Running a bakery can be an exciting sensory overload. But there are several essential components that go into making one a success. From cherry-picking the most delicious menu to perfectly executing day-to-day tasks, there is a science that goes into a thriving bakery business. Aside from the operational hassles, you need to create strategies to ensure long-term, sustainable development of your business. For that you need to create a strong bakery business plan.
Wondering why a business plan is essential for your company? Check out the benefits of writing your business plan.
How to write a Bakery Business Plan?
The purpose of creating this bakery business plan template is to help you convert your ideas into actionable steps coupled with robust execution strategies to drive business growth. The bakery business plan content can be well organized into the following eight sections:
- Executive Summary
- Company Description
- Product Offering/Menu
- Industry Analysis
- Marketing Plan
- Operations
- Financial Projections
- Appendix
As the business plan is prepared for a variety of reasons, including investment, immigration and strategy, the plan structure and content organization may vary. Therefore, it is imperative to seek professional assistance to tailor your business plan content, enabling it to achieve the intended objective.
Want to explore and understand the structure of any specific type of business plan? Check out different types of business plans we offer or contact us for more help.
1. Executive Summary
The first section of Backery business plan templet is Executive Summery. This section is the most important component of planning a bakery business, and will constitute the meat of your entire proposal. Make sure that it includes a concise overview of the business model, along with glimpses of your bakery menu, operations, mission, vision, objectives, target market and industry size.
A cursory glance at this section should help the reader understand your core business. The executive summary should specifically clarify how and why your bakery is different from its rivals. It is imperative that you do this because the baking industry is saturated with a wide variety of competitors that cater to all kinds of demands across varying socio-economic classes.
You can establish uniqueness by expounding “characteristics” and spotlighting “key focus areas” that make your business a valuable investment in the first place. For example, several bakeries create inspiring brand stories and make the reader relate with it. Further, some may prioritize consumer’s health and dietary requirements to tailor their menu accordingly. There are other bakery brands that derive their value proposition from using local produce and handmade products, ensuring their bakery business contributes positively to uplift the economic wellbeing of both local farmers and employees.
A clear differentiation strategy and explanation of your value proposition will seize the reader’s interest, encouraging them to continue reading the rest of the business plan.
2. Company Description
After you have captured the interest of your reader in the previous section, you must elaborate on the intricate details of your business’s history, and what vision you will adopt going forward. Make sure you also clarify the company’s ownership split, your invested capital and any capital that you may have raised in the past.
To add depth to your bakery business plan, you can also add important details about your company, like what motivated you to start this business in the first place, and what breakthroughs and cornerstones you have managed to achieve thus far.
Overall, this section of templet basically just fleshes out the company related information and helps the reader understand more about enterprise and its future roadmap.
Pro Tip: When you think about starting a new business, the first thing you would probably do is to incorporate a company. Company incorporation can be extremely complex and time consuming. Save your time and money by using a professional company incorporation service such as ZenBusiness, LegalZoom or Incfile.
3. Product Offerings/Menu
In this section, you shall elaborate on the various kinds of baked goods that you will offer in the bakery.
You can go a step further by including customized menus, the templates for which are available on Canva. Incorporating these details into your bakery business plan will help introduce an assortment of delicacies that will be on offer at your bakery with a clear pricing strategy.
Needless to say however, do not reserve this section exclusively for finished products. Make sure to also touch upon the nitty-gritty of your baking process, focusing on aspects that set you apart from your competitors.
For example, if you are using unique ingredients like dairy-free or gluten-free products, make sure to highlight them properly so the plan reader knows you have opted for a wide selection of products with a long-term strategy in mind.
4. Industry Analysis
The baking industry generates a total revenue of $30 billion every year in the US, making it a lucrative venture to pursue within a small commercial space or completely remote from home. As such, this section is meant to highlight trends (past, present and future) within the baking industry.
It is essential that you pay close attention to this section because all successful bakery businesses allocate sufficient intellectual and material resources to gain a deep understanding of the market. The objective of the market research is to continuously learn and improve the company’s target market strategy.
