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[B1061]Business Plan For A Restaurant

by Maryann Shank, Mar

Jake's Bakery will serve the best cakes in the county. (Yawn.)
I researched the industry and found that it is fail-proof. (Yawn.)
We came together to form a really good business. (Yawn.)

It's kind of like, “Hey, what's your sign?” Everybody knows why everybody is here, but can't I come up with a better opening line?

Even the most prolific writers get blank screen-itis. To help you get back on your pizazzing path, here are some places to look for inspiration for your business plan.

1. Your competitors' websites. Seriously. Somebody put a great deal of time and effort into those websites. What do the headlines say? Is there a neat turn of phrase that you can turn again into your business plan concept?

2. Industry ads. Who better to put on your side that Madison Avenue advertising executives? Real pros have been at work here. They have had to distill major ideas into a few lines, a few catchy phrases. Study your industry publications for jewels that you can pick off their pages.

3. Your own “Eureka!” moment. When was it that you knew, you just knew that the business was going to be a reality? When was the moment that you really caught the energy of the idea? Capture that moment and put it into print. It just might capture an investor or two, as well.

4. A video of your favorite comic. There may not be any good lines you can use, but you will be amazed how laughter releases your creative nature.

5. Blindly typing. A friend swears this works, although I haven't used it successfully. Close your eyes, or just turn off the monitor on your computer. Then start typing. Type for about ten minutes, anything and everything you can think of about your business. After ten minutes, look at it. What is it in the stuff that you wrote that you felt was so important that you just had to get it down in writing? If it was that important, odds are you've found your key idea.

6. Tell a story. Grab your favorite aunt or uncle, or just imagine them, and tell them the “story” of your business. What you tell them is probably what you need to tell the investor as well.

7. Skip the introduction. Sometimes the first part is better written last. Go to the biographicals or the industry information, or the financials. Go where you feel the strongest pull. The area that has the greatest pull is probably the area that you need to promote the most anyway.

8. Meditate. For those adept at visual meditation, visualize the finished business plan in front of you. Open it up and see what's there. (I wouldn't recommend this for beginning meditation practitioners.)

9. Shift into disaster mode. Imagine that a disaster of some sort is about to strike, a hurricane or an earthquake perhaps. If you could save only one piece of your business, what would you save? If it's your patent, then that is probably the most important part. If it's your Director of Marketing, well, so be it. Whatever it is, decide why that piece is so important – this may be what your introduction should focus on.

There is no right way or wrong way to start. There is only your way. Each and every business plan discovers its own written path. Yours is there too.

While there are some who are easily able to do this, many business owners find themselves scratching their heads when it comes time to develop a plan. It can be confusing when it comes to deciding what is important, what is not and how to formulate this into something that is useful. The best method for developing a great business plan is to simply take 5 steps and walk through them. If you do this, you will create a successful business plan. The 5 steps of creating a successful business plan are listed below.

Step 1: Evaluation

You've got to start somewhere, and the best place to start is to simply look at your business from the inside out. Closely examine your business, as this will help you to see what kind of things to tackle with your business plan. You should look very closely at the fiscal statements for your business, as these, obviously, determine the success of a business. You should also observe the overall attitude of your business and its employees. For instance, notice if your employees are enthusiastic, bored, angry etc. Their feelings will need to be taken into consideration when creating the plan.

Step 2: Get Help

Creating a whole business plan all on your own probably wouldn't be the wisest decision, as you may completely miss out on some very important areas. Thus, it is advisable to get help when creating your business plan. You may consider hiring an outside consultant to observe things much like you did in step 1. After they've done this, the two of you can go over what you've found and start developing solutions to any problems that exist.

Step 3: Solutions

Next, you need to look at the problems you have found with your current business strategy and think of ways to solve them. Again, you may want to consult with an outside consultant in order to see the most efficient solutions for your problems. This step is probably the most crucial of all the steps in developing a business plan, as a good business plan solves existing problems. Make sure you take your time and really see what to do to fix any problems your business may have.

Step 4: Putting It All Together

You know the problems and have the solutions. Now what? Well, it's time to begin actually writing your plan. You're going to want to start by spelling out the problems faced by your business and then writing the solution to each. Then you may want to delve further into your business by sharing the goals you have for the business over the next year (*hint* Yearly business plans are essential. Don't just write a new business plan every few years, do it every year!). If you haven't already, create this list of goals and incorporate it into the plan.

Step 5: Finalizing It

After you've written your "rough draft" of the business plan, it's time to take it to those in your business. For this, you may want to set up a meeting with all your employees or as many of them as you can include where you go over the plan and ask for suggestions. You can think of this as a "peer review" session, much like you might have in a college English class. Having this meeting allows you to gage the compatibility of your plan with your employees. If there are no major differences between your employees and the plan, you can finalize it now and put it into action. If there are major differences, you simply need to do some revision. Then hold another meeting and hopefully finalize it then.

Article Source : Plan B Where To Get It

About Author

Both Maryann Shank & Josh Stone are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Maryann Shank has sinced written about articles on various topics from Network Marketing, Network Marketing and Business Plan. MaryAnn Shank is an innovative pro in the world of business plans. Catch the best of tried and true techniques, as well as top emerging tips, at