Bakery Business Plan: How to Write a Bakery Business Plan

If you are considering starting a bakery business or expanding your bakery store then a writing bakery business plan is a great place to start. Opening a bakery business is no easy feat. It takes more than an extraordinary baking talent to run a successful restaurant or bakery business and work with seasonality in business.

From having a great bakery website to creating the perfect bakery marketing strategy to understanding your sell through rate, a lot of things go into launching a bakery business. A bakery business plan accounts for all bakery operations and streamlines your business process flow.

Key Takeaway - Having a bakery business plan helps you create a blueprint for your business. You can document your bakery ideas, identify the next steps to execute these ideas, and make sure you are on track to accomplish your ideas with a business plan.

So, how do you write a business plan for a bakery business? In this guide, we’ll review each section of a bakery business plan and some action plans for a bakery business.

How to Write a Bakery Business Plan

A well-written business plan will help you stay organized and hit the ground running when you start your business. With a bakery business plan, you can analyze every detail of your business idea and work towards achieving it.

Writing a business plan offers a lot of benefits for your business. Even if you already started your bakery business, it’s not too late to write your business plan. This will help in your business expansion efforts.

It is important to be as detailed as possible. Your bakery business plan will serve as a manual for your bakery business, make sure it is clear and easy to understand. Before you get started, you have to consider the type of bakery business you want, your ideal niche market, and if you need to secure funding from the best banks and investors.

Asking vital questions is crucial to creating a solid plan. You can even check other bakery business plan samples online for ideas. Let’s look at how to write a business plan for your bakery business.

8 Sections of a Bakery Business Plan

What sections should a bakery business plan have? When writing a business plan for a bakery or food business, include these sections:

Executive Summary

The executive summary is an overview of your plan. Although the executive summary is the last thing you’ll write for your bakery business plan, it is the first thing you’ll present to potential investors.

Your executive summary describes your bakery’s mission statement, concept, why your bakery is unique, and how you plan to make it a success. You should also include your expected growth projection.

An executive summary should be about a page in length. It should answer the following questions:

What does your bakery do? Will you sell baked goods online? Will you have a baking subscription box?
What is your brand concept?
Who are your target customers?
Why will your audience love your brand?
How is your bakery different from other bakeries?
How do you plan to promote your bakery?
What bakery technology will you use?
How much money do you need to get started?
What are your current and projected financial profits?
Who are your partners?
What are your overall goals and objectives?
Where will your bakery be located?

Once, you have these questions answered, you can create a powerful executive summary.

Tips for Writing a Bakery Executive Summary

Begin with a strong open statement: The first paragraph should introduce the executive summary and explain your bakery idea.
Be clear and concise: Use clear and concise language to make it easy for investors to read your summary. Do quality checks and revise your written summary.
Describe your core strengths: Include details about your core strengths and what makes your business and products unique.
Prepare your summary for different audiences: If you plan to present your business plan to investors, it is important to tailor your executive summary to fit the audience.
Avoid superlatives or uncheckable claims: Stay realistic with your summary. Avoid claims such as the best wedding cake in the world. Provide numbers and figures for each claim in your executive summary.

Company Overview and Description

This section should provide an in-depth description of your company including history, ownership structure, and management team. It should outline your vision and mission statement as well as your unique selling proposition.

The company description is the first thing you’ll write when creating a business plan for the bakery. It is in this section that you’ll dive deeper into the bakery ideas you will summarize in the executive summary.

You can talk about your team, including key members and their salaries. It is also a good idea to list your short- and long-term goals. Make sure these goals are measurable. You can highlight some eCommerce metrics and key performance indicators, as well as the timeline for achieving the goals.

When writing your company description, answer the following questions:

What type of bakery will you open? Cakes? Pastries? Gluten-free baked goods? Online bakery?
What theme or bakery design will your bakery have?
Who are your target customers?
What is your unique selling proposition?
What are your goals?
Do you have a special recipe?
What is your legal structure?
Where will your bakery be located?
What is your business structure?

Tips for Writing a Company Overview

Start with your elevator pitch: Your company overview should begin with an elevator pitch. Include a few sentences about your business and what you do. Keep it short and simple.
Stick to the basics: Try not to write too many details in this section. While it is important to answer overview questions, make sure you stick to the basics.
Write with a structure: Your reader should be able to take a glance at your overview and understand the structure of your business plan. You can create sections for relevant aspects of your company overview.
Show passion and interest: It is important to show passion for your business in your writing. Your excitement will keep the reader interested and engaged as they go through your business plan.

Market Analysis

Your market analysis will describe your potential niche market, how big it is, and if there’s a market opportunity for your business. You can highlight trends affecting your industry, the buying habits of your target market, and how you will fit into the existing market.

You must demonstrate your knowledge of the food and beverage industry in your market analysis. You should include details about the competitive landscape. Additionally, identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

When writing your market analysis, consider the following:

Demographics. Who are your customers? Can they afford your products?
Trends. Any seasonal trends? Are your target customers willing to spend on specialty baked goods? Will the type of wholesale restaurant supplies and ingredients you use matter to them?
Competitors. How can you stay ahead of the competition? What strategies are your competitors using to stay ahead? Can you be a contender in the market? What are my competitors’ strengths and weaknesses?
Regulations. What regulations will apply to your bakery business? How will you comply with these regulations?
Pricing. What will be your pricing structure? Will you offer wholesale vs retail price?

