Bakery Business Plan Template
Whether you want to start your own bakery business or expand an existing one, you need a business plan. The following bakery business plan template lets you know what elements you need to include in a successful bakery business plan.
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To ensure your bakery business success in this highly competitive market, you need a properly structured bakery business plan. With over 12 years of experience, we have helped over 5,000 entrepreneurs create business plans to start and grow their bakery businesses. Using the following bakery business plan template, you can put together an effective business plan.
Things to Know Before Writing a Bakery Business Plan
This industry comprises companies that prepare flour-based food for immediate consumption in an oven on-site. A typical menu consists of bread, cakes, pastries, pies and bagels, as well as sandwiches, soups, and salads.
Customers may eat at the restaurant or take their purchases home. Over the five years to 2021, revenue for the Bakery Cafes industry grew moderately.
As of 2022, there are more than 9,000 Bakery Cafes in the US, an increase of 1.5% from 2021.
Over the 3 years to 2024, revenues are expected to grow by 1.3% annually to $12.1 billion.
This industry’s major products and services include
- Beverages
- Bread and sandwiches
- Pastries, cookies and cakes
- Muffins, Pizzas, Snack tortillas
- Sweet goods
Key Success Factors for Bakery Business
Despite the challenges of the bakery industry, We have identified five factors that can help you boost profitability, efficiency, and ultimately success.
- Ability to attract local support: Many bakery cafes are local, small businesses that thrive on word-of-mouth marketing and local patronage. If an industry operator is able to establish a reputation for quality and service, it will be successful in a crowded market.
- A visually appealing product presentation: Bakery cafes typically attract customers through their window displays of baked goods, so having a visually appealing product presentation allows operators to attract more foot traffic.
- The proximity to key markets: Businesses in high-traffic areas are more likely to attract first-time customers, which is a competitive advantage.
- High-quality inputs: Having access to high-quality inputs enables a company to produce better-quality goods, which leads to a reputation for excellent quality. Word-of-mouth marketing can be crucial in a crowded marketplace in order to attract customers.
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What is a Bakery Business Plan?
A bakery business plan is a roadmap for starting and growing your bakery business. Your business plan outlines your business concept, identifies your target customers, presents your marketing strategy, and details your financial projections.
Any bank or investor you approach will require a bakery business plan, so putting one together will be critical to securing funding.
In short, writing a business plan can help you succeed if you’re thinking of starting a bakery business or pitching to investors or venture capitalists.
Why You Need a Bakery Business Plan
Baking business plans can be used to gain interest from potential investors or to secure loans from banks. They are also helpful to you as the owner. A bakery business plan allows you to thoroughly analyze every aspect of your potential business.
A solid, detailed plan gives you a clear path to follow, forces you to examine the viability of a bakery business idea, and may help you better understand your company’s finances and competition.
Bakery business owners who have a business plan grow 30% faster than those who don’t, and 71% of fast-growing businesses have one.
A bakery business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.
Free: Business Plan Examples
Do you need help creating a business plan? Check out these six free, proven business plan examples from different industries to help you write your own.
Funding Sources for Bakery Business
No matter how large or how small your bakery business is, you should think about your financing options. Below are four types of funding you should investigate:
Government Incentives
When choosing a business location, you can consider different community incentives before making your final choice. Government incentives can help reduce operating costs and long-term overhead.
You can begin your business with the help of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). You can find government resources about financing your business by using the website’s Loans and Grants Search Tool.
Bank Loans
Many banks offer small business loans. See if a business loan is right for you by contacting your bank. Banks also offer business lines of credit and other resources to help you find the right option.
Investors
Consider finding an investor or group of investors to finance your company. Be sure to do your research and have the numbers and information to back up your business before you contact an investor. You will need to show progress to investors, and they will do research and investigation concerning your bakery business plan. In return, investors often desire ownership of a part of your company.
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Do you need help creating a business plan? Check out these six free, proven business plan examples from different industries to help you write your own.
