sample of a business plan on bakery

Bakery Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Business Plan Outline

• Bakery Business Plan Home
• 1. Executive Summary
• 2. Company Overview
• 3. Industry Analysis
• 4. Customer Analysis
• 5. Competitive Analysis
• 6. Marketing Plan
• 7. Operations Plan
• 8. Management Team
• 9. Financial Plan

Bakery Business Plan

You’ve come to the right place to create a successful bakery business plan.

We have helped over 100,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their bakeries.

A bakery business plan is a plan to start and/or grow your bakery. Among other things, it outlines your business concept, identifies your target customers, presents your marketing strategy, and details your financial projections.

Sample Bakery Business Plan

The following information will provide a description of what to include in your own bakery business plan along with links to an example for that section:

• Executive Summary – The Executive Summary section provides a high-level overview of your plan. It should include your bakery’s mission statement, as well as information on your business offerings, your target audience, and your business goals and objectives.
• Company Overview – The Company Overview section provides an in-depth look at your bakery, including information on your company’s history, business structure, bakery location, and management team.
• Industry Analysis – Also called the Market Analysis, in this section, you will provide an overview of the industry in which your bakery will operate. Through market research, you will be able to discuss market trends affecting the industry, as well as your target market’s needs and buying habits.
• Customer Analysis – In this section, you will describe your target market and explain how you intend to reach them. You will also provide information on your customers’ needs and buying habits.
• Competitive Analysis – The Competitor Analysis will provide an overview of your competition (other bakeries or businesses that offer high-quality baked goods), including their strengths and weaknesses. It will also discuss your competitive advantage or your business’s core strength that will help you stand out amongst your competition.
• Marketing Plan – In the Marketing Plan section, you will detail your marketing strategies, including your community events, and digital marketing campaigns. You will also discuss your pricing strategy and how you intend to position your bakery in the market.
• Operations Plan – In the Operations Plan, you will provide an overview of your store’s operations, including your store layout, staff, and inventory management. It also includes information on your warehousing and distribution arrangements and a list of long-term milestones or business goals.
• Management Team – In this section, you will provide information on yourself as the talented baker, any business partners, your experience, and your roles in the company.
• Financial Plan – In this section of your bakery financial plan, you will include your financial statements: profit and loss statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. It also includes information on how much funding you require and the use of these funds.

Next Section: Executive Summary >

Bakery Business Plan FAQs

How can i complete my bakery business plan quickly & easily.

Learn more about how to write a bakery business plan using this   bakery business plan template .

What Are the Main Types of Bakeries?

A bakery can be retail or wholesale. A retail bakery sells baked goods (i.e., fresh bread, specialty items, gluten-free and vegan baked goods, and other bakery offerings) directly to customers, while a wholesale bakery typically sells products to other local businesses, like restaurants, grocery stores, specialty shops, and cafes.

How Do You Get Funding for Your Bakery?

Bakeries are most commonly funded with personal savings and bank loans. Credit card financing and angel investors are also popular forms of funding for bakeries. Potential investors or lenders will often want to see a well-crafted business plan before considering providing funding.

Learn More:  Seeking Funding from Angel Investors vs Venture Capitalists

Where Can I Get a Bakery Business Plan PDF?

You can download our free bakery business plan template PDF here . This is a sample bakery business plan template you can use in PDF format.

Bakery Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Bakery Business Plan

If you want to start a bakery business or expand your current one, you need a business plan.

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 5,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their bakery businesses. On this page, we will first give you some background information with regards to the importance of business planning. We will then go through a bakery business plan step-by-step so you can create your bakery’s business plan today.

Download our Ultimate Bakery Business Plan Template here >

How To Write a Business Plan For a Bakery

Executive summary.

The executive summary is the introduction to your business plan, although it is often written last. It helps investors and lenders quickly decide whether they are interested and should read more, so the first page must get right to the point. Include a concise description of your bakery (or bakery concept if you are a startup), a short analysis of the market, proof that customers are willing to pay for products, and an explanation of the unique qualifications that ensure your bakery will be a success.  

Company Overview

This section of your bakery business plan provides a comprehensive look at the company’s history. Include details on your bakery’s legal structure, founding, location, and current business stage, as well as your past accomplishments and unique qualifications. Clearly explain anything that makes you a strong competitor in this market, such as existing contracts with retailers, a head baker with impressive restaurant credentials, or exclusive access to award-winning recipes.

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In this section you should also give an overview of the type of bakery you operate or will operate in the future.

For example, do you or will you operate a:

• Traditional bakery (selling breads, biscuits etc.)
• Commercial bakery
• Bakery specializing in wedding cakes
• Wholesale bakery
• Doughnut shop
• Pastry shop
• Bakery Cafe
• Food truck bakery
• Home Bakery

Industry Analysis

This section assesses that bakery industry and how your bakery fits into the existing landscape. Address any challenges that you unearth with a solid strategy for success. Also keep in mind that your market is not the entire baked goods market. Rather, it is your niche of that market.

For example, while the baking industry in the United States generates more than $30 billion per year in revenues, your bakery will only comprise a fraction of that amount depending upon your geography, focus, etc. So, zero in on the specific products and customers you plan to target and focus your analysis on those elements.  

Customer Analysis

This section of your plan details your bakery’s target audience, that is the customers you will serve. Note that in many cases, a bakery might target multiple market segments. Do you plan to target brides to be? Children’s birthday parties? Upscale families who regularly hold private events for 100 or more guests?

Or do you primarily serve walk-in customers. This segment usually comprises neighborhood resident who know about your bakery, and who tend to visit regularly.

Even if you’re not a commercial bakery, you might serve local delis, grocery stores and bodegas. Clearly, it helps a bakery’s sales if it has a greater number of distribution points. The same is true in the case of restaurants. A bakery can supply breads, bagels, cakes, pastries and other products to restaurants and hence create a larger customer base.

Whatever target markets you serve, clearly define them in your business plan. Detail the demographics of each. For example, are they wealthy males and females? Are they college students? Are they local restaurants? Whatever the target customers, you need to identify and detail them so you’ll know their needs and can better serve them.

Likewise, discuss the psychographics of your target customers. Are they price conscious? Is quality the most important issues they will use to judge your bakery? Do they insist on reliability and premium service?

In addition to documenting the demographic and psychographic variables that define your target market, detail how your bakery will meet their unique needs.

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Competitive Analysis

This section of your bakery business plan details your direct and indirect competitors. Direct competitors are other companies who fulfill the same need for the same target market, most likely others selling similar baked goods. Your indirect competitors are those who fulfill a different need for the same target market, or those who fulfill the same need for a different target market. An example of an indirect competitor could be a nearby coffee shop.

In your plan, name and describe your direct competitors individually, and explain what sets your bakery apart from them. Create a more general category for your indirect competitors and discuss them as a whole.

Finally, detail your areas of competitive advantage and what will make you distinct. Most successful bakery owners identify products that no other local bakeries offer, such as a treat that is exclusive to your bakery and that drive customers to frequent your store. Also, based on the demographics and psychographics discussed above, you may be successful being the only local bakery selling nut-free cakes, or making vegan and gluten-free baked goods with local and organic ingredients.  

Marketing Plan

Your bakery marketing plan explains how you will penetrate your target market, based on the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.

The Product section explains all the products and services your bakery will provide. Price refers to the price points at which you will sell each item, along with your reasoning for choosing those prices. Place explains all your distribution methods, such as your retail stores, your company website, and third-party retailers. Promotion defines the ways you will entice customers to purchase your baked goods, such as free samples and web advertising.

In addition to describing the four Ps your bakery marketing strategy, you should explain how you will retain existing customers through loyalty programs or other methods. Also, in this section of your plan, particularly if you are startup retail bakery, you should detail the design and display of your location.

Clearly, your bakery’s storefront should be designed in a way that attracts walk-in customers. Consult an interior designer to get insight on how to create a warm and inviting ambience in your bakery.

Operations Plan

The operations plan explains the processes by which you will turn your vision into a reality. It includes the everyday short-term processes involved in physically baking your products, managing your retail space, packaging your baked goods, conducting sales transactions, choosing and working with vendors, and delivering the finished products to your customers among others.

Your operations plan must also include the long-term processes involved in growing your company, such as introducing new products or retail stores, achieving specific sales milestones, and hitting other important business-oriented goals such as hiring new employees, launching new locations, etc.  

Management Team

This section provides biographies of the key members of your company’s management team, with an emphasis on strong business skills. Focus on educational background, previous experience with successful start-ups, and other elements that demonstrate your and/or your team’s ability to build a company. A strong advisory board can help make up for weaknesses provided you clearly articulate how your advisors will directly impact the company’s growth.

Financial Plan

The financial plan is often the most difficult part of the business plan to write, yet it is the section that potential investors and lenders spend the most time analyzing.

Provide a list of all revenue streams, including their relative importance and timeline for implementation, as well as the amount and expected sources of outside funding. Include a summary of past (if applicable) and projected Income Statements, Balance Sheets, and Cash Flow Statements. The assumptions made in these documents must be reasonable and verifiable based on an analysis of similar companies.

Make sure you don’t miss anything when putting together your financial projections or you could lose credibility in the eyes of readers of your plan. For example, make sure you adequately enter costs which most bakeries incur such as space (owned or rented), equipment (planetary mixers, cylinders, gas stove, cooling fridge, deep fridge, storage utensils, etc.), electricity and water, staff, furniture and décor, licenses, insurance and legal fees.  

The appendix includes your full financial projections, as well as any other documentation that supports the claims made in the business plan. For example, it might include a list of key existing customers or letters from potential partners. Likewise, if you’re a startup bakery, including sketches of the proposed store design should appear in your appendix.  

Putting together a business plan for your bakery business is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will really understand the bakery business, your competition and your customers. You will have developed a marketing plan and will really understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful bakery business.

To further help you, we have other articles on key aspects of how to start your bakery . and running it effectively. Specifically, our bakery marketing plan will help you develop the best promotions strategy. Our bakery startup costs post will let you know what costs to expect.

Bakery Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my bakery business plan.

Where Can I Download a Bakery Business Plan PDF?

You can download our bakery business plan template PDF here.

Our bakery business plan PDF is a free resource to help you get started on your own business plan. This is a business plan template you can use in PDF format for a bakery, home bakery, wholesale bakery or any other type of bakery.

What Is a Bakery Business Plan?

Why Do You Need a Business Plan?

If you’re looking to start a bakery or grow your existing bakery you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your bakery in order to improve your chances of success. Your bakery business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your business grows and changes.

What Are the Sources of Funding for a Bakery?

Bakeries are usually funded through small business loans, personal savings, credit card financing and/or angel investors. This is true for a home bakery business plan too. This is true for a wholesale bakery business plan, a home bakery business plan and a commercial bakery.

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your Bakery business plan?

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Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.

Click here to see how our professional business plan consultants can create your business plan for you.

Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

Bakery Business Plan Template [Updated 2024]

Bakery Business Plan

If you want to start a bakery or expand your current bakery, you need a business plan.

The following sample bakery business plan gives you the key elements to include in a winning business plan. It can be used to create a business plan for a dessert bakery, bread bakery, cake bakery, and other businesses that sell baked goods.

You can download the bakery business plan template (including a full, customizable financial model) to your computer here.

