making a business plan

I know there is some great soft ware on the market to use. I know some folks that have bought those and used them. The banks were extremely impressed by the detail and organiztion of it. I don't have any particular brand name, sorry. I will say this , you will still need to be prepared to use all of your own assets as callateral too.

for the cheapest way to go try the small business administration. the sba has many free things that you can use. just google sba.gov to see what is available in your area or look them up in the phone book under us government.
the software that we used since the sba is not near us is business planpro 2004. from what i understand it is the same software that the sba will let you use for free. takes a little getting used to but worked well for us. you can also download and print samples which have been successfully used in getting loans.
hope it helps some
good luck!!!!!
and keep us updated on how you are doing
jack

Forget it! Not to bust your bubble, but most banks won't touch a restaurant business plan. Start planning on alternate financing.

That said, a business plan is a great idea. This is an excellent book: Restaurant Planning Guide (Paperback)by Peter Rainsford, David H. Bangs. Follow his outline and just use Word and Excel, the business planning software are a waste of money in my mind. Also, do a google searh for sample restaurant buisness plans and borrow some additional ideas.

There are two places I have found for a good business plan the first is the SBA site sba.gov on that site there is sample business plans and every state has office that you can go to for free and they will help you.The other site is score.org they are retired business owners and they help with business plans also. Both of these are free and they have classes that you can take for more information on starting a business. They also help line up financing if you need it.
Woody

I have not owned a restaurant but I have worked with SCORE. Good advice. its free, why not? As far as the bank goes Rootsman is right. I have a banker friend that told me restaurants are "HIGH RISK". BUT, dont let that get you down. IF the bank turns you down..thats what qualifies you for an SBA loan. You MUST be turned down for SBA to loan you money. I dont mind the software. Another idea is to go to the local university business dept. Talk to the dept. head and ask for a grad student to help for "xtra credit". I did that when I was in college. There is also consultants who will ALMOST guarntee SBA loans if you let them process the paperwork. They get a cut of the money but they will walk you through the paperwork. Do your homework. it will pay off in the long run!
Good luck!!!!

SCORE (Service Core of Retired Executives) is affiliated with SBA.

My worked for SBA for 20 years and retired. SCORE is a great source of info.

There is good business plan software, if not to use for the bank, use for yourself to figure out the costs, etc. I used "Business Plan Pro" and found it on special. Lots and lots of detail.

Also check with the local Restaurant Association. Ours is set up to help.

Russ