The Perfect Restaurant and Wine Bar Business Plan

Do you love wine? Do you know the difference between cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay?

If so, you may be interested in starting your own wine bar business. A wine bar can be profitable, but it’s also one of the more expensive ventures to start up. You need some startup capital and good timing to make this work as an investment, but if you do it right, a profitable wine bar business can be worth it. Consider these five steps to starting your own restaurant and wine bar business.

1. Potential revenue

Wine bars have become a popular business for entrepreneurs. With low startup costs, flexible hours, and moderate competition, wine bars are an excellent way to enter the restaurant industry without taking on too much risk. Plus, wine is a product that can be enjoyed in any kind of economy.

However, with that said there are still some things you need to take into account before opening up your own establishment.

First off, determine how large your bar will be. The larger the bar space is the more room you'll have to display wines and potentially offer full-service dining options.

Second, it's important to figure out what type of wine service you want to provide.

• Will you serve only wines by the glass or bottle?

• Will you sell pre-packaged foods such as cheese plates?

Third, will this be a licensed operation?

2. Potential risks

There are many risks that come with opening a restaurant or wine bar.

1. One of the most significant is your location. You want to make sure you pick a spot that has enough foot traffic but not too much to compete for people's attention.

2. Another risk is the cost of running the business. Not only do you have to buy food, drinks, tables, chairs, etc., but there will also be maintenance costs such as monthly rent.

3. The next thing you'll need to consider is how your guests get to your place. If they're driving, then parking will be an issue; if they're taking public transportation, then how close it is to their stop might pose a problem; and if they're walking, then safety may be an issue in some areas.

4. Finally, hiring good employees can sometimes prove difficult because great waiters can demand high salaries for what may seem like easy work.

3. Asset list

• Furniture: Tables, chairs, wine racks, display racks

• Equipment: Refrigerators, ovens, dishwasher

• Supplies: Paper goods like napkins and plates

• Staffing: Cashier(s), waitstaff(s), busser(s) -Building or space lease with kitchen facilities

• Investment of approximately $10,000 to $15,000 for start up costs .

• A full-service restaurant usually needs about $150,000 in start-up costs. Costs can be reduced by leasing a restaurant space without a built-in kitchen.

• Additional fixed expenses include insurance, food products, supplies, utilities such as water and electricity. Variable expenses include liquor inventory and cost of service items like paper goods.

4. Monthly sales forecast

$20,000 - $25,000 in sales is forecasted for the first month. Sales will slowly increase to $35,000-$40,000 per month by the end of the year.

Expenses are anticipated at approximately $12,000-13,000. The total net income would be about $17,000-18,000 a month with a return on investment of about 12%. To be profitable this business needs to have an annual revenue of $200,000 or more. With hard work and dedication this can become a reality.

5. Profit margin analysis

One of the most important numbers to keep in mind when opening a restaurant or wine bar is your profit margin.

The profit margin percentage will tell you what percentage of each dollar spent at your restaurant goes to paying for labor, rent, food, alcohol and everything else it takes to run your business.

Where do I find my profit margins?

Profit margins are typically reported as net profits as a percentage of sales. You may see this number on an income statement from your accountant or in an earnings report from an annual report issued by the company that owns your franchised store.

How do I calculate my own gross profit margin?

• First, divide gross profits by total sales revenue to calculate gross profit margin.

• Then subtract fixed expenses such as depreciation, amortization and taxes.

• Next, add variable expenses such as cost of goods sold (food) and cost of goods sold (beverages).

• Finally, subtract from the sum variable costs and fixed costs. If the resulting figure is higher than 100%, then you have a positive profit margin; if not then there's no money left after all costs have been accounted for.

6. Cost of goods sold (COGS) forecast

COGS are the Costs Of Goods Sold by a business to produce its products. These include raw materials, labor, packaging, freight, etc.

For example, COGS for a bakery might be flour and sugar. Your COGS forecast should include what will go into your product or service as well as any other expenses you plan on incurring during the production process such as rent, electricity bills, or legal fees related to your business.

• Estimated COGS: $5,000

• Estimate profit margin: $500

• Estimate annual revenue: $120,000

7. Operating expenses

There are many business expenses that must be addressed in order to open a wine bar.

• Start-up costs for a restaurant or wine bar can be anywhere from $150,000 to $300,000.

• Employees will need to be hired at a rate of about four employees per thousand square feet of space. The average annual labor cost for the first year is about $250,000, not including salaries for management personnel.

These numbers change depending on the type of establishment being opened - restaurants with more than 50% food sales will have lower labor costs than those with less food sales.

Hiring qualified management staff is essential because it's up to them to train new employees, set standards and practices, deal with vendors and suppliers, etc.

Additional monthly expenses include rent (ranging from $5,000-$8,500), insurance ($600-$1,500), advertising ($3-$5 per customer visit) , utilities ($500-$800), maintenance (varies greatly by location) as well as all other standard operating expenses.

8. Sales channel analysis

You can sell wine in a variety of venues, from a brick-and-mortar retail location to an online store. For example, you can open up your own wine bar.

You should consider how you want to sell your product before deciding which type of business plan you should use. If you choose to open up a bricks-and-mortar wine bar, for instance, you will need information about all the licensing requirements for this type of establishment. You may also need to hire employees who are skilled in selling wines and knowledgeable about the industry.

9. Customer profile

Example - We are a group of friends that have been running a catering company for the last few years. We've always wanted to open up our own restaurant so we can offer more food options, but we don't have much experience with wine bars. That's why we're looking for an experienced restaurant and wine bar business plan to help us get started.

With this in mind, it might be a good idea to focus on having at least five types of wine available at all times. In addition to carrying popular labels such as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon,

you may also want to consider having bottles from lesser-known regions like Argentina or Greece. Finally, another idea is to keep your prices competitive - they should not exceed $100 per bottle.

10. Competitor analysis

While people might think that all restaurants are the same, this couldn't be further from the truth. Restaurants are very different from each other.

There are many factors that differentiate one restaurant from another, including cuisine type, ambiance, location, price point and overall customer experience.

Some restaurants may only offer a certain cuisine while others may offer various cuisines.

Restaurants also vary in the amount of space they have available to them.

What some people don't realize is that there is a lot of money tied up in real estate for those who own their own building.

The bigger the building, the more it costs for monthly rent or mortgage payments as well as utilities like heating, cooling and electricity.

For example, if you open up an Italian restaurant but don't have enough square footage to do so then you will need to take on additional costs associated with buying food and supplies which can become costly over time.

Contact US