Business plan sample – Term Paper

Recently there has been an intensified awareness of baked products in the market. This has been done with the aim of ensuring healthy living and a healthy population hence a reduced expenditure on health care. Bread, specifically whole grains carry a lot of nutritious qualities with a significant amount of carbohydrates and fiber content. For this reason, the business plan focuses on bakery which will be operated by a family, with two generations of women involved in the production. The family is expected to utilize their land as the bakery site whereby the business will first make assorted white and whole wheat buns, cookies, and tarts.  

The primary purpose of this business plan is to create a plan that if applied can help in the management and success of any small scale bakery in any area. Products produced will involve bread, buns, cookies and tarts which will be sold on site to the consumers visiting the bakery. Moreover, products can also be distributed to close markets at the start then later to further towns when the business picks.

1.0 Operations Plan Sample

The business will use a basic organization structure with the manager as the head of all operations, one assisting Baker and possibly two delivery people who will also work in the bakery in the production process. The owner will function as the manager and will monitor all the operations to ensure profitability and a gradual increase of their market share.

Operations will begin by making bakery products like whole wheat, tarts, muffins, and cookies. These products are easier to make, package and distribute to the consumers within the stipulated time. Furthermore, there are a variety of licenses and regulations that must abide with before any operation starts at the venture. A business license is a mandatory document which any business must acquire to operate within a different jurisdiction (Abrams, 2003). This will be followed by an intensive inspection by a health practitioner to ensure that the bakery abides by the set health and safety measures then provide a license in line with that. At least one employee will be trained on safe food handling as one of the ways of ensuring the safety of entire consumers.

1.1 The Capital Budget Sample

The table below indicate the main requirements required to start and manage the bakery business effectively.

Bakery administration, marketing costs, and general expenses

Other expenses incurred in a business other than that of the capital budget will be categorized under administrative, marketing and overhead costs (Blackwell, 2011). These will include management, accounting, and interest on the long-term debt. Driver’s salary and the owner’s salary will be categorized under the administrative expense. The total marketing expense for the first quarter of the year will be $5,500. This will be done through newspapers, business cards, and through road shows. Additionally, there will be an annual maintenance expense which is expected to cost about $20,000.

1.2 The Human Resources Plan Sample

Job Specifications

Manager-

Must have significant business skills in order to choose the right business member and design a work schedule

Must have a reputable organization, technical and communication skills

Will provide directions to ensure daily productions are met and quality standards achieved

Salary for the position is $15,000 in a year

Head Baker

Knowledge in pastry with an ability to produce premium products

Ability to abide by the set standard procedures in all the bakery operations

Salary for the position is $12,000 in a year

Assistant Baker

He/she will take orders from customers and deliver as per their specification

Ability to abide by the set standard procedures in all the bakery operations

Knowledge in pastry with an ability to produce premium products

Basic janitorial skills are essential for the job

Salary for the position is $11,000 in a year

Delivery Person

Driving license with a reputable record

Excellent written and oral communication skills

Salary for the position is time rate based on $7.50/hour

The business will start with six workers, but this is expected to increase in case of the product orders increase. Moreover, there are no plans to delete any position in the organization.

1.3 Marketing Plan Sample

The bakery is expected to market the product to close centers and the bakery itself. The centers pose to be the best way of reaching the target market and sell the number of goods in order to realize the set financial goals.

Marketing Mix (4Ps)

Products

Products include unsliced and sliced bread, dinner rolls, buns, muffins, tarts, and cookies.

Price

Prices will be premium since the products are fresh and of high quality and taste as compared to the competing companies. Prices will be higher but competitive with other brands.

Promotion

Promotion strategy will aim at showcasing the bakery as a producer of fresh, and quality goods. On their package, the picture of bread in an old-fashioned oven will be printed.

Place

Products are expected to be sold at the bakery while others delivered by the bakery van to the nearby centers.

