Tapas Restaurant Business Plan and SWOT Analysis

Tapas Restaurant Business Plan, Marketing Plan, How To Guide, and Funding Directory

The Tapas Restaurant Business Plan and Business Development toolkit features 18 different documents that you can use for capital raising or general business planning purposes. Our product line also features comprehensive information regarding to how to start a Tapas Restaurant business. All business planning packages come with easy-to-use instructions so that you can reduce the time needed to create a professional business plan and presentation.

Your Business Planning Package will be immediately emailed to you after you make your purchase.

Product Specifications (please see images below):

  • Bank/Investor Ready!
  • Complete Industry Research
  • 3 Year Excel Financial Model
  • Business Plan (26 to 30 pages)
  • Loan Amortization and ROI Tools
  • Three SWOT Analysis Templates
  • Easy to Use Instructions
  • All Documents Delivered in Word, Excel, and PDF Format
  • Meets SBA Requirements

Small plates and tapas is a up-and-coming cuisine that has gained tremendous popularity within the United States over the past 20 years. While the use types of dishes are usually Spanish in origin, many other types of ethnic cuisine have taken to providing small plates to their customers. This allows an individual to enjoy a number of different types of food in one sitting rather than one large entrée. The gross margins generated from the sale of tapas and related small plates is moderately high. Usually, a tapas restaurant has a gross margin rate of 65% to 85% depending on the type of cuisine being sold. Vegetarian dishes typically carry higher gross margins than that of their meat-based counterparts. The low pricing points for a tapas restaurant usually make them an ideal place for individuals who are looking to get a quick bite to eat. However, these restaurants are frequently used as a full service restaurant as well.

The startup cost associated with the new tapas restaurant typically range anywhere from $100,000 to $300,000 depending on the scope of the facility, location, and the amount of seating that will be provided available. In major metropolitan areas these businesses are extremely popular. As it relates to industry research, restaurants as a whole generate in excess of $715 billion per year of revenue. The industry employs nearly 15 million people, and average payrolls in each of the last five years have exceeded $202 billion. The anticipated annual growth rate of the restaurant and food service industry is expected to range from 3% to 4%. In times of economic recession, the revenue – restaurant industry revenues usually remain flat or experience minor decrease. One of the nice things about the restaurant industry is that it is not subject to very many changes in the economy or the way that people conduct business. People have been frequenting restaurants for many millennia and it will continue to do so.

Given that this is a food service business, most banks and lenders will be able to provide a loan equal to 75% to 80% of the total amount of capital needed in order to launch operations. Of course, a tapas restaurant business plan is going to be required. As with any business planning document, this business plan should include a three-year profit and loss statement, cash flow analysis, balance sheet, breakeven analysis, and business ratios page. Special attention should be paid to the cost of goods sold when developing the financial model given that tapas restaurant serve a number of different types of dishes. As such, in any given night there can be a substantial fluctuation in the underlying cost of goods sold as it relates to inventory inputs. Also, a special emphasis on the payroll needs to be addressed given that there are going to be number of different types of employees some of whom are compensated through tips. A qualified business planner or CPA can assist the individual entrepreneurs in developing this aspect of the documentation.

Once the financial model has been developed, it is time to produce a demographic analysis of the individuals that will be targeted once a tapas restaurant commences operations. This includes a full examination of the population size, population density, median household income, median family income, median household net worth, as well as other statistics relating to the general population. Typically, most tapas restaurants are frequented by young urban professionals as well as people under the age of 50. This is especially true for the restaurant maintains a liquor license and can provide a plethora of mixed drinks, wines, and beer. Most tapas restaurants in existence do have a liquor license allows them to sell alcohol to the general public. Not only does this create a greater draw for patrons but also substantially boosts the revenues and profits of the business. Beyond examining the demographic analysis of the target market, an examination of competitors within the market should be included as well. This includes only looking at similar restaurants but also every other restaurant that is within the effective target market radius given that people have a number of choices these days as to which types of businesses are frequenting for eating outside of their home.

