Create 12-15 page business plan. Along with 20 slide powerpoint presentation.

Fast Lane Pizza, LLC will be located at 7007 Dixie River Road next to the Charlotte Premium Outlets in Southwest Charlotte.

Industry

We are in the fast food industry. We have a multi-purpose design that utilize the drive through model that allow us to have pizza’s ready to go quickly and efficiently.

Company Description

We are a start-up that specializes in pizza using all natural and organic ingredients. Fast Lane Pizza will be established as a limited liability company (LLC) Pursuant to §57C-2-20 of the General Statutes of North Carolina and are subject to the provisions of the Limited Liability Company Act as currently in effect as of this date. A Certificate of Formation has been filed with the North Carolina Secretary of State.

Product and Service Plan

We offer a variety of options that will make us more appealing than our competitors. We have developed a quicker way of creating the pizzas. We aim to have the pizzas fresh out of the oven as the customers pull up. Although Little Caesars is known for its 5 dollar hot and ready pizza, they only have 3 types of pizzas you can choose from for that price range. Fast Lane Pizza will offer the same price for a variety of pizzas. We make delivery for our pizzas easy and simple which our customers appreciate. Our customers don’t even have to get out of their car to get their pizza because of the innovative process we developed.

Marketing Plan

Our primary target market is people who desire a family-oriented dining experience, combined with the option for dine-in, drive-thru and home-delivery.  Our secondary target market also desires a delivery service for pizza, or a take-out approach.  There is some overlap of these segments.

Southwest Charlotte and its surrounding communities are a growing middle-class area with nearly 50,000 residents.  A majority of these residents are families of four or more.  The boom in the area is primarily in response to an exodus of families moving out of the over-populated areas and into a more rural setting. 

According to a Growth Plan Charlotte conducted in 2012, population within Southwest area is expected to increase because of the Charlotte Premium Outlets and planned Town Center which will make it a convenience for families to shop and pick up a pizza.  Because of this, the number of persons per household is expected to increase, meaning the need for additional housing.  From the same plan, population is listed as being evenly distributed by age groupings, with approximately 33% of the population being minors.  Another 40% are less than 54 years of age, indicating a major concentration of Southwest Charlotte population being families.  This is driving the need for more quality, family-oriented restaurants.

With the expected continued growth in the area, estimated at 7% annually, opportunities to serve Charlotte Southwest and its surrounding communities will increase.  The company will sell predominantly to individuals, but it will also accept some catering jobs to individual parties, schools, and company functions in the Charlotte area.

5.1 Market Segmentation

Fast Lane Pizza will use multi-segmented strategy to appeal to multiple customers with our main focus on families. Every community, every resident and every family located in Southwest Charlotte is included in the Market Segmentation.  Fast lane Pizza will have a delivery radius of 5-mile with a potential of 50,000 residents.

5.2 Market Analysis

5.3 Target Customers

Customer target is critical in the marketing plan of a small business. Fast Lane Pizza is looking for customers that love pizza and can appreciate not having a long wait. We have eight commercial baking ovens servicing multiple drive thru windows, making it easy for our customers to dine-in, grab and go or have their pizza delivered fresh and hot. Fast Lane Pizza is unique because there are not any pizza establishments within Southwest Charlotte NC with the business model that can provide fresh pizza, fast service and a family friendly environment that meets the needs of our customers. Because of our uniqueness, bringing our pizza restaurant to a new, fast paced area such as Charlotte would be ideal.

5.4 Competitor Analysis

Pizza Hut, Little Cesar's Papa John’s and Domino’s are nationally known pizza places that have a drive thru but they are not located near Premium Outlets in the Southwest community of Charlotte. We believe our location which is within walking distance of the Charlotte Premium Outlets and our unique business model of fresh, fast pizza with family-oriented dine-in, drive thru and home delivery will give us the edge over these well-known companies.

Operations and Development Plan

Fast Lane Pizza will be operating in southwest Charlotte in the neighborhood of Steele Creek. The location of the restaurant will be off of highway 160 near the new outlet mall and our major competitors are Pizza Hut, Dominos, Papa John’s, Fuel Pizza, and Little Caesar’s. The brick and mortar facility will include a drive-thru as well as a space for indoor dining.

Our equipment will include:

· cardboard pizza boxes

· utensils, napkins plates

· cups

· soda fountain

· pans

· pizza cutters

· 1 large walk-in freezer

· 8 state-of-the-art pizza ovens

To control the quality of our operation, a trained manager will be on staff at all times. The restaurant will also purchase only verifiably quality ingredients. Employees in every position within the company will be extensively trained upon hiring with a management-created program conveying the values and expectations of the company. Customer surveys and suggestion cards will be readily available at the store’s counter to better meet the customer’s needs and to continue improving as a business.

