fast food delivery service business plan

Food Delivery Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Food Delivery Business Plan

You’ve come to the right place to create your Food Delivery business plan.

We have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their Food Delivery companies.

Below is a template to help you create each section of your Food Delivery business plan.

Executive Summary

Business overview.

Dig In is a newly established food delivery business located in San Diego, California. The company will have an online platform that will also be able to be downloaded to users’ phones as an app. Users will be able to create a login profile and have instant access to all the local restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores, and fast food establishments.

The company will outsource its delivery to local drivers that will be employed as Independent Contractors so they will be able to set their own schedule and hours. The drivers will receive orders through their app, select which user they want to deliver to, pick up the food order from the chosen establishment, and deliver to the user in a timely manner.

Dig In will reward users that frequently use their app. Users will be able to earn rewards and discounts for every order they place through the website or app. This will enable users to keep ordering their food delivery through Dig In.

Dig In will be owned and operated by John Hutchinson, a local entrepreneur who has been in the tech industry for over 15 years. He has developed other apps and platforms for tech companies and has started mapping out this business’ platform for over two years. At this point, he has perfected the technology and is ready to reveal the new local food delivery service in San Diego, California.

Product Offering

Dig In will provide food delivery services for the residents of San Diego. Residents who want the convenience of food delivered to their doorstep can download our app, find the establishment of their choice, and order whatever they’re craving for. Most of our sales will come from orders to local restaurants but we will also offer delivery from grocery stores and drug stores. Customers will be charged a small delivery fee or have the option to join our membership for reduced fees and special deals.

Customer Focus

Dig In will target all residents living in and around San Diego. It will appeal to students, families, retirees, white collar, blue collar, and government employees. Because our fees are moderately priced compared to other delivery apps, all income levels will be able to enjoy our delivery services.

Management Team

With his entrepreneurial and tech knowledge, John will be able to quickly fix any issues with the platform. He has also formed relationships with the most sought after restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores in the area to sign them up to be part of the food delivery platform. He has also hired a team of independent food delivery drivers to earn extra money by completing the food delivery orders.

Success Factors

The following success factors will set Dig In apart from the competition:

• Comprehensive List of Restaurants and Food Stores: Dig In will include a more comprehensive list of restaurants, grocery stores, and drug stores for customers to choose from.
• Membership Rewards: Dig In will allow users who create a profile to earn rewards for every order they place through its online platform. The rewards can be redeemed for delivery fee and order discounts.
• Faster Delivery Times: Dig In promises to have faster delivery times than its competitors.
• Pricing: Dig In’s price point for delivery fees is on par with its customers, if not cheaper.

Financial Highlights

Dig In is seeking a total funding of $500,000 of debt capital to launch. The funding will be dedicated for the design and development of the app, marketing expenses, working capital, and three months worth of payroll expenses. The breakout of the funding is below:

• Platform Development: $150,000
• Marketing and Brand Development: $100,000
• Three Months of Overhead Expenses (Payroll, Rent, Utilities): $150,000
• Working Capital: $100,000

The following graph outlines the pro forma financial projections for Dig In:

Company Overview

Who is dig in.

  The company will outsource its delivery to local drivers that will be employed as Independent Contractors so they will be able to set their own schedule and hours. The drivers will receive orders through their app, select which user they want to deliver to, pick up the food order from the chosen establishment, and deliver to the user in a timely manner.

Dig In’s History

John Hutchinson has spent the last 2.5 years creating the food delivery online platform. As a tech entrepreneur, he knows how to map, develop, and implement an online platform. He has been instrumental in creating other apps and platforms for ecommerce companies and has created attractive and efficient apps for numerous Fortune 500 companies.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, John was on lockdown and working from his home. He used other food delivery services, but they were all slow, got his order wrong, or didn’t have a good selection of restaurants and establishments. It was then that he started developing his food delivery business and would implement and perfect all of the things that the competition suffered at.

Since incorporation, the company has achieved the following milestones:

• Mapped out the online platform for the food delivery business
• Developed the company’s name, logo, and website
• Approached multiple local restaurants, grocery stores, and bakeries to be a part of Dig In’s platform
• Determined necessary insurance and legal requirements
• Began recruiting key employees
• Written and developed the Delivery Driver processes and procedures.

Dig In’s Services

Industry analysis.

The Food Delivery industry has grown substantially in the past five years. The convenience of ordering food from home has appealed to large demographics and now nearly everyone orders through a food delivery app at some point. Food delivery apps became a necessity during the COVID pandemic and now they are a mainstay in modern society.

According to Grand View Research, the Food Delivery industry is set to grow at a CAGR of 18.7% from now until 2030. What helps this growth is the increasing popularity of smartphones and the expansion of these services overseas. Food delivery apps are becoming an essential tool in modern society, which makes this a great time to create a new food delivery service.

Customer Analysis

Demographic profile of target market.

Dig In will target millennials, young professionals, and college age students as this demographic is more comfortable with online delivery services and regularly use other similar apps such as Uber and Tasty.

However, we expect Dig In will appeal to other demographics as well as it will be a convenient and moderately priced option to get food delivered quickly. For example, we expect working parents will enjoy our app as well as elderly residents who have trouble leaving their home to go grocery shopping or go to a restaurant.

The precise demographics of the San Diego area are as follows:

Customer Segmentation

Dig In will primarily target the following customer profiles:

• Young professionals
• College students
• Working parents

Competitive Analysis

Direct and indirect competitors.

Dig In will be competing with other popular food delivery apps. A profile of each competitor is below.

Food at Your Door

Food at Your Door is an online and mobile platform for restaurant pick-up and delivery orders. The company is known for connecting over 30 million customers and processes on average about 500,000 daily orders in most cities around the United States. Customers are able to search for restaurants, order directly through the website or app, and then await their delivery from independent contractor drivers.

The company generates revenue from delivery fees paid by consumers as well as commissions paid by participating restaurants. Food at Your Door’s other offerings include a program for corporate food ordering, website design and hosting for participating restaurants, and point-of-sale integration services. The company is continuously updating its platform with innovative technological advancements to stay on top of the competition.

Fast Foodie

Fast Foodie is a technology company that connects people with the most popular food establishments in their neighborhoods. They enable local businesses to meet consumers’ needs of ease and convenience while enabling their independent contractors to generate an additional source of income. The company is passionate about transforming local businesses and dedicated to enabling new ways of working, earning, and living. They empower their local economies by ensuring that people have equal access to opportunities to reach their full potential.

Fast Foodie has expanded their database to include not only restaurants, but convenience stores, pet stores, grocery stores, and drug stores.

Ding Dong is an operator of an on-demand goods delivery platform that is intended to facilitate smooth delivery of essential goods. The company’s platform offers full-service and in-store shopper services through a network of independent shoppers with same-day delivery and pickup service of fresh groceries and everyday essentials. This enables users to select items from their favorite grocery stores and get them delivered almost instantly.

Ding Dong was the first online platform to expand their services and products by including anything that can be purchased at a local grocery store, convenience store, or drug store. The drivers/shoppers are required to ensure delivery during the selected timeframe that the user selects.

Competitive Advantage

Dig In offers several advantages over its competition. Those advantages are:

Marketing Plan

Brand & value proposition.

Dig In will offer the unique value proposition to its clientele:

• Comprehensive list of restaurants and grocery stores
• Membership rewards and specials
• Faster delivery times
• Moderately priced fee structure

Promotions Strategy

The promotions strategy for Dig In are as follows:

Social Media

Dig In will utilize the most popular social media platforms for ads since the majority of the clientele will be active on social media. The company will also have business accounts on each major platform to post regularly of food options that are available for delivery.

Collateral Material

Dig In will develop numerous collateral materials to have on hand to give out to potential customers at the local farmers markets, events, or restaurant or store events.

Website/SEO

Dig In will invest heavily in developing a professional website and app that displays all of the restaurant and store options the company will be able to deliver for. The company will also invest heavily in SEO so that the brand’s website will appear at the top of search engine results.

Billboards/Signage

Dig In will invest in attractive signage and billboards to increase the brand awareness of the local food delivery business.

Dig In’s fee structure will be moderate so clients feel they receive great value when placing their food delivery orders.

Operations Plan

Operation Functions: The following will be the operations plan for Dig In.

• John Hutchinson will operate as the CEO of Dig In. In addition to running the general operations, he will oversee the app development and provide app support.
• John will hire 2-3 additional web engineers to run the website and app.
• John will hire 20-30 delivery drivers to work on an independent contractor basis.
• John will also hire an administrative team for accounting/bookkeeping, sales and marketing, and customer service support.

Milestones:

Dig In will have the following milestones complete in the next six months.

• 8/202X – Finalize app development
• 9/202X – Hire and train initial staff
• 10/202X – Kickoff of promotional campaign
• 11/202X – Launch Dig In
• 12/202X – Reach break-even

Financial Plan

Key revenue & costs.

Dig In’s revenues will come primarily from the fees it receives from the food delivery orders.

The delivery driver commissions, website platform fees, supplies, marketing, and labor expenses will be the key cost drivers of Dig In.

Funding Requirements and Use of Funds

Key assumptions.

The following table outlines the key assumptions required in order to achieve the revenue and cost numbers in the financials and pay off the business loan.

• Initial Number of Orders Per Day: 100
• Average Order per Customer: $25.00

Financial Projections

Income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, food delivery business plan faqs, what is a food delivery business plan.

A food delivery business plan is a plan to start and/or grow your food delivery business. Among other things, it outlines your business concept, identifies your target customers, presents your marketing plan and details your financial projections.

You can easily complete your Food Delivery business plan using our Food Delivery Business Plan Template here .

What are the Main Types of Food Delivery Businesses?

There are a number of different kinds of food delivery businesses , some examples include: Restaurant Delivery, Meal Kit Delivery, Grocery Delivery, and Veggie Box Delivery.

How Do You Get Funding for Your Food Delivery Business Plan?

Food Delivery businesses are often funded through small business loans. Personal savings, credit card financing and angel investors are also popular forms of funding.

What are the Steps To Start a Food Delivery Business?

Starting a food delivery business can be an exciting endeavor. Having a clear roadmap of the steps to start a business will help you stay focused on your goals and get started faster.

1. Develop A Food Delivery Business Plan - The first step in starting a business is to create a detailed food delivery business plan that outlines all aspects of the venture. This should include potential market size and target customers, the services or products you will offer, pricing strategies and a detailed financial forecast. 

2. Choose Your Legal Structure - It's important to select an appropriate legal entity for your food delivery business. This could be a limited liability company (LLC), corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. Each type has its own benefits and drawbacks so it’s important to do research and choose wisely so that your food delivery business is in compliance with local laws.

3. Register Your Food Delivery Business - Once you have chosen a legal structure, the next step is to register your food delivery business with the government or state where you’re operating from. This includes obtaining licenses and permits as required by federal, state, and local laws.

4. Identify Financing Options - It’s likely that you’ll need some capital to start your food delivery business, so take some time to identify what financing options are available such as bank loans, investor funding, grants, or crowdfunding platforms.

5. Choose a Location - Whether you plan on operating out of a physical location or not, you should always have an idea of where you’ll be based should it become necessary in the future as well as what kind of space would be suitable for your operations.

6. Hire Employees - There are several ways to find qualified employees including job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed as well as hiring agencies if needed – depending on what type of employees you need it might also be more effective to reach out directly through networking events.

7. Acquire Necessary Food Delivery Equipment & Supplies - In order to start your food delivery business, you'll need to purchase all of the necessary equipment and supplies to run a successful operation.

8. Market & Promote Your Business - Once you have all the necessary pieces in place, it’s time to start promoting and marketing your food delivery business. This includes creating a website, utilizing social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and having an effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. You should also consider traditional marketing techniques such as radio or print advertising. 

Learn more about how to start a successful food delivery business:

• How to Start a Food Delivery Business

Ultimate Guide on Online Food Delivery Business Plan

• Last Updated: November 3, 2023

As a food delivery service, you will be expanding convenience and choice for your existing and potential customers. You will be working towards making it easier for them to order a wide variety of food from various restaurants.

In the last few years, there have been huge changes in the food delivery market . These changes have come into effect due to:

• Increasing demand and competition;
• Competitive prices;
• The rise of digital technology;
• Evolving customer behavior; and 

At the time of creating a food delivery business plan , you may be required to consider several aspects in advance. In this blog, we will help you create an effective food delivery plan for small businesses in the online food delivery sector.

Table of Contents

Why Do You Need a Food Delivery Business Plan?

Key statistics to observe before entering the food delivery market, different food delivery business models, how to write a food delivery business plan, let upper help you grow your own food delivery business.

The customers have evolved. Their demand for food options, types of food delivery, and behaviors have changed. These points show how:

• Offer great speed of delivery and boost customer retention rate;
• Most meals are ordered from & delivered to homes;
• High volume of orders on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

In order to tackle these challenges and many others, you need to formulate a detailed food delivery business plan and affordable prices. The plan is not only an executive summary or roadmap, it is much more than that, incorporating advanced technology to meet these evolving needs.

Here’s how a well-developed winning business plan can help you:

• Offers an understanding of your industry, key competitors, target audience, food delivery platforms, and trends.
• Conducting a SWOT analysis for the food industry and getting insights on your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
• Works as a benchmark on how to conduct the business and know average prices for your products.
• You can find out the requirements of new members, tools, and equipment to help you reach any major goals or business goals.
• Helps with cash flow statements, financial statements, competitive strategies, and revenue models of the food business along with investment strategy.

Source: Statista

• The global revenue in the online food delivery segment has doubled since 2017.
• 57% of millennials prefer to have restaurant food delivered.
• 33% of consumers are willing to pay higher fees for faster delivery services.
• 60% of restaurant owners & operators said that offering delivery generated incremental sales.
• Joining hands with third-party delivery services has raised restaurant sales volume from 10% to 20%.
• 70% of consumers prefer to place delivery orders online for a seamless robust experience . 
• Ghost kitchens or cloud kitchens are going to be an office food delivery industry worth $1 trillion by 2030.

When you are ready to create a plan, you must know which business model you will acquire and how it will benefit you. Business models should be considered based on what are your requirements. Basically, it helps you choose which services you will offer to your target audience including strategic locations and operational cost. While doing so, you should decide whether you will run a food store or an online food delivery service business.

Here are different types of popular food delivery business models .

1. Order Only

This type of food delivery is followed by food delivery companies like Grubhub. These services only function as a software layer between the standard restaurant and the customers. Order-only platforms like Grubhub & Postmates have experienced remarkable growth.

This model becomes ideal for those who want to provide on-demand services. In fact, it is the best way to customer contact more easily. This business model will act as a medium between your restaurants and online services. Hence, making it easier for online users to take benefit of online purchase of food. This is why so many food business owners prefer to consider online order requests.

By opting for an order-only business model, your main job will be to deliver food to the buyer. In this process, the business cum restaurant will earn a commission of 10-15% for every order request they receive.

2. Order & Delivery

Apps like DoorDash , UberEats, and Deliveroo are food delivery platforms that bring in extra orders to restaurants in the form of takeaway and delivery. The apps manage the deliveries for these restaurants using their fleet of independent drivers.

It is quite different than what we understood in the previous model. In simple terms, the delivery process is not directly connected to restaurants. In fact, you need to hire a third-party delivery service that can provide timely delivery to the customer’s doorstep. Delivery service providers jointly work with the local restaurants to provide quicker meal deliveries or drinks to customers, but they also put on extra charges for received orders.

This order and delivery model also comes up with challenges that you should look at before acquiring it completely. Since you are handing over the delivery duties to another party, they should store the food at a consistent temperature. If not done, food may not have the same taste and freshness. Thus, you need to put a systematic delivery system. 

3. Fully Integrated

Fully Integrated delivery businesses develop their apps using which customers can get meal deliveries from cloud kitchens to the ideal location. These popular food delivery apps focus on convenience and direct experience to consumers.

It is usually preferred by startup restaurants or family businesses where they can prepare meals and deliver them to the food buyer. Business owners opting for a fully integrated model only serve in a specific service region. They also collaborate with chefs to provide a different range of foods and a better quantity of food. Going for this model, you need to pay for the cost of equipment which means your operational cost may raise.

With this model, you are likely to provide quicker deliveries and may find it easier to adjust the delivery schedule as per consumers’ requirements. Moreover, in the competitive delivery market, the ability to optimize delivery routes can give your business a significant edge.

Here are the handy tips to apply while creating a new plan to make a successful food delivery business.

Do In-depth Industry Analysis

Identifying your usp.

Make something memorable: A good USP is one that is memorable, makes a case against existing products, and offers valuable interaction with customers. How will you embody your USP in your products, services, user experience, and office food delivery brands?

What are you doing differently?: In order to identify your USP, look at the direct competitors, and indirect competitors and find out what you are doing differently from your major competitor. An on-demand delivery market analysis, customer analysis, and knowing the relevant market size will be helpful.

Notice patterns in the market: If you notice a pattern in the market about features or aspects missing in the competitors, note that down and see if you can offer those features or food services.  

Talk to your customers: Conduct a thorough survey of the food delivery market. Talk to your loyal customers or different types of customers and see what they have to tell you. It will help you find out what’s working for your food delivery model and what’s not working.

Developing your USP

Don’t try to be the best: Don’t try to be the best brand or product out there. Just carve out a niche for your own business in the food delivery industry and stick to it. You will not be concerned about the competition once you make the rules yourself. 

