You may have graduated top of your culinary classes from the best culinar school in the country, but what prospective investors or loan officers are looking for is 'do you have a plan of how to generate money and keep in flowing?'. What if you are a great cook and the first batch of money you make from your culinary business, you spend giving all your kitchen staff a 50% raise?  What if your plans are to keep buying the best ovens in the world, or to build a restaurant that can accomodate 1,000 people in a town of 200 people? Then your lender may say your business model is not viable and won't lend you any money. So a sound business plan is very important.

A good business plan also helps you stay on track. It is easy for anyone to side track when they are a little successful. For example, take a tennis player. When a tennis player won a game, he or she is incliend to enjoy the fame, go to interviews, spend the award money, etc. However, if he or she does not have a plan to start practicing for the next game soon, he or she will not be on top long. Having a plan will ensure that he or she stays on top and stays focused on the profession.

• Comply with safety and sanitation requirements of your city, state, county, or the jurisdiction of your culinary business.

• Management and marketing of your culinary business. A good culinary business needs top class management. Your culinary art education should have equipped you with management skills. Most culinary schools offer classes such as restaurant management, make sure that you take it if you are considering starting your own culinary business. These culinary arts courses are deemed boring but they are very essential for starting and operating a successful culinary business.

• Loan application - if you need some start up capital for your culinary business, you may want to familiarize yourself with how to obtain a small business loan from banks or small business help organziations such as the SBA or the Small Business Administration. Filling out a loan application can be tricky so get some advice from the experts.