Market segmentation, targeting, and positioning

Segmentation

The business will sell the products through a variety of distribution channels whereby each channel is expected to attract a different niche of consumers. Based on the geographical area of distribution channels, the market can be segmented into a population of school going consumers, rural consumers and corporate consumers who will buy from the bakery of supplied to the offices.

Targeting

The entire market will be targeted separately based on how they are segmented. The school marketing children will be targeted through back to school offers which will be advertised when they go to schools after holidays. Corporate consumers will be targeted by ensuring there is an efficient distribution of products to the supermarkets and retails shops in all the centers.

Positioning

Positioning is expected to be divided by channel of distribution and specific locations the product will be sold in. In all the supermarkets, the bakery will sell their specialty bread and buns at moderately lower prices. Sales are expected to increase as the reputation and the familiarity of the patrons to the products increases. These products will be sold as health baking products and at premium prices and of high quality.

1.4 Financial Plan Sample

Pre-Operational Cost

This include costs that will be incurred before the commencement of the business.

Working Capital Estimation (First quarter)

Pro-Forma Income Statement (First quarter)

As per the financial plan, the expected inflation rate is about 2 percent per year and is based on the state of the economy. Growth rate projected in sales is 5 percent for the store and about 2 percent for the wholesalers. Analytically, the projection is optimistic and will be achieved when marketing strategies are followed, and all consumer needs to be incorporated in the production process.  The growth of input, wages and expenses is about 2 percent and is based on the inflation rate. These increases should stay in that frequency in order to compensate for the discrepancies that would arise.

Otherwise, with all the resources at hand and all regulations adhered to, the business can begin normal operation. Within a short period, the business owner will realize a significant profit and a gradual increase in the market share.

Introduction To Planning Your Menu

Menu planning is one of the essential aspects for the establishment of any foodservice program. It is the core aspect of restaurant that infers interpretations for both sellers and buyers. In regard of menus, therefore, they are statements describing prices of food and beverages items that a foodservice establishment provides. The menu is designed to accomplish the objectives of an organization based on the needs of the consumer. 

To fully comprehend menu planning, this report seeks to explain import aspects that are related to menu planning. The report explains realistic objectives and cognitive measures that any foodservice establishment can implement to effectively carry out the business (Sarber, Halasz, Messmer, Bickett, & Lutzker, 2012). By deeply carrying out a research and examining a range of various sources on the topic, the report describes how menus can be used as conventional functions of communication. Also, the report describes menus as selling tools that can be used by restaurants as objects of increasing profits. 

The key consideration for menus offered to consumers is an endless task that a number of foodservice operators face in the hospitality sector. It is a critical errand for most restaurants to advocate for their objectives and strategies in menu planning (Linassi, 2016). This is because designing, planning, and pricing in regard to food prices and other expenses is a bureaucratic process.

 A matter of fact is that the process of menu planning is a continual cycle. Under the circumstance of developing a new menu, the menu undergoes periodical review for its effectiveness to the consumers and the foodservice operator at large. Not forgetting how crucial the process is on finding out the market progress, it is difficult to determine the type of dishes that require further assessment. Therefore, it is this analysis of menu planning that establishes the sensation of menu performance.

Subsequently, a number of tactical approaches for menu planning have emerged. Under these approaches, a number of non-material are claimed to be prevalent and have advocated for their importance in menu planning. Other approaches used for menu planning include economic approach and micro-market mix (Mann, Power, & MacLellan, 2016). Despite all these menu planning approaches having different tactical solutions, they all have a common objective of improving the performance of menu items.

A number of researches conducted on the topic of menu planning indicate that menu planning does not rely on analysis of costs and sales to manipulate the perception of customers. Instead, it fully relies on description and positioning of the menu and how its popularity can influence the intuition of customers.

Methodology For Planning Of Menu

Under this research, a qualitative analysis was carried out to ascertain for the attitude of foodservice operators in the menu planning. The main reason for using qualitative approach in carrying out this research was simply to avoid the use of measurable variables that has a disadvantage of provable propositions. Whist the method seem effective for the research, however, it has a major weakness of consuming much time on carrying out large scale interviews and also not cost effective. Below is the table that shows the compilation of a number of foodservice operators, brand of food, and outlets to which the food is supplied to.

