Bar

Business
Plan
Getting Started
A business plan provides you with the opportunity to organize your
vision and ensure that nothing is overlooked when opening a bar,
lounge, or nightclub for the first time.

For every step of opening a bar, your business plan will be there to
guide you. The operations of your bar will run more smoothly if you
use a detailed business plan as a north star.

Instructions for Your Bar Business Plan Template

Start with the cover page. Insert your company logo as well as your
name, address, phone number, and email address.

Then, continue to the business plan itself. As you’re filling out each
chapter in this business plan template, there are prompts and
directions in italics below each section header. Your writing
starts in the regular text below the prompts. Simply delete “Start...”
and begin writing. Each bar concept is different, which is why we chose
to give you space to explain your individual concept in detail.

Finally, when you’re ready to show your business plan to the world,
simply delete everything in italics, as well as the first page and the last
page. Your business plan will start with the cover page and end with
your financial analysis. To print, click File > Print and to download,
click File > Download As and choose your preferred format.

Ready? Let’s get started!

 Joe Harper
101 Main Street, Chicago, IL
555-555-5555
jow@yum.com
Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary
2. Company Overview
a. Sample Menu
b. Team and Management
3. Market Analysis
a. Target Market
b. Location Analysis
c. Competitive Analysis
4. Marketing Plan
5. Operations Plan
6. Financing and Loans
7. Sales Forecasts and Operating Expenses
Executive Summary
The first section of your bar business plan is an executive summary – a concise
summary of the concept for your bar and an introduction to the key elements of
your business plan. This includes an overview of the budget, your business’s goals
and core values, and a clear, actionable vision for the products and services that
define your brand.

Consider the audience you are writing for, including potential investors,
management staff, and other owners, and imagine how you can grab their attention
and pique their interest in your plan. From this introduction, your audience should
have a good idea of your concept for a bar and what market space you’re entering.

Start…

Company Overview
The company overview is a companion to the executive summary that is more
practical than conceptual and attention-grabbing – it works as a glossary for the
rest of your business plan, defining your bar’s products, information about
ownership, company structure, and your vision for the customer experience.

In this section, include information about labor and hiring practices, the location of
your bar, and the bar’s capacity for service – how many people can your venue hold
if it is primarily a social hub, a music venue, or a sports bar, or something in
between.

The company overview section is also your opportunity to communicate the

aesthetic aspects of your plan to stakeholders. The bar’s name, logo, color scheme,
vibe, and the general type of ambiance and venue you want to create can all be
included in a company overview.

Start…
Sample Menu
A sample menu for a bar might seem idiosyncratic – wine, beer, and cocktails are
on the menu – but a sample menu can be useful for defining your brand and giving
interested stakeholders a concrete vision of the products and services your bar will
offer.

For instance, if you build a food menu of any sort, that gives investors information
about the quality of the products you plan to offer and the types of clients you will
attract with what you plan to sell. A sample cocktail menu that features top-shelf
liquor or a list of local beer and wine offerings will communicate what markets
supply chains you plan to enter and rely on.

A sample menu forces you to start thinking about how you will produce and deliver
those items to customers – consider where you will store valuable bottles of wine
and spirits, the logistics of serving draft beer, the focus on drinks or food, down to
the small details like glassware and stemware.

If you need some inspiration while coming up with your bar concept, check out this
list of restaurant concepts, this article on creating new menu items, and this set of
menu templates.

Start…
Team and Management
Bartenders occupy a unique space in the foodservice industry and the bartending
position is often considered a prestigious role among service professionals.
Bartenders have specialized knowledge about wine, beer, liquor, and spirits and use
their creative abilities to suggest pairings and craft cocktails.

Bartenders are the primary labor force of a bar, but table servers, barbacks, kitchen
staff, management, and even technical producers for lighting and audio all play a
part in creating the ambiance of bar and club spaces.

Provide investors with information about how you plan to structure your bar’s
business. What will the management staff be responsible for and what is their
position in the chain of command? Do you want to offer patrons table service? What
about a regular DJ or lighting tech?

Don’t forget to include information about who will be creating marketing and
publicity for the bar or events – will you market your business, hire a marketing
professional or firm, or hire a manager that can market your business in addition to
their other duties?

Also consider including information about what kind of jobs you plan to create,
whether they are full-time or part-time, how you will hire or train workers with the
right skill set, and if you plan to provide them with any benefits or incentives.

Start….