Who are you targeting?: Be particular about who your target market is. Focus on that particular audience. It will help you achieve corporate sales goals and keep your brand image consistent because you can’t be everything to everyone. 

Develop a personality: Incorporating a strong personality into your USP will make your product more memorable. Once you infuse a personality into your brand or product, it will be difficult for others to not notice you.

Create your USP 

Write things down: Create a list of all potential differentiators. You will find these points if you do a thorough actual market trends. Wrap these points around your advertising strategies, business strategies, and detailed strategies.

What are your unique angles?: Pitch your most unique angles against the customer’s needs. Learn about their pain points as it will help set long-term goals.

Compile data: Collect all the data you receive from your consumer and market research and integrate it with your product, service, marketing plan, and business idea.

Prepare a Financial Plan

Your budget will be dependent on your approach and the food delivery business model you choose. Your approach to market and growth strategy will also be an important factor in the total operational costs or key costs you incur. 

As an office food delivery company, you can choose if you will be building an in-house tech platform and support or whether you will be dependent on third-party services for the same. It is an expensive thing to integrate advanced technology in-house. You need a great amount of investment just to get started.  Figure out a budget considering all the major factors of your business model, revenue model, and food delivery marketing plan. You will have several financing options to choose from:

• PayPal Working Capital Loan: PayPal offers short-term loans to help small businesses grow. The application process for a PayPal Working Capital Loan is quick and easy and there are no extra fees and prepayment penalties. 
• Credit Cards/Personal Loans: Business credit or personal loans can be acquired to fuel the daily functions of your business. Small business owners can easily qualify for credit cards and personal loans.
• SBA Loans: You can apply for a small business loan under the Small Business Administration advantage program. SBA offers small business financing with lower interest rates compared to other options. SBA Microloans can be used for inventory, supplies, working capital, and machinery.
• Government Grants & Subsidies: There are several State and Federal Government grants and subsidies available to businesses. In recent times, the government has helped several small and medium-sized businesses to revive their existing food delivery business or any type of meal kit delivery startups.
• Crowdfunding: Reach out to investors and financial institutions to see if you are eligible for a loan. There are great opportunities for businesses with innovative ideas. An online platform where innovative businesses are identified and valued is KickStarter and Indiegogo .

Resource and team management

• Acquiring New Equipment & Vehicles: Decide which major sources and equipment or standard kitchen utensils you will require for your standard food delivery company, considering cash flow. Do you need bikes, box trucks, or cargo vans? Depending on your business model and budget, plan out the lease or acquisition of vehicles and new equipment to gain a competitive advantage.  
• Hiring Drivers: You will have to choose whether you want to hire contract drivers or full-time drivers. It will depend on your delivery business model. Look for drivers on industry-specific job boards. Make use of social media platforms to search for suitable drivers, while considering payroll expenses.
• Training Drivers: A thorough training will have to be provided for your newly hired drivers, whether they are involved on a full-time basis or a contract.
• Train your entire staff for your last mile delivery process; 
• State their responsibilities as a delivery driver;
• Form a strong management team to work with a customer-centric mindset;
• Give access and train management staff for the tools and equipment they will be using on the job;
• Help them establish excellent customer service culture;
• Train drivers to prioritize their health and safety over the package from time to time.

Generate an operations plan

• Plan Your Last Mile Process: Your last mile delivery process is the front-end process that is often trackable and visible to the customers. Try to make this process as efficient as possible. A month of operation on customer-facing troubles always be crystal clear and should be carried out without any uncertainty. 
• Simplify the Process by Employing the Right Tools: One major way of simplifying your last mile delivery process is to cut down planning and optimization time by eradicating a manual procedure. In order to automate these steps, you will have to integrate a food delivery planner and route optimization software in your last mile delivery process. 
• Executive Summary: As a food business owner, you will be employing multiple drivers and creating multiple routes for them daily. You will need to be prepared for every unexpected challenge. Create a summary of how your food delivery operations will take place. You can give an overview and discuss the business model with your delivery team. Address your marketing team to work on key issues that help them attract target customers.

Developing a meal delivery business plan can be challenging. There are quite a few aspects that need to be considered seriously. The increasing competition in the office food delivery services industry only makes it more difficult for new entrants to make space for themselves.

With a reliable food delivery business plan, you can never go wrong. Make sure you consider all the important pointers mentioned above before setting up your own online food delivery system. 

One of the most important aspects, as mentioned above, is planning and optimizing your delivery routes. Without proper optimization and a strong last mile delivery setup, you will not be able to gauge an audience in the market. 

Use a route planning and optimization software like Upper to make sure your routes are optimized and you save the delivery time. It keeps an eye on your personal savings while achieving more deliveries per route.

Utilize Upper to Automize Food Deliveries

Preparing a food delivery business plan? Why not include the best route optimization for getting faster delivery routes. Start using Upper for better delivery management and timely deliveries.

Offices food delivery services are booming currently. The rise in quarantine and lockdown restrictions has people locked up in their houses. It has given a huge boost to online food ordering. Most businesses recorded the highest revenue only because of online food ordering and delivery.

Food delivery businesses either prepare the cooked food on their own or partner with the entire restaurant to handle food deliveries on behalf of them. These are the two main ways in which food delivery businesses operate. A food business that prepares and delivers on its own either receives orders through its website, third-party mobile app, or phone call.

You can start accepting orders for your homemade food online through your social media platforms, website, or phone calls. Many small businesses that sell homemade food accept orders through phone calls or online business plan software that helps them sell and deliver their food to the customers.

Food delivery services businesses like DoorDash, Grubhub, and Postmates are some of the most popular food delivery services having the potential market share in the online food delivery service industry.

If you are new to the food industry, it means you need to work hard for business planning. We discussed significant factors that should be considered while making your own business plan. So, all in all, you must analyze the current market statistics that may help you make a robust operations plan. For a new player like you, it becomes necessary to understand business models before implying them to your business.

Successful online business may not even if you finish your food delivery business plan template as you may need support from online tools. Upper is one of such tools that streamlines your food delivery services and helps you reach the food buyers’ locations easily. You can manage unlimited food deliveries with the help of a fully automated delivery process. Import your data, optimize them, and hit the dispatch button with just a few clicks. Book a demo with us to get more insights into Upper Route Planner.

Rakesh Patel, author of two defining books on reverse geotagging, is a trusted authority in routing and logistics. His innovative solutions at Upper Route Planner have simplified logistics for businesses across the board. A thought leader in the field, Rakesh's insights are shaping the future of modern-day logistics, making him your go-to expert for all things route optimization. Read more.

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Delivery Service Business Plan: Guide and FREE Template

Did you know that the delivery service industry is expected to reach $658.3 billion by 2031 ? If you’ve been thinking about starting a small business like food delivery or grocery delivery, there has never been a better time. Customer demand is at an all-time high and startup costs are under $10,000 on average. 

The first step to creating a successful delivery service business is — no surprises here — writing a business plan. In this guide, we’ll outline everything you need to know to turn your business idea into reality, and provide a free template for you to get started.

💡If you’re already done your homework and just want to get started, go ahead and start filling out our free delivery service business plan template .

Six reasons to create a business plan for your delivery service 

Did you know that 71% of fast-growing companies have a detailed business plan? And entrepreneurs who have a written plan are 260% more likely to actually start their business and see success. 

That’s because your business plan is your blueprint for getting started, and then guiding you to success in your new business. It will help you:

• Decide if your business idea is viable.
• Conduct a market analysis to understand your competition, customers, and growth ability.
• Set your goals, and create strategies for achieving them.
• Make important decisions about products, marketing, staffing and funding. 
• Raise funding from banks or other investors. 
• Track your progress, growth and profitability.

The main components of a delivery service plan

A business plan is a summary of all your business’s potential operations, so it includes multiple components. Here they are:

1. Executive summary

This section is an introduction to your business, so you want to make it appealing. Answer the following questions: 

• What’s going on in the delivery service industry? 
• What type of delivery service business are you opening? 
• What sets your business apart from well-known delivery options, like FedEx and USPS? 
• Who are the key members of your team? If you are just starting out, your only team member might be you. In this case, list your experience and commitment to success. 
• What are your financial projections showing? What are your operating margins and tentative profitability? 

You don’t want to bore the reader in this section. Make it engaging, and outline key points and advantages of starting your business. Don’t include any negative information.  For example, you shouldn’t say that the delivery service market is oversaturated. If it was, opening a new business wouldn’t be very successful, would it? 

Another common mistake to avoid is understating the qualifications of your team. Don’t say you lack the capital to hire team members, or that you don’t have the necessary experience to run the business. Instead, stay positive with words like “the (company) plans on hiring additional help once we enter a growth phase.”

2. Company overview

The company overview is a deeper dive into the fundamentals of your delivery service. Here, you will pinpoint the type of business you will operate. For example, will you be a pure delivery company, like a courier or express messenger? Or will you be delivering your own products, like food, beverages or flowers? Or maybe you’ll deliver on behalf of other producers, like many grocery delivery services that work with different farmers. Will you offer same-day delivery?

A courier service business plan will be different in some ways from a plan for a grocery delivery service company, but you’ll need to answer all the same questions.

It’s not uncommon for delivery service businesses to engage in more than one service. List all services that you plan on operating. 

In the company overview, you will also outline your “why” for starting the business, important milestones you have already achieved, and information on the legal structure of your business. You may also want to include a mission statement here. 

3. Industry analysis

Now, it’s time to get down to the facts. Include industry growth facts, such as that the compound annual growth rate in the United States is 5.7% or that there are currently over 250,000 courier and local delivery companies . 

Properly completing this section will require some industry and market research. Great research starting points include IBISWorld , the Small Business Administration (SBA), and your state’s website, if you are offering local courier services.  This is not only beneficial to show the opportunities in the market, but you will also develop insights into how to set yourself apart from competitors. 

Be sure you include information on market conditions, main competitors, key suppliers, current trends, and where the industry is headed. 

4. Customer and market analysis

Who is your primary customer? Are you looking to work with individuals or businesses? What types of businesses or individuals are your ideal potential customers? Identifying your target market, and how will you win new customers, is critical to developing accurate marketing strategies. 

Try to be as detailed as possible. Pinpoint the age, gender, geographic location, income levels, and needs of your target market. 

5. Competitive analysis

The competitive analysis section will highlight your competition and how you plan on setting your business apart. You should uncover data to back up your claims. For example, recent studies show that 73% of customers have had bad delivery experiences , and 16% have advised friends or family to avoid the retailer. 

Statistics like these can help to show that prioritizing customer service is how your business will shine. You might choose to include a chart or graph on common traits that your business and competitors have. Identify weaknesses, strengths, pricing differences, and the target market of competitors as well. 

Could you offer local delivery to companies in your area to boost their revenue? How about delivering outside of normal hours, such as overnight? Do you have the capabilities to specialize in fragile package delivery? These are all ways that you can differentiate yourself from competitors. 

6. Marketing strategy

Using all of the information and data you have accumulated, you will piece together a marketing strategy. Going through the four Ps can give you a comprehensive marketing plan:

• Product: Discuss the type of services you are providing again, including the specifics, like late night delivery or fragile package options. 
• Price:   Reinforce your pricing structure and make a comparison with competitors. 
• Place: Identify where you will be delivering. This could be local, regional, or national. 
• Promotions: Put together a general strategy for how you will attract customers. Will you advertise in local papers, or go for a pure e-commerce model? How about social media or email marketing? Talk about how your delivery service website will use SEO, how you’ll build relationships with local businesses, or how you’ll search for jobs on courier listing sites. 

Your marketing strategy is very important for displaying how you will attract customers using your competitive edge. 

6. Operating strategy

This section of your delivery service business plan will outline both the day-to-day operations and the long-term goals of your business. In the executive summary, you touched on a few of your main goals. In this section, you will elaborate on those items. 

Common day-to-day operations might include listing the tasks of your team, like answering calls, scheduling, and dispatching routes to delivery drivers. How will you plan your deliveries? Will you hire your own drivers, or use contractors? What about a vehicle fleet? What software will you use to track deliveries, customer requests, and costs? 

Long-term goals might be increasing revenue by a certain percentage each year, or adding a specific number of trucks every few months. Maybe you want to grow revenue by 3% each year. What can you do to get your business there? Will you increase prices to match inflation, win new customers or hire additional staff? 

Both your short-term and long-term goals need to be reasonable. Don’t say you’ll grow revenue by 50% in your first year, or have 20 delivery team members right from the start. Reasonable goals are easier to work toward and can keep you and your team motivated. 

7. Management team

Your team is essential to the success of your delivery business. If you have a partner with years of industry experience or a manager with a stellar record, incorporate that expertise and experience into this section. 

You should have a clear management structure and chain of command. Keep in mind that job roles can overlap, especially if you only have a few team members. Identify who will handle hiring, day-to-day operations, high-level decisions, and customer service. 

Also, be sure that you include any mentors that are guiding you along the way. This could be an advisor in the industry, a family member, or a friend. 

8. Financial projections

A key component of your delivery business plan is projected financial statements. If you are just starting out, you might not have years of historical financial information. This is why you need to project your expected revenue, operating expenses, assets, and profit based on industry research and your specific business characteristics. 

Your financial plan should include at least five years of financial projections. This helps you determine your business’s chance of being successful and profitable. Prospective lenders and investors will also want to see this information. Here are the main financial statements you will develop: 

• Income statement : This outlines your revenue, expenses, and bottom-line number, known as net income. A positive net income indicates a profitable business, while a negative number suggests you are losing money. 
• Balance sheet : The balance sheet tracks your overall financial health by outlining assets (what you own), liabilities (what you owe), and equity (what you’ve earned, contributed, and taken out of the company). 
• Cash flow statement : This tracks the movement of money in your business. The three main categories found in this document are cash earned or spent from operations, financing activities, and investments. 

It can be hard to plan out all of these expenses, which is why many delivery service businesses use an accountant to help. 

Don’t just hire the first accountant you come across. Interview a few to confirm that you feel comfortable with them and can develop a good working relationship. Also check that they have experience helping startups, especially in the delivery service industry. This is because the business model that delivery service businesses follow isn’t the same as other industries. 

Accountants will usually list the clientele they work with directly on their websites. Otherwise, don’t be afraid to reach out and set up a consultation. 

9. Appendix

The appendix will contain additional schedules, financials, graphs, maps, and supporting information for your delivery service business plan. 

Top things to know before writing your delivery service business plan

Before you create your delivery service business plan, you will need to think about the big picture. This includes evaluating the following components: 

1. What delivery service model will you choose?

In your delivery business plan, you will need to decide exactly what kind of courier or delivery service you want to offer.

First, consider how you will run your daily delivery operations . Will you do it all in-house , including hiring and managing your own drivers? This is how Walden Local in New England does it, using their own branded vehicle fleet and drivers to deliver local meat and fish directly from farms to customers. This gives you total control over delivery operations, but you will need your own delivery vehicles. This can increase the costs, especially when you factor in vehicle maintenance.

Alternatively, you could outsource your actual deliveries via a gig economy app like DoorDash or Uber Eats. Many restaurants and ghost kitchens choose this operating model, preferring to focus their effort on the actual product they’re delivering. 

Second, what delivery time frames will you offer? The three main options here are:

• On-demand delivery: This literally means you will deliver (or pick up and deliver, in the case of a courier service) as soon as the customer places their order. Depending on the exact product, this could be the same day (groceries) or the same hour (restaurants). This is highly convenient for customers, but expensive to operate.
• Batched delivery: If you expect very high volumes, or if you choose to offer next-day delivery or later, you have the option of creating delivery batches so you can create more efficient delivery routes and schedules. This makes it easier to deliver profitably, but isn’t suitable for a business like a restaurant.
• Scheduled delivery : This is a favorite delivery model for subscription services like meal prep companies, and it can make delivery operations much easier. It means pre-planning deliveries to specific areas on specific days — for example, I subscribe to a flower delivery service that means I get fresh blooms on my doorstep every second Wednesday. You will need to be very clear upfront with your customers about how their deliveries will work, but if you manage expectations clearly this can be an excellent option.

You can read more insider tips for starting your own delivery business here . 

2. How will you set up and staff your business? 

During the  business planning process, you should form a legal business structure. This entails registering your business name with your state and applying for an Employer Identification Number. You will need to pick out a business structure, such as a single-member LLC, a partnership, or a corporation. Talking with an accountant can help you find the most favorable structure. 

Keep in mind that staffing can take some time, especially with talent shortages. Before you can accept your first delivery order, you need to go through the hiring and training process with staff members. Knowing how to hire and retain delivery drivers , in particular, can help you save a lot of time and money. 

Do your research on a competitive wage, determine how you will process payroll, pinpoint the benefits you will offer, and create job listings. The right team members working alongside you can help your business thrive. 

3. What delivery management software will you use?

If you want an efficient, profitable delivery service business , sooner or later you’ll need proper delivery management software . Plenty of delivery businesses have started out using nothing but Excel spreadsheets, but that can quickly become a brake on your growth. Considering your delivery software while you’re making your business plan can give you an edge. Look for software that will make it easy to:

• Upload orders
• Use route optimization to plan efficient delivery routes
• Dispatch to a mobile driver app
• Track delivery progress in real time
• Send customer notifications
• Manage driver timesheets and payroll

The right delivery management software can help you achieve profitability, offer a great customer experience, and ensure on-time deliveries.

