NourishBox Meal Prep

Words in [brackets] are blanks you fill in with your own details when you adopt this sample in Supreme Plan AI.

Executive Summary

NourishBox Meal Prep is a meal prep and delivery business in California. We cook fully prepared, portioned, refrigerator-ready meals in a licensed commissary kitchen and deliver them each week to subscribers, with a la carte and corporate orders as well. Our customers are busy people who want healthy, home-style meals without cooking.

The problem is simple. Cooking every day is hard, takeout is costly and often heavy, and most meal kits still need cooking. We deliver cooked meals with clear ingredient and allergen labels, and customers can choose a plan and skip a week at any time.

Here is what our numbers show. We expect sales of $164,750 in Year 1, growing to $579,750 by Year 5 as we add subscribers, corporate accounts and kitchen help. We expect a loss of about $27,200 in Year 1 while we build our subscriber base, then a profit from Year 2 (about $3,800), growing to about $57,100 by Year 5.

We need $77,000 in total. That covers $29,000 in startup costs (kitchen equipment, refrigeration, delivery coolers, opening food and packaging, the kitchen deposit, permits and insurance) and a cash cushion for the first months. I am putting in $22,000 of my own money, and I am asking for a $55,000 SBA loan.

I am Alicia Gomez, the owner. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this plan, not promises.

Company Description

NourishBox Meal Prep will be a limited liability company (LLC) in California, owned by Alicia Gomez. An LLC is a business type that generally keeps your home and savings separate from the business's debts and lawsuits, although a lender may still ask for a personal guarantee. A business attorney or the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) can explain how it works in our state.

What we believe. Food that goes home with a customer has to be safe, labeled and honest. We say what is in every meal, and we never promise a medical result.

What we offer:
- Weekly subscriber meals. A weekly plan of cooked meals delivered on set days, with a menu that changes each week.
- A la carte, corporate and wellness orders. One-time meal orders and regular orders for offices.
- Later, as we grow: family plans and a pickup option. The numbers in this plan do not include these.

The kitchen. We rent time in a licensed commissary kitchen at first. We budget $18,000 a year ($1,500 a month) for kitchen rent and utilities in Year 1, and the plan assumes this grows about 10% a year as we use more hours.

Licenses and insurance. Cooked meals for sale must be made in a licensed kitchen, and home kitchen exemptions for small food businesses usually do not cover refrigerated cooked meals. Before I start I will ask the state and county health department what permits, food handler cards, kitchen rules, labeling rules and delivery rules apply, and I will not sell a meal until the permits are in hand. We will register the LLC with the state, get a business license and an EIN (the business tax number from the IRS, free at irs.gov), and carry general liability and product liability insurance, auto coverage for delivery and workers' compensation once we hire. These rules change, so we confirm every requirement before we act.

Where things stand today. This plan is my starting point. Before I sign a lease or buy equipment, I will talk with at least 30 busy households and 5 offices about what they would pay, test the menu with at least 15 people and line up at least 15 subscribers who say they would sign up. If the numbers do not match this plan, I will change the plan before I spend money.

Problem & Opportunity

Eating well every day is hard.

1. No time to cook. Busy people skip meals or choose takeout.
2. Takeout is costly and heavy. Many people want lighter options.
3. Meal kits still need cooking. They save shopping but not time.
4. Allergies and diets. People want clear labels for allergens and diets.
5. Rigid plans. Many services lock customers in.

How we will find out if people want this before we spend money. I will talk with at least 30 households and 5 offices, test the menu with at least 15 people and ask at least 15 to sign up for a trial week. Our Year 1 plan needs about 13,000 subscriber meals, which is about 250 a week, and 2,000 a la carte and corporate meals.

Products & Services

What we sell. We have two offerings, each priced simply.

1. Weekly subscriber meals. The plan assumes an average of about $10.75 per meal in Year 1, rising to about $11.75 by Year 5. Food, packaging and labels cost about $4.50 per meal. We expect about 13,000 meals in Year 1 (about 250 a week), growing to about 39,000 a year by Year 5.
2. A la carte, corporate and wellness orders. The plan assumes about $12.50 per meal in Year 1, rising to about $13.50, with about $5.20 per meal in direct costs. We expect about 2,000 meals in Year 1, growing to about 9,000.

Our prices. A price per meal that falls with a larger plan, delivery included within our area and no contract.

How it works for a customer:
1. The customer picks a plan and sets allergy and diet preferences online.
2. We post the weekly menu and the customer approves or changes the order by a set cutoff.
3. We cook, portion, label and chill the meals, then deliver in insulated bags on the set day.
4. The customer reheats the meals, and we ask for feedback each week.

