F&B Business Plan Template for Singapore (With Examples)

Why an F&B business plan matters

Many people open a café or restaurant on instinct and a spreadsheet of rough guesses. A written plan does two jobs. Internally, it makes you test your assumptions: can this rent work with this seat count, these prices and this staffing? Externally, it is what other people ask to see:

• Banks and lenders want to see how you will repay, backed by realistic sales and costs.
• Landlords, especially in malls, often ask about your concept, experience and trade mix before offering a unit.
• Partners and investors need to know what they are putting money into, who does what, and how profits are shared.
• Grant applications usually ask what a project will achieve. A plan with clear goals makes that easier to explain.

The template below follows the order most readers expect. Replace each placeholder with your own figures and research.

Executive summary

Write this last, but put it first. It should fit on one page and answer:

• What: the concept in one or two sentences (for example, “a 30-seat Japanese-style café serving brunch and specialty coffee”).
• Where: the target location or type of location.
• Who: the main customer groups.
• Why it will work: your edge, such as experience, a proven recipe, a gap you’ve observed in the area or an existing following.
• How much: total startup budget, how it is funded and when you expect to break even.
• Team: founders and key people, with relevant experience.

Example wording: “[Business name] is a [format] serving [cuisine] to [customers] in [area]. We need [total amount] to open, funded by [owner capital / loan / partner]. Based on the assumptions in section X, we expect to reach break-even sales of [amount] per month by month [number].”

Concept and target customers

Describe the concept precisely: format (hawker stall, kiosk, café, casual dining, bar, cloud kitchen), service style (counter, table service, QR ordering, self-order kiosk), opening hours and price positioning.

Then define your customers. Be specific and base it on what you’ve observed or measured:

• Who are they (office workers, families, students, residents, tourists)?
• When do they eat (weekday lunch, weekend brunch, late night)?
• What do they spend now at comparable places nearby? Visit and note menu prices.
• How do they order and pay (dine-in, takeaway, delivery, PayNow, cards)?

Add a short section on what makes you different, and be honest about who you’re competing with. List three to five nearby competitors with their prices and what they do well.

Location and market analysis

For each shortlisted site, record facts you have gathered yourself rather than generic statistics:

Item	Site A	Site B
Monthly rent and service charge	[quote]	[quote]
Lease term and fit-out period	[terms]	[terms]
Size and possible seats	[sq ft / seats]	[sq ft / seats]
Foot traffic count (your own counts at key hours)	[count]	[count]
Nearby competitors and price points	[list]	[list]
Kitchen exhaust, grease trap, gas and power	[yes/no]	[yes/no]
Permitted use for F&B	[confirmed?]	[confirmed?]

Count foot traffic yourself at lunch, dinner and weekends. Check whether the unit is approved for food use and whether exhaust and grease trap requirements can be met before signing. These are the checks that save money.

Menu and pricing

Include a draft menu with a cost for every dish. For each item, list the ingredients, portion sizes and cost per portion, then set a selling price that gives you the margin you need. Our guide to restaurant food cost in Singapore explains how to calculate food cost percentage and plate cost, and our restaurant menu design guide covers layout and how to highlight your best-margin items.

A simple menu costing table for your plan:

Dish	Cost per portion	Selling price (before GST)	Food cost %	Expected share of sales
[Dish 1]	[$]	[$]	[cost ÷ price]	[%]
[Dish 2]	[$]	[$]	[cost ÷ price]	[%]
[Dish 3]	[$]	[$]	[cost ÷ price]	[%]

State how you plan to handle GST and service charge if they apply, and whether delivery prices will differ from dine-in prices.

Operations plan

Show how the outlet will actually run day to day.

Staffing

List each role, how many people, full-time or part-time, and the hours needed to cover opening times. Use the salaries you’ve been quoted or seen in job listings, and include CPF and other employment costs where they apply.

Suppliers

List main suppliers for produce, meat, dry goods, beverages and packaging, with payment terms and delivery days. Having a backup supplier for key items is worth a line.

Technology stack

Plan your systems up front, because they affect staffing and layout:

• POS for orders, tables, payments and reports.
• QR ordering or a self-order kiosk if you want customers to order and pay themselves.
• Kitchen display system (KDS) or kitchen printers to route orders to stations.
• Payments: PayNow, NETS, cards and e-wallets, plus how they reconcile.
• Delivery integration if you plan to sell on delivery platforms.
• Accounting software and how sales flow into it.