To comprehend the bakery industry trends, the first step is to gather the numbers. These market, industry and consumer stats are easily available from research companies such as Future Market Insights, Fortune Business Insights, IBISWord, Statista, GrandViewResearch and Mordor Intelligence. You can look into them easily to craft a strategy that will yield the most return on your bakery business.
Once you have the stats, you can carry out a competitive analysis for your bakery business. Size up is a great tool to efficiently compare your bakery with its rivals in the local market. Further, you shall also perform SWOT analysis which should help in figuring out your core strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Finally, do not undervalue the importance of conducting local consumer surveys. These surveys will help you understand your target market’s likes and dislikes which are imperative to design your bakery menu. For this, you may consider using SurveyMonkey that offers great tools to analyze the survey results.
It is important that you have the right data and analysis tools at your disposal to steer your bakery strategy and make a successful start.
5. Marketing Plan
Take the following steps to develop a strong marketing plan for your bakery business:
- Conduct market research regarding local bakeries
- Define the market for your baked goods
- Define your marketing goals
- Market to your ideal market (this depends on the kinds of baked goods you are selling. For example, if you are selling dairy-free or sugar-free products, your market also includes people who are diabetic or lactose-intolerant)
- Highlight what makes your baked goods unique (e.g., using unique ingredients or baking techniques)
- Select the right marketing channels
It is also important to be clear about different sales and distribution channels that you will use to bring your baked goods to the target market. The most popular sales channels include frozen, restaurants, events, retail storefront and online. Your sales and distribution strategy will greatly influence your marketing plan.
If you are in a D2C (direct to consumer) business, you will have a variety of marketing tools at your disposal, including online ads and social media. For B2B (Business to Business), the effective marketing tools will be networking and direct sales pitches to interested businesses.
Always remember that the ultimate goal of your marketing strategy is to make sure that your bakery products fly off the shelf. So, in addition to marketing, pay special attention to churning out high quality items, setting market competitive prices, and fostering meaningful relationships.
6. Operations
Divide this section into two parts.
In the first part, list down your ‘intracompany’ day-to-day activities. These include details about the bakery, store layout, materials/ingredients inventory, production equipment, storage, warehousing, distribution, production process, and staff. You shall also estimate and list out your bakery’s maximum production capacity every month.
In the second part, explain your ‘intercompany’ day-to-day activities. This includes providing details of vendors and suppliers that will deliver you raw material and ingredients. You shall also provide details of your contract terms with them.
Overall, remain cognizant of the fact that the operations plan is an opportunity for you to paint a clear picture of what it takes to run a bakery – from day-to-day activities in the short run to long-term operational planning.
7. Financial Projections
This section is extremely important, particularly from the investors’ perspective. So build your forecast realistically and logically, especially the part where you touch upon how much funding you will need to either start off or grow your bakery business.
Add all your financial statements, including your profit and loss statement, balance sheets and cash flow statement. Also, include the plans you have in mind to make your bakery business grow such as startup plans, profitability projections, and growth in the company’s financial position to maximize return on investment.
Your goal should be to create a 3-5 year of financial plan that clearly outlines projected growth and profitability for your bakery business while keeping investors in mind.
8. Appendix
This is the portion where you list all of the resources that you have used to furnish your bakery business plan.
You can also benefit from adding your menu, more details and backend workings of the financial forecast as provided in the preceding section, bakery interior CAD drawings, social media and website screenshots, and anything else you feel will aid the reader in understanding your plan better in this section.
Conclusion
Adhere to the guidelines given above to ensure that your bakery business is a roaring success. But at any stage, feel free to incorporate sections and additional details that you think will improve the overall quality of your business plan.
Remember to be clear and simple in your writing, and avoid any verbosity or jargon that might confuse your reader. Highlight qualities that make your bakery business unique, and appraise the reader about how you will add value to the existing market.
In the end, make sure you enjoy the process. And if, at any stage, you feel that you are lacking inspiration, go back and review your bakery business plan. It will serve as a guide to keep you on track to achieve your goals.