Gross margin, explained. "Gross margin" is the share of each sale left after paying for food, containers and labels. Our plan shows about 58% in Year 1. That money pays the kitchen team, kitchen rent, delivery, insurance and other bills. Pay is counted separately, under payroll. We do not promise weight loss or any health result, and we do not plan meals for medical conditions without a registered dietitian.

Market Analysis

Who will use us:
- Busy professionals and families who want healthy meals without cooking.
- People who follow a particular eating style and want clear labels.
- Offices that want lunches or wellness meals for staff.

Where we will work. Customers within about 25 minutes of the kitchen.

How we sized the plan. Our Year 1 plan needs about 250 subscriber meals a week, about 50 subscribers at 5 meals each, which one cook and part-time helpers can handle. I will check the real numbers by testing the menu and signing up trial customers before spending money.

Season. January is busiest, and summer vacations can be slower. The numbers show a yearly average.

Competitive Landscape

Other choices customers have:
1. Cooking at home.
2. Takeout and delivery apps.
3. Meal kits that need cooking.
4. Other local meal prep companies, which compete on taste, price and menu.
5. Grocery store prepared foods.

How we will win customers: good food, clear labels, flexible plans, reliable delivery and easy feedback. These are promises we have to keep, and any competitor could make them too, so we will measure ourselves on them every week.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How customers will find us.
- A simple website with the weekly menu, plans and online ordering.
- Trial weeks and a first-order discount.
- Offices and gyms. Offer a free tasting and a lunch plan for staff.
- Social media photos and short videos of cooking and meals, with a clear note that results vary.
- A referral thank-you: a customer who refers a friend gets a free meal.

Marketing budget. About $6,000 a year in Year 1 (about $500 a month), growing about 8% a year. The logo, website and photos are paid for from startup costs ($2,400).

Operations Plan

How the business runs day to day.

The kitchen. Time in a licensed commissary kitchen with cooking equipment, walk-in or reach-in refrigeration, a packing area and a label printer.

A normal week:
1. Plan the menu, order food and confirm the order count by the cutoff.
2. Prep and cook on set days, cool food quickly and portion it into labeled containers.
3. Chill the meals, pack them with ice packs in insulated bags and load the delivery vehicle.
4. Deliver on set days, collect feedback and clean the kitchen.

Food safety. We follow the health department's rules, hold hot and cold foods at safe temperatures, cool cooked food quickly, log temperatures, label every meal with ingredients, allergens, a made-on date and a use-by date and use separate tools for allergen-free orders. Everyone has a food handler card. We tell customers plainly that our kitchen handles many ingredients so cross-contact is possible.

Equipment. About $17,000 to start: a commercial food processor, scales, sealers and cookware, a reach-in refrigerator and freezer and shelving, and delivery coolers and a label printer. We set aside about $3,000 a year after that.

Running costs in Year 1: kitchen rent and utilities about $18,000, delivery vehicle fuel and maintenance about $4,800, ordering software and card fees about $4,200, marketing about $6,000, business and product liability insurance about $3,600, and accounting, permits and legal about $3,000. That is $39,600 in all.

Payment. Subscribers pay by card weekly or monthly in advance, and corporate orders are invoiced, so a small amount is owed to us for a few weeks.

Management & Organization

Who runs the business. Alicia Gomez, owner and head chef. As owner I will plan menus, cook, manage orders and handle the money. I plan to pay myself $38,000 a year in salary.

The team. Pay figures include payroll taxes and workers' compensation insurance.
- Cook (full-time): none in Year 1, one in Years 2 and 3 and two in Years 4 and 5, at about $31,000 a year each.
- Kitchen helper (part-time): one in Years 1 and 2, two in Years 3 and 4 and three in Year 5, at about $17,000 a year each.
- Delivery driver (part-time): one in Years 1 to 3 and two in Years 4 and 5, at about $18,000 a year each.

We hire people who are clean, careful and reliable, train everyone on food safety and allergens and check driving records and run background checks (with the person's permission and following the law) on drivers.

People who will help us: a bookkeeper or tax preparer, an insurance agent who understands food businesses, a business attorney for a one-time review of the kitchen agreement and our labels, and a free mentor from SCORE or the Small Business Development Center (SBDC).

Milestones Narrative

Our goals and when we plan to reach them.
- Before opening (3 to 5 months ahead): confirm the permits and kitchen rules with the health department, test the menu with at least 15 people, line up at least 15 subscribers, register the LLC and get an EIN, open a business bank account, get insurance quotes, sign with a commissary kitchen, buy equipment and set up ordering. Buy equipment only after the permits and the first subscribers are in hand.
- Year 1: open with the owner, one helper and one driver, with about 250 subscriber meals a week, $164,750 in sales and a loss of about $27,200.
- Year 2: add our first full-time cook, with about 21,000 subscriber meals a year, $282,000 in sales and a profit of about $3,800.
- Year 3: add a second helper, with about 26,110 subscriber meals a year, $366,538 in sales and a profit of about $24,300.
- Year 4: add a second cook and a second driver, with about 34,000 subscriber meals a year, $490,375 in sales and a profit of about $36,300.
- Year 5: grow to about 39,000 subscriber meals a year with a team of eight, $579,750 in sales and a profit of about $57,100.
Growth depends on signing and keeping subscribers, safe cooking and on-time delivery, so treat the later years as goals, not promises.