How to use the template

Now that you know what to include in your delivery service business plan, it’s time to get started. You can open a copy of the template right now and start writing. Here are some tips we’ve learned along the way: 

• Don’t jump around: Work on your delivery business plan section by section, starting at the top. Jumping around results in missed information and confusion. 
• Re-read Sections – It’s helpful to read through each section a few times before you create your own. 
• Be Thorough – The more thorough you are, the more beneficial your plan will be. After all, the goal of a delivery business plan is to provide you with guidance for starting your business. 
• Be Honest – Oftentimes, delivery service business owners adjust their plans to make their business look more attractive. You want to be honest throughout the plan to give you an accurate roadmap of what you need to do to become successful. 

If you are still struggling to piece together your business plan after reading this guide, don’t hesitate to reach out to an expert for help. 

Final Thoughts and Access to Your Free Template

A delivery service business plan is a resource that can bolster the success of your new delivery business. Take the time to conduct research and put thought into your plan. You don’t want to start your business and scramble to figure out who your target market is or how to display your competitive advantage. Here is our free template . 

If you’re in the market for delivery management software, Routific has you covered. We infuse accuracy and efficiency into our platform, giving you the tools to increase profit, meet customer demands, and ensure your team maximizes productivity. Reach out to schedule your free consultation.

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Online Food Delivery Business Plan for Startups: Step-by-Step Guide

Table of Contents Hide

Step 1: draft a business strategy for food delivery, step 2: decide what makes you special, step 3: plan the logistics, step 4: budget , step 5: assemble the team of your dreams, step 6: a package choice should reflect your brand, step 7: conduct a practice run, step 8: get your food delivery business off to a good start, step 9: expand and build your business, step 10: applications for restaurants, customers, and delivery personnel.

The customer base has evolved. Their eating patterns, food distribution systems, and food demand have all changed. These stats show how to Increase client retention rates and offer timely delivery; most meals are delivered to homes. There were many orders on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. To overcome these difficulties, you must develop a comprehensive Online Food Delivery Business Plan for Startups . The strategy is much more than just a blueprint or executive summary.

The following are some ways that a well-written, effective online food delivery business strategy may help you:

• Reveals information about your industry, primary competitors, target market, food delivery platforms, and trends.
• The food sector should analyze SWOT to learn more about its opportunities, threats, and strong points.
• It is a benchmark for managing a business and choosing the appropriate product price.
• You could learn about the need for additional team members, resources, and equipment to help you achieve any key aims or corporate goals.
• Supports the food industry’s financial accounts, cash flow statements, revenue models, competitive tactics, and investment strategy.

Pay close attention to these critical figures before joining the food delivery sector.

The market for Internet food delivery has quadrupled in size since 2017. 57% of millennials favor having a restaurant deliver their food. Customers are willing to pay more for services with faster delivery in 33% of cases. According to 60% of restaurant owners & operators, offering delivery increases income. Restaurant sales volume grew from 10% to 20% due to working with outside delivery companies. Due to the easy and pleasant experience, 70% of consumers prefer to buy deliveries online. The office food delivery market’s “ghost kitchens” or “cloud kitchens” segment will be worth $1 trillion by 2030.

Steps for Online Food Delivery Business Plan

Craft a food delivery startup business plan before menu creation. A solid blueprint ensures success and guides your special dish development. These are the essential components for creating a successful food delivery business plan ; flavor or changes may always be added when you have an idea.

Choose a unique approach to help your business stand out. Local Roots For instance, the farm delivery service in New York City only provides food from “hyper-local” farms, which are two hours from the city. Researching the market is necessary. Use meal delivery services to get takeout from local restaurants and to investigate your rivals. Find out where they fall short so you may make up for it by offering a particular dish, quicker service, or a different cuisine.

A significant aspect of running a food delivery business is logistical management. This step will tell you how to start a food delivery business . Take the following steps right away:

• Find a kitchen : Your local laws must allow you to make meals in your home to hire a commissary or commercial kitchen. If you’re adding restaurant delivery to an already-existing eating establishment, reserve a particular kitchen area for delivery orders. You’ll require a spot where delivery personnel may take orders without interfering with dine-in activities.
• Make a map of your neighborhood : Start subtly. You can always increase once you know how long deliveries take and how many orders your drivers can handle simultaneously. If you’re starting a weekly subscription service, like a meal prep or grocery delivery business, consider dividing your territory into manageable zones. For instance, Tomato Mountain Farm distributes to each zone on a specific day of the week. Consequently, deliveries are more efficient and have a lower carbon footprint.

See Also: Why is White Label Food Delivery App Ideal for your Business?

• Select a fleet: You can brand or wrap the outside if you have your delivery truck or vehicles. Owning a car also makes paying for repairs and gas easier. But the expense is significant. You can use your driver’s car if you cannot acquire or rent a delivery vehicle immediately. To ensure that the food is transported securely, the only thing left to do is outfit them with accessories like insulated bags or ice packs.
• Know when reverse logistics are necessary : Reverse logistics collects customer items and transports them to your location or elsewhere. Meal delivery services like Oco Meals employ reverse logistics to gather recycled food containers.

Investigate competitors in the industry for logistical insights, take note of their processes, take advantage of their flaws, look for mentorship from seasoned food entrepreneurs, and consult our food warehousing guide for storage ideas.

Once you understand your market and logistical requirements, budgeting, income, and demand forecasting are necessary. Using your expected earnings as a guide, calculate your revenue. Projection aids risk assessment, break-even analysis, and upfront expense tolerance. Sum expenses: supplies, vehicles, upfront and 3-year costs, petrol, tolls, maintenance, licenses, payroll. Comprehensive financial planning is crucial.

Maintain financial records and monitor billing cycles. If 30-day expenditures exceed 30-day revenue, cash flow becomes an issue. To relieve concerns about cash flow, think about paying for meals weekly in advance for three months.

The key to starting a successful food delivery company is assembling a committed staff that shares your goals. Put happy employees first since they produce more effectively and will help you maintain profitability during the break-even phase. Choose delivery workers with strong customer service backgrounds crucial for effective client interactions. Communication abilities are more valuable than map-reading skills when using route optimization technologies. Drivers frequently represent your company in person, so choosing ones who can make an excellent first impression is crucial.

If the packaging and style of your deliveries match your brand, it could help you get more return customers. Suppose your market analysis showed an absence of sustainably produced food that could be supplied locally. You start a delivery service for meal packages made with organic and sustainable ingredients. Choose recyclable or biodegradable cartons because they align with your business’s positioning and marketing strategies.

Even if you’re not building an eco-focused business, most clients prefer to place orders from delivery services that utilize recyclable or biodegradable packaging. Even the containers you use to transport food should contribute to building a recognizable brand for your business.

Start your business with a modest clientele so your crew may practice and work out any issues in your physical operation.

Observe how long it takes the drivers to deliver to different places and how much time they require at each stop. Utilize the knowledge you gain from conducting a test run to enhance your routing and scheduling. The more detailed information you have, the better your capacity plan will be, and the easier it will be to scale operations when demand rises. Ask potential customers for feedback on the costs, features, menu options, and services they value throughout your trial run.

Want to know how to start a food delivery business? The best way is to initially spend less money on marketing but get the word out. According to Nielsen’s Global New Product Innovation Report, 50%+ % of consumers discover new goods via friends and family. Make it easier for happy customers to tell their friends about your company since word-of-mouth promotion is a powerful tool. Include a “refer a friend” button on your website, app, and emails.  You may inspire your target market to tell their friends about your business by offering a referral discount or rewards program.

Leverage social media for engagement. Pose quick, thought-provoking questions to spark conversations and excitement among your audience. Consider the case when you provide Mexican food. “Taco Tuesday or Torta Tuesday? ” or something like that. I can only display text; I cannot display photos. Which one do you prefer? Increased visibility due to possibilities for comments. Attract a larger audience. Cooperate with regional influencers to effectively promote your business.

An app will be your most valuable weapon in this conflict. Therefore, developing the best mobile app for online or home food delivery business plans should be one of your top priorities. However, the mobile app paradigm for online food delivery differs substantially from others. Your food delivery app business plan must outline three distinct versions of your organization.

As well as a dashboard for management for the principal business owners. Another proposal for a food delivery solution is being developed through Cloud Kitchen. It enables individuals with modest business ideas to prepare meals at home and assist neighborhood residents.

Creating mobile apps with cloud integration helps giant corporations access the largest audience, as it helps small businesses. Thanks to the development of cloud kitchen applications , you can efficiently oversee the operations of your restaurant.

Newcomers to the food industry face time-consuming planning key components explored for drafting a robust business strategy. Understand industry stats before applying business principles; grasp online resources’ importance for running a profitable food delivery venture despite using templates. Newcomers to the food industry face time-consuming planning. Key components explored for drafting a robust business strategy. Understand industry stats before applying business principles; grasp online resources’ importance for running a profitable food delivery venture despite using templates. If you are looking for a SaaS-based Food Delivery App Solution ? At DeOnDe, we offer the best readymade food delivery app solution to provide you with an amazing app built for your food business.

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How to start a food delivery business: from business plan to expansion.

September 4, 2020 9 min read

When you picture your future food delivery business, you probably envision yourself engulfed in sweet aromas as you stir your signature dish over a hot stove. But if you want to light up the taste buds of swooning patrons, you’ll need to have more than a love for culinary innovation. You need a solid understanding of business procedures, like budgeting and delivery driver routing, too.

This guide is designed to help you conquer all of the non-food related parts of your business. Whether you’re just starting out, ready to launch, or looking to expand an existing food delivery business, these tips and strategies will help you grow your business successfully. Plus, learn how OptimoRoute streamlines routing, scheduling, and planning, so you can focus on the fun part — the food. 

Jump to your step:

Step 1: Formulate a Food Delivery Business Plan

Step 2: purchase equipment and hire your team, step 3: take a test run, step 4: open your food delivery business with a bang, step 5: scale and expand your business.

Before you design a menu or perfect your signature dish, you need to form a food delivery business plan (or business recipe ). You can always spice it up or modify it when you feel inspired, but these are the essential steps for creating a successful business model.

Find your differentiator

Choose a unique approach to make your business stand out. Local Roots NYC ’s differentiating factor, for example, is that their farm delivery business only sells food from “hyper-local” farms — ones that are within a two-hour radius of NYC. Domino’s Pizza sets themselves apart in a highly competitive market by offering unparalleled convenience and unique delivery options.

How do you find your differentiating factor? You’ll have to conduct market research. Explore your competition — order takeout from local restaurants and food delivery services . Look for gaps in their offerings so that you can offer something they don’t, whether it’s a particular dish, shorter delivery time, or a different type of food.

Recommended Reading: How to Do Market Research: A 6-Step Guide  ; How to Differentiate Your Restaurant and Stand Out From the Crowd  ; How Can I Find Customers in a Competitive Market?

Plan your logistics

Logistics management is a large part of running a food delivery business. We’ll dive into software you can use to simplify route planning and order management in step 2. For now, here’s what you need to do:

• Find a kitchen. Unless your local laws allow you to cook in your home kitchen, you’ll need to rent a commissary or commercial kitchen. If you’re adding restaurant delivery to an existing dining establishment, make sure you set aside dedicated kitchen space for delivery orders. You’ll need a space for drivers to gather delivery orders without interrupting your dine-in workflow.
• Map out your territory. Start small. You can always expand once you have a firm understanding of how long deliveries take and how many orders your drivers can handle at one time. Software such as OptimoRoute can help with this. If you’re starting a weekly subscription service, such as a meal prep or grocery delivery business , consider dividing your territory into manageable zones. For example, Tomato Mountain Farm offers delivery to each of their zones on a specific day of the week. This makes deliveries more efficient and cuts down on their carbon footprint.
• Choose your fleet. If you buy your own delivery vehicle(s), you’ll have the freedom to wrap or brand the exterior. Owning your own vehicle also simplifies maintenance and gas expenses. But it’s a large investment. If you aren’t able to purchase or lease a delivery vehicle right away, you can have your drivers use their own vehicles. You’ll just need to outfit them with extra supplies, such as ice packs or insulated bags, to ensure the food is safely transported.
• Know if you need reverse logistics. Reverse logistics is the process of picking up items from customers and bringing them back to your establishment or to another location. Meal delivery businesses such as Oco Meals use reverse logistics to pick up reusable food containers. Oberweis Dairy uses reverse logistics to pick up empty milk bottles. Reverse logistics solutions can help you differentiate your business by providing a unique customer experience.

Check out the competitors you identified in your market research and see how they handle logistics. You may be able to learn from their systems, or you may find gaps in their systems that you can capitalize on to get an advantage. It can also be very helpful to find a mentor — a restaurant owner or someone who has set up their own food delivery business and can give you guidance. Finally, if your food delivery business requires warehousing, check out our guide to food warehousing for tips on how to optimize storage.

Recommended Reading: How Delivery Planning Can Grow Your Business in 2020 ; Renting a Commercial Kitchen or Commissary: What You Need to Know ; The 6 Best Cargo Vans For Your Business

Budget 

Once you’re armed with an understanding of both your market and your logistics requirements, it’s time for budgeting, revenue forecasting, and demand forecasting . You must calculate:

• Projected earnings – Estimate what you think your revenue will be. You need this projection to determine your risks, when your business will break even, and how much upfront cost you can sustain.
• Expenses – Add up the cost of supplies, vehicles, etc., you will need to buy upfront, as well as those you will need to buy in the first three years you are in business. Don’t forget to include payroll expenses, business licensing fees, vehicle maintenance, gas, and tolls.

You also need to create a balance sheet and pay close attention to billing cycles. If you have more money going out in one 30-day period than coming in, you’re going to have a cash flow problem. If you offer weekly meal deliveries, you may want to consider billing clients at the beginning of each three-month season, rather than billing each week. This can help mitigate cash flow concerns.

Recommended Reading: Calculate Your Startup Costs ; How to Finance a Small Business ; Sales Tax by State: To-Go Restaurant Orders

Now that you have a plan, it’s time to arm yourself with essential tools and hire your team. Make thoughtful decisions about both, and you’ll set yourself up for long-term success.

Get an edge with the right tech stack

You have to take advantage of the most advanced technology. If you don’t, one of your competitors will — and they will deliver a superior customer experience because of it.

Route optimization software is an absolute must-have for delivery businesses because customers have high expectations. Thanks to companies like Amazon, fast and free delivery is considered a standard offering, not a luxury, and manual planning is obsolete.

At OptimoRoute, we help businesses maintain a competitive edge, drive revenue, and scale quickly and efficiently. Our software automates delivery route planning , driver scheduling, customer notifications, and more, which has empowered food delivery businesses like Hardie’s Fresh Foods to increase their on-time delivery rate from 89% to 94%. Using OptimoRoute, Tomato Mountain Farm quadrupled their subscriber volume and added two new delivery vehicles to their fleet while remaining profitable. 

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Reduce your operational costs by 30% Increase delivery capacity by 43% Plan 7x faster

In addition to route optimization software, you will need a website. We recommend using a POS (Point of Sale) system to accept and track payments as well as creating your own mobile application. According to Omnivore , “70% of restaurant’s digital orders come through its mobile app or website.” This does not include third-party food delivery platforms like Grubhub, Postmates, or Uber Eats, so it’s important to have your own online and app presence.

Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Guide to Route Optimization ; The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a POS System ; Restaurant App — Complete Guide

Assemble your dream team

As a startup, it’s vital for you to hire the right team. You’ll be working closely with your employees, and smart hiring decisions drive revenue , so make sure you hire like-minded individuals who share your vision. Happy employees who enjoy their work are more productive , which is especially important when your food delivery company is striving to break even.

Choose delivery drivers with customer service skills. You can easily provide your drivers with turn-by-turn navigation using route optimization software, so mapping skills aren’t as important as communication and people skills. Delivery drivers will be the only representative many of your customers meet in person. Choose drivers who are most likely to make a positive impression.

Pro Tip: OptimoRoute can reduce your payroll expenses by cutting down the work hours needed to plan and route deliveries. Businesses like Telgian have reduced planning manpower by as much as 66%.

Recommended Reading: How to Hire ; Hire Delivery Drivers — 10 Sites for Hiring Drivers Fast ; 5 Delivery Driver Interview Questions and Answers

Choose packaging that is in-line with your brand

Delivery packaging and presentation can go a long way toward earning you repeat sales, but only if it’s in-line with your brand. Say your market research showed a gap in sustainable food delivery in your area. You decide to open an organic and eco-friendly meal kit delivery business. It would be smart to choose biodegradable or reusable cartons because they are in-line with your brand image and marketing strategy.

Even if you’re not building an eco-centric brand, most consumers prefer to order from delivery businesses that use biodegradable or recyclable containers. Regardless, every piece of your business should form a cohesive brand — including the packaging you transport your food in.

Recommended reading: Food Packaging Design Tips  ; The 4 Packaging Supplies That Meal Prep Delivery Services Need  ; Why Compostable Containers Make Sense Even If You Can’t Compost Them

Open your business to a limited client base, so your whole team can practice and work out kinks in your physical workflow. 

Track how long it takes drivers to deliver to different areas and how much time they require at each stop. Use the insights you glean from taking a test run to finesse your routing and scheduling . The more concrete information you have, the better your capacity plan will be, and the easier you will be able to scale operations when demand picks up. You can also use your test run to get feedback from potential customers regarding pricing and which features, food options, and services they most enjoy.

Pro Tip : OptimoRoute automatically tracks information, including actual routes taken by drivers vs. planned routes, the time each delivery was made, and on-time delivery rates. You can access these delivery statistics at any time in your advanced analytics dashboard and use these insights to adjust delivery zones, see how each of your drivers is performing, and know exactly what it will take to scale your business when you want to expand.

