So, I am in the process of putting together my business plan to present to banks for funding to open my own bakery. I have done pretty well so far, I think, but now I am stuck....I am at the point in the plan where I need to discuss the industry:

The overall size of the industry including sales, the number of units sold, number of producers, and total employment. Statistics on how fast the industry is growing and the size of the industry in the particular area that will be served.

Key product and market segments divided into key product segments, highlighting the size and characteristics of the segments the business will compete in.

Customer buying criteria and processes including who do the businesses within the industry sell products and/or services to? Market customer groups and the size and characteristics of those groups. How and why customers purchase products like mine. How important are price, quality, and/or service support important in customer buying decisions? How the purchase process and buying criteria may vary by each of the market segments or product segments.

The types of businesses that compete in the industry. Where are they located, how broad are their product and service lines, how large are they, and how do they distribute their products?

What are the key trends in the industry? Changes in technology, products, markets, regulations, or economic conditions. What trends will affect the supply of, or demand for, my products/services?

Outlook for the industry. What types of products have the greatest opportunities for growth over the next three to five years and why? What products or product groups are expected to see a decline in sales?

Where can I find information specific to the bakery industry? How do I go about answering these questions? Any help that can be offered would be GREATLY appreciated!

TIA
Melissa

I would try your local small business development center. I am pretty sure this is either free or low cost. Here they are located at various colleges but check for some in your area.

http://www.score.org/

http://www.sba.org/

The two above links should be of some help. If you can look up your local area SCORE and make an appointment, they try to hook you up with someone that has been in the industry. The SBA has info on their site that should clear up your other questions. You might even look into your local college to take a class in how to open a small business. They usually have community classes that are a couple of days/nights. I took one at my local college and it was helpful. I later went on-line to the above links and just surfed around. HTH!

I don't know about your area, but in Fresno there is a business incubator that can be very helpful. Maybe the city has a program to help small businesses get started, or there might be a business incubator. I'd call city hall and ask about both!

I found all of that type of info via the internet.... local, state and county website have more info than you ever thought you needed to know! My biz plan focused mostly on weddings (since I also do catering), so some of the info I found included:

Population of the Indpls Metro area; number of marriage licenses issued per 1000, then do the math to know how many marriage licensese are issued in my county in one year.

Average cost of a wedding ($22,360); amount spent on receptions (50%) = $11,000 spent on receptions times the number of marriage licenses issued, making the Indpls Metro Wedding Reception Market a $50-90 MILLION dollar annual industry.

I found another website of Wedding Trends: The industry is expected to grow by 14% due to Gen-X and 30% by 2010 due to Gen-Y. Average income for an engaged couple (nationwide) is $60,000. You then compare that nat'l average income with the avg income per household in your area. The Indpls area shows 45% of households have an avg income of $45K, while a rapidly growing county just north of us has an avg income of $80K.

To compare competition, I just came up with names of companies / businesses in my area and researched their website to find out their pricing, what they offered product-wise and service-wise.

This is just an example of some of the info I came up with. I also hired an organization who had their accoutants and legal staff review it before I presented it to the bank, so I feel pretty good about the final product, even tho' it ran about 40 pages.

I'll be happy to discuss more in detail if you want to PM me. It could get pretty long for a thread format.