Make Money Writing Proposal For Your Food-Related Business

In writing a proposal to promote your food-related business to a prospective client or to get funding? It doesn't have to be an intimidating process. The goals for any business proposal are: introduce yourself, highlight your products and/or services, describe the costs, and convince the client that you are the right choice for the job or you are worth investing in. To speed up the proposal writing process, you can use pre-designed templates and get ideas from sample proposals.

Whether you are describing a catering service, pitching a food service (deli) to be installed within another company, buying or selling a food franchise or food vending business, requesting that a grocery store of specialty store chain carry your food product, or even asking for funding to start up or expand a restaurant, the proposal structure will be similar. Here's the basic structure to follow: introduce yourself, then summarize the prospective client's needs, describe your services and costs, and finally, provide information about your organization, your credentials, and your capabilities. For a food-related business, you will also need to include some detailed information about your services, menus, or products that are of interest to the specific client. For example, a catering service might need to include menus and décor themes from which the client can select, and a food vending operation might need to explain how machines will be operate and which items will be stocked. Always keep in mind that the purpose of a proposal is to persuade your potential clients to give you their business or loan you their money. You must prove that you can deliver the products or services they need. A simple price list can never substitute for a real proposal.

Proposals should be targeted to a specific client. This means you need to gather information about your client so that you can present a proposal tailored to that individual client's needs. It's never a good idea to send all prospective clients the same sales letter. Clients are much more likely to accept a proposal tailored just for them. Potential investors or lenders will care less about your restaurant concept than they will about your research and financial projections, so writing a winning proposal means doing that groundwork. Using a standard business proposal format, you can show interested parties that you know how to open -- and operate -- a restaurant.

Steps

Step 1

Write the list of sections you will include in your proposal. Include the following sections: concept, market research, marketing plan, projections, startup costs, operating costs, budget, experience and support documents.

Step 2

Provide a description of your restaurant concept that goes beyond the cuisine and menu items. Discuss why this type of food will sell well in a specific geographic area to a specific audience. For example, you might be proposing a low-cost pizzeria in a college town that has only one other restaurant that sells pizza as part of its more expensive Italian sit-down menu.

Step 3

Outline your target audience, competition, pricing strategy and unique selling differential in your market research section. Demonstrate the demand in the marketplace for your restaurant and back it up with research and data. Explain how you will market your restaurant. Include what type of media you will use, such as print, newspaper, radio, TV, websites, direct mail or social media sites. Explain why you have chosen your media, who it will reach and what the annual cost will be.

Step 4

Project your monthly and annual sales figures and annual profit projection. Provide projections for the first three years, which might include a loss for the first six months to one year, a period of breaking even and a profitability date. Give the date by which an investor will recoup his initial investment. Just because you reach profitability after one year does not mean the investor will make a profit, because that positive cash flow must first repay the initial startup costs.

Step 5

List the startup costs, which include the expenses to open the restaurant and operate it until you reach the break-even point. Divide your expenses into food costs and non-food, or overhead, costs. Demonstrate that you have set your prices based on an analysis of your food costs, operating costs and profit margin. Include an annual master budget listing all of your expected expenses, by type and per month.

Step 6

Include biographies of all key owners, operators, staff members and consultants who will be part of the launch and operation of the business. Emphasize any restaurant experience these people have, and note any investment they are making in the company.

Step 7

Summarize the report, including the requested funding. Do not provide detail or support in the summary, but simply recap the information you have presented, highlighting the demand in the marketplace for your concept, your ability to operate a restaurant and the projected profit potential.

Step 8

Provide support documents in an appendix, which might include marketing, food or overhead budgets, menus, surveys or cash flow projections. Refer to the appendix in the main body of the proposal when you need to make an assertion but don’t want to provide detailed support with it.

Step 9

Create a cover page with your contact information, a contents page and an executive summary, which will start the proposal. Keep the executive summary to approximately half a page, briefly describing the concept, financial projections, your expertise and the investment needed with no detail or support

Note that if you're asking for funding to start a food business (anything from a coffee shop or bakery to a full size restaurant), you'll want to add pages such as a Competitive Analysis, Industry Trends, Market and Audience, Marketing Plan, Insurance, Liability, Time Line, Funding Request, Services Provided, Products, Company Operations, Balance Sheet, Income Projection, Sources of Funds, Uses of Funds, Personnel, Legal Structure and any other topics required by the lender. While you need to consult your own local attorney and insurance agent who specialize in the food industry to ensure you are following all applicable laws and regulations, you should consider that you might need or want to show that you are just as concerned with everyone's safety as well as just handling the food. These are the details that separate the beginners from the seasoned professionals.You can show your potential clients you have these issues covered and set your proposal above the competition by outlining your Insurance coverage and Permits and Licenses. Is food spoilage, liquor liability, personal injury, property damage, medical emergencies due allergic reactions or food poisoning, food delivery problems all covered? Once a problem occurs, you can't go back and get coverage or amend a contract.