How to Write a Bakery Business Plan
To write a bakery business plan, you don’t need to be an expert. Our step-by-step guide will show you how to write a bakery business plan, or you can just download our proven sample business plans to get a better idea.
Executive Summary
The executive summary is the most important part of the document since it outlines the whole business plan. Despite the fact that it appears first in the plan, write the executive summary last so you may condense key concepts from the other nine parts.
It’s a part that catches the investor’s eye and provides key information about your company’s overview and upcoming short- and long-term goals.
Tell them what kind of bakery business you have and what stage you’re in; for example, are you a startup, do you have a bakery company that you want to expand, or do you have a lot of bakery businesses?
Finally, an executive summary should provide investors with a preview of what they may expect from the rest of your document.
- Provide a high-level overview of the bakery industry
- The name, location, and mission of your bakery company
- A description of your bakery business, including management, advisors, and a brief history
- Discuss the type of bakery business you are operating, Give an overview of your target customers., and how your company differs from competitors in the industry
- Create a marketing plan that describes your company’s marketing strategies, sales, and partnership plans.
- And give an overview of your financial plan
Check out these executive summary examples to help you write a perfect one for your bakery business plan.
Free: Executive Summary Examples
An executive summary is the most important part of your business plan, and it need not be challenging to write. This is why we have put together some awesome free Executive Summary examples for you.
Company Analysis
The company analysis follows the executive summary as the second section of a bakery business plan. Your company overview will be short and clear, similar to the executive summary.
Even if they just have a few minutes, your reader has to understand what your company does and who your customers are.
The following sections will be included in your business plan’s Company Analysis:
- Company summary: Your company analysis will describe the type of bakery business you are running and its future goals.
The type of bakery business you might be focused on (Retail Bakery, Wholesale Bakeries, Cafe Bakery, Bakery Food Truck, Home Bakery, Doughnut shop, Bread shops, Bakery specializing in wedding cakes, etc) - Company history: When and why did you start your bakery business?
- What milestones have you achieved so far? Your milestones could include served 100th customer, new fleet purchase, etc.
- Legal structure and ownership: Do you have S-Corp status? Is it an LLC? A sole proprietorship? Describe your legal structure.
- Mission statement: An overview of your bakery company’s guiding principles. Learn how to write a perfect mission statement.
Industry Analysis
The bakery business plan’s research section will most likely be the most time-consuming. Here, you will elaborate on how you will fit into the existing bakery market.
Since your research findings should serve as a sound confirmation of the conclusions you have outlined thus far, they will demonstrate your understanding of the industry and market.
Industry analysis can be presented as a 8-step process when written as part of a company’s business plan.
- Give a quick overview of the bakery industry. Define the bakery business in terms of size (in dollars), historical background, service region, and products.
- Examine previous trends and growth patterns in the bakery industry.
- Identify the market’s major competitors.
- Age, gender, and general lifestyle of the targeted market
- Determine the factors that have an impact on the bakery industry. These might include government regulatory rules and other businesses’ competitive activities.
- Using research data, the industry forecast expected growth over the next five to ten years. Predictions should be made for both the long and short term.
- Describe how your bakery business intends to position itself in the industry. Concentrate on how your bakery business can benefit from opportunities highlighted in the industry.
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Customer Analysis
The first condition for a bakery business is to identify its target customers clearly. Customers can be categorized into the following segments: The general public(walk-in customers), Children’s birthday parties, Retail Outlets Restaurants and other special events etc.
The customer analysis section is an important part of any bakery business plan since it evaluates the consumer segments that your company serves. It identifies target customers, determines what those customers want, and then explains how the your bakery items will meet those requirements.
Customer analysis may be divided into two parts: psychosocial profiles (why your bakery items suits a customer’s lifestyle) and demographic profiles (descriptions of a customer’s demographic qualities).
With regards to demographics, include information about: When moving residential, the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of your customers. When targeting businesses, describe what kind of business, size, and location your target customers are.
