Golden Hour Donuts

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Executive Summary

Golden Hour Donuts is an artisan donut shop in the greater Raleigh, North Carolina metro area serving made-from-scratch yeasted and cake donuts in rotating seasonal flavors, classic glazed and filled donuts, specialty coffee drinks and a small selection of breakfast sandwiches. The shop operates a brick-and-mortar storefront open Tuesday through Sunday from 6 a.m. to sell-out, supplemented by pre-orders for weekend boxes and a catering channel for corporate offices and events.

The donut market has bifurcated. National chains (Krispy Kreme, Dunkin') own the commodity end. Artisan donut shops - small batch, rotating seasonal flavors, distinctive visual presentation, local sourcing - have built loyal followings in most mid-size American cities and command a significant premium ($3.50 to $5.00 per donut vs. $1.00 to $1.50 at a chain). Raleigh's growing population, strong food culture, robust corporate office market for catering and active weekend brunch scene create strong demand for an artisan donut concept. Year 1 revenue is projected at about $261,800, growing to about $484,500 by Year 3. Startup costs are about $145,000.

Company Description

Golden Hour Donuts will open in a 900 sq ft leased commercial space in the Five Points or Glenwood South neighborhood of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Ownership. LLC, owned by founders Priya and Sam Okonkwo. Priya is a pastry chef with 7 years of bakery and pastry experience. Sam handles operations and business management.

Product and pricing:
- Signature glazed donut: $3.25
- Seasonal specialty donut (rotating weekly, 6 to 8 varieties): $4.25 to $5.00
- Filled donut (Boston cream, jam, custard): $4.50
- Donut holes (6-pack): $4.50
- Weekend box (one dozen, pre-order only): $42 to $48
- Drip coffee (12 oz / 16 oz): $3.00 / $3.75
- Espresso drinks (latte, cappuccino, cortado): $4.75 to $5.75
- Breakfast sandwich (egg, cheese, choice of meat on a house brioche bun): $7.50

Hours: Tuesday through Friday 6 a.m. to sell-out (typically 11 a.m. to noon); Saturday and Sunday 6 a.m. to sell-out (typically 1 p.m.). Closed Monday.

Problem & Opportunity

Raleigh has no dedicated artisan donut shop producing small-batch, scratch-made donuts with rotating seasonal flavors and serious espresso. The market has Krispy Kreme (factory product), Dunkin' (commodity) and a handful of bakeries that sell donuts as a secondary product. The gap for a destination donut shop - worth a 20-minute drive and an Instagram post - is open.

Products & Services

Priya's pastry background and rotating seasonal menu (North Carolina strawberry glazed in spring, bourbon peach in summer, apple cider in fall) paired with Sam's front-of-house and catering systems. Small-batch production (100 to 200 donuts per morning) creates genuine scarcity that drives pre-order behavior and early morning traffic. The pre-order weekend box system converts social media followers into recurring weekly revenue.

Market Analysis

Raleigh is a growing city and is one of the fastest-growing cities in the Southeast. The Five Points and Glenwood South neighborhoods have high foot traffic from brunch crowds, weekend walkers and office workers. The Research Triangle Park and downtown Raleigh office market generates consistent weekday corporate catering demand.

Target customers: Raleigh food enthusiasts (weekend box pre-orders and social media word of mouth), office managers and executive assistants managing corporate catering budgets and morning commuters in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Competitive Landscape

No dedicated artisan donut shop operates in the target Raleigh neighborhoods. The nearest comparable concept is 8 miles away in Durham. Krispy Kreme and Dunkin' compete on price and convenience, not quality or experience. Golden Hour competes on a completely different basis: seasonal flavors, visual presentation and the artisan brand story.

Our strengths and weak points. Strengths: Sell-out model creates genuine scarcity and urgency that drives early morning traffic and pre-order behavior - a brand asset that commodity chains cannot replicate; Priya's pastry background and rotating seasonal menu give the business a content engine: the weekly menu is its own marketing event on Instagram. Weak points we plan for: 3:30 a.m. production start is physically demanding and limits the personal sustainability of the model without additional bakers; Sell-out dependency means a slow weekend can create unsold inventory loss; production planning is operationally critical.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

Pre-opening: Instagram built around Priya's recipe development process 90 days before opening. Pre-order waitlist for the first weekend boxes 30 days before opening. Opening week: complimentary donut sampling at five nearby offices and coworking spaces. Ongoing: rotating seasonal menu announced on Instagram every week driving repeat visits, Raleigh food blogger and influencer relationships, corporate catering outreach to 30 Research Triangle Park office managers and a loyalty app (every 10th visit free).

The first 90 days. Days 1 to 30: sign the lease, order the fryer, mixer and espresso machine, and start the weekly Instagram posts that show recipes being tested. Days 31 to 60: build the pre-order waitlist, finish the permits and run two practice mornings for friends. Days 61 to 90: open, hand out samples at five nearby offices and take the first corporate catering orders.

Operations Plan

Priya and one part-time baker produce each morning's batch starting at 3:30 a.m. Donuts are fried, glazed and decorated before doors open at 6 a.m. No donuts are held over to the next day - sell-out is the operational model. Sam manages the counter, coffee bar and pre-order fulfillment from 6 a.m. through close. Corporate catering orders (half-dozen or full-dozen boxes) are taken by phone or email for weekday morning delivery within 5 miles.

Equipment: commercial fryer (60 lb capacity), commercial mixer (20 qt), proof box, glazing rack, espresso machine (La Marzocco Linea Mini or equivalent) and a POS system (Square).

