Nine sections, in the order lenders read them — with what to write, the numbers to include, and the mistakes that get plans rejected. Free, no signup.
One page, written last: the concept in a sentence, the market, how much you need, what it returns, and why you're the team. Lenders decide whether to keep reading here — lead with the numbers and the hook.
Cuisine, service style, check average, hours, and the one-line answer to 'why does this neighborhood need it?' Include the name, brand feel, and two or three comparable concepts in other cities that prove the model.
Who eats here, when, and what they pay today. Map competitors within a mile, their price points and weaknesses, plus the traffic generators — offices, schools, nightlife — that feed your dayparts.
Restaurant tip: For a sit-down restaurant, show the lunch/dinner split explicitly — a spot that only works at dinner has to pay all-day rent on half-day revenue.
The opening menu with target plate costs and prices. Show your food cost percentage math on three signature items — it signals operator competence more than any other page. Keep the opening menu small.
Restaurant tip: Full-service target: 28–35% food cost. Show one high-margin anchor per menu section.
How the first 1,000 guests find you: Google Business Profile, opening push, direct online ordering on your own domain, an email/SMS list from day one, and the loyalty loop that brings visit two. Name the tools and the budget.
Hours, staffing plan by daypart, suppliers, the POS and ordering stack, and who does what daily. Include prep flow and a service-style walkthrough of one guest's visit from order to payment.
Ownership structure, who runs the kitchen, who runs the floor and the books, plus advisors. If experience is thin, name the operators or consultants filling the gap — lenders fund teams, not menus.
Itemized startup budget — buildout, equipment, permits, deposits, opening inventory, training payroll, technology — plus a 20% contingency and six months of fixed-cost working capital. Then the funding stack: cash, loans, investors, and what each gets.
Restaurant tip: A second-generation space (former restaurant) is the biggest cost lever on this page — the hood, grease trap, and walk-in you inherit are six figures you don't spend.
Monthly P&L for year one, quarterly for years two and three. Revenue built bottom-up (covers × check average × dayparts), prime cost held under 65%, and a clearly marked break-even month. Include a slow-ramp scenario — lenders trust plans that survive pessimism.
Restaurant tip: Model covers conservatively: 1.5 turns at dinner is a good year-one assumption for a neighborhood spot, not 3.
Startup range: $300k–$800k for a full-service space (second-generation); $95k–$400k for counter service · Timeline: 6–10 months from signed lease to open doors. Print this page or work through it section by section — the order is the one lenders read in.
Write sections 2 through 9 in order, then the executive summary last — it's a distillation, not a draft. Two numbers anchor the whole document for a restaurant: startup costs typically run $300k–$800k for a full-service space (second-generation); $95k–$400k for counter service, and the realistic timeline is 6–10 months from signed lease to open doors. Plans get rejected for optimistic revenue and missing working capital far more often than for weak prose.
Build the financial sections with real numbers, not placeholders: cost your signature items with the food cost calculator, price them with the menu pricing calculator, and sanity-check the whole model against the profit margin calculator— if the plan needs a 15% net margin to work, the plan doesn't work.
And write section 5 like it matters, because it decides your margins for years: a restaurant that launches with direct ordering on its own domain and a guest list from day one never has to buy its own customers back from marketplaces and ad platforms later.
Get the operator margin playbook — food cost targets, pricing moves, and win-back flows that pay for themselves. One or two emails a month, no spam.
Cost a recipe ingredient by ingredient, get cost per serving and food cost percentage.
PricingTurn plate cost and a target food-cost % into a menu price, with margin and markup.
FinanceEnter monthly revenue and costs to see prime cost, net margin, and break-even.
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