Tips for Writing a Market Analysis

Conduct in-depth research: You can use the internet to get raw data about your market. For instance, demographic data can be gotten from the U.S Census Bureau’s website. You can also do short in-person surveys in your intended location.
See through the eyes of your target customer: Looking at your product from the perspective of your target market will help you see if you have an opportunity or not. What problems need to be solved? What will your bakery offer as a solution to these problems?
Use visual assets: Market analysis is about numbers, metrics, and statistics. You can use graphs and charts to illustrate these numbers.

Business Offerings

This section will list your products and services. Whether your bakery will focus on freshly baked pastries or sweet cakes, you can go into detail about your offerings here.

You can also describe if you plan to be a wholesale distributorship to restaurants or offer ghost kitchen services. Make sure to explain why you want to sell these products and services. It will be a great idea to mention how these offerings will drive foot traffic to your brick and mortar bakery store.

When writing your business offerings, answer the following questions:

Will you offer custom-made products or specialty items?
Do you make new recipes? Will you patent these recipes?
Are your offerings new to the area you plan to sell in?
Where will you buy your restaurant supplies from? Who will be your wholesale restaurant food distributors?
How do your offerings compare to others in the market?

Tips for Writing your Business Offerings

Describe the products: Answer questions about who can use the product, what ingredients will be in the product, and why your target market will buy the product.
Do a product comparison: Compare your offerings with what your competitors offer. You can use visual aids or tables to show differences and what will make your offerings unique.
Explain the ordering process: It is important to explain your ordering process. Will you receive online orders? How will your customers buy the product? What are your delivery options? Your order management depends on your offerings and can have several stages. Make sure to explain each stage.

Management and Organization

Your operations plan explains your team's organizational structure and what bakery technology you’ll need to run your business. Give details about your eCommerce team structure and incorporation.

This section should include details about your management team. You can use an organizational chart to show the different roles and responsibilities of each team member.

Operations and Logistics

This section outlines how your bakery will create, sell, and deliver products. You want to address the following in this section:

How will you get suppliers? Explain where you’ll buy wholesale produce, ingredients, and restaurant equipment. There are several options, from dropshipping wholesale suppliers and food wholesale distributors to local farmers and large-scale distribution warehouses.
What is your production plan? Describe your production process. Will you dropship your products? How will you handle a busy season?
Where will your team work from? Describe your facilities and if your physical retail store will be different from the bakery.
Which equipment will you need? List the tools and equipment you need to get started. You should also explain the operational tools and bakery technology you will use to manage your bakery. Include business tools like your restaurant POS system, order management tools, inventory management systems, and wholesale distribution as well as wholesale distribution management software.
How will you handle shipping and order fulfillment? Explain if you’ll be handling shipping and order fulfillment in-house or via a third-party fulfillment provider.

Marketing Plan

Every business needs a solid marketing plan. In this section explain how your bakery will attract new customers and PR strategies to enter the market. It is important to build a strong brand presence and this section will highlight how you plan to do it.

Your market analysis will help you identify your target market and what appeals to them. When writing your marketing plan, explain these points.

Answer these questions when writing your marketing plan:

Which marketing channels will you use to reach your target customers?
What is your market entry strategy?
Will you run promotions and paid advertising campaigns?
What are your marketing goals?
Will you promote certain products over others?
Will you have a bakery website?
How will you grow your online presence?
How will you measure your goals?

Financial Analysis and Projections

This is the final section of your bakery business plan. This section will focus on the financial projections and eCommerce accounting processes for your business. Describe the estimated costs for ingredients, bakery equipment, bakery technology, and bills.

For instance, you can include the cost of wholesale dairy, wholesale coffee beans, wholesale meat, cake pans, and even measuring cups. Your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement should also be included.

It is important to keep the numbers real. Your financial plan will help you figure out how much you need to launch or expand your business.

Frequently Asked Questions About Bakery Business Plan

Writing a bakery business plan is an important step in getting investors, staying organized, and expanding your business. Let’s answer a few common questions about writing a bakery business plan.

What are Bakery Items?

Bakery items include bread, cookies, cakes, pies, pastries, muffins, and other baked goods.

How do you Manage a Small Bakery?

Here are some tips on how to run a small bakery business:

Write your bakery business plan
Pay attention to high demand goods to sell
Invest in new bakery technology
Display freshly baked goods all the time
Advertise and promote your business
Launch loyalty programs and giveaways
Update your menu regularly

What are the Main Types of Bakeries?

A bakery can either be retail or wholesale. Retail bakeries sell direct to consumers and wholesale bakeries sell to restaurant businesses, grocery stores, and cafes.

Get Ready to Launch

Writing a bakery business plan is the first step to running a successful bakery business. Remember, your bakery business plan is a manual that will help you keep track of your business goals.

You can always refer back to it and update it as the business grows. Creating a business plan is also a crucial step to getting investors impressed with your business ideas. So, make it count!