How to Start a Small Business

Starting a Food Service Industrial Business

Starting a food service industrial business is your ticket to owning a good, stable business but it's important to plan out the business in detail before you start. This article contains nuts-and-bolts information that may be key to your ultimate success.

Thinking about opening a food service industrial business? We tell you what you need to know to get started.

Best Practices: Business Plans for Food Service Industrial Businesses

Struggling to get the attention of lenders and investors? Maybe it's because you're lacking a high quality business plan.

The financial section of your business plan is especially relevant to funding concerns. Not surprisingly, lenders immediately turn to the financial section and use the accuracy of your forecasts to gauge the value of other parts of the plan.

As a result, we strongly recommend educating yourself in business plan financial basics before finalizing your business plan's financial chapter.

Don't Ignore the Competition

Well in advance of opening a food service industrial business in your area, it's worthwhile to see how many competitors you have. We've provided the link below to help you get a list of local competitors in your city. Simply enter your city, state and zip code to get a list of food service industrial businesses in your town.

How tough is the competition in the market you are considering? If the competition is too tough, you may need to think about starting the business in a different area or even start a completely different business instead.

Studying the Market

If you are seriously contemplating launching a food service industrial business, the next step is to learn as much as you can from somebody who is already in the business. If you think owners of nearby food service industrial businesses will give you advice, think again. The last thing they want to do is help you to be a better competitor.

Thankfully, an owner of a a food service industrial business on the other side of the country may be more than happy to give you a few tips, as long as they don't view you as a competitive threat. In fact, they are often very willing to share startup advice with you. It can take a while to find an entrepreneur who is willing to talk, but it's well worth the effort.

How do you go about finding an entrepreneur who is running a food service industrial business in another city who you can speak with?

We can help. Follow the link below, try a few city/state combos or zipcodes, and then start calling!

Food Service Industrial Business Acquisitions: Financial Considerations

You've invested a lot of time and effort in planning your startup. But here's something you probably don't know: Startup food service industrial businesses consistently fail to achieve the financial performance of acquired food service industrial businesses.

One of the ways to mitigate the financial risk of a startup is to modify your approach to tap into the financial benefits of buying an existing food service industrial business. At a minimum, it's worth exploring the financial benefits of buying a business to get an established customer base.

But most importantly, existing food service industrial businesses have documented financial histories. Although you can create pro forma earnings and financial statements for a startup, a business-for-sale should have a well-documented, multi-year history of financial performance.

Is Franchising the Right Option?

Your chances of achieving the entrepreneurial goal of making a success of your new business are substantially improved if you go the franchising route rather than going it alone.

Before you consider starting a food service industrial business, you may want to check out whether purchasing a franchise might increase your chances of success.

The link below gives you access to our franchise directory so you can see if there's a franchise opportunity for you. You might even find something that points you in a completely different direction.

Related Articles on Starting a Company

These additional resources regarding starting a business may be of interest to you.

Buying vs. Starting a Business

What Business Should I Start?

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