A tapas restaurant marketing plan needs to be developed as well. This is one of the more important aspects of the business planning process given that marketing is one of the key components to owning and operating a successful restaurant. Foremost, prior to the onset of operations a number of print advertisements as well as flyers should be distributed within a 10 mile to 25 mile radius of the company’s location. In a major metropolitan area, this can be scaled down to 1 miles to 3 miles depending on the city. One of the things that many companies will do as it relates to marketing and the restaurant is to hire a restaurant consultant. These consultants can assist the owner in developing marketing messages that properly position the tapas restaurant. While this may be a large upfront expense, the hiring of the restaurant marketing firm can be a make or break decision for many new and up-and-coming restaurants. These individuals will be able to effectively assist the owner in determining which type of advertisements are most appropriate for targeting the demographics outlined within the business plan. Additionally, many of these restaurant consultants have ongoing relationships with lifestyle magazines, food magazines, and other print media so that reviews can be written very quickly after the restaurant opens. Strong reviews are provided in this can be one of the great ways for the tapas restaurant to reach profitability very quickly.

Beyond a print advertising campaign, an expansive online focused marketing campaign needs to be developed as well. This includes maintaining an expansive website that showcases the menu, pricing, hours of operation, contact information, and whether or not the tapas restaurant provides catering. Specialized functionality has now been developed and is common among restaurant websites that allows individual customers to place reservations without having to call the restaurant first. Although this may be a slightly added expense as it relates to web development – the return on investment can be substantial given that people can quickly make a reservation online and they will be pretty certain to show up.

The presence on social media is imperative for tapas restaurant given that many people now find recommendations and conduct searches for local eateries the of these platforms. The most popular platforms for restaurants to maintain profiles include FaceBook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Yelp.com, and TripAdvisor.com. These businesses can provide a substantial amount of visibility for a new restaurant. Much like with a restaurant consultant, a specialized social media consultant can be hired as well to manage his aspect of a tapas restaurants marketing operations. It should be noted that most restaurant marketing firms to maintain a social media division that can handle this matter for the business on an ongoing basis for moderate expense.

A tapas restaurant SWOT analysis should be produced as well. For strengths, the low pricing point associated with small plates allows these business is to generally remain profitable and cash flow positive in any economic climate. Although these are high-end restaurants, the small plates allows for a great draw among people within the target market. The gross margins are considered to be moderately high and the barriers to entry are considered to be moderate as well. The ongoing expenses of the business can be controlled very quickly.

For weaknesses, like any other restaurant business there is always going to be a significant competition among other eateries within the market. However, people within the United States really seemed to enjoy the concept a small plates whether it served as a traditional Spanish cuisine or as a fusion of other ethnic cuisines. The underlying cost of goods sold can vary greatly, which requires that the owner operator have a complete understanding of how accounting is done specific for restaurant in order to ensure that the business is able to remain profitable at all times.

Relating to opportunities, quite simply a restaurant owner can establish additional locations usually after the second year of profitability. Specific to a tapas restaurant, many of these businesses will seek to develop relationships with caterers, event planners, and wedding planners so that large-scale events can be held at the restaurant on an ongoing basis. Many corporations as well as individuals having weddings will frequently use tapas restaurants in order to entertain clients or host rehearsal dinners.

For threats, given that this is a highly established industry there are very few threats beyond the ongoing competitive issues they tapas restaurant will face on a day-to-day basis. A minor economic recession could have a modest impact on the revenues and profits of the business as it moves forward. However, outside of these issues is really nothing that is going to overly affect the way that these companies operate. Even things such as automation and changes in economic productivity will not have a great impact on the way of these companies conduct business.

In short, people love tapas and small plates so these businesses are going to remain popular at all times. As more people are becoming exposed to different types of cuisine, it is expected that the popularity of small plates will continue to increase over the next two decades. Additionally, the higher capital stock of the average American allows eating out to become more frequent. As such, this is a strong time and the development of a tapas restaurant is a good opportunity to establish a profitable restaurant.