Bakery Business Plan Sample

Below are links to each of the key sections of a business plan template for a bakery to help you write your bakery business plan:

• Executive Summary – In the Executive Summary, you will provide a high-level overview of your business plan including a brief description of your company, your products or services, your target market, and your business goals.
• Company Overview – The Company Overview section will include your bakery business concept, company history, bakery location, mission statement, and ownership structure.
• Industry Analysis – In the Industry Analysis, provide an in-depth look at the bakery industry including trends, competition, and growth potential.
• Customer Analysis – The Customer Analysis is where you will describe your ideal customers including their demographics and buying behaviors.
• Competitive Analysis – In the Competitive Analysis, you will compare your business to your closest competitors and provide an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses.
• Marketing Plan – In the Marketing Plan, you will flush out your marketing strategy for reaching your target market. This should include your marketing mix, your sales and distribution strategy, and your pricing strategy.
• Operations Plan – Your Operations Plan will include a description of your bakery, your bakery equipment, your production process, and your talented baker.
• Management Team – The Management Team section will include descriptions of your co-founders and key management members.
• Financial Plan – A comprehensive Financial Plan will include realistic financial projections and financial statements including an income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.

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Bakery Business Plan Outline

• Sample Business Plans
• Food, Beverage & Restaurant

Bakery Business Plan

Ready to turn your love for baking baked goods into a successful business?

To ensure that your business endeavor happens to be a flourishing one, write a business plan specifically crafted for your unique bakery business.

From helping you finalize the bakery location to evaluating the financial position of your business- a detailed plan uncovers every detail essential to kickstart a successful bakery business.

Writing a business plan can get complicated. With this step-by-step guide, you will have all the information essential to write a bakery business plan . Also, download our free bakery business plan template and modify it to fit your needs.

Ready to dive in? Let’s get started.

Key Takeaways

• Conduct a detailed industry analysis of the bakery market to understand market trends, target market, and the growth scope of your business.
• Outline the business goals and devise a business strategy that is in line with your bakery’s branding image.
• Analyze the competitive landscape of your business and identify local businesses that will offer direct and indirect competition to your business.
• Make calculations, assumptions, and projections to form key reports such as income statement, balance sheet, Cash Flow statement, and Break-even analysis.
• Determine the operations of your bakery business by outlining the procedures, processes, and equipment required to kickstart the business.
• Determine the baked goods and services you will sell through your bakery business.

Why is a bakery business plan important?

A business plan helps achieve your business objectives by creating a roadmap that will guide your bakery business in a strategic direction. An actionable well-drafted plan offers an in-depth view of your business idea and are a few benefits you must know:

• A business plan instills clarity in your business idea. All the ideas that were messed up in your mind start getting a clear point of view once you start writing a plan.
• A business plan is your checklist to understand what different aspects of the business need- the resources, equipment, manpower, licenses, etc.
• It helps crystallize your business vision and what it aims to achieve in the bakery market.
• A business plan optimizes the bakery operations and brings down the operating expenses by ensuring the resourceful allocation of bakery resources.
• A plan evaluates the financial aspects and viability of your bakery idea before you actually invest money in the business.

And, of course, a well-crafted plan will get you essential funds to get started in the bakery market. Moving forward, let’s craft a spectacular plan for your bakery business.

How to Write a Bakery Business Plan: A Complete Guide

From writing an executive summary to creating your financial plan- let’s decode the key elements of writing a business plan.

1. Get a business plan template

Before you start writing a business plan, consider getting a sample template to simplify the entire plan writing process.

A lot of information goes into writing a comprehensive business plan. Addressing all the key components in brief details is a challenging task.

However, by using a template, you can add structure to your plan. Not only that, it will help you organize the information clearly in a cohesive manner. With appropriate prompts, you will know exactly what to write in each section.

We know you would start searching for a template. Well, the Upmetrics business planning template is perfectly relevant and suited for your bakery business. It’s intuitive, modern, and available for free download.

Need Assistance Writing a Bakery Business Plan?

Get Upmetrics’ business plan template, import data directly into the editor, and start editing using Upmetrics AI Assistant.

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2. Write an executive summary

The executive summary is a concise description of your entire bakery business plan. It highlights the key findings and entices the reader to delve further into your business plan. So make sure to keep it interesting.

A well-drafted executive summary includes an answer to every question, a potential investor might have.

For instance,

• What is the core objective of your bakery business?
• What are the pain points of your target customers and what solutions can you offer?
• What type of baked goods will you offer?
• What is your target market?
• What is your marketing strategy?
• What are the financial highlights of your bakery business?

As you start writing, remember that the executive summary should summarize the plan and not your business idea.

Lastly, fit your compelling summary description in 1-2 pages.

3. Conduct a competitive and market analysis

The market analysis section paints a clear picture of your ideal target market, bakery industry trends, and your competitors in the market. In a way, this section is your chance to validate the potential success of your bakery shop.

The market analysis section of your bakery plan must include:

Market share, growth potential, and industry trends

Identify your targeted available market (TAM) through thorough market research and determine your share in the bakery market. Analyze the emerging trends in the bakery market and assess your growth potential as a retail bakery.

Understanding of the target market 

Who will be your potential customer at a bakery shop?

It gets much easier to succeed in the market when you have a clear understanding of who your target customers are.

In this section of customer analysis, you will create a buyer’s persona of your ideal customer by understanding their psychographic and demographic details.

Competitor analysis

This is an equally important part of the market study, where you evaluate the position and competitive landscape of your bakery shop.

Begin by identifying your top competitors and evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats against other bakeries. Establish your competitive edge and show the potential investors that your business stands a promising opportunity in the competitive market.

Want to Perform Competitive Analysis for your Business?

Discover your competition’s secrets effortlessly with our user-friendly and Free Competitor Analysis Generator!

4. Prepare a company overview

The company overview section of a bakery’s business plan is a brief description of your bakery business concept, its legal structure, location, and value proposition.

Be creative and write a compelling section that can propel the readers’ interest in your business idea.

Wondering what to include in your bakery’s company overview section? Let’s check:

• Type of bakery business: retail bakery, specialty bakery, cloud bakery, mobile bakery, etc.
• Business structure: Sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership LLC, corporation, etc.
• Mission statement
• Value proposition
• Quantifiable business goals and milestones
• History and background of the bakery, if applicable
• Partnership and ownership structure
• Name of owners/ partners
• Operating hours
• Service style

Drill down to details and make this section an engaging read.

5. Describe your products and services

After describing your bakery structure and mission statement in the previous section, you will now outline the product and service offerings of your bakery shop.

As a bakery business, you may sell a variety of delicious baked goods such as pastries, cakes, fresh bread, cookies, tarts, pies, donuts, sweet buns, etc. Add this to your product section and also non-baked goods such as savory snacks, coffee, etc, if it’s on your menu offering.

Specifically mention, if you will have products for special diets, i.e. gluten-free, keto-friendly, sugar-free, vegan baked goods, etc.

6. Bakery store design and layout

An effective bakery business plan must include a blueprint of your bakery shop’s layout and design to demonstrate the bakery’s concept practically to the readers.

Mention your bakery size and the space allocated for the back of the house and front of the house operations. Also, explain how the proposed layout will increase the efficiency of your business operations in great detail.

In this section, you will also talk about the decor and theme that will create a warm ambiance for your target audience. Keep in mind that the decor should reflect the branding image you want to create in your target market.

Offer an immersive experience to the readers while explaining this section.

7. Prepare a bakery marketing plan

The marketing plan offers a detailed outlook of marketing strategies you will use to market and promote your bakery shop. Consider it as a roadmap that will guide you in building a brand of sustainable value in the market.

So how do you build a perfect marketing plan?

Begin by identifying the marketing channels and different types of digital marketing campaigns that will work best for your potential customers. Now, allocate the monthly budget to different marketing activities. Lastly, devise a marketing strategy for each channel with a clear plan of action.

Here are a few marketing strategies that are popularly used by successful bakery businesses:

• Social media platforms for brand development
• Email marketing for promotional offers
• Video content such as easy baking recipes, tips, tricks, etc
• Online workshops and live sessions
• Influencer marketing
• Tasting events and sampling
• Customer testimonials

Now detail all your plans in this section and show your investors that you have a solid way to establish your business’s popularity in its target market.

8. Outline your organizational structure

In this section of your bakery business plan, you introduce the management team and employees at your shop. Also, highlight the organizational structure and hierarchy of employees in the organization.

Begin by introducing the owners and their role in your organization. Highlight their experience in the bakery industry and the key skills that can benefit the business.

Introduce your talented baker and their role in recipe development and standardization. Show their experience in the baking field and prove their asset worthiness.

Draw a clear flowchart depicting the flow of authority and responsibility in your bakery business. It is your chance to show the investors that you have a team and knack to take this business on a successful path.

9. Create a logistics and operational plan

The operations plan of your bakery business plan is a strategic document highlighting the processes, procedures, and resources needed to efficiently run your bakery shop.

A well-planned operations plan is like a business manual that has answers to all the questions one might have while running a bakery shop.

Wondering what to add to your operations plan? Well try to include answers to the following questions to make it detailed and comprehensive:

• Physical facilities: What will be your bakery location to produce bakery goods? Will you serve customers from that location or a different shop? Are you planning to sell the bakery goods online?
• Suppliers: Where will you get the raw materials and supplies for producing bakery goods? Who will supply non-bakery items like scones, sandwiches, and savory snacks?
• Inventory: Where will you store the raw material and ingredients? What will be the shelf life of these ingredients? How will you manage the stock levels? What are the minimum thresholds for different items and how long it takes to stock them?
• Production: Who will bake the goods? How long is the process? Will everything be made fresh or in batches to be stored for a few days? Will there be recipe cost cards for each menu item? How will you meet an unexpected spike in demand?
• Bakery Equipment: What type of bakery equipment will you require? Will there be a POS system at your store? What other technologies will you use? How will you take online orders?

The amount of precision here will help you regulate your operating expenses once the bakery starts serving the customers. Proper planning is advisable at this stage.

10. Create a Financial Plan

And now comes the most exciting part for investors- a financial plan. The figures in financial statements are helpful in determining the viability of your business idea. So this section holds a considerable weightage in terms of whether you will get funding or not.

To ensure you create a comprehensive financial plan, including financial projections for these key components:

• Cost of starting a bakery shop
• Sales forecast
• Revenue projection
• Operating expenses
• Pricing strategy
• Income statement/ Profit & Loss statement
• Break-even analysis
• Cash flow statement
• Balance sheet
• Business ratios

In this section, you will also evaluate your funding requirements and identify the funding sources for your business. i.e. bank loans, SBA-guaranteed loans, angel investors, and personal savings.

Having realistic financial projections at hand will help you realize your financial goals while evaluating the sustainability of your bakery business.

However, creating the projections for all these elements from scratch can get overwhelming. Additionally,  you also need to work on visuals and graphs to add impact and clarity to your plan.

Well, there is an easy way. Create your plan with the Upmetrics Financial forecasting tool . This tool will generate key reports and visuals that can be easily downloaded and added to your plan.

We hope this sample plan will guide you in writing a perfect business plan. Now, let’s move forward and check the industry trends ruling the bakery world.

Bakery Industry Highlights 2023

Before you open a bakery, here are some latest highlights from the bakery industry, you may find helpful:

• Bakery market size: The US bakery market size was valued at $99.47 billion dollars in 2023. It is projected to grow at a CAGR of 2.08% between 2023-2028.
• Retail Bakeries: According to IBIS World , there are 8,780 independent retail bakery shops in the US.
• Bakery consumption: In 2022, Americans consumed 8.6 billion kilograms of cake and pastry goods, a sizable amount compared to other countries.
• Bakery trends: There is a growing trend of providing healthier alternatives, i.e. gluten-free baked goods in the bakery market. The organic and gluten-free baked goods market grew by 2.45% in 2022.
• Market Saturation: 55% of commercial bakery revenue in the US is generated by 3 major players- Grupo Bimbo, Flower Foods, and Campbell Soup.
• Specialty bakery market: The US Specialty bakery market share is expected to grow by 10.54 billion US dollars by 2026.