The psychological profiles of your target clients reveal their wants and needs. The better you understand and identify these demands, the better your chances of attracting and retaining customers will be.
Competitor Analysis
It is necessary to do a competitor analysis. Because you may use their data to define your goals, marketing plans, tactics, new product lines, pricing, and more. Use competitor analysis to:
- Identify the strength and weakness of your bakery business competition.
- Search for opportunities to distinguish your bakery from competitors.
The first step is to determine who your direct and indirect competitors are.
The direct competition consists of other bakery businesses that offer essentially the same baked goods to the same people as you do.
Your indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from you that aren’t direct competitors.
Among indirect competitors are bakery counters in supermarkets, coffee bars that serve pastries, and newsstands offering pastries and nearby coffee shops.
Once you’ve identified the competition, concentrate on the direct, head-to-head competitors, since they are the most threatening to your bakery business— but keep an eye on the indirect competition as well, just in case.
Provide an overview of each direct competitor’s business and detail their strengths and weaknesses.
You will be able to position yourself competitively in the market if you perform proper competition research. Perform a SWOT Analysis to learn your competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and competitive advantages in the following areas:
- Prices – Are they offer cheaper bakery items or more costly than you and other competitors, what value do buyers get for that price?
- Quality – Are they offer premium baked goods, the perceived worth in the eyes of the customers
- Customer service – How they respond to their consumers, whether they treat them poorly or well, and the degrees of satisfaction customers show
- Reputation — The sum of everything mentioned above: their credibility, how loved the brand is, and the loyalty of their customers
The final section of your competitive analysis should include a list of your areas of competitive advantage. for example: Are you going to offer premium baked goods? Will you have specialty products, such as gluten-free and custom-made items? Will you offer better pricing or will you offer greater customer support?
Consider how you will outperform your competitors and include them in this portion of your bakery business plan.
Free: SWOT Analysis Examples
Take advantage of our free SWOT analysis examples. Make your business future-proof by identifying your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats using this free SWOT Analysis Template.
Marketing Plan
Creating a marketing plan for a bakery business involves identifying the target demographic and finding baked goods that suit their preferences.
As part of your marketing plan for a bakery business, you should include:
Pricing and Product Strategy
Your bakery business must offer baked goods that are different from those of your competitors. Research what your competitors offer and how they price their bakery items. Unique baked goods identifies your bakery business as the place to go for unique baked goods and differentiates it from others.
Placing and Promotions
Place explains all your distribution methods, such as retail stores, company websites, and third-party retailers.
Promoting your bakery business is the final part of your marketing plan. In this step, you document how you will drive customers to purchase your baked goods. A few marketing methods you could consider are:
- Free sample
- Marketing on social media
- Web Marketing
- Attend Events and bring samples
- Word of Mouth & Referrals
You should also think about your bakery company’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP), which should explain why clients should choose you over other bakery businesses. Ensure that your USP is reflected in your marketing.
Pro Tips: Learn how to create a marketing plan in a business plan.
Operations Plan
While the previous sections of your bakery business plan described your goals, your operations plan discusses how you will achieve them.
An operations plan section in a business plan is helpful for investors, but it’s also helpful for you and employees because it pushes you to think about tactics and deadlines.
Your operational plan should be able to answer the following questions:
- Who – Personnel in charge of completing specific tasks.
- What – A breakdown of the responsibilities of each personnel.
- Where – The location of everyday operations.
- When –The deadlines for completing tasks and goals.
- How much – The amount of money required for each department to perform their job.
Your operations plan should be divided into two individual parts, as seen below.
Your daily short-term processes include all the tasks involved in physically baking your items, maintaining your shop space, packing your baked goods, completing sales transactions, choosing and dealing with vendors, and delivering the final products to your clients. etc.
Long-term goals are milestones you hope to reach. they might be growing your business, such as introducing new items or retail outlets, meeting particular sales milestones, and meeting other essential business-oriented goals like recruiting more staff, opening additional locations, and so on.
