Restaurant business plan template for the Philippines

Executive summary

Example: [Restaurant name] will serve [cuisine, e.g. Ilocano home cooking, grilled seafood] in a [number]-seat dining room on [street], [city]. It will open for lunch and dinner, [days], with takeout and delivery through [own riders, apps]. Ownership: [sole proprietorship or partnership]. Management: [name] as owner and manager, [name] as head cook.

Project cost: ₱____. Funding: owner ₱____, partner ₱____, loan ₱____ from [bank]. The plan shows a middle case in which the restaurant covers costs by month [number]. All forecasts come from the menu costing and seat-turn assumptions below, not from industry averages.

Concept, location and fit-out

Describe the concept in two sentences a passer-by would understand. Then the site: [size] square metres, kitchen at [location], dining [indoor and outdoor], parking [spaces], lease [years] at ₱____ per month with [escalation].

Fit-out decides much of your start-up budget. List the kitchen line: range, griller, fryer, chiller, freezer, prep tables, three-compartment sink, exhaust hood. Ask the contractor for a written quote and timeline. The health rules require water that is adequate and potable, so state the source and filtration in this section.^[3]

Guests and competing restaurants

Fill in: Our main guests are [families on weekends, office lunch groups, tourists] who are within [distance] at [times]. On [dates] we counted [number] people walking or parking near the site at lunch and dinner. In [number] short interviews, guests said they eat out [frequency] and spend ₱____ per head, in their own words.

Competing restaurants. [Number] within [distance]. For each, record cuisine, seats, hours, the price of a comparable dish by your own visit and date, and what reviews mention most. Then say in one line why a guest would choose you. The market analysis guide has a template table.

Kitchen, staff and service

Menu costing. For each dish: ingredient cost ₱____, selling price ₱____, food cost ____%. Keep the launch menu short so stock turns over and waste stays low.

Staff. [Number] cooks, [number] servers, a cashier and a dishwasher. No one may be employed in a food establishment without a health certificate from the local health authority, and certificates are renewed at least every year. With a full team, the certificate calendar becomes a monthly task; assign it to the manager.^[4,3]

Service flow. Orders taken at [table or counter], sent to the kitchen by [paper ticket or system], target ticket time [minutes]. Daily close: count cash, record covers, log waste. Register as an employer with SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG before the first payroll.

Permits and registration costs

The sanitary permit comes from the city or municipal health office, which sets the fee by ordinance. Some LGUs, such as Morong, Rizal, also require a monthly bacteriological water test from a DOH-accredited laboratory for eateries. Restaurants are outside FDA's food establishment licensing under AO 2014-0029.^[3,5,6]

Financial plan

Start-up. Lease deposit ₱____; renovation ₱____; kitchen equipment ₱____; dining furniture ₱____; POS ₱____; signage ₱____; opening stock ₱____; DTI name ₱500 plus ₱30 stamp tax; barangay clearance ₱____; mayor's permit ₱____; sanitary permit ₱____; health certificates ₱____ × [staff]; pre-opening wages ₱____; reserve covering [number] months ₱____.^[1]

Monthly. Rent ₱____; wages ₱____; food cost ____% of sales; LPG ₱____; power ₱____; water ₱____; delivery app commissions ____%; repairs ₱____; accounting ₱____.

Sales. Seats [number] × turns per meal [number] × meals per day [number] × average check ₱____ × days [number] = ₱____ per month. Break-even = fixed costs ₱____ ÷ (1 − variable cost %).

Risks and mitigation

Slow opening months. Hold [number] months of fixed costs in reserve. Staff turnover. Written recipes and a training checklist so a new cook can follow the line. Health inspection failure. Daily cleaning sheets, certificates on file, water tests on time. Delivery app dependence. Track commission cost and push direct orders.

Permit and registration costs: restaurant

Questions people ask

Does a restaurant need an FDA license?

No. FDA AO 2014-0029 leaves restaurants to the LGU, which issues the sanitary permit.

How often do restaurant staff renew health certificates?

At least every year, or more often if your local ordinance requires it.

What should my restaurant sales forecast be based on?

Your seats, expected turns per meal and average check, each one explained. Test the assumptions against what you observe at nearby restaurants.