Download a sample Bakery business plan

Need help writing your own bakery business plan? Well, download our bakery business plan pdf and write your plan section-by-section with utmost precision.

Upmetrics templates are perfectly suited for entrepreneurs who need a little help to kickstart their business planning. Import the data into the editor and start planning.

The Quickest Way to turn a Business Idea into a Business Plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

Write your business plan with Upmetrics

Optimize your business planning with Upmetrics .

With more than 400+ business plan examples , we offer invaluable guidance to help you write a cohesive business plan.

Whether you are writing a business plan to strategically grow your business or attract investors, Upmetrics’ invaluable resources like AI assistance, forecasting tools, and step-by-step guides will serve you perfectly.

Let’s bake a recipe for success together.

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Frequently asked questions, what should be included in a bakery business plan.

An effective bakery business plan must include:

• Executive summary
• Business overview
• Industry and competitors analysis
• Bakery goods and services
• Bakery design and layout
• Operations plan
• Key management team
• Financial bakery plan

How long should my bakery business plan be?

A bakery business plan should be not more than 15-20 pages including graphs, visuals, and charts. You are likely to lose the interest of investors with a lengthy plan. However, keeping it extremely short is also not favorable, as it would not cover important details. So try using crisp content for your business plan.

Can a bakery business plan template help in setting clear business objectives and goals?

Absolutely yes. A template offers a variety of prompts that will help you to write each section clearly and cohesively. Moreover, you will get a variety of bakery-specific examples that shall help in clearly determining your goals and objectives.

Do I need to have financial projections in my bakery business plan?

Yes, financial projections are important to assess the viability and profitability of your business idea. If you are planning to seek investor funds, this section is of crucial importance. Investors will evaluate the financial section and determine whether to invest or not.

Can I use the same bakery business plan template for different locations?

Yes, you can. However, you need to alter the content of your business plan for different locations and target markets by making specific modifications.

About the Author

Vinay Kevadiya

Vinay Kevadiya is the founder and CEO of Upmetrics, the #1 business planning software. His ultimate goal with Upmetrics is to revolutionize how entrepreneurs create, manage, and execute their business plans. He enjoys sharing his insights on business planning and other relevant topics through his articles and blog posts. Read more

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How to Write a Bakery Business Plan + Template

Creating a business plan is essential for any business, but it can be especially helpful for bakery businesses who want to improve their strategy or raise funding.

A well-crafted business plan not only outlines the vision for your company but also documents a step-by-step roadmap of how you are going to accomplish it. In order to create an effective business plan, you must first understand the components that are essential to its success.

This article provides an overview of the key elements that every bakery owner should include in their business plan.

Download the Ultimate Bakery Business Plan Template

What is a Bakery Business Plan?

A bakery business plan is a formal written document that describes your company’s business strategy and its feasibility. It documents the reasons you will be successful, your areas of competitive advantage, and it includes information about your team members. Your business plan is a key document that will convince investors and lenders (if needed) that you are positioned to become a successful venture.

Why Write a Bakery Business Plan?

A bakery business plan is required for banks and investors. The document is a clear and concise guide of your business idea and the steps you will take to make it profitable.

Entrepreneurs can also use this as a roadmap when starting their new company or venture, especially if they are inexperienced in starting a business.

Writing an Effective Bakery Business Plan

The following are the key components of a successful bakery business plan:

Executive Summary

The executive summary of a bakery business plan is a one to two page overview of your entire business plan. It should summarize the main points, which will be presented in full in the rest of your business plan.

• Start with a one-line description of your bakery /
• Provide a short summary of the key points in each section of your business plan, which includes information about your company’s management team, industry analysis, competitive analysis, and financial forecast among others.

Company Description

This section should include a brief history of your company. Include a short description of how your company started, and provide a timeline of milestones your company has achieved.

If you are just starting your bakery , you may not have a long company history. Instead, you can include information about your professional experience in this industry and how and why you conceived your new venture. If you have worked for a similar company before or have been involved in an entrepreneurial venture before starting your bakery firm, mention this.

You will also include information about your chosen bakery business model and how, if applicable, it is different from other companies in your industry.

Industry Analysis

The industry or market analysis is an important component of a bakery business plan. Conduct thorough market research to determine industry trends and document the size of your market. 

Questions to answer include:

• What part of the bakery industry are you targeting?
• How big is the market?
• What trends are happening in the industry right now (and if applicable, how do these trends support the success of your company)?

You should also include sources for the information you provide, such as published research reports and expert opinions.  

Customer Analysis

This section should include a list of your target audience(s) with demographic and psychographic profiles (e.g., age, gender, income level, profession, job titles, interests). You will need to provide a profile of each customer segment separately, including their needs and wants.

For example, a bakery’s customers may include:

• Families with young children who are looking for birthday cakes or other special occasion desserts
• Businesses that need to order large quantities of pastries or other baked goods for their office functions
• Individual customers who want to purchase small quantities of freshly-baked goods for their personal consumption

You can include information about how your customers make the decision to buy from you as well as what keeps them buying from you.

Develop a strategy for targeting those customers who are most likely to buy from you, as well as those that might be influenced to buy your products or bakery services with the right marketing.

Competitive Analysis

The competitive analysis helps you determine how your product or service will be different from competitors, and what your unique selling proposition (USP) might be that will set you apart in this industry.

For each competitor, list their strengths and weaknesses. Next, determine your areas of competitive differentiation and/or advantage; that is, in what ways are you different from and ideally better than your competitors.

Marketing Plan

This part of the business plan is where you determine and document your marketing plan. . Your plan should be clearly laid out, including the following 4 Ps.

• Product/Service: Detail your product/service offerings here. Document their features and benefits.
• Price: Document your pricing strategy here. In addition to stating the prices for your products/services, mention how your pricing compares to your competition.
• Place: Where will your customers find you? What channels of distribution (e.g., partnerships) will you use to reach them if applicable?
• Promotion: How will you reach your target customers? For example, you may use social media, write blog posts, create an email marketing campaign, use pay-per-click advertising, launch a direct mail campaign. Or you may promote your bakery business via word-of-mouth.

Operations Plan

This part of your bakery business plan should include the following information:

• How will you deliver your product/service to customers? For example, will you do it in person or over the phone only?
• What infrastructure, equipment, and resources are needed to operate successfully? How can you meet those requirements within budget constraints?

The operations plan is where you also need to include your company’s business policies. You will want to establish policies related to everything from customer service to pricing, to the overall brand image you are trying to present.

Finally, and most importantly, in your Operations Plan, you will lay out the milestones your company hopes to achieve within the next five years. Create a chart that shows the key milestone(s) you hope to achieve each quarter for the next four quarters, and then each year for the following four years. 

Examples of milestones for a bakery business include reaching $X in sales. Other milestones could include adding new products/services, opening additional locations, or increasing employee headcount.

Management Team

List your team members here, including their names and titles, as well as their expertise and experience relevant to the foodservice industry. Include brief biography sketches for each team member.

Particularly if you are seeking funding, the goal of this section is to convince investors and lenders that your team has the expertise and experience to execute on your plan. If you are missing key team members, document the roles and responsibilities you plan to hire for in the future.

Financial Plan

Here you will include a summary of your complete and detailed financial plan (your full financial projections go in the Appendix). 

This includes the following three financial statements:

Income Statement

Your income statement should include:

• Revenue: how much revenue you generate.
• Cost of Goods Sold: These are your direct costs associated with generating revenue. This includes labor costs, as well as the cost of any equipment and supplies used to deliver the product/service offering.
• Net Income (or loss): Once expenses and revenue are totaled and deducted from each other, this is the net income or loss

Sample Income Statement for a Startup Bakery  

Balance sheet.

Include a balance sheet that shows your assets, liabilities, and equity. Your balance sheet should include:

• Assets : All of the things you own (including cash).
• Liabilities : This is what you owe against your company’s assets, such as accounts payable or loans.
• Equity : The worth of your business after all liabilities and assets are totaled and deducted from each other.

Sample Balance Sheet for a Startup Bakery  

Cash flow statement.

Include a cash flow statement showing how much cash comes in, how much cash goes out and a net cash flow for each year. The cash flow statement should include:

• Cash Flow From Operations
• Cash Flow From Investments
• Cash Flow From Financing

Below is a sample of a projected cash flow statement for a startup bakery business.

Sample Cash Flow Statement for a Startup Bakery  

You will also want to include an appendix section which will include:

• Your complete financial projections
• A complete list of your company’s business policies and procedures related to the rest of the business plan (marketing, operations, etc.)
• Any other documentation which supports what you included in the body of your business plan.

Writing a good business plan gives you the advantage of being fully prepared to launch and grow your bakery . It not only outlines your business vision but also provides a step-by-step process of how you are going to accomplish it. 

Creating a business plan forces you to think through all aspects of your business including marketing, finances, operations, and more. Ultimately, a well-thought-out business plan is key to a successful bakery.  

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A bakery business isn’t that difficult to start but it comes with a lot of planning. You can’t just release all your baked goods overnight without carefully planning how you’re going to market and sell it. You will need to figure out your menu, where to get your supplies, the costing for each of your baked goods, and how to package them. You will have to jot everything down, lay the groundwork for all your needs, and set goals to meet them.

If your love and passion for baking have made you decide to put up a bakery, then you’re in the right place to figure out how to start on one. As with all other businesses out there, you will need a business plan and we’re here to help you how to make one.

Why Do You Need A Business Plan?

Do you need a business plan for a bakery?

A business plan is a guideline to help you figure out what direction your business is heading and what goals you want to achieve. It’s also a great plan to present to banks if you’re looking for a loan and for potential business partners if you’re looking for investors. But most of all, you need a business plan to help yourself. It will serve as your guide on how to achieve your goals and even compute your possible profit.

By the end of this guide, you’ll be able to draft up your business plan or you can use the template we’ll provide that’s available to download below.

Executive Summary

Start your bakery business plan with an executive summary section. This section is all about providing brief information on your business without getting all the details in. The goal of this section is to get the whole picture of what your bakery is all about at a single glance.

Just 2 to 3 sentences per category should be enough to express your ideas. You’ll get the chance to explain everything specifically in the later part of the business plan.

Introduction

Imagine having a booth at a food fair with dozens of other businesses right next to you. What are the things you can put on your sign that when a customer passes by they’ll be able to figure out what you’re selling in just a couple of seconds?

That is what you are going to write in your introduction. You are going to supply information that’s eye-catching, attention-grabbing, but also sticking to the realness of your bakery.

Related Reading: The 6-Step Marketing Growth Plan for a Home-Based Bakery

Here’s an introduction example you can follow:

Quick Bites is a bakery that offers a new take on the bread scene for New Yorkers on the go. All the buns are stuffed with delicious filling, both savory and sweet to satisfy a hungry tummy in need of that quick snack that’s conveniently packaged to eat on the run.

Just by reading that example, you’ll know that Quick Bites is:

• A bakery that supplies buns with filling that is either savory or sweet.
• Located in New York.
• Catered for people looking for a quick snack.

Capture your reader’s attention by keeping things light yet informative in this part of the business plan.

Company Description

Write a company description.

Every bakery business has a background. You’ll want to include how many years in the making has your bakery idea been going around and who is in charge of it. Will it be a partnership? Will you be doing the baking and managing at the same time? Putting in a little bit of your bakery’s background helps give the reader a brief understanding of what your business’s managing strategy is going to be.

The first thing on your mind when you decided on putting up a bakery is probably the menu. And though that’s quite exciting to draft up at once, you’ll have to decide on the services you’re going to offer first by figuring out what kind of bakery you’re going for.

