Restaurant business plan template
Hospitality plans are judged on three ratios: food cost, wage cost and occupancy cost. This outline builds revenue from covers and average spend rather than a single monthly number, so the ratios can actually be tested.
The drivers this model runs on
Fill these in before you write prose. Every statement in the plan is derived from them.
- Seats, covers per service and average spend per head
- Food and beverage cost as a percentage of sales
- Wage ratio across kitchen and front of house
- Rent and outgoings as a percentage of sales
- Fit-out, equipment and licence costs
Restaurant or cafe plan outline
1. Executive summary
Venue concept, location, capacity and the money required to open the doors.
- Concept and target guest
- Seat count and trading hours
- Total pre-opening capital
2. Menu and cost of goods
Price the menu from recipe cost upward so the gross margin is defensible.
- Menu structure and price points
- Target food and beverage cost percentages
- Supplier list and delivery cadence
3. Site, licences and fit-out
Document the lease, the approvals and the capital works before opening.
- Lease terms and outgoings
- Liquor, food and council approvals
- Kitchen equipment and depreciation
4. Service model and rostering
Model the roster service by service — wages are the ratio most venues get wrong.
- Kitchen and floor headcount per service
- Peak and off-peak roster
- Wage ratio ceiling you will hold
5. Revenue build
Covers times average spend, by service and by day of week.
- Covers per service and seat turns
- Average spend for food and beverage
- Weekend versus weekday mix
6. Financial projections
Monthly profit & loss, balance sheet and cash movement across five years with the pre-opening burn shown.
- Pre-opening costs and ramp-up period
- Break-even covers per week
- Cash buffer through the first quiet season
7. Funding and risk
Show the funding stack and the operating risks that matter to a lender.
- Founder cash, loan and investor capital
- Loan servicing against forecast cash
- Downside case on reduced covers
Worked example figures
These are the assumptions inside the “Ember & Oak Dining” demo plan shipped with Auziplan (Australia · AUD). They are illustrative starting points for a business of this shape, not market averages — replace them with your own figures.
- Headcount
- 14
- Average salary
- $58,000
- Monthly revenue
- $130,000
- Annualised revenue
- $1,560,000
- Monthly operating expenses
- $52,000
- Target net profit (year 1)
- $190,000
- Net margin
- 7%
- Founder cash
- $260,000
- Bank loan
- $305,000
- Investor capital
- $215,000
- Investor equity
- 22%
Questions
What is a healthy wage ratio for a restaurant plan?
Full-service venues typically plan to hold wages under about a third of sales; your plan should state the ceiling you are holding and show the roster that delivers it.
Do I need pre-opening costs in the plan?
Yes. Fit-out, licences, training and stock before day one are the largest cash outflows in a venue plan and belong in the cash movement statement.
Turn the outline into a real financial model
Auziplan takes your drivers and produces a five-year profit & loss, balance sheet and cash movement statement with the tax rules for Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada applied automatically — plus KPIs, an exit valuation and a printable investor dossier.
Start free