STARTING FROM SCRATCH, Restaurant Business Plan, Look before you leap...

Whether you want to start your business or revamp it or even 'smash it' (totally rethinking it and restarting over); lets get back to the basic of basics:

1. The Mission Statement. Remember that one? It was or should have been your dream,
vision, and hopes for what you wanted out of your business. Right? The one sentence,
a short paragraph that really sums up the bottom line you want your business to be-
to do-and be known for.

a. If your mission statement reads okay to you then you're good to go. Continue
right along with your success guided by your mission statement.

b. If your mission statement is wrong, just does not read right or sound right, and
you feel it is not even connecting with what's really going on in your business-
then you need changes, need to update it or modify it...do something. The bottom line is
your statement needs to reflect with whats really going on on a daily basis and lead all
actions from there forward-period! Makes sense?

The problem I find with most kitchens that need a tune up is that so much time has
gone by that whatever were the original goals and visions are long lost and whatever
is happening now whether good or bad is just going on by itself independently of any
direction given or that should be given. So, we need to develop a mission statement
that clearly defines what we want out of the business. If not, adjust it or adjust the
business so we simply are doing what we're saying. Got it?

1. The Business Statement/Mission Statement.

Lets begin a case study starting our business with just this concept; putting in words
what we want everyone to know what we are and what we're going to do. And this
isn't just great sounding words on paper to get the SBA loan or impress anyone but instead
we are defining and setting our own bar standards and expectations. Consider a simple
'Taqueria' or Taco Stand which we'll call 'Taco King'.

We decide that we want to be known for the best tacos in town that taste the best and
are the most authentic, original Mexico tacos to be found. So we settle on this to be
our guiding vision of our little taco stand. Jose, the owner, puts it into words:

Business Statement:
To have the best tasting, most authentic, original, and real Mexico taco to found
in this town.

Okay...sounds good, short and simple; but does it really sums it up for Jose as if this
can be his founding statement cemented in words...his core principles...the guiding
light for everything else that will follow? Maybe not, and this is why we need to
put some thought into the basics of basics, our founding foundation- the Business
Statement/Mission.

Anyways, back to our case study: Junior, business partner, wants to people to know
that their food will be fresh, good quality and at a great value. He feels that including
these principles will better guide them in their success. Jose agrees and then modifies
the statement. He comes up with sonething like this: To serve the best tasting Mexican take out food in town with the best prices and great service at a fast, family, fun place. To both Jose and Junior, this really sums up what they want to do. It's an agreement, an understanding, all on the same page, moving in the same direction kind of deal. The business statement is the most primary, essential piece of work that must be done before ever moving ahead. See, it's really hard to get where you're going if you don't know where you're heading.
[footnote: many times people start a business or join into one without laying the ground work of the expectations of the business.]

2. The Mission Statement
Maybe it sounds a little redundant to follow up the business statement with a mission statement. It's vital because one tells us what we're going to do and the next explains how we're going to do it. Back to our case study: Jose believes they can achieve the goal in the business statement through serving delicious, authentic foods and insuring all customers leave happy. Junior agrees but just wants to be sure that they bounce the mission off the business statements by keeping the business statement clearly in mind as they draw out the mission statement. So they think it out and arrive at this:

Mission Statement.
To insure that every customer receives the best tasting Mexican take out food in town at the best prices and great service by being of fast service, attracting family customer base, and making it a fun place to order Mexican take out. And to guarantee all customers leave happy and build our business quality, product, and service better and stronger by and through one customer and one order at a time.

Wow, that was a mouthful. Now lets take all this in for a moment and fully understand just what we are really saying here. We are reconfirming our comittment to the business goals, ways and means. We captured the basic parameters of the common direction of the business. Its all there, genereally at least, so everyone present and future will have a clear vision of the business intentions. Of course, every single detail will not be spelled out here. We can elaborate more that in the general business plan. But, now with both statements in place, we can all be on the same page from the start. However, you can make your statements much more defined, specific, and lengthy as possible. What we've done here was to illustrate the basic starting blocks on which to build your house of business. Naturally, you will convene, reconvene, and continual evaluate progress toward goals. Changes in strategy will be made, new ideas implemented, and move on or adjust fire as needed. To sum it up, as in our case study, Jose and Junior have discussed what they want to do with the business and how they want to do it. They even put it down on paper, their business plan, in the form of a business statement and a business mission. Now both feel much more confident that they see things eye to eye. Now they can proceed to the bigger scheme of details in opening up their business. Sure, doing all this doesn't guarantee success but it's alot better than just saying 'hey, let's open up a business' and then hanging out an 'open sign' and hoping all goes well.
[footnote: eliminate alot of grief, disappointments, resentments, and regrets by laying out the ground rules first and then play the game.]

Honeymoon period.
My intent here so far isn't to explain or show you how to write a business plan. There are plenty of good resources out there and more qualified to do so than myself. I hope to shed a little light onto what I have been fortunate to experience and learn from in real world situations. Ok, with that said, the honeymoon period is the time you get to feel out the startup. During these time, we can see if our visions of things will be a good fit or will some tailoring be required. Although
the business statement and mission are crucial to the foundation of business, we must continually build onto it to make the castle. Remember, our initial visions provided us with our greater directional sense of things and from there we monitor progress and adjust accordingly. So why is this next step called the honeymoon period? Well, just like its romantic counterpart, its a time to test the waters, get to know the business, make a few mistakes, reflect on visionary thoughts, and make tentative plans for later. No drastic actions, changes, or plans should be happening now. Its simply a time for you and your business to get to know one another. And this same attitude applies to your partner, customers, workers, vendors, and the general life around your business. Alot could be said for stopping to take a look all around you. See, we never forget what we started on and where we're going. We just want to start the engine and give all the parts a chance to click in and hum with the rest. Some parts may need a little tightening, or loosening, or a little extra lube, or even a little readjusting. Our role now is more of a nurturing mechanic. We'll play the junk yard-scrap yard role later as needed. So with that said, lets move on. The honeymoon period is a great time to evaluate everything in motion. Observation and feedback are essential. I don't believe anyone can have everything worked out. Just like a marriage, it'll take a little while to really see if things are going in the marriage as like it was during dating. The honeymoon is a nice transition from idealistic dating to the realities of marriage. Ok, maybe marriage isn't such a great example, but it's just the one I use since many people can relate. Only just forget about the 50% failure rate, that's a whole other story.