Here is a guide to choose the type of bakery you want:

• Full service – This includes having your own space with a kitchen and baking area, a display area for your baked goods, and dine-in options with drinks such as coffee or tea.
• Take-out service – This is a type of bakery where you have a small space just to display your baked items and offer a drink or two. Customers can just line up and order your buns to go.
• Online – This type of business does not require any space. This is all done in your kitchen at home. Customers will just place their orders online and will pick them up or have them delivered.

By deciding this early on, you can have a clear image of what your bakery is going to look like and how it will operate.

Customer Focus

Cake bakery display case.

We know what you’re thinking: everyone is your potential customer. And though that is the goal, you still need to list down your target customers so you can focus on a certain product line to sell.

Take for example Quick Bites. As mentioned in the introduction, the bakery is for those who are looking for a quick snack to eat. Therefore, their target customers are mostly working people who do not have time to sit down for a meal and are looking for a convenient yet delicious food replacement while still having the time to work.

Related Reading: 101 Creative Bakery Names You Can Use Right Now

With this focus in mind, Quick Bites’ product line of filled buns fit this category since busy people can eat their buns with one hand only so they can focus on doing other things instead.

Again, be sure to keep this short. You can add in the details later on in the Target Market section of the business plan.

Mission Statement

Every business has a vision no matter how small it is. If you just plan to have a simple bakery up and running, you still have goals to meet. This is how businesses succeed since a mission statement allows owners and staff to be reminded of the direction they’re heading.

An example mission statement for Quick Bites would go like this:

Quick Bites’ mission is to serve a variety of freshly baked bread, particularly buns with different filling, that can satisfy a hungry tummy on the go. Our buns are nutritious and are packed with only real ingredients. No artificial flavors will be used and no preservatives are added. Our bakery is committed to making quick meals that are convenient to eat while working and we ensure that they are also healthy and affordable.

Company Concept

It’s time to get all the details down for your bakery’s concept. Think of it as the longer and more detailed version of your executive summary. This section is quite easy and fun since you can now list everything you’ve planned your bakery to have.

Will you be serving artisanal bread? How about puff pastries? Will you be including cakes? Will you also be offering coffee and tea? Will you be baking on the premises or will you have a commissary located somewhere? What are your operating hours?

All these things are important so list down everything you can think of that discusses what your bakery’s concept is going to be.

Market Analysis

Learn more about Jennifer Jacobs.

At this point, you’re probably wondering why you should care about analyzing the baking industry around you when all you want is to just bake your bread and sell them.

Well, let’s put it this way: baking bread might be easy but the selling part may be a little difficult if you don’t know your target market, the bakery business trend in your area, and the competition around you.

Target Market

Writing down your target market is easy since you already mentioned it above on your Customer Focus section. Just add in more details so you or anyone else who will read this will understand more about which group of people do you cater to.

Include the following in your target market list:

• Working-class or students
• Location (local office workers, neighborhood families, etc.)

Industry Analysis

To ensure your bakery is going to be a success, analyze the trend surrounding this type of business in the area you’re planning to open this up. For instance, if you’re like Quick Bites whose target market is the working class, then you’ll need to check the area around your planned bakery if this is a place where several offices are located.

You may also include a study on whether or not people like artisanal bread or healthy bread. This can help you check whether your planned menu can sell successfully or not.

For online bakery businesses, you can focus on the factors that people tend to look at when they’re ordering food online. This includes:

• The preferred number of days for pre-orders.
• Delivery times and rates.

Competitive Analysis

You’ll have to come to terms with the fact that you’ll have competition once you open your bakery business. That’s not entirely a bad thing. Having competition can help you analyze the prices for your baked items and it would also draw in interest from other potential customers. The trick here is to be better than the rest and that is why you are doing this business plan so you can succeed when you start selling your items.

If you are putting up a physical store, list down the bakeries surrounding your potential location. If you are an online store, you can also compare other online bakeries in your neighborhood.

You may even do a comparison. Write down the top three business names of your competitors, their strengths, and their weaknesses, and see where your bakery stands out.

Management Structure

Knowing the roles each person plays in your bakery business is important. It sets a clear and distinct understanding so that no arguments will happen in the future regarding their duties. This is particularly helpful when you’re in a business with a partnership so there are specific roles and duties indicated per person.

But even if you’re running the business on your own, it’s still important to write it all down so you’re aware of what else you need to do and if you need to delegate some tasks.

Related Reading: Learn how a Culinary Grad Built a $26k/Month Pastry Shop.

You can divide these into the following:

• Management Team – These are the people who will be running the business, those who will be in charge of sales and marketing, bookkeeping, filing and processing of legal documents, research and implementation, and ordering of supplies.
• Bakers – These will include the people in charge of baking your products.

For a bigger bakery with dine-in capacity, you may include these as well:

• Servers – These will include the people who will prepare the food to serve such as reheating bread or assembling them.
• Baristas – If your bakery is serving coffee, these are the people in charge of working the espresso machine.

However, some bakeries have their servers work as baristas at the same time so it’s important to state this clearly so your employees will know their duties.

• Cashiers – These people are in charge of manning the counter for any purchases.
• Clean-up Crew – These will include people who are responsible for cleaning the tables, dishes, and everything else that you need to sanitize your bakery.

Product Line and Services

Cake pops are a favorite at bakeries.

This section is the moment you have been waiting for. This is where you’ll place all the products you are going to offer in your bakery. Be it puff pastries, sandwiches, or artisanal bread, just be sure to write them all down. Be specific and indicate the prices as well.

Aside from your product line, you can include other services you wish to offer. Do you do wedding cakes? How about customized cakes? Would you be willing to supply bread to other businesses? Are you open to catering? Putting this all down in this section will help you organize your thoughts so you can put them into action carefully.

Sales and Marketing

A very helpful way to start marketing your bakery is to combine your target market and product line to bring attention to what you’re selling. For Quick Bites, since their target market is for people on the go, they can push how convenient their buns can be eaten while they’re walking on the street. They can also advertise the many flavors of buns they can offer from sweet fillings such as custard or jam to savory ones such as pepperoni, cheese, or vegetables.

Social media is also a great way to market your business. By putting up nicely photographed images of your bread and knowing the right trending hashtags to use, you can capture a huge number of followers.

But if there’s one marketing plan that’s overlooked by many, it’s taking advantage of the sense of smell. Freshly baked bread is pleasing to the senses and can entice customers to check out what you’re baking. So if you have a physical store, use the delicious smell of your baked bread by letting it waft out into the streets to lure passersby. You’ll be surprised just how fast people will flock to your bakery when you allow the scent of your baked goods to fill them.

Financial Plan

Red rose cupcakes.

We’re now on to the nitty-gritty part of the business plan. This includes where you’re going to get the money to fund your bakery and forecast the expenses and possible profit you’re going to make. Why is this important? It’s so that you’ll know early on if the concept, product line, and proposed services you’re going to offer in your bakery is profitable or not.

Keep in mind that you don’t really need a lot of money at all if you’re just starting your bakery business. As previous guest on the podcast Jennifer Jacobs explained , she spent the first few years operating a home-based bakery business. Jennifer operated her business for years while holding down a full-time job, before opening the doors to her first retail space. This is the path she recommends for other food entrepreneurs too.

Funding Request

The only thing you need to focus on this section is to ask yourself, where are you going to get the money to start your bakery? Whether it is a small online business wherein you’re the only one who will be doing the baking and selling, or it’s a big bakery with dine-in options and lots of staff, you have to be clear where to get the capital for all of this.

Getting a loan from the bank or inviting investors are a few options you can choose. This is also the reason why you’re making this business plan to convince them to give you a loan or to join in funding your bakery.

Financial Forecast

Bakery Food Truck.

You will need to list down all your planned expenses for your bakery. For a simple online bakery business, this includes:

• Refrigerator
• Packaging Materials
• Ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, butter, etc.)

If you are planning to open a physical store with dine-in options, you’ll also have to include these:

• Store signage
• Bread display rack
• Point-of-sale system
• Chairs and tables
• Trays, plates, and cutlery
• Espresso machine

You’ll also need to spend on your advertising materials whether these are in social media or print. The bottom line is, listing down all your proposed expenses can help you forecast the amount of money you need to start your bakery. According to professional bakers we interviewed for this piece, starting up a bakery costs $100,000 and $750,000. With these numbers, you can then set up a budget and start looking around for affordable equipment for your bakery.

Aside from your expenses, you’ll also need to do a break-even analysis so you know if you’ll be able to receive any profit from your proposed product line and services.

Operational Plan

Attention Bakery Founders: Download our Food Business Startup Kit for Startup Templates

Writing all your plans down is one thing but to set up a timeline for your operations is another. This sets the gears in motion for when you plan to execute your business.

Do a simple timeline following this example:

Date Plan [Insert Date Here] – Finalize the design and layout of the bakery and secure all rental documents such as permits and business registration.[Insert Date Here] – Start construction.[Insert Date Here] – Hiring and training of staff. You may also start advertising your bakery’s products and opening date.[Insert Date Here] – Start operations for the bakery.[Insert Date Here] – Achieve goals and reach break-even.

This is an example of a physical bakery store. For online bakeries, your timeline should be shorter and simpler.

This section is where most of your documentation to back up your business plan is included. You can also add photos of your bakery’s layout, your proposed design packages, and payroll plans.

Download Templates

Here are templates and real bakery business plan examples you can use as inspiration to setup your own business structure. These are available for download in PowerPoint, Google Docs, and PDF files.

• Bakery Business Plan PowerPoint  
• Bakery Business Plan Google Docs 
• Bakery Business Plan PDF
• If you are planning to open a physical store, be sure to delegate tasks. It’s fun to be hands-on with everything going around your bakery but you can’t manage the counter and be the baker at the same time. So appoint specific people for different roles but also have them multitask so you don’t hire too many people.
• Plan your menu accordingly. You do not want to bake a lot of bread and let them go to waste at the end of the day. Study the foot traffic around your area as well as your possible bestselling item. For instance, if Mondays are the busiest, then maybe you can double up on your recipes for a certain bread that everyone seems to like best. But you can slow it down on Tuesdays and focus on other items instead.

Don’t be intimidated in starting up your bakery and making this business plan. The point of the business plan is that it’s supposed to help you go through the finer details of your bakery. If the whole bakery business plan seems too complex for you then you just failed in understanding the purpose of it. It has to be easy to read and understand because it will serve as your guide.

Where are you planning to open your bakery? We’re just as excited as you are for this new adventure and look forward to hearing about the plans you put in place. Don’t forget to sign up for our free Food Business Startup Kit for exclusive interviews with bakery founders.

Want to start your own food business?

Hey! 👋I’m Brett Lindenberg, the founder of Food Truck Empire.

We interview successful founders and share the stories behind their food trucks, restaurants, food and beverage brands. By sharing these stories, I want to help others get started.

If you liked this story, sign up for our newsletter that includes our food business startup kit and most popular interviews sent straight to your inbox.

Know someone interesting that should be interviewed on the website? Tell us about them here. 

About the Author: Brett Lindenberg

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How to Create a Bakery Business Plan: Guide and Template

By Debra Weinryb

Are you a talented baker looking to start or grow your business? A bakery business plan is a great place to start. A good business plan will help you outline all the steps necessary to make your bakery successful – like hiring a talented management team, building an effective marketing plan, and securing the technology you need to boost sales, like a bakery POS .

After you’ve decided on the type of bakery you want to open – whether that’s a bakery cafe, food truck, specialty bakery, or another type – it’s time to get into all the fine details. 

Your business plan is a crucial part of starting your new restaurant because it will help you structure your ideas and goals, what types of products you will sell, what your marketing strategy will be, how your business will operate, and so much more. 

