Posts Tagged ‘how to start a doughnut business’
Importance of Having a Business Plan – Update
April 19, 2010 | 
Author I realize we've discussed this before but I found some really good business plans on Ebay the other day and I wanted to share them with you... they are below... a few things to look for when purchasing a donut business plan:
Is it specific to the donut business?
Is it customizable and includes a template?
Does it automatically calculate spreadsheets, tables and graphs?
The above are important to make your life easier when developing your plan.....
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Donut Shop Business Plan Bundle |  |
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US $39.95 | 23h 47m |
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Donut & Bagel Shop Start Up Business Plan NEW | |
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US $19.95 | 28d 16h 19m |
| Powered by phpBay Pro |
|
Donut Shop Business Plan Bundle | |
|
US $39.95 | 23h 47m |
|
Donut & Bagel Shop Start Up Business Plan NEW | |
|
US $19.95 | 28d 16h 19m |
| Powered by phpBay Pro |
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Getting into Fairs and Festivals to Sell Your Doughnuts
As we talked about In the previous post finding a good location for your donut business is a top priority. We personally are staying away from pricey malls that charge a lot for rent and where the overhead is a lot and the traffic may not be what we expect. I have paid a lot of attention to food places in the mall, people selling fudge, candied popcorn and every kind of sweet you can imagine, and it seems that many do not stay very long. I would love to know the reasoning behind this. One cookie store, actually opened up another small stand in the center aisle of one of the mall coridoors. I assumed that they must be doing quite well to open up another store. But regardless, we do not plan on opening a doughnut shop in the mall.
As we mentioned last week, we are trying to get in a flea market where we can sell doughnuts. I think we might have mentioned before, that we are also interested in selling doughnuts at fairs and festivals. People at fairs and festivals are pretty much a captive audience. Eating tasty foods is almost a tradition at these places. Instead of leaving when they get hungry, they find places to eat there. When you are selling small doughnuts at fairs and festivals, you are also selling convenience.
When you are selling doughnuts at a fair or festival the rent is usually a lot less than if you had a storefront establishment. In addition you are only paying when people, a lot of people are there. When you rent a spot at the mall, you are paying when there might not be very many people at the mall. If you make your business portable, you can travel to a lot of the fairs and festivals all over the country. If you feel financially secure to do so and are not tied to your job this may be an an excellent opportunity for you. Traveling from Festival to Festival is not for everyone, But can be very rewarding monetarily.
It can be very difficult to get your foot in the door at fairs and festivals. There is often times a waiting list just to set up shop. Many times if you have something different such as a doughnut, you may have a better chance of getting your foot in the door. I always thought it would be a neat idea if they had some sort of bidding process for the food vendors, it would be interesting to see how it went. It may price some people out of the market.
Getting Capital for your Donut Business
You have an excellent donut recipe, You have a location and an audience to sell your too... and you are certain that they will sell very well. Now you just need to get equipment licensing and other things rolling in order to get your business started. Yet found a great place to get equipment, but you have found that it can be very expensive. If you do not have any money saved but you are financially secure, i.e. you have enough money to make ends meet. Then he may want to get the capital to run your donut business from other sources.
Do you have good or decent credit? If so, then you may be able to get a small business loan from your local bank. Local banks are usually easier to deal with than big banks that just look at numbers. Credit unions are excellent places to get loans for $10,000 or less. If possible attempt to get a loan at a bank that you frequent often. You may be surprised how easy it is. They will want to know what the money is for of course and what you intend on doing with it. This will help you get the necessary capital that is required to get your business venture up and running.
If getting a loan from a bank or credit union is not an option, Have you considered borrowing the money from a family member? Maybe you can borrow the money from a close friend who could possibly be a business partner? We explained the differences between a business partner and a venture capitalist and a previous post. But to summarize, when someone invests (capital) in your company they will have little control over the day-to-day operations of the business. It is simply your responsibility to pay the loan off when you start to make money, or whatever arrangement that you may have with the venture capitalists. Having a business partner can be a sticky situation if you are not careful. The business partner in your donut business could be difficult to work with or have different ideas on how things should be handled. As previously mentioned you can pay a higher rate on the loan than giving 50% of the company to someone who will not be actively involved in it. Be very careful about taking money from people and the contracts that you sign.
The business partner model has worked for us and our situation, but it may not for you. Assess your needs and what everyone brings to the table before you make a decision. This lone decision Could mean the success or failure of your venture. Not to mention the overall happiness that you will have our not have by going into the doughnut business.
