Convenience Store Business Plan Template
Getting your own convenience store business off the ground requires a business plan. Here is a corner store business plan template that includes the important elements you need to include in your business plan.
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To ensure your convenience store business success in this highly competitive market, you need a properly structured business plan. With over 12 years of experience, we have helped over 5,000 entrepreneurs create business plans to start and grow their convenience store business. If this is your first time writing a business plan, we’ll walk you through these sections and give you some key things to consider.
Convenience Store Industry Overview
The Convenience Stores industry sells basic food, beverage, and tobacco merchandise in convenient locations that are generally open late.
Convenience stores have withstood fierce competition by offering fresh and healthy products, value, and convenience.
Food industry operators are increasingly focusing on quick and easy meals as opposed to cigarettes and have shifted product mixes to include food service products that are more profitable.
According to IBISWorld, cigarette unit sales will decline over the next five years due to health concerns and higher prices.
While the sales of cigarette products are expected to decline, convenience and fresh food will boost revenue and profit. Over the five years to 2027, revenue is projected to increase by 1.1% annually to $39.3 billion.
Key Success Factors for Convenience Store Business
There are 6 factors that can help you boost profitability, efficiency, and ultimately success in the convenience store industry despite the challenges.
Key markets nearby: To provide ease of access, convenience stores should be located near residential areas. The location should also be far from other food stores, such as supermarkets and fast food chains.
Stock control ability: The operator must ensure that popular products are never out of stock while minimizing unnecessary stock buildup.
Attractive product presentation: A store’s layout must make it easy for shoppers to find products. Convenience stores also attract shoppers through their design and cleanliness, as well as product selection.
Maintaining excellent customer relations: To ensure repeat purchases, convenience store operators need to offer friendly and helpful service. Furthermore, establishing a reputation for quick service is crucial.
Customer loyalty: A well-established presence and good relationship with local consumers are particularly important for single-store operators due to growing competition from chain stores.
Competitive environment: As convenience stores compete with different retail channels, proximity to different types of stores can hinder growth.
Free: Business Plan Examples
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What is a Convenience Store Business Plan?
A convenience store business plan is a written document that sets your company’s financial goals and discusses how you’ll reach them.
A solid, comprehensive strategy will serve as a road map for the next three to five years of the convenience store business. Any bank or investor you approach will require a business plan for convenience store business, 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 convenience store business or pitching to investors or venture capitalists.
Why Write a Convenience Store Business Plan?
If you want to start a convenience store business or expand an existing one, the first thing you need to do is to write a business plan. A business plan is also necessary for attracting investors who want to know if your convenience store business is on the right track and worth investing in.
A solid, detailed convenience store business plan gives you a clear path to follow, forces you to examine the viability of a business idea, and may help you better understand your company’s finances and competition.
Convenience store business owners who have a business plan grow 35% faster than those who don’t, and 78% of fast-growing businesses have one.
Funding Sources for Convenience Store Business
Financing comes in many forms. There are several types of business funding available to convenience store owners, including:
- Friends and family: Start by asking family and friends to invest in your convenience store business. Set a budget and identify what you need to start your store, and then enlist the help of your family and friends. To assure the willing ones that they will make a profit, you might need to present them with a solid business plan.
- Term loans: A term loan is the most suitable option if you want a set repayment schedule and amount.
- Merchant cash advances: Does your convenience store accept credit cards frequently? The merchant funding might be a good option for you. Typically, business owners prefer this form of financing because it focuses primarily on your credit card sales rather than your credit history.
- SBA loans: It is possible to receive a business loan from the SBA if you don’t qualify for traditional funding sources.
- Business lines of credit: Business owners sometimes seek credit lines so they can borrow against them when needed. You will only be charged interest on the money you use with most lines of credit lenders.
- Business credit cards: It is often useful for business owners to have access to a credit card so that they can charge expenses as needed. This may not be the best financing option for you if you are prone to overspending.