What we check every week: meals sold, subscribers, skip and cancel rate, food cost per meal, on-time deliveries, complaints and cash in the bank.

Funding Request

How much we need and how we will use it. Total we are raising: $77,000.

How we got that number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds up three things:
- Startup costs of $29,000, listed item by item in the Startup Costs section: $8,500 for commercial food processor, scales, sealers and cookware, $5,500 for reach-in refrigerator, freezer and shelving, $3,000 for delivery coolers, insulated bags and a label printer, $3,200 for opening food, containers and packaging, $2,500 for kitchen deposit and first month, $1,100 for health permit, food handler cards and business license, $1,800 for legal and accounting setup, $2,400 for logo, ordering website and photos, and $1,000 for first insurance payment.
- A cash cushion of about $46,800: the deepest hole our cash falls into while we build our subscriber base (about $18,700) plus about 3 months of running costs (about $28,200). Lenders call this "working capital."
- Together that comes to about $75,800, rounded up to the nearest $500: $76,000.
We are raising $1,000 more than that, $77,000 in all, to leave extra room for loan payments in the first years and for kitchen costs before subscribers are signed.

Where the money comes from:
- My own money: $22,000.
- Amount requested as a loan: $55,000.

Kind of funding we are looking for. An SBA 7(a) small loan through a local bank or community lender. Put any agreement with a lender, family member or friend in writing.

How we will pay it back. We expect a loss of about $27,200 in Year 1 while we build our subscriber base, then a profit from Year 2 (about $3,800), growing to about $57,100 by Year 5. With this funding, the business has money in the bank at the end of every year of the plan, and the lowest year-end balance is about $31,300, at the end of Year 1. The loan is planned at 12.75% interest over 10 years, so payments of about $813 a month (about $9,757 a year) are already included in our cash flow. We chose 12.75% as a cautious planning rate. Ask the lender for the real rate, which may be lower or higher.

What we are offering the lender: our equipment as collateral (something the lender can claim if the loan is not repaid) and my personal guarantee (my promise to repay from my own money if the business cannot).

A smaller first step, if needed. If we cannot raise the full amount right away, we can start smaller and grow into this plan:
- Phase 1: start by cooking for a small group of subscribers in a licensed kitchen you rent by the hour, while keeping your current job. Startup can be roughly $4,000 to $8,000 for supplies, permits, insurance and a simple website. Get your own quotes.
- Phase 2: once you have more orders than the shared hours allow, rent more kitchen time, hire help and follow this plan.
To plan the smaller start, make a copy of this plan (use Duplicate) and lower the numbers to match.

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:

- Your resume (one page is fine) and any licenses or training certificates.
- A personal financial statement (a list of what you own and what you owe; lenders usually provide a form).
- Business registration papers and your EIN (your business tax number from the IRS, free at irs.gov).
- Proof of insurance, or a quote.
- Your menu, label sample and allergen list.
- The health department's written answer on permits.
- The commissary kitchen agreement.
- Proof of insurance, or quotes.
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):
- Weekly Subscriber Meals: about $10.75 per meal in Year 1, rising to $11.75; about $4.50 per meal in direct costs, rising to $5.10; about 13,000 meals in Year 1, growing to 39,000.
- A La Carte, Corporate and Wellness Orders: about $12.50 per meal in Year 1, rising to $13.50; about $5.20 per meal in direct costs, rising to $5.80; about 2,000 meals in Year 1, growing to 9,000.
- Pay: Owner / Head Chef $38,000 (1/1/1/1/1); Cook (full-time) $31,000 (0/1/1/2/2); Kitchen Helper (part-time) $17,000 (1/1/2/2/3); Delivery Driver (part-time) $18,000 (1/1/1/2/2). The numbers in parentheses are how many people we plan to have in Years 1 through 5. Pay figures are yearly and include payroll taxes and workers' compensation.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: commissary kitchen rent and utilities $18,000, delivery vehicle fuel and maintenance $4,800, ordering software and card fees $4,200, marketing $6,000, business and product liability insurance $3,600, and accounting, permits & legal $3,000. These grow between 5% and 15% a year as the business grows.
- Subscribers pay in advance and corporate orders are invoiced. At the end of Year 1 about $3,295 (2% of Year 1 sales) is card payments or corporate invoices still to come.
- Tax rate: 21%.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and research.

Startup Costs