Chocolatier Business Plan, Marketing Plan, How To Guide, and Funding Directory
The Chocolatier 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 Chocolatier 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.
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Chocolate is popular in all economic climates, and as such chocolate stores as well as chocolatiers are able to produce profits at all times. The gross margins generated from these businesses are was always able to satisfy underlying debt obligations as well as the ongoing moderate operating costs associated with these businesses. One of the minor drawbacks of this industry is that the pricing for cocoa can change depending on the worldwide market. This is very much a commodity focused business. However, chocolatiers and chocolate shops typically generate gross margins ranging anywhere from 70% to 85% on their sales. As such, moderate increases in cocoa prices can either be remedied by taking a small hit to the profit and loss statement or by simply increasing prices to the end-user. Usually, the worldwide prices for cocoa remain relatively stable as this crop is produced in warm climates in politically stable countries. The start of cost of the new chocolatier business or chocolate shop typically ranges anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 in most suburban settings. These costs can be significantly higher in major metropolitan areas that require a large lease to be signed. One of the nice things about chocolate shops is that they are able to sell their products only directly to the general public through their retail store but also on a wholesale basis and an online basis.
A chocolate store or chocolatier business plan should be developed especially if the entrepreneur is going to be sourcing capital from financial institution. This business plan should feature a three year profit and loss statement, cash flow analysis, balance sheet, breakeven analysis, and business ratios page. As it relates to industry research, chocolatiers generally about $2 billion revenue year among 8,000 established retail locations. The industry employs 20,000 people. Of special importance when developing a business plan for a chocolatier is to showcase to a lender what tangible equipment is going to purchase with that funds. Most importantly, this should outline the furniture, fixtures, and equipment that will be used given that most financial institutions want the entrepreneur to put up the working capital portion as equity. Additionally, the business plan should have a competitive analysis as well. However, most suburban markets typically only have a handful competitors for this type of industry. As such, a substantial focus of most chocolate shop competitive analysis is focused significantly on the number of general retailers that offer chocolate as part of their overall offerings. As it relates the demographic analysis, the business plan should feature information about population size, population density, percentage of people that frequently purchase chocolate, annual expenditures on chocolate, and information regarding the annual median household income of the market.
A chocolatier SWOT analysis should be produced as well in order to showcase the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats faced by these businesses. As it relates to strengths, chocolate shops are always able to remain profitable given the high gross margins generated from sales. Additionally, there are numerous avenues from which these businesses can make sales of their chocolate products.
For weaknesses, as with all food businesses there is a risk of inventory spoilage. In major metropolitan markets the rental expense can be very high, and during at times of economic recession people may pull back on nonessential expenditures like specialty chocolates.
For opportunities, one of the ways that most chocolate shops expand aggressively is the use of an online platform. In states that allow for the production and distribution of chocolate, having an online sales portal can drastically boost the sales of any business. Once the company establishes a strong brand name for strong products these online sales portals can be just as important as the retail store itself. Many of these businesses will also develop wholesale relationships with gift specialists as well as gift basket companies that will include the chocolate shops products as part of their offerings.
There are no known threats at this time that would overly impact the way the chocolate shop is business. Modest competition and only a severe economic recession would drastically impact the way that these companies do business.
A chocolate shop in chocolatier marketing plan also needs to be developed in order to make sure the people come to the retail location and online store on an ongoing basis. Foremost, many chocolate shops will actually distribute free samples to the general public from their retail location. Additionally, mailed fliers and discount coupons are frequently issued during the grand opening period, which generally lasts around one to two months. During busy holiday seasons, including Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, many chocolate shops will aggressively engage in discount offerings in order to drive people to the store to purchase chocolate as gifts.
Many of these businesses will seek to establish ongoing wholesale relationships with third-party retailers, gift basket companies, corporate product specialists, and other entities that have ongoing needs for small gifts for other individuals. This is a very important revenue stream is wholesale distribution can provide highly predictable streams of revenue on a monthly basis. Even during deleterious economic conditions, corporate gift specialists and gift basket companies will continue to purchase large inventories of the companies produce chocolate. In some cases, nearly 50% of a retail chocolate stores operations can be completed through wholesale distribution operations.
An expansive online presence should also be developed in order to ensure that people can find the business on the Internet very quickly while concurrently making sales via e-commerce capabilities. The cost associated with developing an e-commerce driven website typically cost anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 depending on the quality and the amount of original imaging that needs to be done. Most of these websites have expansive backend platforms that allows owners to immediately upload images of produced chocolate products. This website relisted among all major search engines. Some entrepreneurs have also taken integrating e-commerce functionality into their established FaceBook and Twitter pages. This can further allow for greater number of sales he made on an ongoing basis.
Chocolate shops and chocolatiers are always going to remain popular in any market and in all economic climates. The high gross margins generated from sales allows these businesses to readily expand while concurrently taking a very low risk on the retail level. These businesses will continue to remain popular especially among event planners, wedding planners, gift basket companies, and related entities that frequently purchase chocolate as part of their overall operations.