To help you get started, we’ve covered the key elements of how to write a bakery business plan in a section-by-section format. We’ll explain everything from how to describe your bakery offerings and menu items, to tips on how to make financial projections to attract potential investors. Follow along by downloading our bakery business plan template and customize it to fit your needs. 

In this article, we will cover:

• Why you need a bakery business plan
• How to write a bakery business plan
• 7 bakery business plan sample sections

Bring your bakery concept to life with this customizable bakery business plan template.

Why You Need a Bakery Business Plan

There are many benefits to writing a bakery business plan. First, it helps you better evaluate your business ideas and goals through research and documentation. Second, a bakery plan helps you build a structure for identifying next steps to bring your vision to life. You can always refer to your business plan to stay on track to achieve the goals you’ve set out.

Writing a business plan for a bakery will also help you figure out what you need to grow your company. You’ll gain a clear understanding of the equipment, supplies, and capital you will need to make your dreams a reality. By making a strong and well-thought-out plan, you’ll be more likely to secure funding from banks, potential investors, and lenders. 

Look at any bakery business plan sample, and you will see how much information can be conveyed to your reader in an easy-to-understand manner. You might be surprised by all the components you overlooked! Now’s the time to think about improving your bakery.

How to Write a Business Plan for a Bakery

Writing a business plan for a bakery is no easy feat. You have to think about all the various aspects of your business – like how often you need to order ingredients, how you will market your business to reach new customers, and the amount of staff you will need to hire. Essentially, you’re putting together a manual for your bakery’s success, and it needs to convince investors and new business partners to support your business.

To help you get started, we put together a free bakery business plan template . Acting as a roadmap, our template provides step-by-step instructions for how to think through all of the key elements of a bakery business – including a market analysis, operations plan, marketing and PR plan, financial analysis and projections, and more. You can use the tips in each section to learn how to write a bakery business plan. 

Bakery Business Plan Sample Sections

To help you fill in your own business plan, here we’ll cover what you need to include in each section.

1. Executive Summary

Your executive summary is the most important part of your business plan, even though it’s usually written last. The goal of this section is to give an overview of what will be discussed in your business plan and to entice readers (or investors) to learn more.

You will describe your bakery’s mission statement, proposed concept, your target market, and explain how the uniqueness of your bakery will ensure your success. For example, you can explain any special traits of your team that will help your bakery grow, like exceptional customer service or attention to detail when preparing pastries for guests.

Additionally, you will offer financial highlights of how you plan to use funding from potential investors. Perhaps you will spend money on the design of your bakery, purchasing initial inventory, or covering overhead expenses. You can also include a chart to show how potential funding will help increase your bakery’s revenue over time.

While this section is important, remember to keep it to the point. Aim for around 600 words to entice the reader to keep reading the rest of your business plan. You can also check out a bakery business plan sample for inspiration.

2. Company Overview

Your company overview section presents a summary of your bakery’s history and why you opened it in the first place. For example, you can write about how your bakery is different from your competitors – such as your team’s impressive credentials, or how you’re the only business in your area selling gluten-free and vegan baked goods.

You should also include important details like your bakery’s legal structure, founding team members, location, and milestones to date. Milestones are goals that you met, like opening your first bakery location, launching a website, or hiring your first head baker.

Lastly, mention the type of bakery you plan to run. Your service type will be important as you write your bakery plan, helping define the space and equipment you need, and how you’ll interact with guests. For example, if you run a bakery cafe, you’ll need a sit-down area, as well as a front-of-house and back-of-house area. If you operate a food truck bakery, you’ll need to buy or rent a truck so your bakery will be able to move around. 

3. Market Analysis

This section focuses on the customers that you plan to serve. For example, do you plan to bake cakes and pastries for weddings? What about school events, birthday parties, or private events? Maybe you’re a neighborhood bakery that relies on foot traffic from your regular customers?

If you rely on grocery stores, farmer’s markets, or restaurants to sell your baked goods, you can mention that too. Supplying products like breads, biscottis, brownies, bagels, or other baked pastries to restaurants will also help you grow your customer base faster.

After you’ve defined your target market, you can go into more detail by describing your customer personas:

• Is your target market working professionals or students? 
• Are they thrifty or willing to spend on a specialty drink? 
• Does the quality of ingredients matter to them? 
• What about the customer service they receive? 

Once you’ve outlined your target market’s unique requirements, make sure you write how you will meet each of their needs. 

4. Business Offerings and Menu

The Business Offerings and Menu section focuses on what type of baked goods you will offer customers. Whether you offer fresh bread, cookies, or cakes, discuss every detail about what you plan to sell. Make sure to provide an explanation for why you sell these products, and how your delicious goods will drive foot traffic to your bakery. 

Remember to always write in layman’s terms so even if someone is unfamiliar with your bakery, they can still get excited about your products. To do so, avoid industry jargon, buzzwords, or technical knowledge that might not be common knowledge to investors.

Here are a few questions you can answer when writing out your business offerings:

• Will you be reinventing recipes, or creating brand new products?
• Will you include specialty items like nut-free or custom-made products?
• Where will you source and buy your ingredients and equipment from?
• How do your baked goods compare to others currently on the market?

5. Operations Plan

This section is where you expand on your business goals, including what the management team will look like and what technology you’ll need. 

For your team, you should provide details like whether you will be hiring full-time or part-time staff, what their roles will be, and at what hours your bakery will be open. For technology, you can list restaurant equipment that will help you get your job done well every day. For example, you might need mixers for blending batter, a stone deck oven for making bread, and a refrigerator for storing eggs, milk, and other important items.

You can also list operational milestones that you want to achieve over the coming months to ensure your bakery operates successfully. For example, you can mention when you want to finalize your lease agreement, begin construction for a bakery redesign, or mark the date of your bakery’s grand opening.

6. Marketing and PR Plan

You’ll need a solid marketing and PR strategy to enter your target market and attract new customers. In this section, you will explain the steps you plan to take to reach potential guests. 

Aside from coming up with a catchy bakery name, there are many ways you can draw in an audience. 

Social Media

Social media platforms can be used to develop unique and fun posts about daily bakery specials, or tease the latest products that are “coming soon.”

Asking customers to leave a review and spread the word is an effective way to market your bakery. If your baked goods speak for themselves, you will likely benefit from this marketing strategy.

SEO Marketing

Making sure you’re found on Google is imperative for a bakery. You’ll definitely want people to find your storefront, and not your competitors. By working on a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, you can be found when people type into Google terms like “local bakery” or “bakery near me.” Keeping your website up-to-date, accessible, and user friendly can also increase engagement.

7. Financial Analysis and Projections

For the last section of your bakery business plan, you will focus on the financial projections for your business. You’ll outline the potential costs for ingredients, equipment, technology, bills, and salaries that will keep your bakery running. For example, costs might include pastry products, like flour, sugar, butter, and cream. They may also include baking materials like cake pans, stand mixers, rolling pins, and measuring cups.

You’ll also include several documents in your financial analysis, such as an income statement, balance sheet, and a cash flow statement. After listing all of the costs of your bakery design, inventory, and other working expenses, you will then project the time it will take to achieve a profit. Remember to keep your numbers realistic, so you can let investors know how you could actually use their support to grow your business. 

A bakery business plan is the best way to start or grow your business – it helps finetune your business concept and identify your target market. If you look at any bakery business plan sample, you will see many important sections that help guide a bakery to achieve success.

Once you have finished writing your bakery plan, you can refer back to it on a regular basis to make sure you are keeping up with the goals you set. Remember, that you’ll need to update your document if your market should change. For example, if customers start demanding more gluten-free products, you can update your plan on how your bakery will meet this requirement. 

While writing a bakery business plan can feel tedious at times, remember to think of it as a fun and creative project. There are so many ways to open or expand your bakery business! If you need inspiration, use our bakery business plan template that can be customized to meet your specific business needs.

Debra was a Content Marketing Specialist at TouchBistro, writing about the latest food and restaurant industry trends. In her spare time, Debra enjoys baking and eating together with family and friends.

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How To Start a Bakery: Steps and a Sample Business Plan

• Templates & Guides

Want to take your culinary skills to the next level, move out of your home kitchen, and learn how to start a bakery? Good for you!

While the process is really just that simple, there are a number of practical steps you can take to get your new business heading in the right direction — including writing your very own bakery business plan.

In this article, we discuss some of the best things you can do before you even open your doors that can help make your new bakery a success.

Table of contents

How to start a bakery, sample bakery business plan.

1) Gain practical experience

Learning how to start a bakery and writing a bakery business plan are two very unique and specialized activities. Unlike, say, mowing lawns, owning and operating a successful bakery takes a lot of knowledge, experience, and skill.

Before you bake your first loaf for profit, get as much practical experience as possible. One of the best ways to do this is to work in a bakery or similar niche business.

As you do, pay attention to more than just the baking. Note how the business manages its employees , markets its products, provides customer service , and develops its business model.

Learning about these foundational business activities in addition to the bread-baking process can give your new endeavor the best chance for success.

2) Research laws that apply to the food service industry

Starting a food service business of any kind comes with a long list of laws, rules, and guidelines. Whether you want to open a bakery, a coffee shop , a cafe , or a restaurant , you’re going to have to operate under some very high standards.

Before you invest any money in the project, be sure to research the laws that apply to the food service industry in your area and get professional legal counsel.

For example, you may discover that your state requires you to use stainless steel appliances and cookware. Those items can be expensive to purchase and may affect how you spend the rest of your startup capital.

You may even discover that operating a bakery isn’t for you. And that’s OK. If that’s the case, at least you found out before you committed yourself to the project. View it as a learning experience, and use that information to find the business that’s right for you.

3) Consider a specialty

At first, you may be tempted to offer any and all baked goods under the sun — cakes, cookies, muffins, cupcakes, pies, breads, turnovers, and other sweet treats.

But jumping all in at first can make it more difficult to keep your bakery business in the black. Instead, consider a specialty for your business, and write it into your bakery business plan.

Narrowing down what you offer to one or two items — e.g., breads and croissants — can help in two distinct ways:

• It may allow you to focus on making your products the best they can be (rather than spreading your efforts too thin)
• It may help your customers recognize exactly what your business is and give you a boost in carving out market share among your competitors

As you’ll see in the sample bakery business plan later on in this article, All I Want Is Bread chose to focus on bread products so they can refine their recipes and make the best products possible.

4) Get to know your target market

Another important step in the process of starting a bakery is getting to know your customer base (i.e., your target market).

Doing so can provide valuable insight into key variables such as:

• Demand for your baked goods
• Customer demographics (i.e., statistical data relating to the population and particular groups within it)
• How your market will react to your baked goods
• Appropriate price points

Getting to know your target market can also help you identify factors that influence your potential customers’ buying decisions, allowing you to give them what they want and need.

5) Create a bakery business plan

Starting a small business of any kind depends, in large part, on the planning you do before the doors open. You can accomplish a large portion of that planning by creating a bakery business plan for your new endeavor.

Doing so will give you a roadmap or guidebook that can help you deal with the everyday activity of your business that, ultimately, makes it a success.

We’ve included a brief sample bakery business plan below, but you can learn more about everything that goes into this important document by reading these articles from the Sling blog:

• How To Start a Coffee Shop: Step-by-Step Coffee Shop Business Plan

Food Truck Business Plan: The Beginner’s Guide For Success

Here we provide a sample bakery business plan to get you started. We’ve included four of the most important sections in this sample, but there are many other sections you can include in your own document.

Consider this example a “jumping off” point. Use the information as you see fit, customize it to your business, and produce the best bakery business plan possible.

For more information on writing a business plan for a food service establishment, check out this article from the Sling blog: Restaurant Business Plan: What To Include, Plus 8 Examples.