You don’t have to spend a ton of money on marketing right away, but you will need to get the word out about your business.  More than half of the respondents surveyed for Nielsen’s Global New Product Innovation Report said that they learn about new products from friends and family. Referral marketing is a powerful tool, so make it easy for happy customers to tell their friends about your business. Add a “refer a friend” button to your emails, website, and app. You can even incentivize your target audience to tell their friends about your business by offering a referral discount or rewards program.

Use social media to create a buzz and interact with your target market in a meaningful way. You can boost engagement without spending money by creating a post with a simple question — one that won’t take long for a consumer to answer, but they’re likely to have an opinion about it. 

For example, let’s say you serve Mexican food. You could post a photo of your tacos next to a photo of tortas and say something like, “Taco Tuesday or Torta Tuesday? What do you prefer?” These types of posts can garner a lot of comments that will organically boost that post’s visibility and open your business up to a wider audience. You could also get the word out about your business by partnering with influencers in your area. 

Pro Tip : Use OptimoRoute’s customizable customer notifications to encourage your patrons to share their experiences with friends.

The key to successfully growing a business is to optimize it — to make sure every process is running at peak efficiency . Optimization is how successful businesses maximize revenue, reinvest, and scale. Tomato Mountain Farm was able to expand their client base from 300 to 1,200 subscribers in 30 days by optimizing deliveries with OptimoRoute. Local Roots NYC optimized their delivery procedure to overcome COVID-19 restrictions and scale from 50 to 1,000 weekly deliveries in just one month.

When you’re operating at peak efficiency and you know exactly how much money, time, and manpower every process takes, scaling and expanding are easy.

Learn how to optimize your food delivery business by type:

• Meal Prep Business
• Catering Business
• Grocery Delivery Business
• Farm Delivery Business
• Alcohol Delivery Business

Grow Fast and Efficiently With OptimoRoute

Whether you’re thinking of starting a catering business , a meal-prep business, or anything else with food delivery, OptimoRoute can help.

At OptimoRoute, we’ve helped hundreds of food delivery businesses at all stages, from launch to scaling and adding new territories. We understand the struggles facing delivery teams, and we want to help you reach your goals. We offer a 30-day free trial (no credit card info required), so you can truly experience all our software has to offer. Our support team is available to help you get started, walk you through our features, and answer questions.

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How to write a Fast Food Business Plan: Complete Guide

• January 3, 2023
• Food & Beverage

50 million Americans (37% of the US population) consume fast food daily: the US is undeniable the biggest market for fast food worldwide. Yet, before you can open your own fast food restaurant, you will first need to prepare a solid business plan.

Indeed, a business plan is mandatory for any business that seeks funding from private investors or to get a loan from a bank (like a SBA loan ).

In this article we go through, step-by-step, all the different sections you need in the business plan for a fast food restaurant . Use this template to create a complete, clear and solid business plan that get you funded.

1. Fast Food Executive Summary

The executive summary of a business plan gives a sneak peek of the information about your business plan to lenders and/or investors.

If the information you provide here is not concise, informative, and scannable, potential lenders and investors will lose interest.

Though the executive summary is the first and the most important section, it should normally be the last section you write because it will have the summary of different sections included in the entire plan.

Why do you need a business plan for a fast food?

The purpose of a business plan is to secure funding through one of the following channels:

• Obtain bank financing or secure a loan from other lenders
• Obtain private investments from investment funds, angel investors, etc.
• Obtain a public or a private grant

How to write your fast food’s executive summary?

Provide a precise and high-level summary of every section that you have included in the business plan of your fast food restaurant. The information and the data you include in this section should grab the attention of potential investors and lenders immediately.

Also make sure that the executive summary doesn’t exceed 2 pages in total: it’s supposed to be a summary for investors and lenders who don’t have time to scroll through 40-50 pages, so keep it short and brief.

The executive summary usually consists of 5 major sub-sections:

• Business overview : start by introducing your fast food restaurant, where it is located, how big it is (space, seating arrangement, counters, etc.) and give a brief of the fast food items (a sample menu) that you want to sell as well as their average prices. Also, mention whether you plan to open an independent fast food restaurant or a franchise restaurant instead.
• Market overview : should contain an overview of the expected market size , target audience, and demography. Also provide here a quick overview of your competitors
• People : first, introduce your fast food’s management. Provide a brief (no more than a couple of sentences each) of the experience and track record of the team. Also, speak about your hiring plans: in other words, how you intend to run the business (what are the different teams and how many employees will you hire?)
• Financial plan : how much profit and revenue do you expect in the next 5 years? When will you reach the break-even point and start making profits ? You can also include here a chart with your key financials (revenue, gross profit, net profit )
• Funding ask : what loan/investment/grant are you seeking? How much do you need? How long will this last?

Fast Food Financial Model

Download an expert-built 5-year Excel financial model for your business plan

2. Fast Food Restaurant Business Overview

In this section of the business plan, you will provide details about your fast food restaurant.

You must answer here some important questions that potential investors and lenders often ask about your business and operations. Here are some examples of questions you must answer:

• What is the rationale behind your opening a fast food restaurant today?
• What’s the fast food restaurant’s location and why did you select that location?
• Why did you select the type of fast food restaurant you want to open?
• What will be the food items you will offer?
• What will be your pricing strategy and why?
• What is your expected customer footfall?
• What will be the legal structure of your company?

a) History of the Project

Any business overview must start with explaining the history of the project. There are 2 components here:

• Passion & experience of the business owner
• Rationale behind starting a fast food restaurant today

Passion & experience

You may or may not have prior experience. If you have experience, speak about it and how it will help you to run your business. For instance, you may have been a regional manager of a leading fast food brand for 5 years, and now you want to start your own fast food restaurant and use your knowledge to run it more efficiently.

Is there a certain problem (or perhaps, a set of problems) that your fast food restaurant will try to solve when it comes into existence? For example, there may not be any fast food restaurant offering tacos and burritos while there are enough restaurants offering burgers, fries, chicken sandwiches, pizzas, etc.

But that’s not all! The market must be suitable for a business to exist and thrive. For instance, if you are trying to open your fast food restaurant offering tacos and burritos in an area where there isn’t enough demand for those food items, you may run into losses.

Similarly, if the major chuck of the target audience is between the age group of 15 to 25 with limited income, offering high-priced food will not provide the price/value relationship they seek. Offering pricey food will only stretch their budget.

The rationale behind your project must be backed up by a thorough analysis of the industry in the area where you plan to open your fast food restaurant. This is what we will cover under Market Overview further below.

b) Business Model

This section of the Business Overview should explain what type of business model and fast food restaurant you want to open. For example:

• Will you open a franchise or an independent restaurant instead?
• Will you buy an existing fast food restaurant and do some remodeling, or will you start a new fast food restaurant and design it from scratch?
• Will you go for a traditional brick-and-mortar store or will you settle for a mobile vending model to reduce overhead?

What are the different types of fast food restaurants?

There are multiple types of fast food restaurants. Some of them that you may consider include, but are not limited to:

• Burgers & Fries : In this type of fast food restaurant, you will specialise in burgers and fries, but you can also sell shakes, smoothies, etc.
• Tacos & Burritos : you may go for variations like Mexican-American fusion or original Mexican soft corn tortillas for example here
• Chicken : Your specialty may be chicken based. For instance, you can sell fried chicken, chicken sandwiches, etc.

Apart from food-based selection, you can also choose whether you want to open a sit-in restaurant, drive-through or food truck instead.

c) Products & Services

It is needless to say that the products that you will sell through your fast food restaurant will depend on the type of restaurant you are opening. So give here an overview of the menu you will offer your customers. Yet, if there are too many products, highlight the main ones and save the rest for the appendix instead.

Another important thing that you must mention is how you are going to source the products. For example, if you are opening a burger and fries restaurant, will you be baking the buns yourself or buying mass-produced buns?

Finally, a fast food restaurant is all about delivery speed. People visiting these restaurants are busy and usually don’t have the luxury of sitting for long durations. You can still add a few services like mobile and laptop charging areas (those who visit your restaurant), home or office delivery for super-busy folks who can’t step in, etc.

d) Pricing Strategy

This is where you will provide an overview of your pricing strategy. For instance, you may sell the products at a lower price point than your competitors because you enjoy a bulk purchase discount from the product supplier.

Again, product quality matters. For example, if you are using organically farmed products, you may charge higher than your competitors. Similarly, if you are creating something super unique, you may charge extra. The size and quantity also factor in. Think of the Quadruple Bypass Burger or the Octuple Bypass Burger of the Heart Attack Grill which cost $20.25 and $29.80 per burger.

Your pricing strategy will also significantly depend on the spending capability of the target audience in your area of operation. 

For example, if you are trying to sell super high-quality fast food products in a neighborhood where the target audience is major students, teens, and day laborers with no, limited, or fixed income, highly-priced products may not sell well. Thus, you must always factor in the spending power of your target audience while developing your pricing strategy.

Pricing table

It’s always good practice to create a pricing table to provide price ranges for your products. Yet, you don’t need to provide exact pricing for each product.

For example, if you are selling different variants of beef burgers, you don’t need to list each burger. Instead, just mention something like: Beef burgers – $7.50 to $15.50.

Offering a pricing chart is important as it will allow investors to tie your pricing strategy with your financial projections later on.

e) Legal Structure

Finally, your business overview section should specify what type of business structure you want. Is this a corporation or a partnership (LLC)? Who are the investors? How much equity percentage do they own? Is there a Board of Directors? If so, whom? Do they have experience in the industry?

3. Fast Food Market Overview

A complete understanding of the market where you want to operate is important for the success of your business. That’s also something you must showcase in your business plan.

For example, if you are trying to sell high-calorie burgers to a health-conscious target audience, you will probably fail. Similarly, if you are trying to sell high-priced food items to day laborers with very limited income, they will most likely not buy from you.

Therefore, you must cover here 3 important areas:

• Industry Size & Growth : how big is the fast food industry in your area? What is its growth rate (or decline rate) and what are the factors contributing to its growth or decline?
• Competition Overview : how many competitors are there? How do they compare vs. your business? How can you differentiate yourself from them?
• Customer Analysis : who is your target audience? What type of fast food products do they prefer? How regularly do they eat fast food? How much do they spend on fast food per month?

a) Fast Food Industry Size & Growth

How big is the fast food industry in the us.

According to Zippia , the US fast food industry market size in 2021 was worth $297 billion, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% over 2020-2027.

When it comes to the number of fast food restaurants, there were 197,653 in 2021: that’s an average annual turnover of $1,500,000 per restaurant..!

How big is the fast food industry in your area?

After getting a clear picture of the fast food industry in the US as a whole, narrow down to your location. Yet, you may not find this information anywhere (at least not for free). In that case, you can use our guide to estimate the TAM, SAM, and SOM for your business. Here is an example of how to do it:

We know the average annual turnover per fast food restaurant is around $1.5 million. Therefore, if the area where you want to open your fast food restaurant has 30 competitors (say, in a 10-mile radius), you can assume the fast food industry in your area is worth approximately $45 million .

How fast is the fast food industry growing in your area?

Looking at public information online, we know that the US fast food market grew from $209 billion in 2011 to $295 billion in 2019: that’s an average of 5.14% per year..!

What about where you live? US national averages can be a great addition to your business plan, yet they don’t necessarily help to assess the fast food industry where you want to open your store.

For example, the industry might be growing in the US, but declining in your region for a number of reasons (decreasing population or disposable income, etc.).

As you likely won’t find this information online, you can instead rely on the number of fast food restaurants to calculate the average growth rate of the industry in your area.

For example, if the region had only 21 fast food restaurants in 2011 and 30 in 2019, you can assume that the average annual growth rate of the fast food industry in the area is 5.4%, in line with the US average.

b) Fast Food Competition Overview

Studying your competitors’ business models is vital. You need to understand what makes them successful or why they fail. A clear understanding of their fast food offerings, marketing strategies, etc., will allow you to provide a better service.

If your competitors are offering nearly the same products & services, then what is their market share and how do they market their products & services to attract new customers?

It is always a good idea to do some research (if necessary, physically visit your competitors without revealing your business intentions) and create a comparative table summarizing their product & service offerings, marketing strategies, target audience, etc.

Here is a sample table that you can use:

Fast Food Restaurant SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats. This analysis will help lenders and investors better understand how you compare vs. competitors as well as the overall risk and reward profile of your business.

Here is a sample that you can use as a reference:

• Strengths : Worked as a regional manager at a leading taco & burrito chain for 5 years; master’s degree in business administration from a reputed institute
• Weaknesses : Startup cost, no initial brand reputation
• Opportunities : Industrial and office area with a high concentration of day laborers, contract workers, and immigrants with low income looking for low-priced yet filling food
• Threats : Well-established brands are introducing a specialized line of low-cost food offerings to capture the target market

c) Customer Analysis

This is the sub-section where you will provide a detailed analysis of your target audience.

Some important points that you must include in your customer analysis include:

• Age and gender distribution (you can get local demographic data from census.gov )
• Average monthly income and disposable income
• Average spend on fast food (per month or per year)
• Types of fast foods they prefer
• The expected price range for fast food
• Inclination towards loyalty programs & free perks
• Things they dislike about existing fast food restaurants and what they expect to be improved

You can add as many data points as required to validate your business decision. The idea here is to display your deep understanding of the target audience and their needs, preferences, and expectations. This knowledge can help you to tailor your products & services to attract new customers.

4. Sales & Marketing Strategy

This is the segment where you outline your customer acquisition strategy. Try to answer the following questions:

What is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?

• What are the different marketing strategies you will use?
• How do you intend to track the success of your marketing strategy?
• What is your CAC or customer acquisition cost?
• What is your marketing budget?
• What introductory promos and offers do you intend to provide for attracting new customers?

What marketing channels do fast food restaurants use?

A few marketing channels that fast food restaurants typically use are:

• PPC ads, Instagram / Facebook ads, etc.
• Social media content
• Billboards & signages
• Loyalty programs
• Pamphlets & flyers

It is not necessary to use all channels. Instead, you can start by focusing on a few of them, and include other marketing strategies later.

Also, you must have a fair and nearly accurate estimate of your marketing budget. Failure to display a well-planned and adequate budget for advertising and marketing may lead to investors losing confidence.

In other words, how do you differentiate yourself vs. competitors? This is very important as you might need to win customers from competitors.

A few examples of USPs are:

• Product quality : you may be offering higher quality products vs. your competitors, for example, burger buns made from fertilizer-free organically grown wheat
• Location : your restaurant may be located closer to your target audience and/or closer to a busy street where new potential customers can see your signage
• Price : your products may be cheaper vs. competitors
• Uniqueness : you may be the only taco restaurant (in an area with high population of Mexican migrants) that uses authentic Mexican-style soft corn tortillas

Your USP will depend on your business model, competitor analysis , and target audience. Whatever your USP be, it should be clear and appeal to your target audience.

5. Management & People

You must address 2 things here:

• The management team and their experience
• The organizational structure : different team members and who reports to whom

Small businesses often fail because of managerial weaknesses. Thus, having a strong management team is vital. Highlight the experience and education of senior managers that you intend to hire to oversee your fast food business.

First, describe their duties, responsibilities, and roles. Also, highlight their previous experience and explain how they succeeded in their previous roles.

If they have specialized training and experience (such as a professional degree in business management, managerial experience in a leading fast food chain, a proven track record of designing & executing successful marketing campaigns for famous restaurants leading to a measurable increase in ROI, etc.), add that information.

Organization Structure

Even if you haven’t already hired a general manager, administrative staff, busboy, cashier, chef, kitchen helpers, and other relevant staff members, you must provide a chart of the organizational structure defining hierarchy and reporting lines.

6. Financial Plan

The financial plan is perhaps, with the executive summary, the most important section of any business plan for a fast food .

Indeed, a solid financial plan tells lenders that your business is viable and can repay the loan you need from them. If you’re looking to raise equity from private investors, a solid financial plan will prove them your fast food is an attractive investment.

There should be 2 sections to your financial plan section:

• The startup costs of your project (if you plan to start a new fast food, renovate your restaurant, etc.)
• The 5-year financial projections

a) Startup Costs

Before we expand on 5-year financial projections in the following section, it’s always best practice to start with listing the startup costs of your project. For a fast food, startup costs are all the expenses you incur before you open your fast food and start making sales . These expenses typically are:

• The leasing deposit for the space (if you rent) or to buy the real estate (if you buy)
• Renovations and improvements
• Equipment & appliances
• Furniture & tableware

Of course, the startup costs depend on a number of factors, like the size of your restaurant, its location, the facilities, the menu, etc.

On average, it costs $89,000 to $266,000 to open a casual pizzeria (1,500 sq. ft.) in the US. In comparison, a 150-seats restaurant will cost more: $484,000 to $685,000.

Note that these costs are for illustrative purposes and may not be fully relevant for your business. For more information on how much it costs to open and run a restaurant, read our article here .

b) Financial Projections

In addition to startup costs, you will now need to build a solid 5-year financial model for your fast food restaurant.

Your financial projections should be built using a spreadsheet (e.g. Excel or Google Sheets) and presented in the form of tables and charts in the business plan of your fast food.

As usual, keep it concise here and save details (for example detailed financial statements, financial metrics, key assumptions used for the projections) for the appendix instead.

