Before starting a catering business, it is advisable to draw up a comprehensive business plan. It is important to clearly establish what you hope to accomplish in business and set measurable goals. Having a business plan will give you direction and keep you on track for success.
A plan can be essential to demonstrate that your concept is viable when talking to investors or seeking funding from other sources. However, even if you are independently funded and have nothing to prove to anyone, a plan will still be useful. It will help you confirm that your plans are really possible and give you a place to collect all the data you collect from your research.
Once you start your catering business, it is important that you continue to review your business plan to ensure that you stay on track to achieve your goals. You can also make changes if necessary as your business develops.
There are many ways to establish a business plan. Here is a sample catering business plan template that is divided into twelve sections.
Cover and table of contents
Wrap the plan in a binder. On the cover you should put a title and clearly indicate who the main contributors are and when it was prepared.
You can then include a content page that clearly divides the report into sections with page numbers so that stakeholders can easily find the information they are looking for.
Executive Summary
This is basically an introduction where you can summarize the other sections of the report and give a very basic outline of what the proposed business is about.
Mission status
Try to summarize what the business will be about in a few sentences. A mission statement is similar to a slogan. It is a quick way to inform readers about the ideals and standards that a company represents. Putting profit aside for a minute, try to think about the purpose of the business. How is your catering business improving people’s lives?
Background
Include some information on the catering industry both nationally and locally. Take note of industry trends and try to forecast future developments
Include personal history. There are many good reasons to start a catering business and you should tell your readers why you are drawn to this industry above all others. Summarize your work history and attach any relevant reference letters as an addendum to the plan.
Describe the competitive advantages you may have. Do you have any qualifications or skills in the restaurant industry? Do you have experience in the hotel industry? Do you have existing relationships with suppliers or potential customers?
Goals
Set some growth targets and other short and medium term goals. The goals of a catering service can be the number of customers, the number of events, the total revenue or the average profit margins of the events. Review your business plan regularly and strive to keep up with the goals you set.
Startup costs and considerations
List your startup costs and initial operating costs, and then calculate the total amount of startup capital that is required before you can open your doors to customers.
Write down the sources of financing available to you and the advantages and disadvantages of each option.
Describe all the other obstacles that you must overcome before you can start operating as a caterer. Depending on the requirements of your state or country, you will have to obtain a number of licenses and permits. You may even need to take a short course to get certified in food handling or hygiene. It is important to establish the costs involved, as well as a time frame to comply with these local regulations.
Ownership and administration
This section of your catering business plan should suggest whether you intend to structure your business as a sole proprietorship, partnership, or limited liability company.
If the business will have multiple owners, you need to clearly establish what their respective interests will be and what role they will play in running the business.
Establish a basic management structure that describes who has responsibility for various aspects of the business. This will be easy at first, but eventually you will have marketing staff, administration staff, kitchen staff, and waiters. Make it clear how you plan to delegate tasks, leadership, and decision-making responsibility to your employees.
Operations
This section is important to include details on how the business will operate on a daily basis. Information to be mentioned here includes location, management, employees, and equipment.
Establish a plan of attack for event catering. Describe some of the problems you will face and offer some solutions.
Market analysis
Do market research to get a better idea of the opportunities that currently exist in your market.
Perform a competitive analysis to better understand your competitors. Once you understand more about them, make a plan to compete with them by offering something different in terms of menus and services.
Marketing plan
There are many different specialty catering markets. Before beginning your marketing efforts, it is important to have a good idea of your menus and the niches you are targeting. Try to identify a gap in the market that other caterers are not filling and go after it.
Once you have a better idea of what you are selling, you can see how you can effectively sell it. Start by packaging your offerings well on menus, brochures, and a website. Then create a system to set profitable prices for catering jobs.
Describe how you plan to get leads and inquiries. You can run advertising, buy leads, or try many other marketing strategies.
Lastly, you must have a sales strategy. Tell readers how you plan to sell your catering products and services in a way that makes the most of the limited number of inquiries you receive.
Financial planning
Perhaps one of the most important parts of any business plan is the financial plan. You need to make some income and expense forecasts over a period of several years. You can then estimate when it will break even and how much profit will be possible in the future.
Establish anticipated monthly cash flows in a spreadsheet program on your computer. Since businesses often do not grow as fast as their owners expect, you must describe several scenarios. One scenario can show the expected result, one can show a more optimistic forecast, and the third can show the worst case.
Appendix
Attach an appendix to your report with your resume and photos of menu items. Also include anything else that is relevant or mentioned in your catering business plan.
Having a good catering business plan template can help you write your own as you have a basic layout to follow and you can make minor adjustments for your own unique situation.