Please does anybody have a completed business plan for a cake decorating business that I can use as a guide? I'm about to open a cake shop and I need to prepare a biz plan. N.B I have some guidelines but I'll really prefer to see an already completed one to be sure I'm on the right track!! 
Hello. I have to create a business plan as well for some investors. Have you had any luck with getting some help? If so I would really appreciate some myself.
Thanks,
Stephanie
If you go to the small biz development center they have one, a general one for bakery's that you can follow. It is free.
you know what! i JUST completed my FIRST feasibility study this semester...like yesterday! 
it was not easy. it's not just something that you can just breeze through...it's very beneficial to yourself and your business. I found that even though I was taking a class and had a professor to ask questions that my book by Entrepreneur Magazine's "Start Your Own Busness- The Only Start-Up Book You'll Ever Need" by Rieva Lesonsky was a BIG help! especially when it came to financial projections. So, if you ever need some advice or a direction on where to look...feel free to email me!
First and foremost- check out IndyDebi's old posts. She has a TON of great info on the subject.
Now, my two cents (which is from a newbie point of view). It took me forever to get my numbers together because it was so hard to wrap my head around "making up" numbers. I could only guess-timate at how many cakes I'd sell in Jan vs May (based on weddings in each month). I could only get a rough idea of what my electric bill would be. I had to base my rent off of the place I wanted (which is NOT the place I got, but that's another post ).
In the end, I would up getting loans that didn't require a business plan. 
. If you'd like to PM me, I can email what I had. I had the SBDC helping me and they said the plan looked good.
jill and step make excellent points. This is not something you throw together over a weekend. Mine took about 9 months, a CPA, an organization who helps people with biz plans, $2500, and 14 bottles of excedrin. I put the basic numbers together but needed a CPA to put them in biz plan format (I have no idea how to make a break even point chart!).
Know your demographics of your area! how many marriage licenses are issued each year? How many divorces? Because 60% of all weddings are 2nd and 3rd marriages so divorce is a GOOD thing for our industry! 
When you know how many marriage licenses, then you knwo how many weddings times the average cost of a wedding (currently $26,000) and 50% of that number is for the reception. I found there were over 8000 weddings a year in my area x $22K each (the avg cost back then) x 50% meant my cake/catering part of it made wedding receptions an $8 million industry in my area. banks like knowing stuff like this.
It is VERY hard to guestimate numbers .... you want them to look good and the bank wants them to look conservative. Go with the conservative. Trust me on this one.
I'm happy to share mine. It's pretty outdated by now, but it gives you a working model to walk thru. PM me your regular email address.
jill and step make excellent points. This is not something you throw together over a weekend. Mine took about 9 months, a CPA, an organization who helps people with biz plans, $2500, and 14 bottles of excedrin. I put the basic numbers together but needed a CPA to put them in biz plan format (I have no idea how to make a break even point chart!).
Know your demographics of your area! how many marriage licenses are issued each year? How many divorces? Because 60% of all weddings are 2nd and 3rd marriages so divorce is a GOOD thing for our industry!
When you know how many marriage licenses, then you knwo how many weddings times the average cost of a wedding (currently $26,000) and 50% of that number is for the reception. I found there were over 8000 weddings a year in my area x $22K each (the avg cost back then) x 50% meant my cake/catering part of it made wedding receptions an $8 million industry in my area. banks like knowing stuff like this.
It is VERY hard to guestimate numbers .... you want them to look good and the bank wants them to look conservative. Go with the conservative. Trust me on this one.
I'm happy to share mine. It's pretty outdated by now, but it gives you a working model to walk thru. PM me your regular email address.
first of all i just want to say: YESSS! I'm not the only one that doesn't know how to make a break even chart!! woot woot! 
thank you for admitting to that Indydebi! as always you are still my hero
where were you like 2 weeks ago. I know i know...I should've emailed you. WHY didn't i think of the marriage license thing?? 
and my professor was asking me if I figured that out 
darn. oh well, now I know! and I will tell her what you said.
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