An outline you can copy, what each section has to answer, the numbers lenders check, and a worked sales forecast.
By Rob Bruni, founder of OpsEdge Hospitality, twenty years running restaurants, bars, clubs and resorts. Updated November 2026.
A restaurant business plan has two readers. One is the lender, landlord or investor who needs a reason to say yes. The other is you, because writing the plan is the cheapest way to find out whether the restaurant works before you sign a lease. This guide gives you an outline you can copy, explains what each section has to answer, shows how to build a sales forecast someone will believe, and lists the numbers that get checked first.
Most plans run 15 to 25 pages plus an appendix. Length does not impress anyone. Clear assumptions do.
| Section | The question it answers |
|---|---|
| 1. Executive summary | What is this, how much do you need, and why will it work? One page, written last. |
| 2. Concept | What kind of restaurant, for whom, at what price point, in how many seats? |
| 3. Market and competition | Who lives and works nearby, who else feeds them, and why would they choose you? |
| 4. Location and lease | Why this site, what does it cost, and what are the lease terms? |
| 5. Menu and pricing | What will you sell, what does it cost to make, and what is the average check? |
| 6. Operations and staffing | Hours, service style, positions, wages, suppliers and systems. |
| 7. Marketing and opening | How will people find out, and what happens in the first 90 days? |
| 8. Ownership and management | Who owns it, who runs it, and what have they run before? |
| 9. Startup budget and funding | What does it cost to open, where is the money coming from, and how is it repaid? |
| 10. Financial projections | Sales, costs and cash for three years, month by month in year one, with break even. |
Copy the outline below into Word or Google Docs and answer each prompt in plain language. Replace the prompts with your own text as you go.
[RESTAURANT NAME] BUSINESS PLAN
Prepared by: ____________ Date: ____________ Contact: ____________
1. Executive summary (one page, write it last)
The concept in two sentences. The location. The owners and their experience. Total startup cost, the amount requested and what it will be used for. Projected sales and profit in years one to three. When the business breaks even.
2. Concept
Type of restaurant and service style. Cuisine and signature items. Seats (dining room, bar, patio). Days and hours. Price point and average check. What makes it different, in terms a guest would use.
3. Market and competition
Target guests: who they are, where they live and work, what they spend. Population, households and daytime workers within a 10 minute drive or walk. Traffic counts and nearby anchors. Five closest competitors with their price point, strengths and weaknesses. The gap you fill.
4. Location and lease
Address, square feet, seats and parking. Condition of the space and what it had before. Base rent, common area charges, taxes and insurance per month. Lease length, renewal options, rent increases and tenant improvement allowance. Rent as a percent of projected sales.
5. Menu and pricing
Sample menu with prices. Plate cost and food cost percent for the ten best sellers. Beverage program and pour cost target. Average check per guest at lunch and dinner. Blended food and beverage cost target.
6. Operations and staffing
Service flow from door to check. Positions, headcount, wages and salaries. A sample weekly schedule and its labor cost as a percent of sales. Key suppliers. POS, reservations, payroll and accounting systems. Licenses and permits required and their status.
7. Marketing and opening plan
Brand and positioning. Pre opening plan: signage, social, press, soft opening. First 90 days. Ongoing marketing budget as a percent of sales. How you will collect guest contact details and bring guests back.
8. Ownership and management
Legal structure and ownership percentages. Each owner's role, experience and cash invested. Key managers and their backgrounds. Advisors: accountant, attorney, insurance agent.
9. Startup budget and funding
Build out and construction. Kitchen and bar equipment. Furniture, fixtures and smallwares. Technology. Licenses, permits and professional fees. Opening inventory. Pre opening payroll and training. Marketing. Deposits. Contingency. Working capital. Total cost. Sources of funds: owner cash, loans, investors, landlord allowance. Loan terms requested and collateral.
10. Financial projections
Sales forecast by meal period with the assumptions shown (seats, turns, average check, days open). Profit and loss by month for year one and by year for years two and three. Prime cost, occupancy and profit as a percent of sales. Break even sales per month. Cash flow by month for year one. A downside case at 80 percent of forecast sales.
Appendix
Full menu. Floor plan. Lease or letter of intent. Contractor and equipment quotes. Owner resumes. Personal financial statements if a lender requires them.
Every other number in the plan hangs off the sales forecast, so build it from capacity, not from hope. The formula for one meal period is simple.
Example: a 70 seat full service restaurant, dinner only, six nights a week
That is roughly $17,800 in sales per seat per year, inside the $10,000 to $25,000 range we see for full service.
Three rules make a forecast believable.
Then find the break even. The break-even calculator turns your fixed costs and margin into sales per month and covers per day.
Anyone who reads restaurant plans for a living goes to these lines first. The ranges are for full service and come from our benchmarks by concept, which also covers quick service, bars and fine dining.
| Line | Planning range, full service | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Prime cost (food, beverage and labor) | 60 to 65% of sales | Above 70% there is no room for rent and profit |
| Food cost | 28 to 34% of food sales | Shows the menu was costed, not guessed |
| Labor, fully loaded | 30 to 35% of sales | Must include salaries, payroll taxes and benefits |
| Occupancy (rent, taxes, insurance) | 6 to 10% of sales | Above 10% is very hard to outrun |
| Net operating profit | 5 to 12% of sales | A plan showing 25% will not be believed |
| Startup cost per seat | $5,000 to $9,000 in a second generation space | A raw shell runs $9,000 to $15,000 or more |
| Construction contingency | 15 to 20% of the construction budget | Something is always behind the walls |
| Working capital at opening | 4 to 6 months of fixed costs | Most first year closures are cash, not concept |
The startup costs guide works through an $830,000 budget for a 70 seat restaurant line by line. If you are opening a bar, use the bar startup costs guide. The P&L guide shows how to lay out the projections, and the budget guide shows how to spread a year by month.
The Restaurant and Bar Startup System is a 90 page playbook with six financial tools, including the business plan, the pro forma and the launch plan. The Opening Checklist and Startup Planner covers 196 tasks from forming the company to opening night.
See the Startup System See the Opening ChecklistThis guide is general information, not financial or legal advice. Have an accountant review the projections and an attorney review the lease before you sign anything.
Ten sections: an executive summary, the concept, market and competition, location and lease, menu and pricing, operations and staffing, marketing and opening plan, ownership and management, the startup budget and funding, and three years of financial projections with a break even, plus an appendix with the menu, floor plan and quotes.
Start with the concept and the location, cost the menu, build the sales forecast from seats, turns, average check and days open, then build the startup budget and the profit and loss projections from that forecast. Write the executive summary last.
Most are 15 to 25 pages plus an appendix. Lenders care more about clear assumptions and realistic numbers than length.
Multiply seats by turns by average check by days open for each meal period, then add the periods together. Forecast each day of the week separately, ramp the first year, and include a downside case at about 80 percent of the forecast.
As a planning range, $5,000 to $9,000 per seat for a full service restaurant in a second generation space, and $9,000 to $15,000 or more per seat in a raw shell, plus four to six months of fixed costs in working capital.
Yes. The plan is how you test whether the rent, the menu prices and the staffing work together before you commit your own money, and the forecast becomes your first year budget.