Foodservice operator Brand of food outlet

McDonalds Bella Pasta 2100

City Center Restaurant Burger King 970

Pizza Express Pizzaland 710

Pelican KFC 890

Link Between Nutrition, Diet, Allergies, and Diseases

Menu planning is important since nutrition and diet is a major factor of concern when menu items are designed. Therefore, menu planning should be well adopted to provide proper nutrition for the balanced diet generated by menu items. Many foods have a serious impact on the body if proper diet is not well maintained (Nikolaus, & Nickols-Richardson, 2016). The proper diet results from the effective design of menu items. If decisions on menu planning are effectively not made, it could result in health diseases since different bodies react separately further resulting to allergies.

In view of nutrition, the menu items should be properly tested to meet quality standards that are required. Some of the menu items may react differently to different individuals causing allergies. Allergies can cause coeliac disease and dairy intolerance, whereby, an individual’s body fails to digest and absorb lactose in milk. Therefore, it is essential to have glutten-free-diet rich in calcium to avoid developing asteoporosis. According to the research, the findings are that consumers should be selective in choosing menu items in a foodservice operator. Here, the key factor is choosing a menu item that is free of harmful effects to the consumer.

Menu Analysis

Particularly, qualitative analysis is a common approach used by most foodservice operators in collecting data on menu planning. The common effective method of approach in the analysis of menu planning is the micro-market mix. The data generated is the main source of information for carrying out the analysis of menu mix performances in the market. The popularity of the volume of sales and the profitability of the gross profit is a common criterion for investigating each item on the menu.

Also, the use of mystery shoppers is another method of interest that is used in carrying out the performances of menu regarding the value of taste and the overall presentation of its value. Indeed, the findings in this research entail the importance of the analysis on generating accurate information about the menu planning.

After the analysis of menu planning, the next essential step is to determine the modification of menu items. Here, a proper criterion should be used to determine whether the menu items should undergo modification or not. For the most part, the main source of decision making in product modification is deciding on the methods to be used in order to improve the products on the menu.

Menu Planning Conclusion 

The analysis of the research in this report shows that the common methodology adapted to analyze menu planning is qualitative research. Nevertheless, the findings imply that qualitative analysis is not sufficient to generate enough information that can be used in improving the performance of menu items. Consequently, it is noted that the key concern of carrying out menu analysis is to determine major trends of customer demands. Therefore, using qualitative analysis in carrying out research on menu planning generates more accurate data that is used in analyzing the performance of menu items.

References

Abrams, R. M. (2003). The successful business plan: Secrets & Strategies. Palo Alto, Calif: The Planning Shop. 

Blackwell, E. (2011). How to prepare a business plan. London: Kogan Page. 

Sarber, R.E., Halasz, M.M., Messmer, M.C., Bickett, A.D. and Lutzker, J.R., 2012. Teaching menu planning and grocery shopping skills to a mentally retarded mother. Mental Retardation, 21(3), p.101.

Linassi, R., Linassi, R., Alberton, A., Alberton, A., Marinho, S.V. and Marinho,S.V., 2016. Menu engineering and activity-based costing: An improved method of menu planning. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 28(7), pp.1417-1440.

Mann, L., Power, D. and MacLellan, V., 2016. Development of Menu Planning Resources for Child Care Centres: A Collaborative Approach. Journal of Childhood Studies, 38(2), pp.34-40.

Nikolaus, C. and Nickols-Richardson, S.M., 2016. Parent and Adolescent Child Perceptions of a Menu Planning Workshop: No Difference between Adult-Versus Peer-Led Education. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 116(9), p.A27.

Appendix:

Coordinating menu planning

• Avoid putting overcharging menu items

• Use effective decisions on implementation of menu items

• Schedule menu personnel careful for effectiveness and efficiency

• Be sure with the equipments you use for preparing menu items

• Avoid to keep changing the prices of menu items