The demand for good, nutritious and healthy food has been on the rise over the years. This has led to a corresponding increase in the number of food entrepreneurs with meal prep business not being an exception.
However, the first step in opening a meal prep business like any other business is having a clear and unambiguous plan of how you want to run your meal prep. A business plan is a blueprint which acts as a roadmap, a guideline for operating a business.
However, not everybody can be able to write a good business plan on their own or know what it takes to write one. Hence, the use of a business plan template to ensure they have a good business plan. If you are writing a business plan template of a meal prep business, here are 7 important things you must include.
1. Summary of the Meal Prep Business
A meal prep business plan template should begin with a template for a summary of the meal prep business. It should include a mission statement, history of the meal prep business (if it is already in existence), a review of the business legal structure and future plans for the business. The summary is the gateway to the business plan so its template should be short but precise.
2. Business Overview
The template for a business overview should be after the business summary in the business plan template.
This part should contain sections like:
- Aim of the meal prep business
- Concept and why it will work
- Cost and anticipated return on investments
- Target Clientele
- Service provided to the target clientele
- Sample menu
- Management team
3. Industry analysis
This part should make meal prep business owners’ research to know their target customers, their purchasing power, spending behaviour and other demographics. This part should primarily consist of 3 sections namely:
- Location analysis
- Target audience analysis
- Competition analysis – competition is one of the biggest challenges faced by food entrepreneurs. This section should make meal prep business owners identify their competitors and know their strengths and weaknesses (reviewsbird.co.uk can be used to read reviews of competitors).
4. SWOT Analysis
SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threats) analysis should be included in the business plan template for a meal prep business. This is to help meal prep business owners identify the internal and external factors that would impact their businesses’ future. It also makes them aware of their strengths so they can utilize them better.
5. Operations Plan
This part should cover the daily operations of the meal prep business. It should include sections like:
- Staff management – this should cover getting the right people to fill to run the business
- Customer service – this should cover methods of delivery to customers (check out some meal delivery companies), how to get feedback to ensure customers’ satisfaction and so on.
6. Financial Analysis
This part contains all the financial projections of the meal prep business so it should be included in the business plan. This part should contain:
- Capital expenses
- Operating expenses
- Cost projections
- Revenue projection
- Income projection etc.
7. Marketing
Food entrepreneurs face a lot of competition. Therefore, this part should contain:
- marketing strategy
- marketing campaigns
- customer relationship management
In conclusion, these are just seven important things that should be included in a meal prep business plan template to ensure meal prep business owners have a solid business plan for the business.