Inventory will be counted weekly to make sure that we supply the current demand and make sure all items are accounted for. The volume of toppings that go on each pizza will be pre-determined and this information will be used to calculate the total volumes used in each week’s sales to make sure employees aren’t over- or under-serving customers.

All ingredients used at Fast Lane Pizza will be purchased locally to ensure we are using the freshest ingredients possible. Orders will be placed once a month based on projected sales and use and kept in the freezer for the duration of the month.

An assortment of pizzas will be put together fresh at the beginning of the day based on demand and popularity and kept in the freezer until ordered to eliminate long wait times for customers. Each pizza oven can completely cook a pizza in eight minutes. Special-order pizzas will be made throughout the day as they are requested. The store’s hours will be 9 AM-10 PM Monday-Thursday, 9 AM-12 AM Friday-Saturday, and 11 AM -8 PM on Sunday.

Management Team

The managers at Fast Lane Pizza will be hired based on their academic background in business or culinary management to ensure that the business is being run by the most knowledgeable individuals with the most potential to help the business succeed. Employee training will be conducted once a year by a third-party professional training company to make sure employees are up to date with the best customer service procedures. Our business will partner with local colleges like Johnson & Wales, CPCC, and UNCC for an internship program to give students the opportunity to learn what it’s like to operate and or/manage a business. Other staff will include a CPA and marketing consultant to balance our team of competent insiders and outside specialists.

Critical Risks

SWOT Analysis

Exit Strategy

The owners of Fast Lane Pizza will exit this endeavor after they have created a flourishing business that could be sold for a substantial profit and/or as a franchise that could serve rural communities across the country. It is the owners’ intention to run this business until they are ready to retire or have decided to sell the business.

In the event the proposed plan is not successful the owners will implement necessary measures to exit the business endeavor with minimal damage to the owners and investors. All equipment and merchandise will be sold to cover any outstanding debts. Any remaining debt will be paid by the owners in the form of monthly payments until all debts are paid in full. Definitions of “successful” and time limits for achieving milestones have been included in the owners’ partnership agreement.

The success of the business will be monitored monthly in the first year and quarterly in subsequent years. The owners are aware that it usually takes new businesses three years to starting turning a profit and that the business could operate at a loss during that time. The owners will keep this in mind when evaluating the state of the business, and make adjustments when possible to keep the business running with a positive cash flow.

Acceptable loss has been determined; if the business exceeds this amount and is unable to compensate the owners, we will begin the process of closing the business and paying back debt.

Financial Plan

12.1 Requirements

The financial picture for Fast Lane Pizza is quite encouraging.  We have secured funding in the form of a bank loan for the amount of $340,000. Additionally, the owners have invested a total of $160,000 into the company. Investment contributions were made equally by each of the four partners. Because of projected sales we do expect to apply for a credit line with the bank, to a limit of $100,000.  The credit line will be supported by assets.

12.2 Use of Funds

Funds will be used primarily buy land and build a new building which will include commercial kitchen equipped with state of the art pizza ovens. The dining room will have customer friendly décor. Additionally, advertising, marketing collateral, as well as initial inventory, insurance, utilities, will all need to be purchased to cover the first 6 months of operation. Remaining funds will be used as operating capital.

12.3 Income Statement Projections

It is projected that first year revenue will exceed $320,000.00, with expense from operation be around $236,000.00. First year earnings are estimated to be 84,000.00, with second and third year earnings projections of 120,000.00 and 250,000.

12.4 Break-Even Analysis

The break even analysis for the first year works out to 1500 pizzas per month or $27,000 in sales.

12.5 Projected Cash Flow

The company is expected to be cash flow positive by the sixth month of operations. The initial owners' investment of $160,000, along with the bank financing of $340,000 ensures that free cash never drops below $50,000.

12.6 Balance Sheet

Fast Lane Pizza's balance sheet will show $500,000 in assets, attributed mainly to land, building, equipment and cash. Liabilities will be 340,000 upon launch and zero within 10 years. Equity will continue to increase as retained earnings stay positive and debt is paid down.

12.7 Important Assumptions

The financial plan for Fast Lane Pizza depends on important assumptions, most of which are shown in the following table.  The key underlying assumptions are:

· We assume a fairly high-growth economy for pizza in the Southwest Charlotte area, given the lack of competition, a new Premium Outlet Shopping Center and a high interest in having a pizza restaurant available in the area with pent-up demand. 

· We assume, of course, that there are no unforeseen changes in technology to make our products immediately obsolete. 

· We assume access to equity capital and financing sufficient to maintain our financial plan as shown in the tables 1 and 2.

Appendix of Supporting Documents

Table 1

Table 2

Works Cited

Finch, Brian. How to Write a Business Plan. London: Kogan Page, 2006. Print.

How to Write a Business Plan. Https://www.sba.gov/writing-business-plan, n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.

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