Executive summary

All I Want Is Bread is a new bakery venture that aims to introduce the French boulangerie experience into the local market.

All I Want Is Bread will offer traditional baked goods, including baguettes, pain de campagne, sourdoughs, croissants, pain au chocolat, pain au lait, and turnovers.

All I Want Is Bread will make these baked goods from scratch with high-quality, fresh, locally sourced, sustainable ingredients. This commitment to quality ingredients and sustainable practices will set us apart from the competition

Company description

All I Want Is Bread will be run by Buffy Summers (owner) and Willow Rosenburg (general manager). Ms. Summers owns and operates several businesses in the area, and Ms. Rosenburg has 10 years’ experience managing a boulangerie in Paris, France.

All I Want Is Bread will be located in Sunnydale’s vibrant downtown district within walking distance to office buildings, restaurants, and residential neighborhoods.

All I Want Is Bread will be run as a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) between Ms. Summers and Ms. Rosenburg.

It is our goal to provide quality bread to the workers, residents, and restaurants in our area. To help achieve that goal, we will also offer cafe-style seating, coffee and other beverages, and free WiFi to encourage customers to stay.

Market analysis

Bakery statistics according to [Source]:

• Industry net worth: $5 billion
• Growth rate: 3% per year over the next five years

As you can see, the bakery industry is a competitive niche, but there are also a number of excellent opportunities for new businesses within that niche.

We believe the key to success is to offer high-quality products, excellent customer service, and a competitive price .

Our target market includes bread lovers of all ages as well as restaurants that want to offer their customers and employees high-quality baked goods made from locally sourced, sustainable ingredients.

Financial Plan

We project that All I Want Is Bread will generate $1.5 million in its first year of operation with a 3% increase each year thereafter for the next three years.

We will achieve these numbers by targeting a 30% share of the Sunnydale bakery market and expect a gross profit margin of 4% in our first year of operation.

Workforce management and your bakery business plan

As you think about how your new company will run, be sure to include workforce management in your business plan.

More specifically, describe the technology you’ll use to help guide and direct your team — whether it’s one person, 10 people, or 100 people.

The Sling app , for example, includes a long list of tools to help make your workforce management as efficient and productive as possible, including:

• Advanced employee scheduling
• Integrated time clock
• Comprehensive communication
• Flexible task management
• And much more

Try Sling for free today to experience firsthand how the software can help you bring your bakery business plan to life.

Then, for more business management resources, help scheduling your employees, and tips for leading a successful team, visit GetSling.com today.

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This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, HR, or any other professional advice. Please contact an attorney or other professional for specific advice.

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Bakery Business Plan: How to write it [Complete Guide]

• January 3, 2023
• Food & Beverage

Whether you’re looking to raise funding from private investors or to get a loan from a bank (like a SBA loan) for your bakery, you will need to prepare a solid business plan.

In this article we go through, step-by-step, all the different sections you need in the business plan for your bakery. Use this template to create a complete, clear and solid business plan that get you funded.

1. Executive Summary

The executive summary of a business plan gives a sneak peek of the information about your business plan to lenders and/or investors.

If the information you provide here is not concise, informative, and scannable, potential lenders and investors will lose interest.

Though the executive summary is the first and the most important section, it should normally be the last section you write because it will have the summary of different sections included in the entire plan.

Why do you need a business plan for a bakery?

The purpose of a business plan is to secure funding through one of the following channels:

• Obtain bank financing or secure a loan from other lenders (such as a SBA loan )
• Obtain private investments from investment funds, angel investors, etc.
• Obtain a public or a private grant

How to write your bakery’s executive summary?

Provide a precise and high-level summary of every section that you have included in your bakery business plan. The information and the data you include in this segment should grab the attention of potential investors and lenders immediately. Ensure that the executive summary doesn’t exceed 2 pages in total.

The executive summary usually consists of the five major sub-sections that include:

• Business Overview : give a brief introduction to your bakery and quickly describe your brand, its offerings, the pricing list of products and what sets you apart from your competitors
• Market Overview : the market analysis segment will contain an overview of the expected bakery market size and growth in your area, as well as an analysis of your competitors and target audience
• Management & People : introduce your bakery’s management and employee structure. Provide a brief (no more than a couple of sentences each) of the knowledge and experience of the team. Also, speak here about your hiring plans and the reporting lines
• Financial Plan : how much profit and revenue do you expect in the next 5 years? When will you reach the break-even point and start making profits? Include here a chart depicting your key financials such as revenue, gross profits, and net profit
• Funding Ask : what loan/investment/grant are you seeking? How much do you need? How long will this last?

Bakery Financial Model

Download an expert-built 5-year Excel financial model for your business plan

2. Bakery Business Overview

In this section of your bakery business plan, you will provide an overview (slightly more detailed) of your business. If there is something unique about your baked products, mention that in this segment.

Some of the most important questions that you must try to answer in this section include:

• Why are you opening a bakery?
• Where will your bakery be located and why did you choose that location?
• What type of baked products will you sell (low-calorie, vegan, gluten-free, etc.)?
• Why do you want to offer those product lines?
• How will you price your food offerings?
• Will your operating hours be the same as your competitors?
• Who is your target audience?
• What will be the legal structure of your company?

Let’s look at different subsections that you must include:

a) History of the Project

Any business must have two components:

• Passion & experience of the business owner
• Rationale behind the business

Passion & Experience

It is not necessary to have any prior experience with a bakery. As long as you are passionate about it and you know your market, you are good to go. 

However, if you have any experience, make sure that you are mentioning that. For example, you may have been a head pastry chef and a creative cake decorator in a popular bakery for 6 years and now you want to launch your own bakery.

No matter what, ensure that you demonstrate not just passion but also some industry knowledge that you must garner through thorough research.

Every business has a rationale behind its existence. What’s yours? Are you going to solve some problems that exist in the current bakery business scene? 

For instance, the target market may have a very high percentage of pastry-loving obese people. You may be the first one to introduce low-calorie pastries, cakes, and other baked items. 

Similarly, if the area has a high vegan density, you may want to introduce a line of vegan products that no other bakery in the area is offering.

You must also ensure that the market is conducive for the business to exist. For instance, if you are a master cake maker who makes ultra-realistic cakes that cost a lot and try to sell them in a low-income neighborhood, your cakes will probably not sell.

Therefore, it is important to understand the market before starting a business to prevent extreme losses, and eventually closure.

b) Business Model

This is where you will talk about the business model and the type of bakery you want to open. Some points that you need to briefly describe here are:

• Will you buy a new bakery, or will you buy an old one and remodel it?
• Will you open a specialty bakery, a counter service bakery, or some other bakery type?
• What equipment, technologies, inventory, and tools will you need to operate your bakery?
• Where will you source your ingredients from?

There are various types of bakeries that you consider:

• Bakery Café : It is a sit-down bakery. It is a retail bakery with a dedicated dining area. There will be front-of-house and back-of-house spaces and people will often order food and other drinks apart from your baked items like muffins, cupcakes, cookies, etc. People can also order tea, coffee, sandwiches, etc.
• Counter Service Bakery : These bakeries do not have any dining area. People will order food and take them away. You can sell other food items like drinks, burgers, sandwiches, etc. apart from your usual baked goods.
• Specialty Bakery : These bakeries focus on a very specific set of products. For example, wedding cakes, gluten-free baked products, etc.
• Retail or Wholesale Bakery : The difference between a retail and a wholesale bakery is that in the retail model, you will sell to your direct customers (B2C). In the wholesale model, you will be selling to other businesses like cafes, restaurants, specialty shops, etc.

Irrespective of the type of bakery you want to open, make sure that there is adequate demand for the products you want to sell. For instance, if you are trying to sell a vegan line of baked products to customers who want non-veg-based baked products, you will not succeed. There must be enough vegans in your target market.

c) Products & Services

In this sub-section of your bakery business plan, you will provide a list of your products and services . For instance, if you intend to open a specialty bakery such as wedding cakes, you must provide a menu listing all that you have to offer.

Similarly, if you want to sell bread, cookies, and pastries only, make sure that your sample menu lists them. If there are too many items that you intend to sell, make sure that the sample menu you are providing includes the major attractions. You don’t need to list all the items.

d) Pricing Strategy

This is where you will explain your pricing strategy . Of course, your prices can vary significantly from your competitors. However, if there is a significant price variation, you must explain such differences.

For instance, you may be selling custom-designed birthday and wedding cakes instead of generic designs. That may be the reason for higher costs. Similarly, the quality of the ingredients you use for baking can also account for the price differences.

Irrespective of the case, include a pricing chart for your menu items. No need to include the price of every product or product bundle you intend to sell. Instead of listing the price for every product individually, you can just provide a pricing range.

For example, you can do something like this:

• Multi-decker cakes with custom fondant-crafted figurines: $350 to $1,000
• Gluten-free cookies: $3 to $6

Offering a pricing chart is important because your pricing strategy will also allow investors to tie your pricing strategy with your financial projections later on.

e) Legal Structure

Finally, your business overview section should specify what type of business structure you want. Is this a corporation or a partnership (LLC)? Who are the investors? How much equity percentage do they own? Is there a Board of Directors? If so, whom? Do they have experience in the industry?

3. Bakery Market Overview

A complete understanding of the market where you want to operate is important for the success of your business.

For example, there may be a large number of cafes in the area with regular and high demand for baked goods like pastries and cookies. Thus, opening a wholesale bakery to serve the B2B demand instead may make sense here.

Therefore, you must cover here 3 important areas in the market overview or market analysis section of the business plan of your bakery:

• Market trends : how big is the bakery industry in your area? What is its growth rate (or decline rate) and what are the factors contributing to its growth or decline?
• Competition overview : how many competitors are there? How do they compare vs. your business? How can you differentiate yourself from them?
• Customer analysis : who is your target audience? What type of bakery setup do they prefer? How frequently do they buy baked goods? What is their average spending at bakeries? 

a) Bakery Industry Status Quo

How big is the bakery industry in the us.

According to the American Bakers Association, the US bakery market represents $154 billion and employs over 800,000 people..! The commercial segment is by far the largest (91% industry size) vs. retail bakeries that only represent 9% of the total US bakery market.

In terms of products, here is the breakdown of the most common bakery products as a percentage of total bakery sales in the US:

How big is the bakery industry in your area?

Once you grab the exact data for the US market and add it to your business plan, you can then divert your attention to the area where you want to operate. It might not be possible to find region or area-specific studies, and hence, you must estimate the size. For more information, read our article on how to estimate TAM, SAM and SOM for your startup.

Let’s now see how to estimate the market size of the bakery industry size for your business plan . We know that:

• The total US market size for retail bakeries is $15 billion (10% of the total $154 billion)
• The total number of retail bakeries is around 23,000

Therefore, the average annual revenue for each retail bakery is around $650,000 (that’s an average of $1,800 in sales per day).

So, if there are 20 already bakeries in the area where you will operate, we can reasonably assume the market size of the bakery industry in your area is around $13 million.

How fast is the bakery industry growing in the area?

Now, you must show the expected growth rate of the bakery industry in your area. This information may not be available via online research papers. However, assessing the growth rate will not be difficult.

You can approach each bakery separately and ask for their year of establishment. You will get a clear picture of the overall growth rate.

For instance, if there were 18 bakeries in 2018 and 20 bakeries in 2022, the average annual growth rate is 5.1%.

b) Bakery Competition Overview

Studying your competitors’ business models is vital. You need to understand what makes them successful or why they fail. A clear understanding of their bakery product offerings, marketing strategies, etc., will allow you to provide a better service.

If your competitors are offering nearly the same products & services, then what is their market share and how do they market their products & services to attract new customers?