Your financial projections should answer at least the following questions:

• How much revenue do you expect to generate over the next 5 years?
• When do you expect to break even?
• How much cash will you burn until you get there?
• What’s the impact of a change in pricing (say 15%) on your margins?
• What is your average customer acquisition cost?

You should include here your 3 financial statements (income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement). This means you must forecast:

• The number of covers (customers or orders) over time ;
• Your expected revenue ;
• Operating costs to run the business ;
• Any other cash flow items (e.g. capex, debt repayment, etc.).

When projecting your revenue, make sure to sensitize pricing, cost of raw materials (food supplies) and your sales volume. Indeed, a small change in these assumptions may have a significant impact on your revenues and profits.

7. Use of Funds

This is the last section of the business plan of your fast food restaurant. Now that we have explained what your fast food’s business model and concept are, what is your menu, your marketing strategy, etc., this section must now answer the following questions:

• How much funding do you need?
• What financial instrument(s) do you need: is this equity or debt, or even a free-money public grant?
• How long will this funding last?
• Where else does the money come from? If you apply for a SBA loan for example, where does the other part of the investment come from (your own capital, private investors?)

If you raise debt:

• What percentage of the total funding the loan represents?
• What is the corresponding Debt Service Coverage Ratio ?

If you raise equity

• What percentage ownership are you selling as part of this funding round?
• What is the corresponding valuation of your business?

Use of Funds

Any business plan for a fast food restaurant should include a clear use of funds section. This is where you explain how the money will be spent.

Will you spend most of the loan / investment in paying your employees’ salaries and the inventory? Or will it cover mostly the cost for the lease deposit and the renovation?

For the use of funds, we also recommend using a pie chart like the one we have in our financial model template where we outline the main expenses categories as shown below.

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How to Write a Fast Food Restaurant Business Plan + Free Template

Makenna Crocker

6 min. read

Updated February 7, 2024

Crafting a savvy business plan is like perfecting the ultimate fast food combo for your restaurant’s triumph. It’s the special blend of your entrepreneurial vision, spicy industry knowledge, well-baked financial projections, and sizzling strategic plans served together to drive your venture forward.

In the U.S. alone, the fast-food industry is estimated to be worth over $250 billion as of 2023, indicating the immense potential within this sector. The industry has shown remarkable resilience even in economic downturns, further validating its prominence in the business world.

In this article, we’ll bite into our  free fast food restaurant business plan  for the example scenario of Fast Bites Delight, serving you a step-by-step guide to brewing up a compelling business plan specific to your fast food enterprise. You can download our sample fast food restaurant business plan to get started.

Through this journey, we aim to help you dish out a blueprint that can help you tap into this growing market and set your fast food joint up for success.

• Introduce your fast food business

Fast Bites Delight isn’t your typical fast-food joint. It serves up a smorgasbord of speedy, appetizing meals that neither compromises on nutrition nor taste. With more people seeking quality, convenience, and nutrition, Fast Bites Delight whips up a delectable answer to this culinary conundrum.

Their mission? Swiftly serve scrumptious yet healthy meals that satiate fast food cravings while keeping nutrition front and center.

The introduction effectively captures Fast Bites Delight’s unique selling proposition – serving quick, delicious meals that balance taste and nutrition. Highlighting your unique selling proposition upfront can give your business plan an immediate edge and create intrigue for what follows.

Conduct a market analysis 

Identifying your market is crucial. For Fast Bites Delight, their primary patrons include busy professionals, families on the go, students craving nourishing fast-food, and individuals scouting for a quick, healthy bite. But their clientele isn’t limited to individual consumers. They also cater to local businesses that need food services for events or meetings.

Their competition ranges from conventional fast-food chains, convenience stores, and quick-service restaurants to food trucks and supermarket deli sections. The key to standing out in this crowd? Fast Bites Delight dishes out a diverse, health-focused menu prepared with premium ingredients, served with a side of speedy service and a generous dollop of top-notch customer service.

This section does an excellent job identifying their key target market and competition. A  detailed market analysis  will help you understand your customers’ needs and how your product/service fulfills them. It also guides your marketing and competitive strategies.

• Funding your fast food restaurant

Every venture needs a financial launchpad. Fast Bites Delight projects an initial investment requirement of $250,000. This chunk of capital covers essentials like property rent, kitchen apparatus, renovations, initial inventory, and a cash reservoir to keep the business bubbling until it starts generating enough revenue.

By clearly stating their financial needs, Fast Bites Delight makes it easier for potential investors to see what their investment will cover. You too should detail your funding requirements, ensuring transparency and building trust with stakeholders. For more guidance on funding, check out our  Small Business Funding Guide .

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• Fast food restaurant sales and marketing strategy

The art of attracting customers involves blending multiple strategies. Fast Bites Delight plans to plate up culinary delights at their physical location, serve digital customers via their website, partner with food delivery apps, and spread their flavors through catering services.

Their marketing mix combines traditional methods with digital strategies. Social media campaigns, local SEO, content marketing, collaborations with community businesses and events, email marketing, and in-store promotions flavor their marketing efforts. The goal? To resonate with their target audience, whet their appetites, and draw them into the delightful dining experience that Fast Bites Delight promises.

They’ve created a multi-faceted approach to reach their customers, demonstrating adaptability and a customer-centric approach. In your plan,  consider different strategies  to reach your audience – from physical to digital platforms.

• Fast food restaurant financial projections

Projections give stakeholders a taste of the financial potential. Fast Bites Delight estimates revenue will rise from $300,000 in 2023 to $400,000 by 2025. Their expenses are expected to start at $200,000 in 2023, increasing to $240,000 by 2025.

With these numbers, they project profits simmering at $100,000 in 2023 and rising to a sizzling $160,000 by 2025.

Fast Bites Delight provides clear and realistic financial projections, an essential element to  demonstrate viability and profitability . Make sure your plan includes similar forecasts, indicating your business’s financial potential.

• Milestones for your fast food restaurant

Milestones add structure and strategy. Fast Bites Delight’s roadmap includes obtaining permits and licenses by June 2023, getting the restaurant ready for a grand opening in October 2023, and launching catering services by December 2023. In March 2024, they plan to expand their online delivery options.

By June 2024, they aim to turn a profit monthly. Franchise opportunities may even be on the table in 2025.

This part of the plan breaks down their journey  into achievable steps . It provides a clear timeline of expectations and goals. Similarly, include your startup’s major milestones to give a timeline for your growth.

• Assembling the perfect team

Running a fast food restaurant is no solo venture. The owner/operator stands at the helm, overseeing daily operations from menu planning to staff training. A kitchen manager ensures the back of the house operates smoothly, maintaining food safety, managing kitchen staff, and collaborating on menu development. Front-of-the-house manager ensures customers receive top-notch service while maintaining a clean and welcoming environment.

They clearly define the roles and responsibilities within their team, showcasing how everyone contributes to the restaurant’s success. Define your team structure similarly to give potential investors confidence in your operation’s management.

• Partnerships for your fast food restaurant

Partnerships add value and resources that a standalone business might struggle to find. Fast Bites Delight aims to join forces with local farms and food suppliers to source high-quality, fresh ingredients. Collaborations with food delivery apps extend their reach, making their meals accessible to customers from their homes or offices.

Community organizations and schools also fall within their network scope. By hosting fundraising events and promoting healthy eating habits, Fast Bites Delight aims to strengthen their ties with the community. Local businesses and health and fitness centers present partnership opportunities for catering services and promotional offers, combining business with the promotion of healthier lifestyle choices.

Partnerships are a strategic asset to Fast Bites Delight, extending their reach and adding value to their offerings. Identify potential partnerships for your business to show how you plan to leverage community and industry networks.

• Conclusion: The sweet success of fast bites delight

Fast Bites Delight’s business plan is a masterclass in combining vision, market analysis, strategic planning, and financial forecasting. From understanding their audience and competition to defining their unique value proposition, planning their funding needs, setting goals, and assembling the right team, they have a roadmap that can guide their venture toward success.

As a fast-food entrepreneur, applying these principles and tailoring them to your context will set you on a path toward a successful venture in this highly competitive market. So get ready, set, and let your fast food business plan cook up a storm!

The conclusion reaffirms their unique approach and ties the entire plan together. When you conclude your business plan, summarize your unique value proposition and how each aspect of your plan contributes to achieving your goals.

If you are ready to write your plan, you can download our free  fast food restaurant business plan  from our library of  500+ sample business plan templates . 

See why 1.2 million entrepreneurs have written their business plans with LivePlan

Makenna Crocker is the Marketing Specialist at Richardson Sports. Her work focuses on market and social trends, crafting gripping and authentic content, and enhancing marketing strategy to foster stronger B2B and B2C relationships. With a master’s degree in Advertising and Brand Responsibility from the University of Oregon, she specializes in generating a strong and responsible brand presence through content that positively influences and inspires others.

Table of Contents

• Conduct a market analysis 

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How To Start A Food Delivery Business + Checklist

Rachelle regua.

• January 27, 2023

In today’s world, it seems like everyone is busy. And for time-crunched people, cooking a meal from scratch can be overwhelming. That’s where food delivery comes in. 

A food delivery business can be a great option for anyone looking to start their own business. But before you start, there are a few things you need to know. This blog post will give you a rundown on how to start a food delivery business and what you need to do to get started. 

Plus, we’ve included a handy checklist to ensure you have everything covered. So read on and learn all you need to know about starting your own food delivery business!

Is A Food Delivery Business Profitable?

The short answer is yes, but there are some caveats. Let’s take a closer look at the potential profitability of a food delivery business. A food delivery business has two main revenue streams: delivery fees and commissions on orders. 

Delivery fees are typically a flat rate charged per order, while commissions are a percentage of the total order value. The revenue generated from each of these streams will vary depending on the type of food delivery business you’re running. 

For example, businesses that focus on delivering restaurant meals will generate most of their revenue from commissions. In contrast, those that deliver groceries or prepared meals will make more from delivery fees.

Which Food Delivery Service Is Best For You?

Before discussing how to start a food delivery business, let’s check which type of food delivery service suits you.

Delivery For Restaurants

Delivery for restaurants is a great option for entrepreneurs who want to enter the lucrative market of food delivery services. By partnering with local restaurants, you can provide a wider range of food options to customers without the high overhead costs of opening a restaurant. 

The key to success in this market is to establish a strong network of restaurant partners and offer competitive pricing and exceptional customer service. With the increasing popularity of food delivery apps, it’s easier than ever to start a delivery service without needing to build your own platform. 

However, the competition in the food delivery market is fierce, so it’s important to conduct thorough market research and offer unique value propositions to stand out.

Pet Food Delivery

Entrepreneurs who are passionate about pets can find a unique and profitable market in pet food delivery services. With the demand for pet food and supplies on the rise, there is a great opportunity to provide a convenient and hassle-free way for pet owners to purchase their furry friends’ necessities. 

Partnering with local pet food and supply companies can allow you to provide delivery services directly to their customers. 

As pet owners are often devoted to their furry friends, offering personalized services and a genuine passion for animals can help to establish a loyal customer base and ensure long-term success.

Grocery Delivery

As consumers lead increasingly busy lives, the popularity of grocery delivery services has soared. 

By partnering with local grocery stores, entrepreneurs can provide a convenient and efficient way for customers to purchase their groceries without leaving their homes. This service is particularly attractive to elderly or disabled individuals who may have difficulty leaving their homes.

Offering a diverse range of products and flexible delivery options, such as same-day or next-day delivery, can help to attract a larger customer base. Additionally, providing a subscription service for regular customers can help to build loyalty and ensure repeat business.

Fruit Delivery 

There are many reasons to start a fruit delivery service. For one, it is a great way to get fresh fruit into the hands of people who may not have easy access. 

This can be especially important for those living in rural areas or with limited transportation options. Another reason to start a fruit delivery service is that it can be profitable. 

If you can source your fruit at a low cost and then sell it at a markup, you can make a good profit. There are many ways to market and sell your fruit, so you should be able to find a way that works well for you. 

Meal Kit Courier

Meal kit courier services provide a convenient and healthy solution for busy consumers who wish to prepare home-cooked meals without the hassle of grocery shopping. 

To succeed in this competitive market, it’s crucial to offer high-quality products, competitive pricing, and exceptional customer service. 

Building strong relationships with meal kit companies and prioritizing efficient delivery logistics are also essential to ensure the timely delivery of fresh ingredients. 

Offering a user-friendly online platform with a variety of meal options and flexible delivery options, such as different delivery windows, can help to attract a larger customer base.

Choosing The Right Business Model 

When starting a food delivery business, choosing the right business model is crucial to ensure success. There are several business models to consider, including on-demand, full-service, and partial service.

On-Demand 

On-demand delivery services allow customers to place orders and have them delivered quickly, usually within an hour or less. This model is ideal for customers who require urgent or last-minute deliveries. 

On-demand delivery services typically use mobile apps or websites to facilitate ordering and offer real-time tracking of deliveries. 

While this model provides fast and convenient service to customers, it can be challenging for businesses to manage the high volume of orders and meet the demand for quick delivery.

Full-Service 

Full-service delivery services offer end-to-end delivery, including picking up orders from restaurants or suppliers, managing inventory, and delivering to customers. 

This model requires a significant investment in logistics, as businesses need to manage their own fleets of drivers and ensure timely deliveries. 

However, full-service delivery services can provide a more personalized and reliable service to customers.

Partial Service 

Partial service delivery services are a hybrid of on-demand and full-service models. They allow customers to order from a limited selection of restaurants or suppliers and offer a more personalized service than on-demand models. 

Partial service delivery services may work with a select group of drivers or outsource deliveries to third-party logistics providers. 

This model can be a cost-effective option for businesses that want to offer delivery services without managing their own logistics.

Starting A Food Delivery Business Checklist 

Here’s a checklist food delivery businesses should tick off:

Decide On Your Niche 

Starting a food delivery business can be a great way to earn extra income or even turn it into a full-time business. But before you get started, it’s important to decide on your niche. 

This will help you determine what type of food delivery business you want to start and what kind of customers you want to target.

Develop A Business Plan 

Food delivery businesses in a few different ways. You can work with restaurants to deliver their food, start your restaurant that delivers food, or create a meal delivery service that delivers prepared meals. 

Once you’ve decided on your business model, it’s time to start developing a business plan. This will help you figure out the details of your business, including your marketing strategy, financial plan, and operations plan.

Choose Names And Branding Strategy 

This may seem like a small detail, but it’s very important. Your business name will be the first thing potential customers see, so it should be catchy and memorable. It should also be relevant to your business – for example, if you’re specializing in healthy food delivery, you might want to include the word “healthy” in your name. 

Once you’ve chosen a name, it’s time to start thinking about branding. Branding is all about creating an identity for your business – what makes you different from your competitors? What kind of image do you want to project? 

Your branding strategy should be carefully considered and well-executed to make a lasting impression on customers.

Calculate The Cost Of The Initial Investment

The first step in estimating the cost of starting a delivery business is to assess your business model and delivery area. Are you planning on delivering meals to customers’ homes or businesses? What type of foods do you plan on delivering? The next step is to determine your start-up costs. 

This includes the cost of renting or leasing a delivery vehicle, purchasing supplies and equipment, and obtaining insurance. Another important factor in the cost of starting a food delivery business is marketing expenses.

You’ll need to budget for advertising and promotion and any fees associated with online ordering platforms or third-party delivery services. Finally, don’t forget to factor in the ongoing costs of running a food delivery business, such as fuel, vehicle maintenance, and employee salaries.

Get The Right Licenses And Permits

The first step in starting your food delivery business is to obtain the necessary licenses and permits. You may need a state or local government license depending on your location. Additionally, you will need to obtain a permit to operate your business from the health department. 

Next, you will need to purchase insurance for your business. This will protect you if something goes wrong with your food delivery business. You will also need to obtain a business license from your city or county. 

Once you have all of the necessary licenses and permits , you will need to find a location for your business. You will want to choose a location that is convenient for your customers. Additionally, you will want to make sure that your location is in a safe area.

Setup The Needed Equipment And Team 

The first thing you need to do is gather the necessary equipment. This includes a commercial kitchen, refrigeration, and food storage facilities. You will also need a delivery vehicle large enough to accommodate your orders. 

Next, you need to assemble a team of employees who can handle the daily operations of your business. This team should include a chef, server, delivery driver, and customer service representative.

Once you have all the necessary equipment and team in place, you need to develop a marketing strategy. This will help you attract customers and grow your business. Finally, you need to set up an online ordering system. This will allow customers to place orders online and track their delivery status. 

Once these elements are in place, you are ready to start your food delivery business! Keep track of your progress and make adjustments as needed to ensure success.

Set Up Suitable Channels For Receiving Orders

You can use a few key channels to receive orders when starting your food delivery business. The most obvious is the phone, but you can also use online ordering systems, email, or even text messaging. 

The important thing is to make sure that you have a system in place that is reliable and easy for your customers to use. 

You don’t want to miss out on orders because your system is too complicated or unreliable. One of the best ways to ensure that you’re able to receive orders is to use an online ordering system. A few options are available, but the most popular is probably GrubHub.

Set Up the Delivery System 

When starting a food delivery business, one of the most important things you’ll need to do is set up a delivery system. 

This can be as simple as choosing a dispatch software , hiring a few drivers and having them use their vehicles, or it can be a more complex operation with multiple vehicles and delivery routes. 

No matter what size delivery system you have, you need to make sure your drivers are insured. This is important not only for their safety but also for protecting your business in case of an accident. 

You also need to develop a good system for tracking orders and keeping track of where your drivers are at all times. This will help you ensure that orders are delivered on time and that your drivers are safe. 

