Writing a business plan

[havanahead]

Hi Everyone -
I am working on a business plan to start a mobile wood fired
pizza catering business and I am looking for projections and
or statistics regarding our industry.  Would anyone know
where I can locate this important information.

I have been on the PMQ site and I did find some information,
but is was from 2010.

Thanks, Fred

[Chef_Boy-R-Dee]

Stats are really hard to answer. You could make $500 a month or you could make $15,000 a month. It all depends on your drive, crew size, ability to adapt to serve your customers (pie output), salesmanship, location where you setup, etc. etc. etc. Are you doing this part-time or full time? Where is your location?

[JConk007]

Yep,
All those etc.... etc... and more. I think most important is what are you looking to get out of it? and,is it about just the money or  is there a little bit of passion there as well ? For me, and Flirting with Fire I love it and its a definite passion, a quest to bring something both unique and delicious to the people, and educate them on the true Neapolitan pizza.  As mentioned in my thread, its paid for and open and close when I want. could it be a viable bus.? absolutely.  My friend Peterdid $ 8-10K per weekend! for a few months withthe perfect location and 1000's of visitors who certainly did not mind plopping down $15 for a 12" pizza. I think Marketing and Location/Events  should be the focus of any mobile WFO plan.
my $.02
John

[havanahead]

Thanks for your response.  The statistics I am looking for are more general.  
Projected overall sales in the US for pizza of this year 2011 and 2012
The demographics breakdown of the largest consumers of pizza.

I was not asking for owners of Mobile WFO what they were doing personally in regards to your sales.  I should have been more clear, sorry.   I am looking for statistics that I can use to plug into my business plan.

I agree it's all about passion, I would not venture down this road if I was not for my love of making a great pizza, and wanting to share this with my family and friends, etc.    If it were only for the money, this would be the wrong business for me to get into.  I am now at  a place in my life, that I want to make a living at something that I really enjoy and I really enjoy creating a great pie.  

Fred

[Essen1]

Havana,

You might want to plug into sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau, local restaurant realtors who most likely have demographic numbers on hand, local advertising companies - the ones who distribute those free coupon booklets you find in your mailbox every so often - your local chamber of commerce, city hall and perhaps your local library.

Take notes, acquire copies and print out stats in your region. Analyze them and if you find them up to date, incorporate such stats into your business plan.

Hope that helps...

[c0mpl3x]

Stats are really hard to answer. You could make $500 a month or you could make $15,000 a month. It all depends on your drive, crew size, ability to adapt to serve your customers (pie output), salesmanship, location where you setup, etc. etc. etc. Are you doing this part-time or full time? Where is your location?

more like week, not month.

[Pete-zza]

The statistics I am looking for are more general.  
Projected overall sales in the US for pizza of this year 2011 and 2012
The demographics breakdown of the largest consumers of pizza.

Fred, 

The only reports I have seen on sales data are at http://pmq.com/industryreports.php, with the latest report being for 2010. You might check that report to see if it projects into this year or next.

For a list of only the top 100 pizzerias, you might also check out the report at PizzaToday at http://www.pizzatoday.com/Magazines/Year/2011/November2011/top-100-pizza-companies.

Peter

[IndyRob]

Probably since it has been in the news lately, I thought of The National Restaurant Association.  I checked their website (restaurant.org) and it looks like they do offer a 2011 Industry Forecast (I would imagine that pizza would be one of their segments).  The non-member price for the PDF is $199.99 but it's free for members.  Joining can be as little as $75 for students.  It looks like joining as a small restaurant is around $220 (depending on state) and includes membership in the state association.

I also found a free chef's survey there.  Perhaps there's more if you dig around.

http://www.restaurant.org/pdfs/research/whats_hot_2011.pdf