Market Analysis
The market for a bar is unique – bars can be in competition with the local
restaurant industry or in competition on the local bar scene, or they can occupy
some space between the two. Investors will typically ask about three core aspects
of the market in which you operate: the target market, location, and competition.
Cover those three things in this section, as well as any additional market or
industry factors you think are important to include.

Start…
Target Market
In this section, describe the target market and how it compares to the restaurant
industry as a whole in terms of demographics, characteristics, and behaviors.

Start…

Location analysis
In this section, focus on the general area or city you plan to locate your bar and
why you chose that specific area. Note things like growth of the local economy and
infrastructure projects nearby. Compare the existing market conditions to your
intended target market. Potential investors will look at this section of the business
plan carefully to make sure that the market in the proposed location aligns with the
ideal customer profile.

Start…

Competitive Analysis
In this section, explain the existing competitive landscape, paying particular
attention to businesses with similar concepts. Investors will want to understand the
specific aspects of your concept that will give you a competitive advantage.

Start…
Marketing Plan
Marketing tactics for bars, pubs, taverns, and clubs are as unique as configuring a
market analysis – how your market will be unique to the kind of space you’re
creating for customers.

Word-of-mouth marketing is invaluable for bars. If you provide a customer with the
experience they’re seeking, they’re likely to bring customers along with them to
your business. Additionally, the opportunities you have to market your bar will
coincide with the venue you create.

If your bar is primarily a social venue, you might market a happy hour, whereas a
music-focused bar has opportunities to market upcoming shows, relying on the
popularity of the performers you book.

In this section, write about how you’ll spread the word about your business.
Creating a plan for your marketing strategy and listing potential avenues of
marketing and publicity for your bar will let potential investors see that you are
already thinking about the share of customers your business will attract and serve
and elucidate your plan to succeed in the market you enter.

To learn more about bar marketing, check out our full length post on bar marketing
and promotion ideas that work and download the Restaurant Marketing Plan.

Start…
Operations Plan
In this section of your business plan, include information about customer service,
the point of sale, sales and inventory tracking, accounting, and the supply chain of
the products on your menu.

Consider the role you plan to play in the business – do you plan to be an
owner/operator and manage the place yourself or hire bar managers to craft drink
recipes and delegate staff?

Bars can offer a range of products and services and it’s crucial to work out the
details of management, entertainment, and production as you complete your
business plan. You might also include expectations for how you plan your
bartenders, servers, and managers to factor into your customers’ experience.

How bars treat customers is an important consideration unique to selling liquor

because who you can serve is regulated at the state and federal levels. Your plan
for business operations should include the licenses and permits required to serve
alcohol in your state and how you will ensure that your staff follows guidelines for
serving alcohol.

Small bar business models might see a staff of two bartenders standing in for every
role from cash management to line-cook while larger spaces might have dedicated
service and support staff. Balancing expectations for employees, management,
customers, and planning to deliver consistent products and services is complex and
doing that work in a business plan communicates that you’re poised to launch a
successful bar.

Start…
Financing and Loans
If you are seeking to secure funding, have already secured partial funding, or have
a plan to fund your bar, pub, tavern, or club, it is crucial to include that information
in your business plan.

Whether you're going the route of an SBA loan, a microloan, a line of credit, or any
of the other many financing options available to those looking to fund a hospitality
business, this is the section where you'll share with your audience how you'll be
footing the bill of your bar dreams.

And if you're still figuring that out — and using this business plan as part of your
investor pitch — outline how you'll be using the funding, and provide detailed
financial plans about the projections of profit and expenses of your business.

For additional information, check out this financing guide, which goes into more
detail about some of your options.

Start…
Sales Forecasts and Operating
Expenses
The operating expenses for a bar include the costs of labor, insurance, inventory,
equipment, rent, utilities — the list goes on. But there are also expenses for
permits and licenses that are unique to businesses that plan to serve alcohol, so be
sure to budget for state licensing and bartending permits so that you can serve
alcohol while adhering to the proper protocols.

In this section of your business plan, include a break-even analysis, which

compares how much sales are required to break even with the cost of expenses
each month. Investors will be interested in the potential for profit and loss before
they contribute to your business, but producing a profit and loss statement for a
business that isn't open yet will require some educated projections.

Finally, a cash flow analysis details how you will spend money on labor, supplies,
and operations which will show investors that the bar, pub, tavern, or club can
support itself without additional investment. Consider how the cost of wine, beer,
and liquor, local taxes, employees’ salaries, and the costs of maintaining the bar’s
furniture, equipment, and tools balance at the end of each fiscal quarter.

Start…
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