Pro Tip: Check out our comprehensive guide on credit cards if you are looking for the best business credit cards.
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How to Write a Convenience Store Business Plan
To write a convenience store business plan, you don’t need to be an expert. Our step-by-step guide will show you how to write a business plan for convenience store business, or you can just download our To gain a better idea, consult an example business plan for a successful convenience store.
Executive Summary
The executive summary is the most important part of the document since it outlines the whole convenience store 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 convenience store business you have and what stage you’re in; for example, are you a startup, do you have a established store that you want to expand, or do you have a lot of convenience store business?
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 convenience store business plan
- The name, location, and mission of your convenience store
- A description of your convenience store business including management, advisors, and a brief history
- Discuss the type of convenience store business you are operating, Give an overview of your target customers, and how your product 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 business plan executive summary examples to help you write a perfect one for your 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 business overview follows the executive summary as the second section of a business plan. Your company analysis 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 overview: Your company analysis will describe the type of convenience store business you are operating and its future goals. The type of convenience store business you might be focused on are: Mini Convenience Store, Traditional Convenience Store, Limited Selection Convenience Store, Expanded Convenience Store, Hyper Convenience Store, or Kiosk.
- Company history: When and why did you start your convenience store business?
- Management team: Who runs the company, and other key positions.
- What milestones have you achieved so far? Your milestones could include sales goals achieved, new store openings, etc.
- Legal structure and ownership: Your reader will want to know what business entity your company is: a sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership, or corporation.
- Locations and facilities: Information about your workspaces or plans to acquire them.
- Mission statement: An overview of your company’s guiding principles. Learn how to write a perfect mission statement.
Industry Analysis
You need to include an overview of the convenience store business in the industry analysis you performed before sitting down to write your convenience store business plan.
While this research may appear to be unnecessary, it helps you to build strategies that maximize business opportunities while lowering or avoiding the identified risk.
Market research can help you improve your strategy, especially if it identifies market trends. For example, electric vehicles are becoming more popular. You should install an electric vehicle charging station outside your convenience store in order to attract consumers while their cars are parked.
The third justification for conducting market research is to demonstrate to readers that you are an authority in your field. You accomplish this by conducting the study and presenting the findings in your strategy.
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 convenience store business industry. Define the convenience store business in terms of size (in dollars), historical background, service region, and products.
- Examine previous trends and growth patterns in the convenience store business.
- Identify the market’s major competitors.
- Age, gender, and general lifestyle of the targeted market
- Who are the market’s main suppliers?
- Determine the factors that have an impact on the convenience store business. These might include government regulatory rules and other businesses’ competitive activities.
- Using research data, the industry forecast expected growth. Predictions should be made for both the long and short term.
- Describe how your convenience store business intends to position itself in the industry. Concentrate on how your convenience store business can benefit from opportunities highlighted in the industry.
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Customer Analysis
The customer analysis section is an important part of any business plan for convenience store since it evaluates the consumer segments that your company serves. It identifies target customers, determines what those customers want, and then explains how the product will meet those requirements.
Here are some examples of customer segments: commuting workers, truck drivers, families, elderly people, etc.
Customer analysis may be divided into two parts: Psycho-social profiles (why your convenience store products suit a customer’s lifestyle) and Demographic profiles (descriptions of a customer’s demographic qualities).
In terms of demographics, you should include information on the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of the consumers you want to serve.
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 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 weaknesses of your convenience store competitors.
- Search for opportunities to distinguish your convenience store business from competitor.
- Set your product’s price.
The first step is to determine who your direct and indirect rivals are.
The direct competitors consist of other convenience store businesses that offer essentially the same products to the same people as you do.
Indirect competitors are other options that customers have besides direct competitors. These include supermarkets, grocery stores, pharmacies, and drug stores.
Once you’ve identified the competitors, concentrate on the direct, head-to-head competitors, since they are the most threatening to your convenience store business business — but keep an eye on the indirect competitors 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 competitors research. Perform a SWOT Analysis to learn your competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and competitive advantages in the following areas:
- Prices – Are they offering products on cheaper price than you, what value do buyers get for that price, and does shipping significantly raise the price?