Optimize Delivery Routes 

Assuming your food business is up and running, optimizing your delivery routes is next. This will help you get your food to your customers promptly and efficiently. 

The first thing you need to do is map out all of your potential delivery routes. This will give you a good idea of where your customers are and how best to reach them. 

Once you have your routes mapped out, you need to determine the best time of day to deliver to each route. This will ensure that your food is delivered fresh and on time. 

Once your routes and delivery times are determined, you must ensure you have the right vehicle for each route. 

Market Your Business 

Starting a food delivery business is important to market your business well. You must tell people about your business and what you can offer them. There are many ways to market your business, and you should choose the ones that best fit your business. Make a website for your business. 

This is a great way to inform people about your business and your offer. You can include photos of your food, a menu, and contact information. 

Create social media accounts for your business. This will allow you to interact with potential customers and tell them about your business. Make sure to post regularly and respond to comments and messages.

Starting a food delivery business FAQ

What kind of food should i offer for my food delivery business.

The type of food you offer will depend on your target market and your area. Consider the demographics of your area and the demand for certain types of cuisine. You may also want to consider offering a variety of options to appeal to a wide range of customers. Additionally, consider partnering with local restaurants or suppliers to offer a diverse range of options.

How do I know if there is a demand for my food delivery business in my area?

You can conduct market research to determine if there is a demand for your food delivery business in your area. This can include analyzing demographics, conducting surveys, and researching competitors. Additionally, you can test the demand by offering a limited service or conducting a soft launch to gauge interest.

What legal requirements do I need to fulfill to start a food delivery business?

Legal requirements will vary depending on your location and the type of business structure you choose. You may need to obtain a business license, register your business with local authorities, obtain insurance, and comply with health and safety regulations. 

It’s important to research the legal requirements in your area and consult with a lawyer or accountant to ensure you comply with all necessary regulations.

How can I create a unique brand for my food delivery business?

Creating a unique brand can help differentiate your business from competitors and attract customers. Consider developing a strong brand identity that reflects your business’s values and personality. 

This can include creating a memorable logo, developing a unique tone of voice for your marketing materials, and using social media to build an engaged community of followers. Additionally, consider offering unique services or menu items that set your business apart from competitors.

What technology do I need to manage my food delivery business?

Technology plays a crucial role in managing a food delivery business. You will need a reliable and user-friendly online ordering platform, a dispatching system for managing deliveries, and a payment processing system. 

Additionally, you may want to invest in a customer relationship management (CRM) system to track customer interactions and data analytics tools to measure your business’s performance.

How can I ensure that my food stays fresh during delivery?

Ensuring the freshness of your food during delivery is critical to maintaining customer satisfaction. You can invest in insulated bags or containers to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Additionally, consider using high-quality packaging materials that are leak-proof and sturdy to prevent spillage and maintain the integrity of the food.

How can I handle customer complaints and issues?

Handling customer complaints and issues promptly and professionally is important for maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. It’s essential to have a clear and effective customer service policy in place, including a process for handling complaints and a system for tracking and resolving issues. 

Additionally, it’s important to be responsive to customer feedback and to take action to address any concerns or issues.

What kind of employees do I need to hire for my food delivery business?

The type of employees you need will depend on the size and scope of your business. You will likely need drivers or delivery personnel, as well as kitchen staff, customer service representatives, and administrative staff. It’s important to hire employees who are reliable, customer-focused, and have relevant skills and experience.

How much money do I need to start a food delivery business?

The amount of money needed to start a food delivery business will depend on various factors, such as the type of business model, the size of the operation, and the location. 

Startup costs can include expenses such as equipment, supplies, marketing, legal fees, and employee salaries. It’s important to create a detailed business plan and budget to determine the costs and funding needed to start your business.

How can I scale my food delivery business and expand into new markets?

Scaling your food delivery business and expanding into new markets can be achieved through various strategies, such as partnering with other businesses, offering new services or menu items, expanding delivery areas, and investing in marketing and advertising. 

It’s important to carefully plan and execute your expansion strategy to ensure that you can maintain quality and customer satisfaction while growing your business. Additionally, consider leveraging technology and data analytics to optimize operations and improve efficiencies.

Start a food delivery business with Detrack

In conclusion, starting a food delivery business can be a great opportunity for entrepreneurs who are passionate about food and customer service. 

With the right business model, a unique brand, and efficient technology, you can create a successful and profitable venture. However, it’s important to carefully consider the legal requirements, food safety regulations, and staffing needs of your business.

One way to streamline the operations of your food delivery business is to use Detrack , a software solution designed to simplify and optimize delivery logistics. 

Detrack offers features such as real-time tracking, automated notifications, and customizable delivery workflows to help you manage your deliveries efficiently and effectively. 

If you’re ready to start your food delivery business or want to improve your existing operations, try Detrack today and see the difference it can make for your business!

ARTICLE WRITTEN BY:

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Fast Food Business Plan Template & Guidebook

Starting a fast food business can be one of the most lucrative endeavors for entrepreneurs. With the right planning and guidance, any aspiring restauranteur can build a successful eatery and create a long-lasting enterprise. The #1 Fast Food Business Plan Template & Guidebook provides invaluable insight into setting up a business, organizing finances, marketing effectively, and achieving success in the fast food industry. Unlock the secrets of this dynamic market with this essential guide!

Get worry-free services and support to launch your business starting at $0 plus state fees.

• How to Start a Profitable Fast Food Business [11 Steps]
• 10+ Best & Profitable Fast Food Business Ideas [2023]
• List of the Best Marketing Ideas For Your Fast Food Business:

How to Write a Fast Food Business Plan in 7 Steps:

1. describe the purpose of your fast food business..

The first step to writing your business plan is to describe the purpose of your fast food business. This includes describing why you are starting this type of business, and what problems it will solve for customers. This is a quick way to get your mind thinking about the customers’ problems. It also helps you identify what makes your business different from others in its industry.

It also helps to include a vision statement so that readers can understand what type of company you want to build.

Here is an example of a purpose mission statement for a fast food business:

Our mission at [Business Name] is to provide delicious and convenient fast food items to our customers in an atmosphere of friendliness and speed, while ensuring that employees are treated with respect and dignity.

2. Products & Services Offered by Your Fast Food Business.

The next step is to outline your products and services for your fast food business. 

When you think about the products and services that you offer, it's helpful to ask yourself the following questions:

• What is my business?
• What are the products and/or services that I offer?
• Why am I offering these particular products and/or services?
• How do I differentiate myself from competitors with similar offerings?
• How will I market my products and services?

You may want to do a comparison of your business plan against those of other competitors in the area, or even with online reviews. This way, you can find out what people like about them and what they don’t like, so that you can either improve upon their offerings or avoid doing so altogether.

3. Build a Creative Marketing Stratgey.

If you don't have a marketing plan for your fast food business, it's time to write one. Your marketing plan should be part of your business plan and be a roadmap to your goals. 

A good marketing plan for your fast food business includes the following elements:

Target market

• Who is your target market?
• What do these customers have in common?
• How many of them are there?
• How can you best reach them with your message or product?

Customer base 

• Who are your current customers? 
• Where did they come from (i.e., referrals)?
• How can their experience with your fast food business help make them repeat customers, consumers, visitors, subscribers, or advocates for other people in their network or industry who might also benefit from using this service, product, or brand?

Product or service description

• How does it work, what features does it have, and what are its benefits?
• Can anyone use this product or service regardless of age or gender?
• Can anyone visually see themselves using this product or service?
• How will they feel when they do so? If so, how long will the feeling last after purchasing (or trying) the product/service for the first time?

Competitive analysis

• Which companies are competing with yours today (and why)? 
• Which ones may enter into competition with yours tomorrow if they find out about it now through word-of-mouth advertising; social media networks; friends' recommendations; etc.)
• What specific advantages does each competitor offer over yours currently?

Marketing channels

• Which marketing channel do you intend to leverage to attract new customers?
• What is your estimated marketing budget needed?
• What is the projected cost to acquire a new customer?
• How many of your customers do you instead will return?

Form an LLC in your state!

4. Write Your Operational Plan.

Next, you'll need to build your operational plan. This section describes the type of business you'll be running, and includes the steps involved in your operations. 

In it, you should list:

• The equipment and facilities needed
• Who will be involved in the business (employees, contractors)
• Financial requirements for each step
• Milestones & KPIs
• Location of your business
• Zoning & permits required for the business

What equipment, supplies, or permits are needed to run a fast food business?

In order to run a Fast Food business, you will need the following equipment, supplies, and permits:

• Commercial kitchen equipment such as ovens, fryers, grills, etc.
• Food ingredients such as meat, vegetables, and other food products
• Restaurant furniture such as tables, chairs, counters etc.
• Cleaning supplies such as dishwashing detergent and scrub brushes
• Food storage containers
• A serving line or counter to serve customers
• A POS system or cash register
• Permits from applicable federal, state and local governments (such as tax licenses and health permits)

5. Management & Organization of Your Fast Food Business.

The second part of your fast food business plan is to develop a management and organization section.

This section will cover all of the following:

• How many employees you need in order to run your fast food business. This should include the roles they will play (for example, one person may be responsible for managing administrative duties while another might be in charge of customer service).
• The structure of your management team. The higher-ups like yourself should be able to delegate tasks through lower-level managers who are directly responsible for their given department (inventory and sales, etc.).
• How you’re going to make sure that everyone on board is doing their job well. You’ll want check-ins with employees regularly so they have time to ask questions or voice concerns if needed; this also gives you time to offer support where necessary while staying informed on how things are going within individual departments too!

6. Fast Food Business Startup Expenses & Captial Needed.

This section should be broken down by month and year. If you are still in the planning stage of your business, it may be helpful to estimate how much money will be needed each month until you reach profitability.

Typically, expenses for your business can be broken into a few basic categories:

Startup Costs

Startup costs are typically the first expenses you will incur when beginning an enterprise. These include legal fees, accounting expenses, and other costs associated with getting your business off the ground. The amount of money needed to start a fast food business varies based on many different variables, but below are a few different types of startup costs for a fast food business.

Running & Operating Costs

Running costs refer to ongoing expenses related directly with operating your business over time like electricity bills or salaries paid out each month. These types of expenses will vary greatly depending on multiple variables such as location, team size, utility costs, etc.

Marketing & Sales Expenses

You should include any costs associated with marketing and sales, such as advertising and promotions, website design or maintenance. Also, consider any additional expenses that may be incurred if you decide to launch a new product or service line. For example, if your fast food business has an existing website that needs an upgrade in order to sell more products or services, then this should be listed here.

7. Financial Plan & Projections

A financial plan is an important part of any business plan, as it outlines how the business will generate revenue and profit, and how it will use that profit to grow and sustain itself. To devise a financial plan for your fast food business, you will need to consider a number of factors, including your start-up costs, operating costs, projected revenue, and expenses. 

Here are some steps you can follow to devise a financial plan for your fast food business plan:

• Determine your start-up costs: This will include the cost of purchasing or leasing the space where you will operate your business, as well as the cost of buying or leasing any equipment or supplies that you need to start the business.
• Estimate your operating costs: Operating costs will include utilities, such as electricity, gas, and water, as well as labor costs for employees, if any, and the cost of purchasing any materials or supplies that you will need to run your business.
• Project your revenue: To project your revenue, you will need to consider the number of customers you expect to have and the average amount they will spend on each visit. You can use this information to estimate how much money you will make from selling your products or services.
• Estimate your expenses: In addition to your operating costs, you will need to consider other expenses, such as insurance, marketing, and maintenance. You will also need to set aside money for taxes and other fees.
• Create a budget: Once you have estimated your start-up costs, operating costs, revenue, and expenses, you can use this information to create a budget for your business. This will help you to see how much money you will need to start the business, and how much profit you can expect to make.
• Develop a plan for using your profit: Finally, you will need to decide how you will use your profit to grow and sustain your business. This might include investing in new equipment, expanding the business, or saving for a rainy day.

Frequently Asked Questions About Fast Food Business Plans:

Why do you need a business plan for a fast food business.

A business plan is an essential tool for starting and running a successful fast food business. It outlines all the important aspects of the business such as the goals, market analysis, financial projections and budgeting, marketing strategies, key personnel and operations. Having a detailed business plan shows potential investors that you have done your research, thought through all the necessary details, and are serious and organized about starting your fast food business. Additionally, it helps you better understand your customer base and how to satisfy their needs.

Who should you ask for help with your fast food business plan?

You should consult a professional business planner or a qualified business consultant for assistance with developing a business plan for your fast food business. Additionally, you may benefit from seeking out the advice and guidance of a local Small Business Administration (SBA) member or other local services that offer assistance to small businesses.

Can you write a fast food business plan yourself?

Yes, you can write your own fast food business plan. The process is relatively straightforward, but can be time consuming. A basic fast food business plan typically includes the following sections: Executive Summary, Company Overview, Market Analysis, Competitive Analysis, Product/Service Offering, Marketing Plan, Operations Plan, Financial Plan and Appendices. Each section should include information about your company's mission and goals, target market and industry trends, strategies for success and potential risks. You should also consider including projections for future growth of your business and how you might address any potential challenges.

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I'm Nick, co-founder of newfoundr.com, dedicated to helping aspiring entrepreneurs succeed. As a small business owner with over five years of experience, I have garnered valuable knowledge and insights across a diverse range of industries. My passion for entrepreneurship drives me to share my expertise with aspiring entrepreneurs, empowering them to turn their business dreams into reality.

Through meticulous research and firsthand experience, I uncover the essential steps, software, tools, and costs associated with launching and maintaining a successful business. By demystifying the complexities of entrepreneurship, I provide the guidance and support needed for others to embark on their journey with confidence.

From assessing market viability and formulating business plans to selecting the right technology and navigating the financial landscape, I am dedicated to helping fellow entrepreneurs overcome challenges and unlock their full potential. As a steadfast advocate for small business success, my mission is to pave the way for a new generation of innovative and driven entrepreneurs who are ready to make their mark on the world.

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Fast-Food Restaurant Business Plan Template

Trusted by 1300+ Downloaders

What You Get

• A compelling & detailed pre-written Fast-Food business plan template in WORD
• A full & automatic Fast-Food financial plan model in EXCEL you can easily customize
• Customized text tailored to the Fast-Food business
• The ability to paste advanced charts and tables within a click
• No accounting or specialized financial knowledge needed
• A truly low-cost solution saving you time and money

Fast-Food Restaurant Business Plan Template Description

Our ready-made fast food business plan package includes a robust pre-written business plan in Word and a customizable automatic financial model in Excel tailored to the fast-food business. All you need is to spare a couple of hours customizing the documents to perfectly suit them to your own fast-food restaurant project. Your ready-made fast-food business plan is ideal to pitch your F&B venture to prospective investors and will you plan, execute, fund and launch a successful fast-food outlet. Check below the full content description.

Fast-Food Business Plan Document in Word

Our ready-made Fast-Food Restaurant business plan template is in Word format and includes 23 pages. The document is divided into multiple sections. Each section contains the essential points that are necessary to effectively present your Fast-Food Restaurant project. Each section and sub-section offers you a sample text that you can easily customize to make your business plan unique. Below is a short extract of your fast-food business plan template in Word.

Automatic Fast-Food Financial Model in Excel

Our pre-populated Fast-Food Restaurant financial model is in Excel format and includes multiples worksheets. You can easily edit the model’s inputs including changing costs and revenue assumptions to generate pro-forma financial forecasts including P&L, Cash flows and Balance Sheets. Below is small excerpt of your automatic fast-food financial plan in Excel.

The Benefits of Creating a Business Plan for a Fast-Food Restaurant:

There are many important benefits for creating a business plan for your upcoming fast-food project including:

• Clarifying your vision and goals: A business plan allows you to take the time to think through all aspects of your fast-food restaurant and how you envision it operating. You can consider your target market, menu offerings, and unique selling points, as well as your long-term goals for the business.
• Serving as a roadmap: A business plan can help you stay focused on your goals and make informed decisions as you move forward with your fast food project. It can help you anticipate challenges and plan for how to overcome them.
• Raise funding: If you need to borrow money to start your fast-food restaurant, a business plan can be an important tool for convincing lenders or investors to provide the funding you need. It should include financial projections and a clear explanation of how the funding will be used to grow the business.
• Reference tool for execution: As you move forward with your fast-food restaurant, you may encounter new challenges and opportunities. A business plan can be a useful reference tool to help you navigate these check points and stay on track. You can refer back to it to ensure you are staying true to your plan and making progress towards your long-term objectives.

This Ready-Made Fast-Food Business Plan is For:

• Entrepreneurs wishing to start a Fast-Food Restaurant
• Aspiring Fast-Food Restaurant owners who want to create a business plan fast and easy
• Fast-Food entrepreneurs who wish to pitch their project to investors
• F&B professionals who wish to better understand the potential of the opportunity

Immediate Delivery by Email

• Once you complete the order, you will receive an email with links to download your documents
• Your order will contain the full pre-written business plan in Word
• Your order will contain the full customizable financial model in Excel

Your Fast-Food Restaurant Business Plan Content

Executive Summary: Our Fast-Food Restaurant business plan template starts with a compelling Executive Summary. This key section is very important as it summarizes in 1 page your Fast-Food Restaurant business opportunity. It will introduce your business model, the key people behind the project as well as the unique selling proposition offered by your Fast-Food venture. This section will also mention how market conditions and consumer trends are favorable for launching your project.