It is always a good idea to do some research (if necessary, physically visit your competitors without revealing your business intentions) and create a comparative table summarizing their product & service offerings, marketing strategies, target audience, etc.

Here is a sample table that you can use:

The competition analysis table you will add to your bakery business plan will depend on what information you need and want to include based on your business model.

Bakery SWOT Analysis

Try to provide a SWOT analysis . It must be crisp and highly focused. SWOT stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats.

Here is a sample that you can use as a reference:

• Strengths : Baking & Pastry Arts degree from Culinary Institute of America; 6 years of cake and pastry baking & decoration experience in a renowned bakery chain
• Weaknesses : Startup cost, zero reputation
• Opportunities : Increasing demand for healthy baked food because of increasing health consciousness in the target market
• Threats : Big brands like Dewey’s Bakery, Insomnia Cookies, Bare Snacks, etc., are flooding the market

A clear understanding of your strengths and weakness along with opportunities and threats in the real market can help you to design your marketing strategy . It also helps potential investors to assess the risk and reward profile of your business.

c) Bakery Customer Analysis

This is the sub-section where you will provide a detailed analysis of your target audience. Some important points that you must include in your customer analysis include:

• Age and gender distribution (you can get local demographic data from census.gov )
• Per capita expenditure on baked food items
• Frequency of bakery visits
• Average monthly income and disposable income
• Average bill size per visit
• Type of bakery preferred
• The expected price range for baked items
• Preference for healthy snacks and willingness to pay for high-quality products
• Any seasonal preferences they have

You can add as many data points as required to validate your business decision. The idea here is to display your deep understanding of the target audience and their needs, preferences, and expectations. This knowledge can help you to tailor your products & services to attract new customers.

4. Sales & Marketing

This is the segment where you outline your customer acquisition strategy. Try to answer the following questions:

• What is your USP ?
• What are the different marketing strategies you will use?
• How do you intend to track the success of your marketing strategy?
• What is your CAC or customer acquisition cost?
• What is your marketing budget?
• What introductory promos and offers do you intend to provide for attracting new customers?

Let’s expand a bit on a few questions below:

What marketing channels do bakeries use?

A few marketing channels that bakeries typically use are:

• Online listing & reviews (e.g. Google Business)
• Bakery directory listing
• Signage and billboards
• Print media (newspapers, etc.)
• Loyalty programs
• Coupons & gift cards
• Social media interactions and social media ads

It is not necessary to use all channels. You can start by focusing on a few of them. You can include other marketing strategies later.

Also, you must have a fair and nearly accurate estimate of your marketing budget. Failure to display a well-planned and adequate cash flow for advertising and marketing can lead to investors losing confidence. That’s because investors are fully aware that if adequate funds are not allocated for marketing, the business will be derailed before becoming a success.

What is your unique selling proposition (USP)?

In other words, how do you differentiate yourself vs. competitors? This is very important as you might need to win customers from competitors.

A few examples of USPs are:

• Low Calorie : Craving for sweets while burning fat? We have the perfect pastries!
• Vegan : Dairy-free vegan cheesecakes that melt in your mouth
• Doorstep delivery : We will reach your door to satiate your cravings

Your USP will depend on your business model, competitor analysis , and target audience. Whatever your USP be, it should appeal to your potential customers and attract them. Plus, The USP you offer should be convincing enough for investors and lenders.

5. Management & People

You must address two things here:

• The management team and their experience/track record
• The organizational structure: different team members and who reports to whom?

a) Management

Small businesses often fail because of managerial weaknesses. Thus, having a strong management team is vital. Highlight the experience and education of senior managers that you intend to hire to oversee your bakery business.

Describe their duties, responsibilities, and roles. Also, highlight their previous experience and explain how they succeeded in their previous roles.

It is also important that you explain how their experiences and qualifications help you in implementing the bakery you are proposing. If they have specialized training, and experience (such as a degree in baking and pastry arts degree, 6 years of baking experience in a renowned bakery chain, etc.), add that information.

b) Organization Structure

Even if you haven’t already hired production bakers, pastry chefs, kitchen helpers, marketing & accounts personnel, etc., you must provide a flowchart of the organizational structure defining the hierarchy of reporting.

6. Financial Plan

The financial plan is perhaps, with the executive summary, the most important section of any business plan for a bakery.

Indeed, a solid financial plan tells lenders that your business is viable and can repay the loan you need from them. If you’re looking to raise equity from private investors, a solid financial plan will prove them your bakery is an attractive investment.

There should be 2 sections to your financial plan section:

• The startup costs of your project (if you plan to start a new bakery, purchase new equipment, renovate your store, etc.)
• The 5-year financial projections

a) Startup Costs

Before we expand on 5-year financial projections in the following section, it’s always best practice to start with listing the startup costs of your project. For a bakery, startup costs are all the expenses you incur before you open your bakery and start making sales. These expenses typically are:

• The lease deposit for the space (if you rent) or the cost to purchase the real estate
• The renovation / refurbishment of the building / space
• Equipment & furniture for the bakery

Of course, the startup costs depend on many factors like the bakery shop size, its location, the number of staff, quality of the equipment, etc. 

As an example, it costs on average $109,250 to $310,050 to open a 1,500 sq. ft. bakery in the US .

Note that these costs are for illustrative purposes and may not be fully relevant for your business. For more information on how much it costs to open and run a bakery, read our article here .

b) Financial Projections

In addition to startup costs, you will now need to build a solid 5-year financial model for your bakery.

Your financial projections should be built using a spreadsheet (e.g. Excel or Google Sheets) and presented in the form of tables and charts in the business plan of your bakery.

As usual, keep it concise here and save details (for example detailed financial statements, financial metrics, key assumptions used for the projections) for the appendix instead.

Your financial projections should answer at least the following questions:

• How much revenue do you expect to generate over the next 5 years?
• When do you expect to break even?
• How much cash will you burn until you get there?
• What’s the impact of a change in pricing (say 15%) on your margins?
• What is your average customer acquisition cost?

You should include here your 3 financial statements (income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement). This means you must forecast:

• The number of customers over time ;
• Your expected revenue ;
• Operating costs to run the business ;
• Any other cash flow items (e.g. capex, debt repayment, etc.).

When projecting your revenue, make sure to sensitize pricing and the number of customers as a small change in these assumptions will have a big impact on your revenues.

7. Funding Ask

This is the last section of your bakery business plan. Now that we have explained what your bakery business model is, what you sell and to whom, what’s your marketing strategy, etc., this section must now answer the following questions:

• How much funding do you need?
• What financial instrument(s) do you need: is this equity or debt, or even a free-money public grant?
• How long will this funding last?
• Where else does the money come from? If you apply for a SBA loan for example, where does the other part of the investment come from (your own capital, private investors?)

If you raise debt:

• What percentage of the total funding the loan represents?
• What is the corresponding Debt Service Coverage Ratio ?

If you raise equity

• What percentage ownership are you selling as part of this funding round?
• What is the corresponding valuation of your business?

Use of Funds

Any bakery business plan should include a clear use of funds section. This is where you explain how the money will be spent.

Will you spend most of the loan / investment in paying your employees’ salaries? Or will it cover mostly the cost for the lease deposit and the renovation?

Those are very important questions you should be able to answer in the blink of an eye. Don’t worry, this should come straight from your financial projections. If you’ve built solid projections like in our Bakery financial model template , you won’t have any issues answering these questions.

For the use of funds, we also recommend using a pie chart like the one we have in our financial model template where we outline the main expenses categories as shown below.

Related Posts

How Profitable is a Bakery? Profits & Breakeven Analysis

How To Build a Financial Model For a Bakery

Opening a Bakery Costs $109,000 to $310,000

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Bakery Business Plan Template

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You're ready to go out on your own to share your fabulous breads and pastries with the world. This free bakery business plan template is just what you need to get going.

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Bakery Business Plan

Executive summary.

In order to fulfill our vision we will require [ AMOUNT] in capital, which will be allocated roughly according to the following table:

If we are fully capitalized, we hope to be profitable by [TIME PERIOD] .

Marketing plan

Our Clientele

Our Competition

Our Specific Marketing Plan

Our products

Production Description

Operations plan

Our Suppliers

Our Personnel

Expense Projection

We expect our monthly outlay of expenses to approximate to the following:

Description

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How to Start a Bakery: The Ultimate Guide for Bakers

Lisa Furgison

17 min. read

Updated January 3, 2024

Free Download:  Sample Bakery Business Plan Templates

Are you the one that makes killer cakes for every birthday? Do you churn out to-die-for donuts? If you’re ready to turn your talents into a profitable bakery, you’ve come to the right place.

We chatted with bakers Michelle Green of Three Sweeties, Barbara Batiste of B Sweet Dessert Bar , and Victoria Roe of Three Leee Cupcakery for expert bakery business advice. This guide is meant to give you all the ingredients you need to plan, start, and grow a successful bakery.

To get your piece of the pie, combine these tips with your impressive baking talents and you’ll be on your way to success.

• 9 steps to start a bakery

With Michelle and Barbara’s help, let’s get the planning process started.

1. Choose the kind of bakery you’d like to open

One of the first decisions you’ll have to make is the kind of shop you want to open. To do this, you’ll want to assess your talents, budget, and goals. Be sure you’re not making this decision in a bubble—you will want to have your ear to the ground on national trends in the industry —remember the cupcake shop craze (and the cupcake-focused reality TV shows) a few years back? But don’t simply take your findings at face value either. It’s equally important to do local market research to figure out how national currents will affect your particular location and demographic. From there: take a look at the list below and decide which type of bakery is right for you.

• Online. You don’t need a storefront to open a bakery. You can start out online. With a killer website, pictures of your work, and a way to place an order, you can run it from your home.
• Counter service. With a small commercial space, customers can walk in and pick up baked goods from an employee-managed counter.
• Specialty service. If you plan to specialize in a certain kind of baked good, a specialty service is your best option. Whether you run the business from your home or rent a space is up to you.
• Sit down. More owners are trying to capitalize on the sit-down and dine option. It’s a growing trend in the bakery industry right now. Picture a space that has both an area to order baked goods and a spot to sit and enjoy them.

2. Write a bakery business plan

Once you know what kind of bakery you want to open, you need to create a business plan . This will force you to look at the business from every angle. It will help you define your business, set goals, find ways to generate revenue, list expenses, identify your customer base, and examine your competition. You can check out our free bakery sample business plan for some guidance.

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As part of your business plan, you’ll dive into finances. One of the numbers you’ll need to generate is your startup costs . 

You’ll need to compile a list of equipment, from appliances like ovens and refrigerators to smaller items like utensils and pans. Make sure you create a full list of tools. The equipment will be a one-time hit, but you’ll also need money to live on while the business gets established.

You won’t make profits overnight, so you need to sit down and figure out when you’ll break even and how much money you’ll need to survive until that time.

3. Get funding for your bakery business

Starting a bakery requires a substantial investment in ingredients, kitchen equipment, the lease or purchase of a suitable location, hiring employees, and marketing. You’ll need to have a solid plan for sourcing the necessary funds. Here are a few ways you can explore:

Personal Savings: 

Using personal savings can be the simplest way to fund your bakery, as it doesn’t involve loans or interest. However, this method can be risky if your business doesn’t go as planned, so make sure you are aware of what to expect when funding your own business .

Loans: 

Banks, credit unions, and online lenders provide small business loans that can be used to fund your bakery. Before applying for a loan, ensure that your credit score is good and that you can meet the monthly repayment requirements.

Investors: 

You can pitch your bakery idea to potential investors. These could be friends, family members, or venture capitalists. However, this typically means giving them a portion of your business profits.