- Quality – The quality products they provide, 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 products? Will you offer unique products that your competitors don’t offer? 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 convenience store 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 convenience store business involves identifying the target demographic and finding products that suit their preferences. Convenience store owners need to constantly seek out convenience businesses that their competitors do not carry.
As part of your marketing plan for a convenience store business, you should include:
Pricing and Product Strategy
Your corner business plan must offer services and products that are unique, need in public, and different from those of your competitors. Research what your competitors carry and how they price their products. Unique convenience store item identifies your store as the place to go for a unique convenience store business and differentiates it from others.
Placing and Promotions
The location of your convenience store business is referred to as place. Make a note of where you’re going and how it’ll affect your success. Your convenience should be located somewhere with a lot of foot or car traffic to attract first-time customers. The more people who walk past your convenience, the more likely you are to attract new customers.
Promoting your convenience is the final part of your marketing plan. In this step, you document how you will drive customers to purchase your convenience. A few marketing methods you could consider are:
- Marketing in local newspapers and magazines
- Approaching bloggers and websites
- Adding extra appeal to your convenience store to attract passing customers
- Partnerships with local organizations (e.g., gym members receive a free cup of coffee with every protein bar they purchase)
- Billboards and Flyers
- Marketing on social media
- Unique Selling Point (USP)
- Produce special premium memberships and offers
Operations Plan
While the previous sections of your convenience store business plan described your goals, your operations plan discusses how you will achieve them.
An operations 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 operations plan should be divided into two individual parts, as seen below.
All the daily tasks involved in running your convenience store business, such as serving customers, cleaning store, procuring supplies, etc., are short-term processes.
Long-term goals are milestones that you aim to reach. These may include the dates when finalizing the lease agreement for the convenience store space or Reaching break-evens. It might also be when you plan to launch a new convenience or to serve the 1000th customer.
Management Team
When writing a business plan , the management section of a business plan outlines your management team, staff, resources, and how your business ownership is structured.
A strong management team is necessary to demonstrate your convenience store ability to succeed as a business. Highlight the backgrounds of your key players, emphasizing the skills and experiences that demonstrate their ability to grow a business.
You and/or your team members should ideally have prior experience working in a convenience store company. If so, emphasize your knowledge and experience. However, you should emphasize any experience that you believe will help your convenience store business succeed.
Consider forming an advisory board if your team is lacking. An advisory board would consist of 2 to 8 people who would act as mentors to your company. They would assist in answering questions and providing strategic direction. If necessary, seek out advisory board members with experience running convenience store and small businesses.
Financial Plan
In financial plan section of business plan, you should present a 5-year financial statement broken down monthly or quarterly for the first year, and then annually. Business 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. For example, will you serve 20 clients per day or 50? Will sales increase by 2% or 12% per year? As you can imagine, your assumptions have a significant impact on your financial forecast. Do your best to verify your assumptions by conducting research.
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 convenience store net value at a specific point in time. It categorizes all of your convenience store’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 proforma balance sheet for your convenience store 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 $140,000 to build out your convenience business 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 $600,000, 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 convenience store business. In developing your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a convenience store business:
- The cost of forming a business
- Permits and licenses legal expenses
- Insurance costs
- Costs associated with renting, equipping, and furnishing a store
- The cost of installing signs and promoting the business
- Start-up inventory costs (stocking with a variety of goods)
- Launching a website costs
- Payroll or salaries paid to employees
- Miscellaneous expenses et al
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 convenient store business plan more compelling in the appendix. You may, for instance, include some of your apparel designs.
Bonus Tip: Learn how to write a business plan appendix for your convenience store business.
Summary of the Convenience Store Business Plan
A business plan for convenience store 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 convenience store business, your competitors, and your customers. The plan will help you understand the steps necessary to launch and grow your convenience store.
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