Our comparison of F&B POS systems in Singapore can help you shortlist. ChaChaCha covers POS, QR ordering, KDS, payments and Xero integration in one package, with hardware supplied, and pricing is by quote. Put every quote you get into the startup cost table below.

Licences and compliance summary

Lenders and landlords want to see that you know what approvals you need and how long they take. In your plan, list each licence or approval, the agency, the expected cost and the timeline. Typical items include business registration with ACRA, an SFA food shop licence, food hygiene training for staff, a liquor licence if you serve alcohol, GST registration if you cross the threshold, and any signage or renovation approvals.

For step-by-step details, see our guides on how to open a café in Singapore and how to open a restaurant in Singapore. Check the latest requirements and fees on each agency’s website before you submit your plan.

Financial plan

This is the section readers study most. Build it from real quotes.

Startup cost categories

• Rental deposit and advance rent
• Renovation and fit-out (including exhaust, plumbing, electrical)
• Kitchen equipment and furniture
• POS, payment terminals, kiosk and kitchen display hardware and software
• Licences, permits and professional fees
• Opening stock, packaging and smallwares
• Pre-opening wages and training
• Marketing for launch
• Working capital reserve to cover the first months of losses

Monthly P&L template

Line	Month 1	Month 2	Month 3
Dine-in sales	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Takeaway and delivery sales	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Total revenue	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Food and beverage cost	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Delivery platform commission and payment fees	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Gross profit	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Staff costs (wages, CPF, levies)	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Rent and service charge	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Utilities	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Software subscriptions and maintenance	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Marketing	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Loan repayments and other fixed costs	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
Net profit (loss)	[ ]	[ ]	[ ]

Extend this to at least 12 months, and show a cautious case alongside your expected case.

Break-even formula

Break-even monthly sales = fixed monthly costs ÷ (1 − variable costs as a % of sales).

Variable costs are the ones that rise with each sale: ingredients, packaging, and payment and delivery commissions. Fixed costs stay roughly the same whatever you sell: rent, base wages, utilities, software and loan repayments.

Hypothetical example, for illustration only: if a café’s fixed costs came to $40,000 a month and its variable costs were 40% of sales, break-even sales would be $40,000 ÷ 0.60 = about $66,700 a month. Open 30 days, that is roughly $2,220 a day. At an average bill of $20, that is about 111 bills a day. Now ask whether your site, seats and hours can realistically deliver that. Use your own figures; these numbers are not benchmarks.

Funding options

Owner capital and partners

Say how much you are putting in yourself and on what terms any partners are investing. Lenders usually want to see that the owner has money at risk.

Bank SME loans

Banks offer business loans for working capital and equipment. Terms, rates and security requirements vary by bank and by your track record, and new businesses may find approval harder. Speak to several banks and compare the full cost.

Enterprise Financing Scheme (EFS)

Enterprise Singapore’s EFS works through participating financial institutions, with Enterprise Singapore sharing part of the loan risk. Two strands are most relevant for F&B:

• SME Working Capital Loan: for operational cashflow. Enterprise Singapore states a maximum of S$500,000 per borrower and repayment of up to 5 years.
• SME Fixed Assets Loan: for equipment, machinery and premises, with repayment of up to 15 years.

Eligibility on the official pages includes ACRA registration, at least 30% local equity and SME size limits. You apply through a participating bank, and approval is subject to the bank’s credit assessment.

EDGE Grant

From 30 September 2026, PSG, EDG and MRA combine into the EDGE Grant. Enterprise Singapore states support of “up to 70% for SMEs”, with levels differing by activity, and that grants are paid on a reimbursement basis after the project is completed and paid for. So budget to pay the full cost first. AppsPOS has been a PSG pre-approved vendor and is approved under the EDGE Grant; see our grant guide for POS systems for what that means for your tech budget.

Template summary checklist

1. One-page executive summary with concept, location, customers, budget and break-even target.
2. Concept description and clearly defined customer groups.
3. Competitor list with prices you’ve checked.
4. Site comparison with rent, lease terms, your own foot traffic counts and F&B suitability.
5. Costed menu with food cost % for every item.
6. Staffing plan, supplier list and technology stack with quotes.
7. Licence and approval list with agencies, costs and timelines.
8. Startup cost table built from real quotes, including a working capital reserve.
9. 12-month P&L with expected and cautious cases.
10. Break-even calculation using your own figures.
11. Funding plan: owner capital, partners, loans, EFS and grants, with current terms checked.

If you’d like a quote for the POS, QR ordering and kitchen side of your plan, get in touch.