Crowdfunding: 

Websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo allow you to create a crowdfunding campaign for your bakery. This method allows people who are interested in your concept to donate money to your cause. In return, you can provide them with rewards, such as free pastries for a certain period. If you are interested in this option, make sure you know the crowdfunding basics first.

Remember, no matter which option you choose, it’s essential to have a well-constructed business plan. This plan should outline your business idea, target market, marketing strategy, projected income, and expenditure. Lenders, investors, and grantors would likely request this document before they consider funding your bakery.

Finally, it’s advisable to seek advice from a financial advisor or a small business consultant before making a decision on funding. They can provide you with valuable insights and help you assess the potential risks and benefits associated with each funding option.

4. Lease a space for your bakery business

If you’re running a bakery from your home, you’ve already got your space figured out. If you plan to invite customers into your shop, you’ll need a formal spot with a kitchen and an area for the public. Some bakers decide to rent out commercial kitchen space only. It’s a good option if you don’t want customers to walk through your shop and just need a bigger, more equipped kitchen.

Whatever your needs, be picky. Shop around, compare prices, talk with neighboring businesses, and research the area to make sure you find the right space. It’s never a bad idea to look into small business incubator programs that might offer space and business training or mentorship at a reduced rate. Do not forget to consider the legal necessities—which will vary from state to state—such as obtaining a license to bake out of your own kitchen.

Roe says that following some simple guidelines laid out by the USDA lets her earn an income, and develop wholesale relationships with local restaurants, independent hotels, and coffee shops, but still enjoys the benefits of being a stay at home mother. 

“Baking from home at some times can be a challenge, Mainly in the realm of time management and little fingers wanting to try all the frosting. I am also limited on certain ingredients that I am allowed to use depending on their acidity ratio and their storability because I am not a commercial kitchen,” she says.

Wherever you decide to run your bakery, be sure to think through the pros and cons and their related costs.

5 . Secure the necessary licenses and permits for your bakery

Before you can open your bakery, you’ll need to secure the appropriate licenses and permits. These may vary by city, state, or country, so it’s crucial to do your research and ensure you are in compliance with all legal requirements. Below are some typical licenses and permits your bakery might need:

Business License: Permits you to run a business within your locality.

Food Service License: Issued by the health department, this license certifies your bakery meets health and safety standards.

Seller’s Permit: Allows you to collect sales tax from customers if your state requires it.

Sign Permit: Required in certain localities for displaying a business sign.

Fire Department Permit: Required if your bakery uses potentially fire-causing equipment like ovens.

Liquor License: Necessary if you plan on serving alcohol.

Home Occupation Permit: Required for home-based bakeries in some areas.

To get started with the process of obtaining these licenses and permits, contact your local city hall or county clerk’s office. They can provide a complete list of the permits you need, the costs involved, and guidance on how to apply.

Additionally, consider seeking legal advice to ensure you have all the necessary licenses and permits. This can help avoid potential legal issues that could arise if your bakery is found to be operating without the necessary documentation.

6. Purchase the needed equipment for your bakery

The right equipment is crucial for the efficient functioning of your bakery. Here’s a basic list of what you may need:

Ovens: This is the heart of your bakery. The type needed will depend on what you’re baking, be it convection, deck, or rack ovens.

Mixers: A high-quality mixer is essential for breads, cakes, and pastries. You might need a variety of sizes depending on your production volume.

Refrigeration: Coolers or refrigerators are necessary to keep dough, fillings, and other ingredients fresh.

Display Cases: If customers will be visiting your bakery, you’ll need attractive display cases for your baked goods.

Bakery Smallwares: Items like baking sheets, pans, mixing bowls, spatulas, and other baking utensils.

Work Tables: You’ll need a good amount of workspace for prepping and baking.

Cash Register or Point of Sale System: Essential for handling transactions.

Cleaning Equipment: Keep your bakery hygienic with items like sinks, mops, brooms, and sanitizing solutions.

It’s important to consider whether to buy new or used equipment. While new equipment can be costly, it often comes with warranties and is less likely to break down. Used equipment can be more affordable but may require more maintenance. Always prioritize quality and durability in your selections.

7. Price your baked goods

Most bakers base their retail price points on the cost of supplies and the time it takes to make the goods, but Green says this formula is flawed.

“Your prices should include things like clean up time, packaging, and time spent promoting your business on social media,” she says. “The biggest hidden cost in a bakery is time. It’s easy to forget the time you spent making flowers because you were watching TV while you did it. There is nothing worse than realizing afterward that you earned 50 cents an hour on a fabulous creation.”

See Also: What You Absolutely Cannot Afford to Forget When Pricing Your Products

8. Have a defined friends and family policy

Before you sell your first scone, be aware that friends and family will probably ask for a discount.

When you’re selling cakes and cookies as a side gig, it’s fine to give the neighbor or the PTA president a discount, but when you start your business, it’s different. “All those wonderful people who previously bought cakes off of you for the cost of ingredients are going to need to be re-educated about what you’re doing now,”

Green says. “Those who really love and support you will also understand your need to feed your family and pay your rent.” If you want to offer a 10 percent discount to friends and family, that’s fine, but whatever your policy is, make sure it’s consistent.

9. Find support

Speaking of friends and family, a support system is crucial in the baking business, Batiste says. Opening a business is time-consuming. Time spent baking is only half the commitment. You’ll need to market your business, take orders, help customers, and do an array of administrative tasks.

If you don’t have someone cheering you on, it can be hard. Whether it’s your spouse, a colleague, or business mentor, you need someone in your corner. Roe says, “To say it is just me would be a lie. Though I do all the baking, my husband helps me tremendously, from delivering to running out late for some organic butter.”

• Feed the people

What’s the one ingredient every successful small business needs? Customers. This next segment will help you find and retain customers.

1. Be the best, the first, or the only one

Be original. These two words might seem like generic advice, but to survive, you can’t be a carbon copy of your competitors. “Be the best, the first, or the only one baking the kind of treats you make,” Green says. “If you can be all three of those things, that’s even better.”

Know what kind of competition you have in your area and work to set yourself apart. Green’s bakery, for example, is the only one in the area that sells nut-free cupcakes.

Roe’s focus is on gluten-free and vegan baked goods made with organic and local ingredients. “I really find happiness in seeing any child be able to have a decadent cupcake or piece of cake on their birthday that otherwise would not be able to because of food allergies. I have experimented relentlessly to create recipes that taste amazing, even know they are free of animal by products, gluten, pesky preservatives and all that other nasty stuff.” It’s an approach that resonates in her community where so many people value natural and locally sourced food.

One of Batiste’s original twists is a food truck. You know the food trucks that sell sandwiches and pizza to folks during the lunch hour? Well, Batiste has her own dessert trucks that travel the streets of Los Angeles selling all kinds of tasty treats. The trucks even have their own Twitter handle, so customers can locate them at any time.

2. Be prepared to market your product

You can spend all day and night in the kitchen creating the next best cake, but if no one knows about it, it doesn’t matter. That’s why you have to set aside time and money to market your business .

“Being a fabulous baker doesn’t guarantee success,” Green says. “You also have to be a fabulous marketer too.” Too many bakers get wrapped up in technique, but “perfect ganached edges mean nothing if you have no actual orders on which to have perfect ganached edges.”

Here are a few low cost or free marketing ideas:

• Write a blog: To promote her business, Green devotes some of her time to blogging . Recently, she wrote a post about delivering cakes long distance.
• Use social media: Social media is a great way to promote your business. If you’re short on time, pick one social media site and post consistently.
• Join groups: As with any business, networking can bring in more customers. Join local business groups like your chamber of commerce or small business association and forge relationships.

See Also: 11 Tips for Focused, Effective (and Inexpensive) Startup Marketing

3. Focus on your customers

Your customers are your key to success. Happy customers become repeat customers, so work to make each customer experience memorable, Batiste says.

Ask your customers for feedback, talk with them at the counter, and ask for product suggestion once in awhile. Green agrees. “Make the customer experience count,” she says. “That’s the best way to get repeat customers and money in the register.”

See Also: 9 Ways to Thank Your Favorite Customers

• Grow your bakery

Once the bakery is up and running, you can start thinking about growth. We’ve got a few tips to make sure it continues to thrive.

1. Expand your bakery business’ offerings

Most bakeries are busy during the warm months. Shoppers that are out and about are likely to wander into your shop on sunny summer days. Plus, summer is full of parties like graduations and weddings. The end of the year will be busy too, Batiste says, as the holidays are always a hectic time for bakers.

To even out your revenue stream, you might consider diversifying your business. Batiste offers catering, for example. Her corporate clients keep a steady stream of orders coming through year round. Of course, adding products could increase your expenses and change your workflow, so make sure you weigh all of your options if you plan to branch out.

See Also: How to Balance Cash Flow in a Seasonal Business

2. Hire and train bakery employees

When the orders pile up and you need more hands in the kitchen, you’ll have to make your first hire. Batiste says she had a hard time hiring help because she didn’t want the quality of her products to suffer.

She did bring several employees on board, but she did so cautiously. “Don’t hire anyone immediately and put new hires on a probation period. You want to make sure they are trustworthy and have the capability to learn,” she says. “Really delegate the way you want your business [to run] and how you want your food cooked and baked. Set the bar really high.”

See Also: How to Hire Your First Employee

3. Market your bakery

Your initial marketing strategies will hopefully result in a steady stream of repeat customers, but that doesn’t mean you should let up on your marketing efforts.

Try new marketing tactics. Buy ads on social media, participate in charity events, and hand out business cards as often as possible. You should always be looking for new ways to get your name out there, Green says.

See Also: 18 Affordable Marketing Tactics Restaurants Can Use to Bring in More Customers

4. Plan for retirement

When you’re first starting out, you’re thinking about breaking even. Putting away money for retirement is usually pretty far down the list of things to accomplish, but you shouldn’t let it linger.

Once the business is functioning, you should sit down with a financial advisor and talk about saving for retirement. As a business owner, it’s your responsibility to make long-term financial plans.

• Next steps for your bakery business

If you’re ready to take the next step towards starting your own bakery business, you can view our free bakery sample business plan . If you need a little extra guidance, check out our article on How to Write a Bakery Business Plan . 

A little more on the bakery business owners:

Michelle Green started baking when she was a teen, but it wasn’t until she was well into her corporate career that she realized baking was her true calling. Fed up with the stale muffins that seemed to be standard fare at all of her board meetings, this baker and mother of triplets decided to ditch the business suit and open her own shop in Australia called Three Sweeties .

Barbara Batiste was also baking treats at an early age for her close-knit Filipino family, and after years of amazing her relatives with her creations, she decided to turn her love of all things tasty into a business. She started in her home, and her business continued to expand. She has outgrown three commercial kitchens since, in part due to her creative business modeling, which includes both a catering service and a mobile dessert food truck. Now, she’s preparing to open a storefront in West Los Angeles called B Sweet Dessert Bar .

Victoria Roe started baking over a decade ago when she was asked to make a carrot cake for her mother-in-law’s birthday. She runs her business from home, a cottage industry, in a small village in Ohio. Most of her customers find her through word of mouth or learn about her business when they taste one of her creations at a local coffee shop. She focuses on gluten-free and vegan–but you’d never know it to taste them. Running Three Leee Cupcakery from home gives Victoria the flexibility to be present to her young family and pursue a degree in business while bringing in income.

Lisa Furgison is a multimedia journalist with a passion for writing. She holds a graduate degree in mass communications and spent eight years as a television reporter before moving into the freelance world, where she focuses mainly on content creation and social media strategies. Furgison has crisscrossed the U.S. as a reporter, but now calls Key West, Florida home. When she's not conducting interviews or typing away on her laptop, she loves to travel.

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