Management Team
When writing a baking business plan, the management section of a business plan outlines your management team, staff, resources, and how your business ownership is structured.
This part may be easily organized by dividing it into the following points:
- Ownership Structure
- Internal Management Team
- External Management Resources
- Human Resources
Ownership Structure
This section outlines your baking business’s legal structure. If your company is a sole proprietorship, it may simply be one phrase. It might be longer if your company is a partnership or a corporation. You should make it a point to clarify who owns what part of the business.
Internal Management Team
This section should not only outline who is on your management team but also how each person’s skill set and experiences will contribute to the growth of your bakery business. Ideally, you and/or your team members have direct expertise in the bakery business. If this is the case, highlight your experience and skills.
External Management Resources
Think of these external management resources as your internal management team’s backup. Consider forming an advisory board if your team is lacking expertise and experience with bakery business.
An advisory board would consist of 3 to 7 people who would serve as mentors to your bakery company. They would assist in answering queries and providing strategic direction.
If necessary, search for advisory board members with expertise running bakery business.
Describe all of your company’s external professional advisers, such as accountants, bankers, attorneys, IT experts, business consultants, and/or business coaches.
Human Resources
The final topic to consider in the management area of your bakery business plan is your human resource needs.
Financial Plan
As part of your financial plan in a business plan, you should present a 5-year financial statement broken down monthly or quarterly for the first year, and then annually. Financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.
Income Statement
A profit and loss statement is more commonly called an income statement. It shows your revenue and subtracts your expenses to determine whether you were profitable or not.
As you develop your income statement, you need to develop assumptions. Will you serve 50 customers per day or 200? Will sales grow by 2% or 8% per year? Your choice of assumptions will greatly impact your business’s financial forecasts. Conduct as much research as possible in order to ground your assumptions in reality.
Free: Income Statement Template
Create a financial statement for your business by downloading our free income statement templates.
Balance Sheet
While balance sheets include much information, to simplify them to the key items you need to know about, balance sheets show your assets and liabilities.
The balance sheet shows your bakery business’s net value at a specific point in time. It categorizes all of your company’s financial data into three categories:
- Assets: Tangible goods with the monetary worth that the company owns.
- Liabilities: Debt owing to a company’s creditor.
- Equity: The net difference when the total liabilities are subtracted from the total assets.
The equation that expresses the relationship between these financial data elements is Assets = Liabilities + Equity.
Create a pro forma balance sheet for your bakery business plan that highlights the information in the income statement and cash flow projections. A balance sheet is normally prepared once a year by a company.
Balance sheets indicate your assets and liabilities, and while they contain a lot of information, they are simplified to highlight the most important things you need to know.
For example, spending $500,000 to build out your bakery will not result in instant revenues. Rather, it is an asset that should help you earn money for many years to come.
Similarly, if a bank sends you a check for $200,000, you do not have to pay it back right now. Rather, that is a liability that you will repay over time.
Cash Flow Statement:
Your cash flow statement will help you determine how much money you need to start or grow your bakery business. In developing your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a bakery business:
- Fees for registering a bakery business
- Taxes and licenses costs
- Business insurance
- Payroll or salaries paid to staff
- Facility rent and security deposits
- Construction / remodeling
- Start-up Inventory
- Cookware
Free: Balance Sheet Template
Create a financial statement for your business by downloading our free balance sheet templates.
Appendix
List any additional material you cannot include elsewhere, such as resumes from key employees, licenses, equipment leases, permits, patents, receipts, bank statements, contracts, and personal and business credit histories.
Attach your full financial projections along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling in the appendix.
Bonus Tip: Learn how to write a business plan appendix for your bakery business.
Summary of the Bakery Business Plan
A bakery business plan is a worthwhile investment. As long as you follow the template above, you will become an expert in no time. By following the template, you will understand the bakery business, your competition, and your customers. The plan will help you understand the steps necessary to launch and grow your bakery business.
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