Whether you're exploring business for fun or considering investing, we genuinely advise you to try something else or invest in a different venture, not in the restaurant and food service industry.
Because this is not just a 'joyride' for you. Running a restaurant is a field many perceive as 'super profitable,' but it's also an industry that can make your money disappear unnoticed. Fierce competition, challenging personnel management, and cash flow issues await if you plan to open a business in this field. Therefore, for a successful restaurant business, a determined owner is crucial - someone with determination, patience, and a sharp mind.
To embark on this 'battlefield,' investors should craft a highly detailed and specific business plan. This will help you be prepared for any situation, ensuring a smooth and favorable start.
Here is PasGo's compilation of 7 detailed steps to plan your restaurant business, feel free to explore!

Step 1: Restaurant Overview
The first section in the business plan should provide general information about your restaurant or eatery. This not only gives you a holistic view of the restaurant but also helps investors understand the current status of your establishment.
>> This section includes the following:
- General Information:
- Information about your restaurant management company, operational methods, etc.
- Restaurant Details:
- Type, scale, style, design, accompanying services, etc.
- Restaurant Owner Information:
- Personal information about the proprietor, work experience, perspectives, and business development vision.
- Restaurant Operational Direction:
- Reasons for opening the restaurant, target customer group, competition methods with competitors.
Step 2: Market Analysis
This is a crucial step in the business plan as it provides a broader view of the current culinary market in the local area and globally. It helps you identify the restaurant model and set reasonable goals and implementation methods.
>> This section includes several items:
- Culinary Trends:
- Analyze the culinary landscape in the past, grasp current culinary trends, and trends in recent years. Plan adjustments to the restaurant's taste, pricing, services, etc., to align with customer preferences.
- Determine the Restaurant Model:
- What type of cuisine will your restaurant specialize in? Asian, European, seafood, local specialties?
- Operational Approach:
- While precise figures may not be available from the start, at least in this business plan, you need to outline how the restaurant will implement strategies to attract customers. For example: focusing solely on dining services, specializing in catering, combining with online food sales, offering delivery services, or collaborating with applications and professional restaurant reservation solution providers.
- Target Market Analysis:
- Includes Competitor Analysis and Target Customer Analysis:
+ Competitor Analysis: Determine who they are, where they are, what they are doing, their strengths, and weaknesses. What aspects should your restaurant exploit to compete or avoid confrontation with them?
+ Target Customer Analysis: Identify demographic and behavioral details. Who they are, where they are, what they do, their income, dining habits, etc.

Step 3: Develop Restaurant Marketing Strategy
Marketing is a powerful tool to attract more customers to your restaurant and bring your establishment closer to them. No one will know what you offer, where you are, or how you are until marketing reaches them.
>> To plan a restaurant marketing strategy, you need to identify:
1. List marketing channels (Facebook, Instagram, Zalo, website, banners, flyers, etc.)
2. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each channel and finalize the channels to be implemented
3. Develop a specific implementation plan for each channel: objectives, deployment time, activities to be carried out, budget, feasibility, etc.

Step 4: Restaurant Operations and Management
This section will outline specific principles in managing your restaurant, making restaurant management more straightforward.
>> This content includes the following items:
- Restaurant Regulations:
- Guidelines regarding time, food processing procedures, service attitude, etc.
- Staff Team:
- Number of employees, recruitment process, training, specific salary for each position, regulations, discipline, and reward policies.
- Work Schedule:
- Specific working hours for each position and the restaurant's operational hours.
- Suppliers:
- Information about suppliers, including raw material costs, product quality, and transportation processes.
Step 5: Investment Analysis
This section comprises two main contents:
- Investment Sources and Capital Contribution Ratios
- Profit Distribution Method
Step 6: Restaurant Development Direction
In this section, you need to present two development hypotheses for your restaurant.
- If your restaurant operates steadily, yielding good profits, you should have long-term plans to enhance service quality or expand the business system and market territory.
- Conversely, if the restaurant's business is incurring losses and stagnating, you need to propose measures to address this situation and preempt significant risks in the future. This section should have a specific remediation timeframe, along with a capital recovery plan or an acceptance of restaurant closure and cost-cutting.
Step 7: Financial Plan Formulation
As the final but crucial step in a restaurant business plan, in this step, you need to outline the policies for capital utilization and profit generation.
>> The main content includes the following items:
- Identify initial capital sources and utilization methods
- Report revenue (monthly, quarterly, yearly)
- Determine break-even point
- Estimate profit projections

Here is a detailed outline of 7 steps to plan a restaurant business. Depending on different operational models and timelines, each restaurant's business plan varies, but most rely on the aforementioned 7-step framework. Hopefully, this information will be useful for those seeking insights into the experiences of opening a restaurant or eatery.
Wishing you success in your restaurant business,
Best regards,
Marvelous wonders abound--
Referenced from F&Bvietnam, a splendid source.
Incredible insights await your exploration.
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