is there a local business district that has a high demand for gourmet luncheon services? Perhaps much of the population in your area prefers to eat healthily, or perhaps hip or fusion food items are popular. Thus, you could tailor your menu to suit these preferences, especially if other catering businesses do not cater to them adequately.
You will not simply copy what other catering businesses do―but learning what other businesses do and don’t do will let you fit your business into a competitive sector of the market.
Researching the preferences and demographics of your potential customers will also inform your marketing strategy and pricing. For example, if your business is in a college town and you aren’t seeking high-end clientele, marketing yourself with flyers and the like, especially at events attended by many young people, can be quite effective.
Another thing to consider is your goal in creating a catering business. Do you simply love preparing food? If so, you can reflect this passion in your marketing to make your business stand out.
How to Write a Catering Business Plan
A good business plan is divided into the following sections:
• Executive Summary
• Products and Services
• Business Operation
• Marketing Strategy
• Financing
• Professional Biography
• Appendix with licenses or permits
The executive summary will be a concise, compelling statement of your how your business will operate, its underlying philosophy, and then you will briefly describe your products and services, potential expansion, and goals.
Next, you will describe the catering market you want to fit into and specifically describe how your services will be competitive in it. Elaborate on how you will offer specific services, such as corporate catering, for example, and how they will stand out from other catering services. This will feed into your marketing analysis and strategy section, which will highlight the income level, population, and cultural aspects of your target market.
You then need to state how management will be organized: into a sole proprietorship or LLC, and employee qualifications. As a critical part of the plan, you must outline the finances required in running the business. Here, you will calculate the total costs of the equipment you need, any overhead and transportation costs, and payroll. Be very specific and realistic when deriving these figures. Then, calculate how much revenue you believe you can generate, and assemble all of this financial information into tables showing your projected costs and revenue each month for one year.
After you obtain all your certifications and licenses related to food service, you’ll be ready to dive into business.
Sources
Sponsored Links