The Problem Opportunity: Next, your ready-made Fast-Food Restaurant business plan will list a number of problems experienced by your prospects in your target market and will show how this presents a unique opportunity for your Fast-Food business. These can include issues such as lack of Fast-Food outlets in a certain location, low quality of food by existing players, undifferentiated offering by current actors in the market…etc.

The Solution:  This section explains how your Fast-Food Restaurant will take advantage of the current problems in the market and will detail your innovative solutions.

Mission & Vision: Your mission will explain in a couple of sentences your Fast-Food Restaurant’s business ethos. In other words, it will summarize your unique value proposition and will explain how you are different than the competition. Your vision will explain your long-term plans for this Fast-Food Restaurant concept. Are you planning to start with one branch today and expand into a multi-branch business model? Are you looking to transform your Fast-Food Restaurant business into a franchise model?…etc.

Business Model:  This section details your Fast-Food Restaurant concept using the business model canvas method. In a visually appealing table, we will detail your Fast-Food Restaurant’s key partners, activities, resources, value proposition, customer segments, customer relationship plan, marketing channels, cost structure and revenue streams.

Products & Services:  Next, we will talk in details about your various products and services. We will describe your different menu items including starters, main dishes, desserts, beverages…etc. We will also provide information about your pricing by product or line of items.

Market Analysis: This important section describes the various market statistics and consumer trends in the Fast-Food industry and explains how they support your own concept. The purpose of this section is to show that the market conditions are favorable for launching your new Fast-Food concept.

Global Market Trends: In this sub-section of the market analysis, we will discuss the latest global market trends in the Fast-Food industry. We will look at the global industry size, growth rate, growth diving factors and consumer trends.

Local Market Trends: This sub-section explains the local market trends that are relevant to your particular Fast-Food business.

Target Customers:  In this section, we will describe your various customer profiles by providing information about their demographics, behavior and purchasing habits.

Competitive Analysis:  We will analyze key competitors active in your target market and provide insights about their strengths and weaknesses.

Competitive Advantages: After looking at the competitive landscape, we will then show how your Fast-Food Restaurant is differentiating itself from the competition through a number of key advantages.

SWOT Analysis:  This section features a 4-quadrant table with explanations about how your Fast-Food Restaurant intends to leverage its key strengths, mitigate weaknesses, capture opportunities and thwart any future threats.

Marketing Plan : This chapter provides detailed information about your go-to-market strategy. It includes a detailed action plan to help you build brand awareness and generate sales.

Branding & Awareness:  We will describe in this sub-section your choice of key marketing channels to build branding and awareness.

Customer Acquisition:  We will describe in this sub-section your choice of key marketing channels to acquire customers and increase sales.

Operating Plan:  This chapter provides information about your Fast-Food Restaurant’s opening hours, internal processes and describes the interactions between various key departments and teams.

Management Team: It is very important to present the key people behind your Fast-Food project and thus we have dedicated a section for this very purpose. It is also important to talk here about the founder’s vision, his past education and professional experience.

Hiring Plan:  No business can succeed without having on board the right team. This section lists all the key positions you plan to hire with information about their salaries and expected start dates.

Key Milestones: To be able to launch and execute your Fast-Food project, you need to follow a set of actionable tasks with target deadlines. This section serves this purpose.

Financial Plan: Without a robust financial plan, your Fast-Food Restaurant business plan would be an incomplete document. This important section provides crucial information about your pro-forma financial projections and shows that you have really done your homework. The data mentioned in this and the following sections will be provided by the Excel financial model accompanying your Fast-Food business plan.

Projected Revenue:  This module shows your Fast-Food Restaurant’s revenue projections over the next three years.

Projected Profit and Loss:  This module shows your Fast-Food Restaurant’s income statement (also called profit and loss statement) over the next three years. Your income statement includes detailed projections about your sales and expenses and shows how your Fast-Food Restaurant’s revenue is converted into a net profit.

Projected Cash Flows:  This module shows your Fast-Food Restaurant’s cash flow projections over the next three years. The first year of operation is even detailed on a monthly basis. Your cash flow statement will detail the various cash inflows your Fast-Food Restaurant will generate from its day to day operations and from funding sources, as well as the various cash outflows required to pay for operating expenses and business investments.

Projected Balance Sheet : This module shows your Fast-Food Restaurant’s balance sheet projections over the next three years. The balance sheet will provide a summary of your Fast-Food Restaurant’s short term and long term assets in addition to your short term and long term liabilities and capital.

Profitability Analysis:  In this section, we will provide information about your gross margin, net margin and discuss the profitability of your Fast-Food Restaurant business.

Funding Requirement:  This module states the amount of funding your need to be able to comfortably launch your Fast-Food Restaurant business. It also describes the planned allocation of the funds between opex and capex.

Conclusion : Finally, we will conclude your business plan by recapitulating the key points that make your Fast-Food Restaurant project compelling and reiterate the rationale behind your business opportunity.

Why Use our Ready-Made Fast-Food Business Plan?

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Sample Fast Food Business Plan

Writing a business plan is a crucial step in starting a fast food business. Not only does it provide structure and guidance for the future, but it also helps to create funding opportunities and attract potential investors. For aspiring fast food business owners, having access to a sample fast food business plan can be especially helpful in providing direction and gaining insight into how to draft their own fast food business plan.

Download our Ultimate Fast Food Business Plan Template

Having a thorough business plan in place is critical for any successful fast food venture. It will serve as the foundation for your operations, setting out the goals and objectives that will help guide your decisions and actions. A well-written business plan can give you clarity on realistic financial projections and help you secure financing from lenders or investors. A fast food business plan example can be a great resource to draw upon when creating your own plan, making sure that all the key components are included in your document.

The fast food business plan sample below will give you an idea of what one should look like. It is not as comprehensive and successful in raising capital for your fast food as Growthink’s Ultimate Fast Food Business Plan Template , but it can help you write a fast food business plan of your own.

Fast Food Business Plan Example – QuickBite Eats

Table of contents, executive summary, company overview, industry analysis, customer analysis, competitive analysis, marketing plan, operations plan, management team, financial plan.

At QuickBite Eats, located in the vibrant heart of Las Vegas, NV, we are redefining the local fast food landscape by offering a unique mix of quality, variety, and service. Our diverse menu features everything from gourmet burgers and crispy fries to succulent chicken items, refreshing soft drinks, and indulgent desserts, all made with the finest ingredients. Our commitment goes beyond just serving food; it’s about creating memorable dining experiences in a welcoming atmosphere for families and friends. As a newly established S Corporation since January 5, 2024, we are dedicated to becoming a staple in the Las Vegas community, setting new standards in the fast-food industry with our superior offerings and exceptional service.

Our edge in the competitive fast-food market comes from our founder’s extensive experience and a steadfast commitment to excellence. We’ve quickly marked our presence in Las Vegas by developing a recognizable brand, securing a prime location, and laying the groundwork for exceptional customer experiences. Our accomplishments, including our logo creation, company naming, and location setup, reflect our dedication to establishing QuickBite Eats as a household name. Our continuous efforts to innovate and enhance our offerings ensure that we are not just meeting but exceeding customer expectations, contributing to our growing success in the fast-food sector.

The fast food industry is characterized by rapid service and convenience, catering to the evolving lifestyle of consumers seeking quality food options on the go. As dietary preferences shift towards healthier, more diverse options, the industry is experiencing a transformation. QuickBite Eats is positioned to capitalize on these trends by offering a menu that not only satisfies the traditional fast food audience but also appeals to those seeking innovative, quality options. Our focus on premium ingredients and diverse offerings sets us apart in a competitive landscape, enabling us to meet the demands of a broad customer base.

Our target customers are diverse, encompassing busy professionals, families, and students looking for quick, quality meal options in Las Vegas. Recognizing the importance of convenience and taste, we are committed to providing a menu that caters to various dietary preferences and lifestyles. Our strategic location and welcoming atmosphere make us an ideal choice for locals and visitors alike, seeking a memorable dining experience. By understanding and addressing the specific needs of our customers, QuickBite Eats aims to build a loyal customer base and become a preferred dining destination in the community.

Top competitors include established fast-food chains with a strong local presence. Our competitive advantages lie in our commitment to quality, menu variety, and the dining experience we offer. Unlike our competitors, QuickBite Eats focuses on delivering superior taste through premium ingredients and a diverse menu that caters to a wide range of preferences. Our strategic location and founder’s industry experience further strengthen our position in the market, enabling us to attract and retain customers seeking a higher standard of fast food.

Our marketing strategy emphasizes the quality and variety of our products, competitive pricing, and the exceptional service we provide. By offering a menu that includes gourmet burgers, crispy fries, and a selection of chicken items, desserts, and soft drinks, we cater to a broad audience. Our pricing is designed to offer value for money while reflecting the premium nature of our ingredients. To promote QuickBite Eats, we plan to leverage social media marketing, local advertising, and community events. A significant focus will be on creating buzz through a launch event, engaging with the local community, and building a strong online presence to attract and retain customers.

Our operational strategy is focused on achieving key milestones that will ensure the success and sustainability of QuickBite Eats. These include securing a prime Las Vegas location, obtaining necessary permits, completing our restaurant build-out, recruiting and training staff, and launching a comprehensive marketing campaign. We aim to reach a monthly revenue of $15,000, achieve operational efficiency through customer feedback and menu optimization, and reach our break-even point. Future plans involve exploring strategic partnerships and potential expansion opportunities, based on our initial success and customer feedback.

QuickBite Eats is led by a seasoned team of professionals with extensive experience in the fast-food industry. Our founder’s previous success in launching and managing a fast-food venture provides us with invaluable insight and expertise. Alongside a dedicated management team, we are committed to driving the growth and success of QuickBite Eats. Our team’s combined skills in operations, marketing, and customer service are pivotal in achieving our vision of establishing QuickBite Eats as a leading name in the fast-food sector.

Welcome to QuickBite Eats, a new addition to the Las Vegas, NV, fast food scene. As a local establishment, we’re proud to introduce our unique approach to fast food to our fellow Las Vegas residents. Recognizing the gap in high-quality local fast food options, we’ve committed ourselves to fill this void by offering superior taste, variety, and service.

At QuickBite Eats, our menu is designed to cater to a wide range of tastes and preferences. Our offerings include a variety of burgers, fries, chicken items, soft drinks, and desserts. We believe in using only the finest ingredients to ensure that every bite is as fulfilling as it is delicious. Our commitment to quality extends beyond our food; it’s about providing a memorable dining experience for everyone who walks through our doors.

Located in the heart of Las Vegas, NV, QuickBite Eats serves the local community with pride. Our location is not just a place to eat; it’s a destination where families and friends can come together to enjoy great food in a welcoming atmosphere. We understand the importance of convenience and accessibility for our customers, and our strategic location allows us to serve a wide customer base efficiently.

QuickBite Eats stands out in the competitive fast-food market for several reasons. Our founder brings a wealth of experience from successfully running a previous fast food venture, ensuring that we understand the intricacies of the business and the importance of customer satisfaction. Our edge over the competition comes from our commitment to making better burgers, fries, and chicken, alongside a wider selection of food items. We’re not just about serving food; we’re about setting new standards in the fast-food industry.

Since our founding on January 5, 2024, as a S Corporation, QuickBite Eats has made significant strides. Our achievements to date include the creation of our logo, the development of our company name, and securing a prime location for our establishment. These accomplishments are just the beginning of our journey. We’re continuously working to innovate and improve, ensuring that QuickBite Eats becomes a household name in Las Vegas and beyond.

The Fast Food industry in the United States is a behemoth, with a market size of over $250 billion in 2021. This figure showcases the immense popularity and demand for quick and convenient dining options among consumers. Furthermore, the market is expected to continue growing at a steady rate, with projections indicating a 3-4% annual growth over the next few years. This growth is driven by factors such as busy lifestyles, changing consumer preferences, and the rise of delivery and online ordering services.

One of the key trends in the Fast Food industry is the increasing focus on healthier menu options and transparency in ingredients. Consumers are becoming more health-conscious and are seeking out options that are not only convenient but also nutritious. This trend bodes well for QuickBite Eats, a new Fast Food establishment in Las Vegas, NV, that offers a variety of fresh and healthy choices to its customers. By catering to this growing demand for healthier fast food options, QuickBite Eats has the opportunity to carve out a niche in the market and attract health-conscious consumers.

Another trend in the Fast Food industry is the growing popularity of customization and personalization. Customers are increasingly seeking out personalized dining experiences, where they can tailor their meals to their specific preferences and dietary needs. QuickBite Eats can capitalize on this trend by offering customizable menu options and a variety of add-ons and toppings for customers to choose from. By providing a unique and personalized dining experience, QuickBite Eats can differentiate itself from competitors and attract a loyal customer base in the bustling Las Vegas food scene.

Below is a description of our target customers and their core needs.

Target Customers

QuickBite Eats will target local residents as its primary customer base. This group is continuously looking for convenient, tasty, and affordable dining options. By focusing on this demographic, QuickBite Eats will meet a critical need, offering fast service and a variety of options that cater to the local palate.

The establishment will also attract tourists seeking to experience local flavors in a fast and convenient setting. Las Vegas attracts millions of visitors annually, many of whom are eager to explore dining options beyond the traditional casino and buffet fare. QuickBite Eats will tailor its menu to include items that reflect the culinary diversity of the area, thus appealing to these curious and adventurous eaters.

Additionally, QuickBite Eats will target working professionals who have limited time for lunch breaks and prefer quick service without compromising on quality. The location’s proximity to business districts and commercial areas will make it an ideal spot for grabbing a bite before heading back to the office. This segment values efficiency and will appreciate the fast service and convenient location QuickBite Eats offers.

Customer Needs

QuickBite Eats meets the needs of residents craving high-quality fast food, offering a range of delicious burgers, chicken, fries, soft drinks, and desserts. Customers can expect a menu crafted from premium ingredients, ensuring every bite is as satisfying as it is flavorful. This focus on quality sets QuickBite Eats apart, catering to those who don’t want to compromise on taste even when short on time.

In the bustling environment of Las Vegas, convenience is king, and QuickBite Eats understands this well. Patrons have access to swift service, ensuring that their meals are ready when they are, making it the perfect stop for individuals in a hurry. Moreover, the establishment provides a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere, allowing customers to enjoy their meals on the go or within the cozy confines of the restaurant.

Apart from satisfying the basic needs for food and speed, QuickBite Eats also addresses the growing desire for diverse dietary options. The menu includes selections that cater to various dietary restrictions and preferences, such as vegetarian and gluten-free choices. This inclusivity ensures that everyone can find something to enjoy, making QuickBite Eats a versatile dining destination in Las Vegas.

QuickBite Eats’s competitors include the following companies:

Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers

Raising Cane’s specializes in chicken finger meals, offering a simple menu that focuses on high-quality, freshly made food. Their offerings include chicken finger combos, sandwiches, and tailgates, with sides like coleslaw, Texas toast, and crinkle-cut fries. The price points are moderate, making it accessible for a wide customer base.

Raising Cane’s generates significant revenue, underpinned by its strong brand and loyal customer base. The company operates over 500 locations across the United States and is expanding internationally. Raising Cane’s serves a broad customer segment, appealing to families, young adults, and anyone looking for quick, quality meals.

The key strengths of Raising Cane’s include its focused menu, high-quality ingredients, and the consistent dining experience it offers. However, its limited menu variety can be seen as a weakness, potentially turning away customers seeking more options.

Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A offers a wide range of chicken-based fast food items, including sandwiches, nuggets, strips, salads, and sides like waffle fries. Known for its signature Chick-fil-A sauce, the chain has carved out a niche in the fast-food industry. Its price points are competitive, offering value through quality and service.

Chick-fil-A boasts substantial revenues, attributed to its high sales volumes and efficient operations. With over 2,600 locations across the United States, Chick-fil-A has a broad geographic footprint. The customer segments it serves are diverse, from busy professionals looking for quick service to families seeking a friendly dining experience.

Key strengths of Chick-fil-A include its strong brand loyalty, customer service excellence, and innovative menu items. However, being closed on Sundays and controversies over its corporate values have been seen as weaknesses, affecting its universal appeal.

Jollibee Jollibee is known for its fusion of American fast food with Filipino flavors, offering a menu that includes burgers, spaghetti, fried chicken, and unique desserts. It stands out for its affordable price points and family-friendly meal combos. Jollibee’s approach to combining western fast food culture with local tastes has earned it a unique position in the market.

Jollibee has shown impressive revenue growth, supported by its expansion both in the Philippines and internationally. The chain operates over 1,400 stores globally, with a strategic focus on growth in North America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Its customer segments include Filipino expatriates, as well as a growing base of non-Filipino customers intrigued by its unique offerings.

The strengths of Jollibee lie in its strong brand recognition within the Filipino community and its unique menu offerings. However, its niche appeal might limit its customer base in markets less familiar with Filipino cuisine. Additionally, its global expansion faces challenges from established local competitors and varying taste preferences.

Competitive Advantages

At QuickBite Eats, we pride ourselves on our ability to outshine the competition with our superior quality of food. Our burgers, fries, and chicken are not just meals; they’re culinary experiences designed to bring satisfaction and joy to our customers. We understand that in the bustling city life, finding a quick yet delicious meal can be a challenge. That’s why we’ve dedicated ourselves to perfecting our recipes and cooking techniques to ensure that every bite our customers take is better than anything they can find elsewhere. Our commitment to quality goes beyond just taste; we also focus on sourcing the best ingredients to ensure that every meal we serve is of the highest standard.

