What’s Inside the Business Plan?

1) Executive Summary

A clear snapshot of your cotton candy concept, selling format (cart, kiosk, pop-up, or shop), and the customer groups you’ll serve. You’ll outline your revenue streams—daily walk-up sales, venue contracts, and private events—with realistic goals. The funding request connects directly to machines, initial supplies, packaging, permits, and working capital. It’s written to feel bank-credible from the first page.

2) Market Overview

A U.S.-focused demand read centered on family foot traffic, festivals, school events, and seasonal peaks. You’ll define your local audience, estimate event volume, and show why your location or route has repeatable demand. Competitors are mapped by product mix, pricing, and booking access, not vague “other sweets shops.” The goal is to prove a real market for your area.

3) Products & Pricing

Detailed lanes for classic cones, gourmet/colored flavors, packaged tubs, party bundles, and add-ons like custom toppers or branded bags. Pricing covers per-unit margins, multi-buy incentives, and event package rates. You’ll show how ingredient costs, packaging, and labor roll into a consistent gross margin target. Lenders use this to validate your unit economics.

4) Operations & Food-Safety Workflow

A step-by-step view of production, storage, on-site setup, service flow, and clean-down. It includes supply ordering, prep timing, allergen/label handling, and simple SOPs for staff. For mobile models, you’ll map event load-in/out and equipment transport. This section shows you can operate cleanly and consistently.

5) Marketing & Booking Strategy

A practical acquisition plan using local SEO, Instagram/TikTok promos, school partnerships, festival applications, and party-booking funnels. You’ll outline promo calendars around spring fairs, summer events, and holiday weekends. The template shows how to upsell bundles and convert first-time buyers into recurring event clients. Everything is aimed at predictable sales, not random foot traffic.

6) Management & KPIs

A management plan built for lean dessert retail—clear owner duties, part-time roles, and training basics. You’ll track KPIs like average order value, cones per hour, event conversion rate, COGS per serving, and waste/shrink. Staffing scales with peak days and event volume. This demonstrates control and scalability.

7) Financial Model (36-Month)

A realistic 3-year forecast that includes machines, supplies, permits, licensing, insurance, marketing, and seasonal labor. Revenue is modeled across walk-up sales and event bookings with editable pricing and volume inputs. You can adjust seasonality, route frequency, and event package mix to match your market. Output includes lender-clean P&L, cash flow, and break-even.