Restaurant catering companies balance quality and quantity. Catering is a passion for providing wonderful food for life’s most important events, making weddings and graduation parties even more special.
Some caterers specialize in modest events for 40 people or less. In contrast, others may handle weddings or conferences with hundreds or thousands of guests.
You’ll need a catering event planning system that works for you to produce great recipes and flawless service. A business plan might help you start a catering business or expand your restaurant.
How to Write a Business Plan for Catering
More than just filling out a catering business plan template is required. Each element of your catering business plan should demonstrate your enthusiasm.
Your business plan must reflect your organization’s values from the executive summary and company overview through the operational and marketing plans. Do not replicate online content.
Catering company plans should include these sections:
- Executive Summary Overview of the Company
- Team and Management
- Market, Opportunity
- Services and Products
- Marketing Plan
- Financial Projections
Executive Summary
Business plans begin with a one-page executive summary. It should present your company well. Executive summaries summarize company plans.
In your executive summary, briefly describe your company’s profits, costs, break-even points, and other financial data. After finishing your catering business plan, write the executive summary.
Company Overview
Your catering company overview should include details. Company overviews are more practical than CEO summaries. It should cover client experience, ownership and management, and business operations.
Explain your order management and fulfillment process. Mention your catering food truck purchase here. Note your catering business’s employment creation and expansion ambitions.
Team and Management
Explain your eCommerce team structure and organogram here. Start with your company role. Next, identify team workflows and daily tasks.
Include their roles if your catering business scale-up plan requires more staff. Explain how you recruit team members and your planned salary range.
Market and Opportunity
Do market research. Know your niche market, clients, and competition to succeed in catering.
Explaining customer behavior is great. How many local events occur weekly? Can you partner with many venues? Industry research will show you which catering businesses will prosper in your industry. It will also assist you in outmaneuvering the opponent. Explain your findings with graphs and charts in this section.
Business Operation Plan
Describe your company procedure here. Your operational strategy should outline your workflow, from attracting clients to serving meals at an event.
Your catering business plan covers customer experience management in business operations. Include your sales and inventory management, restaurant accounting, warehouse management system, and food supply chain management for menu items.
Explain your business’s minute details here. Highlight your catering business’s management processes.
Products and Services
Discuss specializing in a menu item for special occasions here. You may cater cocktail gatherings or weddings. If you offer office lunches, your menu and costs will differ.
Serve Mexican or Indian food. Include menu samples and food photos. Include pricing info.
Marketing Plan
Customers need catering for events, unlike other food and beverage enterprises. Thus, you must position yourself so potential clients call you first for events. Caterers value referrals. You can use internet opportunities. Marketing tactics include having a catering website and using social media.
Event planner marketplaces can list your catering business. Describe your marketing approach here.
Financial Projections
Catering is cheaper than restaurant startup. If you want a loan from the best banks, describe your financial estimates and eCommerce accounting practices.
Give a five-year catering business financial projection. Financial estimates must include fixed and variable costs.
Fixed costs are:
- Catering coverage
- Rental payments
- Equipment expenses
- Legal fees
- Permits and fees
Variable costs include:
- Wholesale meat, dairy, produce, and seafood prices
- Delivery van costs
- Ads and marketing
- Getting paid
- 6 Catering Action Plan
- Select Format
- There are many catering business plan formats. Your business plan’s presentation will determine the reader’s interest.
An example:
- Cover page
- Executive summary
- Market Summary
- Product/service description
- Promotional strategy
- Finance
- Support materials
Research It
Food service businesses need research. Just survey. Home operation? You cater what events? Will you specialize?
Researching the requirements and catering business licenses you need can also help. Ask locals and search online.
Decide on Your Brand
Catering business concepts abound. To build a brand’s USP, you must choose a specialty.
Weddings your specialty? Only for business events? This will impact your restaurant management, branding, and operations.
Be Aggressive With Marketing
Marketing should never become old. Many U.S. restaurants now provide catering.
The market is huge, but competition is severe. Thus, a robust marketing and promotion plan is essential to corporate growth.
Create Your Menu
Menus are crucial. First, choose your menu and prices. Price realistically. Consider the wholesale vs. retail price and overhead business expenditures.
Try Software Automation
Restaurant technology streamlines processes. Payment processing software makes it easy for clients to pay by credit card on your website.
Catering management software and POS systems automate processes. Invoice management software aids business accounting workflow.
Wholesale distribution and warehouse inventory management software enhance inventory management. Vendor management software also manages suppliers.
A catering company plan makes expansion easy. Business loans and investor interest are also easy. When writing your catering business plan, keep sections concise.
Investors may require an elevator pitch. Pitch your business boldly and.