Moreover, our menu boasts a variety of food items, catering to a wide range of preferences and dietary needs. This diversity in our menu sets us apart from other fast-food options in the market. We believe that variety is the spice of life, and that’s why we continuously strive to innovate and expand our offerings. Whether our customers are in the mood for a classic burger, a crispy serving of chicken, or something entirely different, we have something to satisfy their cravings. Our ability to serve more food items not only enhances the dining experience for our customers but also positions us as a versatile and preferred choice in the fast-food industry. Our dedication to excellence and innovation ensures that we remain at the forefront of our customers’ minds when they think of quality fast food.

Our marketing plan, included below, details our products/services, pricing and promotions plan.

Products and Services

QuickBite Eats emerges as a promising destination for fast food enthusiasts, offering a varied selection of products that cater to different tastes and preferences. Among the offerings, burgers stand out as a flagship product. Customers can expect a range of burgers, from classic beef to innovative plant-based options, with an average selling price of around $6. This price point reflects the quality and satisfaction that QuickBite Eats aims to deliver with every burger served.

Another staple of the QuickBite Eats menu is fries. These aren’t just any fries; they are carefully prepared to achieve the perfect balance of crunchiness and softness, making them an irresistible side dish or snack. Priced at an average of $2.50, the fries offer great value, acting as the perfect complement to any main course or as a delightful treat on their own.

Chicken items also occupy a prominent place in QuickBite Eats’ repertoire. From crispy chicken sandwiches to succulent nuggets and wings, there’s something for every chicken lover. The average selling price for chicken items is approximately $5, which allows customers to enjoy a variety of chicken-based dishes that are both flavorful and fulfilling.

No fast food experience is complete without the refreshing zing of soft drinks, and QuickBite Eats understands this well. With an assortment of popular sodas and beverages, customers can quench their thirst for an average price of $1.50. This selection ensures that there’s an ideal drink to wash down the delicious meals, catering to both individual preferences and the need for convenience.

To round off the dining experience, QuickBite Eats offers a selection of desserts. Whether it’s a classic chocolate sundae or a slice of rich cheesecake, these sweet treats are priced at an average of $3. They are the perfect way to conclude a meal, satisfying the sweet tooth of diners looking for that final touch of delight.

In summary, QuickBite Eats presents a comprehensive menu that promises quality, variety, and value. With competitively priced offerings ranging from hearty burgers and crispy fries to delectable desserts and refreshing beverages, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. QuickBite Eats is set to become a go-to spot for fast food lovers seeking a satisfying and enjoyable dining experience.

Promotions Plan

QuickBite Eats embarks on an ambitious journey to captivate the hearts and appetites of fast food enthusiasts in Las Vegas, NV, through a multifaceted promotional strategy. At the core of their approach lies an aggressive online marketing campaign, leveraging the power of social media platforms, search engine optimization (SEO), and email marketing to reach a broad audience. However, their promotional efforts extend beyond the digital realm to encompass a variety of innovative and traditional methods designed to build a solid customer base and encourage repeat business.

Understanding the significance of online visibility, QuickBite Eats will invest in creating a dynamic and engaging website. This platform will not only serve as a menu and service showcase but will also feature a blog with posts on topics ranging from food trends to health tips, aiming to drive organic traffic through SEO. In conjunction with their website, they will maintain a strong presence on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. These channels will be used to promote daily specials, host contests, and share customer reviews, creating an interactive and loyal online community.

Email marketing will play a crucial role in QuickBite Eats’ promotional strategy. They will encourage customers to subscribe to their newsletter for exclusive offers, updates, and food tips. This direct line of communication will enable them to personalize promotions and foster a strong relationship with their customer base.

Apart from online marketing, QuickBite Eats will also deploy traditional advertising methods, including local radio ads and vibrant billboards strategically positioned around Las Vegas. These efforts will ensure that they capture the attention of both locals and tourists, driving foot traffic to their establishment.

In-store promotions will be another key tactic. QuickBite Eats will offer opening week specials, loyalty programs, and seasonal discounts to incentivize visits. They will also host community events, such as cooking classes or food tasting nights, to engage with their customers on a personal level and build a sense of community around their brand.

Collaborations with local businesses and influencers will augment QuickBite Eats’ promotional efforts. By partnering with complementary businesses and influential food bloggers or personalities in Las Vegas, they will tap into existing networks and audiences, expanding their reach and credibility.

In summary, QuickBite Eats will employ a comprehensive promotional strategy that includes a strong online marketing campaign, traditional advertising, in-store promotions, and strategic partnerships. By engaging customers both online and offline, they will establish a strong foothold in the Las Vegas fast food scene, attracting a steady stream of customers eager to experience what QuickBite Eats has to offer.

Our Operations Plan details:

• The key day-to-day processes that our business performs to serve our customers
• The key business milestones that our company expects to accomplish as we grow

Key Operational Processes

To ensure the success of QuickBite Eats, there are several key day-to-day operational processes that we will perform.

• Inventory Management: We constantly monitor and replenish stock levels to ensure all necessary ingredients and supplies are available to meet daily demand without excessive wastage.
• Quality Control: We conduct regular checks on food quality and hygiene standards to ensure every product served meets our high standards and complies with local health regulations.
• Order Processing: We efficiently manage both in-person and online orders, ensuring they are accurately taken, prepared, and served or delivered in a timely manner.
• Customer Service: We train our staff to provide exceptional service, handling customer inquiries, complaints, and feedback with professionalism and care to ensure customer satisfaction and retention.
• Staff Management: We schedule staff effectively to cover all operational hours, including peak times, and provide ongoing training and support to maintain high levels of performance.
• Marketing and Promotions: We actively engage in marketing activities, both online and offline, to attract new customers and retain existing ones, including special promotions and loyalty programs.
• Financial Management: We meticulously manage daily financial transactions, including sales tracking, expense monitoring, and cash flow management to ensure profitability and sustainability.
• Cleanliness and Maintenance: We maintain a clean and inviting dining environment and ensure all equipment and facilities are in good working condition to avoid any service disruptions.
• Compliance: We stay informed about and comply with all local, state, and federal regulations affecting our business, including labor laws and food safety standards.
• Continuous Improvement: We regularly review our operations, seeking feedback from customers and staff alike, to identify areas for improvement and innovation in our service and product offerings.

QuickBite Eats expects to complete the following milestones in the coming months in order to ensure its success:

• Securing a Prime Location: Finding and securing a lease for a prime location in a high-traffic area of Las Vegas, NV conducive to fast food operations. This milestone will involve negotiating lease terms that are favorable and sustainable for the business.
• Obtaining Necessary Permits and Licenses: Successfully navigating the local regulatory landscape to obtain all necessary permits and licenses required to operate a fast food restaurant in Las Vegas. This includes health department approvals, business licenses, and any other local compliance requirements.
• Building Out the Restaurant: Completing the physical setup of the restaurant, including kitchen equipment installation, dining area setup, and any necessary renovations to the leased space. This also involves ensuring all facilities are compliant with health and safety standards.
• Hiring and Training Staff: Recruiting a team that includes kitchen staff, servers, and management. Implementing a comprehensive training program to ensure high-quality service and compliance with food safety standards is crucial for success.
• Launch Marketing Campaign: Before and after the launch, executing a strong marketing campaign to build brand awareness and attract customers. This includes social media marketing, local advertising, and possibly hosting a launch event to generate buzz in the local community.
• Grand Opening: Officially opening QuickBite Eats to the public. This event not only serves as the culmination of the prior milestones but also as a significant promotional opportunity to attract initial customers and gather feedback.
• Reaching $15,000/month in Revenue: Establishing the business to the point where it generates at least $15,000 in monthly revenue. Achieving this milestone will be critical for covering operational costs and moving towards profitability.
• Customer Feedback and Menu Optimization: Collecting and analyzing customer feedback to refine the menu and service offerings. This milestone focuses on improving customer satisfaction and operational efficiency, which are key to repeat business and word-of-mouth recommendations.
• Break-Even Point: Reaching the break-even point where the monthly revenue covers all operational expenses, including rent, salaries, utilities, ingredients, and other overheads. Achieving this milestone is crucial for long-term sustainability.
• Strategic Partnerships and Expansion: Evaluating opportunities for partnerships with local businesses or events for catering opportunities, as well as planning for potential future expansion based on the success and learnings from the initial location. This could involve opening new locations or expanding the menu and services offered at the current location.

QuickBite Eats management team, which includes the following members, has the experience and expertise to successfully execute on our business plan:

Emma Hill, CEO

Emma Hill stands at the helm of QuickBite Eats with a proven track record of entrepreneurial success, particularly in the fast food sector. Her journey through the industry has been marked by a series of strategic decisions that have propelled the businesses she has managed towards significant growth and profitability. Emma’s deep understanding of the fast food market, combined with her practical experience in managing operations efficiently, makes her an invaluable leader for QuickBite Eats. Her vision for the company is not only to dominate the local market but also to innovate in ways that redefine quick service eating experiences for customers. Emma’s leadership is a cornerstone upon which QuickBite Eats bases its aspirations for lasting success.

To achieve our growth goals, QuickBite Eats requires initial funding to cover the costs associated with securing our location, completing the necessary build-out, obtaining permits, and launching our marketing efforts. This investment will also support our operational expenses until we reach our revenue targets and break-even point. Our financial strategy is designed to ensure the long-term sustainability and profitability of QuickBite Eats, enabling us to reinvest in our business, explore expansion opportunities, and continue delivering exceptional value to our customers.

Financial Statements

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Income Statement

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Cash Flow Statement

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Fast Food Business Plan Example PDF

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Fast-food restaurants in California are laying off workers to prepare for the $20 minimum wage hike

• Californian fast-food restaurants are cutting workers to prepare for the $20 minimum wage.
• Pizza Hut franchisees plan to lay off around 1,200 workers, for example.
• Restaurants are also raising prices to offset wages; some are worried about spooking diners.

Fast-food restaurants in California are laying off hundreds of workers to cut back on costs as they prepare for the state's $20 minimum wage for fast-food workers that comes into force in April, a new report by The Wall Street Journal details.

Two franchisees for Pizza Hut , with restaurants across various counties in California, have said they'd lay off around 1,200 workers as they scrap delivery-driver roles to rely on third-party delivery instead.

Southern California Pizza Company, a Pizza Hut franchisee, said it planned to lay off nearly 850 workers in February, according to filings made under California's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act in December and viewed by Business Insider.

In December, another Pizza Hut franchisee, PacPizza, and its affiliates filed plans to lay off more than 350 workers in February.

And in February, Excalibur Pizza LLC, a Round Table Pizza franchisee, said it planned to lay off 70 workers in April, WARN Act filings show.

Round Table Pizza, which has more than 400 locations in the US, mainly along the West Coast, told BI that the employees being laid off were delivery drivers and that Excalibur was moving to third-party delivery services. The company said it saw the layoffs as a "transfer of jobs," with more workers required at third-party delivery services instead.

"That said, delivery service fees may increase, and the customer will most likely see even higher prices as a result of this ongoing shift," Round Table Pizza's statement continued. "This is the reality of today's restaurants."

Related stories

One fast-food franchisee has even roped in his 73-year-old parents to help out after cutting staff.

Alexander Johnson, who owns 10 Auntie Anne's and Cinnabon locations in California, told the Journal that the new law would have otherwise cost him an extra $470,000 in labor a year.

Franchisees are worried about higher prices spooking diners

California is raising the state's minimum wage for workers at limited-service restaurants to $20 an hour from April 1 — 25% higher than its general minimum wage.

The law only applies to chains with at least 60 locations nationwide, though analysts note that it could lead to wage hikes at other restaurants and workplaces in the state as they try to compete for talent.

The legislation — especially in its original form as the FAST Recovery Act — faced fierce opposition from the restaurant industry, with some chains saying it would drive up operating costs so high that they'd have to lay off workers and charge customers more.

The franchisees generally set prices, and some are concerned that higher prices could scare off diners .

"I can't charge $20 for Happy Meals," Scott Rodrick, owner of 18 McDonald's restaurants in Northern California, told the Journal. He said that in the hunt to save money amid the wage increase, he was "leaving no stones unturned."

Another McDonald's franchisee who owns restaurants in Los Angeles County previously told KTLA 5 News that her food would become "unaffordable" if she raised prices enough to cover the wage increase.

Brian Hom, the owner of two Vitality Bowl açaí bowl restaurants in San Jose, told the Journal he's raising menu prices by about 10% to cover the higher wages. He's also running his stores with two employees, down from four, which he said is slowing down order times.

"I'm definitely not going to hire anymore," Hom told the Journal.

Vitality Bowls has taken "significant measures to optimize profitability," like changing its menu and improving its tech, CEO Roy Gilad told BI in a statement. The company is "well prepared" to offset higher costs, he said.

Are you a fast-food worker who'll soon be getting the new minimum wage? Or a franchisee worried about how it will affect your business? Email this reporter at [email protected] .

Watch: How Domino's makes 1 billion pizzas a year amid labor shortages

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Plov delivery service brings Moscow’s offices a taste of the east

Plov. Russian broker’s company offers workers a change from sushi and pizza. Source: Lori / Legion Media

In the spring of 2013 broker Ilkhom Ismailov took an unusual decision – he opened an online restaurant offering delivery to offices and homes. However, the usual sushi and pizza standards were off the menu - Ismailov’s company specializes in the delivery of Central Asian pilaff, or plov , a dish prepared with rice and meat or fish.

Ismailov's business partner is his brother Zafar, who, after a long time mulling whether to leave his construction job for the sake of an internet restaurant, finally took the plunge. In September 2013 the brothers registered their new company “Plov No. 1” and began looking for partners among plov producers in Moscow, something that was not easy.

"In the East there is a tradition: Men get together, usually on Thursdays, to eat plov and share their wise thoughts," explains Ilkhom. "Having been to many restaurants, we realized that it was better to prepare the plov at home by ourselves.

“But then we found a little café where a very talented chef was making the real Uzbek plov. I would come to eat his plov during many business lunches, even if there was traffic and I was coming from the other side of Moscow. When we launched our business, we came to the chef and ‘secured’ him to make plov for our customers."

With a little help from their friends

The Plov No. 1 restaurant began operating in November last year. In the beginning it was just a site with a telephone number that people would call to order plov to their homes or offices.

There was only one combination on the menu: a 300-gram portion of plov and samosa for 450 rubles ($9.5). Ilkhom persuaded his colleagues to order the plov for holidays and special occasions, telling them to be original. It was only thanks to his friends that the brothers began receiving two-three orders a day, but the business's sales margins were almost zero.

Sales went up significantly only in the spring of 2014. There were now three types of plov on the menu: the classical Uzbek plov; the "festive" plov with raisins and pieces of cumin; and the vegetarian plov - all accompanied by a selection of fresh vegetables and Uzbek flatbreads. There was also a minimum order of 1,500 rubles ($35). The site was now receiving five or six orders a day, and sales reached the figure of 500,000 rubles ($10,600) monthly.

Musical inspiration

In May, Sergei Brilin, founder of a Russian logistics company, became the brothers' partner after giving them 12 million rubles ($255,000) for a 30-percent share in the company. "Many people are tired of sushi and pizza today," says Brilin. "So when I learned of the Plov No. 1 project, I decided to participate in the business. I think it's a good project and I love plov as a dish. I cook it myself."

The Ismailov brothers spent their new partner's investment on fitting out the kitchen – a necessary step by then as the volume of orders had reached 20-25 a day.

Another important move for promoting Plov No. 1 was Ilkhom and Zafar's creative decision to change the packaging in which the food was delivered. They created cartons with the label "Plov must go on." They also launched phrases on the social networks alluding to popular songs such as "What a wonderful plov" or "I wanna be ploved by you." Ilkhom says that they did not use the services of branding agencies.

However, now the Ismailov brothers are preparing to invest in classical marketing. In 2015 they plan on spending several million rubles on internet advertisements. The entrepreneurs also regularly participate in the city's food markets in order to increase Muscovites’ love for plov.

The company estimates that during the winter season plov sales could increase substantially. "In November and December it will be quite cold and going out to eat won’t be so thrilling," says Zafar. Moreover, Plov No. 1 now has corporate clients and sometimes even caters for major events.

"Company directors who organize 'plov days' ask us to deliver our plov once week for their teambuilding sessions," explains Ilkhom. "Plov is a dish that unites, that is eaten with others, with your family, with a group."

Potential partners line up for plov

Plov No. 1 now receives about 50 orders a day with an average bill of 1,700 rubles ($36) and a sales margin of about 50 percent. The company's founders calculate that by the end of the year orders will reach 100 a day, with the same average bill, which will help the project start making profits in 2015. The brothers believe that they will be able to recoup the 8 million rubles ($170,000) they have spent so far on the business after a year.

Since it was founded, Plov No. 1 has received 10 potential franchising offers from Russian cities with a population of over 1 million residents, as well as from several European capitals and China. But for now the Ismailov brothers are still not ready to give the brand away to strangers. They are expecting more partners in the next six months from Moscow. Only after this will the startup develop the necessary franchising conditions.

The brothers estimate the market volume of cooked food delivery in Russia to be $1.5-1.7 billion a year and expect it to grow annually by 15-17 percent. However, it is difficult to estimate the plov segment. Before the end of the year they hope to open at least another kitchen, in the southwest of Moscow, and in 2015 to launch mobile apps to facilitate clients' orders.

Full text available at RBC Daily .

All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

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