How to Write
a Business Plan for a Bakery
Outline special services your bakery
will provide such as custom cakes or catering.
Apart from you strategize to seek
financing from a bank or private investors, your bakery business plan as a
finished product is actually less important than the process of writing it.
Writing the plan forces you to meticulously analyze every aspect of your
business – from how often you need to order supplies, to the daily quantities
you need to bake.
Step 1
You can write a description of your
bakery. This will be the "Company Overview" of your business plan.
Include details about how you started it or plan to start it. For example,
perhaps you started baking out of your home as a cottage industry, then demand
for your baked goods outpaced your ability to produce them. If you’ve inherited
a bakery from a family member, include a brief history and description. If
you’ve incorporated or found a partner for the bakery, include that in this
section as well.
Step 2
You can write your market analysis
to justify the demand for your baked goods. For example, perhaps there’s a
coffee shop that carries a small inventory of pastries, and they are always
sold out. Maybe you’ve been selling at farmer’s markets and have consistently
sold out or conducted a survey that concludes there’s a demand. Get as much
demographic information about your prospective customers as you can, such as
income level and amount they spend eating out. Look at existing demographic
information such as government census figures or from a trade group.
Step 3
You can write what baked goods you
will sell. This is called your "Business Offering." Obviously you
will serve baked goods, but detail if it will be pies, cakes, doughnuts,
breads, ethnic-baked goods or specialty items such as gluten-free products. If
you plan to include custom-made orders, such as birthday or wedding cakes, or
after-school cupcake decorating for kids, mention that in this section. Provide
a rationale for what you are offering. For example, if there is a large
Hispanic population in the neighborhood and you excel at sopaipillas, mention
it in this section.
Step 4
Point out the bakery’s management.
This will include your expertise and qualifications in running a bakery, as
well as those of any partners. If your strength is baking but not accounting or
operations, explain how you will handle that; for example, a partner has these
strengths, you’ve hired an accountant or you have a full-time person who will
focus solely on running the bakery as a business. If you are using the business
plan to seek investors or get a line of bank credit, include your attorney and
any others who will be included in daily decision-making and operations.
Step 5
You can write your marketing plan,
which is what you will do to get customers to come to your bakery. A marketing
plan needs to include products, pricing, place or distribution, and promotion.
Outline the products you will sell, what your pricing strategy will be, your
bakery location, any delivery services you will offer and any growth plans.
Promotions includes your advertising or public relations efforts, as well as
daily specials or late afternoon discounts for products that aren’t selling so
that you aren’t stuck with day-old goods the next day.
Step 6
Prepare your financial projections. In this section
you will detail what you expect to make within a certain time period to break
even or make a profit, such as a fiscal or calendar year. To do this, you need
to outline all of your costs, such as rent, supplies, salaries and other
overhead, or costs it takes to keep the bakery operational. Revenue will
include bakery sales plus other services, such as catering or wedding cakes.
Step 7
You can write your executive
summary. This is the first section of your business plan but it contains one or
two of the most important points from each section of your plan, which you
won’t usually know until after you write the bulk of your plan.
Tips
- In you're marketing promotions, include a plan to utilize baking smells to attract customers. For example, schedule a baker for doughnuts during morning rush-hour to appeal to passers-by.
- If you are concerned about writing a plan, research available software to help you.
Warning
- Do not include commitments or statements from friends or family that they would buy your baked goods as the sole justification for opening a bakery.