Cooking School Business Plan and SWOT Analysis

Cooking School Business Plan, Marketing Plan, How To Guide, and Funding Directory

The Cooking School 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 Cooking School 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

Cooking schools have become very popular over the past 10 years given that people have a renewed interest in the culinary arts. One of the nice things about owning and operating a cooking school that these businesses can generate revenues not only from individuals and have an interest in improving their culinary skills but also among people that want to become professional chefs. In these instances, where a cooking school is able to provide certification for an individual is becoming a professional chef, tuition assistance may be available to these individuals so that they can afford to go to school to learn this trade. There are a number of different avenues that a cooking school can go through in terms of what types of revenues they generate – from individual payments as well as funding from federal and state government entities. The gross margins associated with owning and operating a cooking school are very high and usually range anywhere from 90% to 95% unless food costs are included in the cost of goods sold. Many cooking schools that operate specifically for people that are learning to become professional chefs will also have an on-site restaurant where meals are prepared for the general public. This can be an extremely important secondary revenue stream for the business as it will provide to the company with sales of food and beverages on a nightly or weekly basis. The startup costs associated with the new cooking school usually ranges anywhere from $150,000 to $300,000 depending on the initial scale and scope of the business. Usually, a large-scale dedicated space is needed in order to have a number of cooking stations available for individuals that are wanting to learn how to cook properly. Additionally, the ongoing operating expenses of these businesses is considered to be moderate given that a large space is needed coupled with individuals were qualified to teach people the culinary arts.

Given the moderate economic stability of these businesses – most banks, lenders, and private investors are willing to put up the necessary capital in order to develop these types of business operations. As with any capital raising activity, a culinary school business plan is usually going to be required. This business plan should include a three-year profit and loss statement, cash flow analysis, balance sheet, breakeven analysis, and business ratios page. Within the business plan a specific focus on demographics should be included as well with a specific target towards people that are learning a second trade war who have an extensive interest in cooking. Cooking schools tend to do especially well in major metropolitan areas that have a very high population density given that there are able to potentially attract people that have a greater interest in food. In most major cities, the restaurant scene is an important part of the culture and as such there are going to be more people who are “foodies” who  have an interest in producing and making high-end food. As it relates to the demographics examination – a full analysis including population size, population density, median household income, median family income, and percentage of people that have an interest in cooking should be thoroughly examined. Beyond looking at the individual demographics, and examination relating to the number of competitors within the local market should be included as well. For a major metropolitan market a target radius of about 5 miles to 15 miles should be included as part of the analysis.

A cooking school marketing plan should also be developed as well. This marketing plan should focus on developing relationships with high school counselors, community colleges, and related educational institutions for referrals among people that want to become trained as professional chefs. Again, one of the way that these businesses can become very profitable is by offering certified courses that allow a person to use school loans as well as tuition assistance in order to pay for their education. A presence on the Internet is also very important including on major social networking platforms like FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google+. As it relates to social media marketing this is especially important for professional school given that there is also going to be an on-site restaurant. One of the nice things is that these social media platforms allow for reviews to be placed on their social media pages so that they can be readily found by the general public. As more and more people the reviews – especially good reviews – the ongoing number of people coming to the cooking schools restaurant and teaching operations will increase substantially platform should have information regarding cost, hours of operation, services offered, tuition assistance programs for people becoming professional chefs, and the types of culinary skills offered by the cooking school.

A cooking school SWOT analysis should be developed as well. As it relates the strengths, most cooking schools are able to remain profitable at all times – even during economic recession – as people are going to learn a new skill or trade. In some certain instances, these businesses are able to accept grants from third-party educational institutions. For weaknesses, the operating expenses of a cooking school are relatively high and during times of severe economic recession people may forgo learning a new skill such as cooking among individuals who are not looking to become professionals. For opportunities, one of the things that many cooking schools do is develop their own restaurant if they haven’t already done so at the onset of operations. Also, many cooking schools will seek to establish additional locations or franchise locations once their operations have turned profitable. Relating to threats, there is really nothing that is going to change about this industry. Cooking schools have been around for hundreds of years and people are going to continue to want to learn how to cook in any in most economic climates. Major competitive threat faced by these businesses is the increased competition in any major market.