First of all,
Thank you for by helping me by donating to my GoFundMe or sharing this blog or resource list with people you know who is ready to start their own small business but don't really know how. That's the situation I was in a month ago when I was afraid of losing my job and fed up with working for people that put profit before people and the planet. So I started Uncommon Fruit, a small/sustainable business incubator and am making it my mission to help my friends and family, which includes you, start their own sustainable small business and support their communities.The only thing I as in return for this information is that the business you start takes care of you, takes care of your employees, takes care of your customers and takes care of the planet.
Then, create a business plan here… with a company called Live Plan or on your own, but I’ll tell you, Live Plan basically writes the plan for you. It’s like a business plan Mad-Lib.
Register all of your emails, social media accounts, get Gsuites, use Google drive and keep a very organized folder system. And docs to make docs like this. Use Google Sheets to track your budget and forecast sales, there are a ton of templates available out there, find one that works for you. I even use Google Fi for my work phone/wifi hot spot. Here's a coupon for $20 off your first month.
Remember to ask all vendors and merchants partners if they have an affiliate or referral program and make your own document like this and hyperlink to your referral to pay for your CC processing and bookkeeping fees for free. Remember that you can have as many related revenue streams as you want under one business/roof as long as you have the proper permits
Research all of the proper permits/licenses you need to run your business, I am running it out of my home office in my apartment, here is a good resource for that. Be sure to organize your personal files and start keeping meticulous records of expenses and income.
If you need help with Legal stuff I used Nathan Miller at Rocket Lawyer and tell him Jase Grimm of Uncommon Fruit referred you for free trial. They can help you with things like…
Licenses and permits.
Trademark/DBA/EIN Registration
LLC Incorporation
Operating Agreement
Apply for financing here… with the Small Business Association and they’ll connect you with lenders that might be able to help. Do your due diligence and vet each contact with the BBB or with the SBA.gov website and look for reviews online.
Check for Government Business Grants and maybe find someone in your community that has written grants before to help you.
Try fundraising on:
Metrics about online food sales/market research about your area are helpful for researching your target market and getting infograms/media for your pitch. Here are some of the resources I used when putting together my plan.
Tell Hava over at Parsley App that Jase Grimm said you should get a free trial to his food costing/kitchen inventory management software. Every good restaurant is built on a solid food costing percentage calculations; pick a food cost percentage goal for your restaurant based on your industry/menu items and stick to it.
Then contact Katie at Toast about securing a POS system/online sales and marketing solution and mention Jase Grimm at Uncommon Fruit sent you for a great CC processing rate and 10% off hardware.
Running a small business alone is hard, which is why I used Bench Bookkeeping for a free month of the most thorough bookkeeping service I’ve ever used. They've made keeping track of sales and expenses seamless and are an invaluable partner to a fledgling small business.
To generate some demand, sign up with the delivery apps to gain a customer base, be sure to always ask for reduced marketing or delivery fees or , then when you get big enough to have your own delivery team, use Onfleet
UberEats No fee, free first month
DoorDash Rep Chanel Tilden tell her Jase Grimm from Uncommon Fruit sent you and ask for free 30 days
Grubhub Erick Johnson tell him Jase Grimm from Uncommon Fruit sent you and ask for free signup
Postmates Rep Matthew Miles tell him Jase Grimm from Uncommon Fruit sent you ask for free processing for a month
If you're going to have a logo designed consider 99designs.com or a similar service, but I'd recommend finding a graphic designer that you love and keep using them to keep the design of your business/website cohesive
Here is a good place to find out about being an Equal Opportunity Employer
Check out your local Business Development Office like this one: Opening A Business
Get Accessibility Consultant for EEOO Benefits/Awesome Employees and Accessible Restaurant
Andrew Gurza @ Accessibility Awareness Specialist - Andrew Gurza
If you're more interested in farming or want to do this later check out Farm Ownership Loans
Here is the link for the home loan program I qualified for Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program | Rural
When you're done, make a blog, take this document and insert all of your own information and do it again. Spread the word. Help all of your friends start small businesses in your community, bring in a bunch of local money and take care of yourself, take care of the people around you, take care of the planet and then you can take care of the profit, which you have to promise me you’ll share. None of this works if we don’t take back the power of capitalism in this company back from the big guys.
That's all I can think of right now, hopefully that helps!
Jase Grimm
6315994025
grimm.jase@uncommonfruit.co
So helpful! Thank you, Jase!
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