Risks and how we plan for them:
- Selling out is the plan, but a slow weekend means wasted dough. We plan each day's batch from the last four weeks of sales and cut production on slow days.
- A 3:30 a.m. start is hard on two owners and one part-time baker. We budget a second part-time baker as volume grows so no one person carries every morning.
- Ingredient prices, especially butter and sugar. Recipes are costed on paper and prices are reviewed monthly, and we keep two suppliers for important ingredients.
- Food safety. Written cleaning schedules, allergy labels, daily temperature logs and a food handler permit for every worker, following the county health department's rules.
- Copycats once the shop is busy. Our edge is the weekly seasonal menu and the pre-order box list, both of which take time and a loyal following to copy.

Management & Organization

Priya Okonkwo, Co-Owner and Head Pastry Chef. 7 years of pastry and bakery experience including 3 years as pastry sous chef at a Raleigh restaurant. Sam Okonkwo, Co-Owner and Operations Manager. Business operations and customer service background. One part-time baker hired from opening, one part-time counter staff added as volume grows.

Hiring plan. Priya and Sam work the shop full time. One part-time baker is hired at opening, and more part-time baker and counter hours are added as sales grow.

Milestones Narrative

Year 1: open by month 3, sell out daily by month 2, launch corporate catering channel by month 4, pre-order weekend boxes sold out 2 weeks in advance by month 5, revenue about $261,800. Year 2: add a second espresso machine to increase coffee throughput, revenue about $394,200. Year 3: add a second storefront or a wholesale account with 2 Raleigh coffee shops, revenue about $484,500.

What the plan's numbers say. Year 1: sales about $261,800, loss about $14,700; Year 2: sales about $394,200, profit about $62,400; Year 3: sales about $484,500, profit about $82,300; Year 4: sales about $542,700, profit about $114,200; Year 5: sales about $596,900, profit about $113,800. The lowest year-end cash is about $136,700.

How we will keep score. Every month we compare real sales to the plan, check the cash in the bank, review the direct cost of each job or product, and look at what customers say. If sales are behind plan for two months in a row, we slow spending and delay hiring until the numbers catch up.

Funding Request

How much we need and how we will use it. Total needed: $192,000. This number comes from the Funding Need Calculator in this plan. It adds up:
- Startup costs of $145,000, listed item by item in the Startup Costs section (the largest are Leasehold improvements $52,000; Working capital reserve $40,000; Commercial fryer $8,400).
- A cash cushion of about $47,000. That is the deepest cash dip in the early months plus about three months of bills, so slow weeks do not put the business at risk. Lenders call this "working capital."
- Together that comes to about $192,000 (rounded up to the nearest $500), which is the total we are planning for.
Where the money comes from:
- Owner money: $70,000.
- SBA 7(a) or equipment loan: $122,000.
Kind of funding we are looking for: SBA 7(a) or equipment loan: $122,000 at 12.75% interest over 10 years, about $1,804 a month. A loan is money we pay back with interest, and the monthly payments are already included in our cash flow.
How we will pay it back. We expect sales of about $261,800 in Year 1, growing to about $596,900 by Year 5. We expect a loss of about $14,700 in Year 1, a profit of about $62,400 in Year 2, a profit of about $82,300 in Year 3, a profit of about $114,200 in Year 4 and a profit of about $113,800 in Year 5. Year 1 is lower than a full year because the business needs time to open and build customers. The lowest year-end cash balance is about $136,700 (Year 1), so with this funding the business has money in the bank every year of the plan.
What we are offering the lender: the equipment we buy as collateral and a personal guarantee from the owner.
A smaller first step, if needed. If we cannot raise the full amount right away, we can start with weekend pop-ups and pre-order boxes from a rented commercial kitchen, and open the storefront once the box list is full. Duplicate this plan and lower the buildout and equipment costs to match.
What if sales are slower? We also tested a cautious case where sales come in 20 percent lower every year. In that case the plan shows a loss of about $55,000 in Year 1, a profit of about $26,300 in Year 3 and the lowest year-end cash is about $136,700, so the business still has money in the bank every year.
All numbers in this plan are estimates. We will update them as real results come in.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach before you send this plan:

- LLC operating agreement.
- Wake County food handler's permit.
- North Carolina food establishment permit.
- Raleigh business license.
- Commercial lease.
- SBA or equipment loan agreement.
- Food liability insurance.
- Square POS subscription.
- La Marzocco service agreement.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Donuts and Pre-Order Weekend Boxes: about 48,790 units in Year 1 at about $4.00 each, costing about $1.12 each to deliver.
- Coffee and Beverage Sales: about 9,369 units in Year 1 at about $4.50 each, costing about $1.26 each to deliver.
- Corporate Catering Boxes: about 544 units in Year 1 at about $45 each, costing about $12.60 each to deliver.
- Pay: co-owner / head baker $50,000 a year (the same number all five years); co-owner / counter and coffee manager $45,000 a year (the same number all five years); part-time baker and counter staff $38,000 a year (people in Years 1 to 5: 1, 1, 2, 2, 3).
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: rent about $28,800, marketing about $8,000, insurance about $5,200, admin and other about $6,000.
- Tax rate: 21%.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and research.

Plain words used in this plan:
- Pre-order box: a dozen donuts customers reserve and pay for ahead of time.
- Sell-out model: making a limited amount each morning so the case is empty by closing.
- Catering: donut boxes delivered to offices and events.
- Working capital: cash kept on hand to pay bills while sales build.
- SBA 7(a) loan: a small business loan partly guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Startup Costs