Would you set out on a long car trip in a vehicle with no instruments, without a map and with no vision whatsoever? Do you have a restaurant business plan? No? Sounds like a recipe for disaster, doesn’t it?

Yet surprisingly, that is exactly what many restaurant owners and managers do with their businesses. Proper planning is crucial to the success of any business, yet so many restaurant businesses are built on the dreams of owners and managers trusting the “she’ll be right” principle with nothing committed in writing. Lacking a final, known destination it is impossible to chart the right course.

There are some alarming statistics on business failure. Over two thirds of businesses close within the first five years. Numerous studies have shown that the 2 most common reasons leading to business failure are:

•    Failure to plan
•    Inadequate capital

Studies show that a business plan improves the chances of survival by 52%.

But a restaurant business plan is not just for people starting out! If you’ve been in business for ten years, it may be time for you to sit back and question why you are in business. It’s never too late to start from “scratch”, re-evaluate your business objectives and put in place a restaurant business plan as though this was Day 1 in your business life.

A business plan informs you and those around you of your objectives and more importantly how they will be reached. Your business is simply a collection of team members who bind together with a shared vision for the good of the business. Like a chain, the business is only as good as the weakest link. How often have we all had our impressions of an organization determined by the rude receptionist or salesperson?

You must therefore offer a real vision…. An imaginative insight as to where you expect the business and yourself to be in 5 years’ time.

Everywhere you look there are business that have lost their vision. This can be seen in the lack of quality services provided to the customers, its falling market share and management continuously spending their time “putting out the fires”. After all, how can your team members help you to achieve your goals if they do not know what those goals are?

A restaurant business is no different. You cannot afford to skip this step and think that somehow your restaurant will become the next rave restaurant in town.  Too many restaurant owners and managers have done so and discovered the consequences.

Keep your restaurant business plan simple, concise but with a professional and organised layout. The first step in developing a strategic plan is to know where you are and where you want to go. Where you are is a matter of fact. Where you want to go is a matter of vision. What will your restaurant business look like when it is finally done? Without a doubt, lack of vision is what constrains the profitable development of all businesses.

Your restaurant business plan should therefore include the following:

•    Executive Summary
•    Marketing Plan i.e. What customers do you want to serve
•    Services/Products Plan i.e. What services or products do you want to sell
•    Organization Plan i.e. How will the business be structured
•    People Plan i.e How many and what type of people do you require
•    Technology Plan i.e. What hard and soft technology will you require
•    Finance Plan i.e How will you fund the business
•    Change Plan i.e. What systems will be used to monitor and respond to any change required

To ensure that the Critical Success Factors are achieved, it will be necessary to establish Key Performance Indicators to monitor the actual results.

A restaurant business plan is not something you prepare and then leave on your bookshelf to gather dust. It is a continuing function of management and must be reviewed regularly if you are to maximise the results from setting yourself a business plan for your restaurant.