Small business or not
ok, This one is about us (Padma and I) starting a small business. The business is so small, I am thinking of calling it teeny-tiny business.
This is how it all came about:
A while ago, I was hankering for some idli (Indian dish that is basically a steamed rice and lentils "cake"), but we did not have the equipment to make some. Of course the stores had ready mixes and what not. But they never did taste nice. At this point I also remembered seeing Indian Stores out on the east and West coasts selling the batter in disposable plastic containers. So I made the trek to the local Indian store of choice (Patel Grocery on Portland Ave S) and looked around to see if they had it. They did not. So I made Padma talk to the store manager/owner to find out if he is aware of the demand for such a product. He was aware of the demand but was not approached by any parties who would provide such a product. So we went back home and talked about this for a bit. and then tabled the whole thing.
Later on we decided to buy a wet grinder (one of those motorized gizmos, folks have been using in India for a long time to make idli and dosa batter). At the time we were not thinking of the earlier discussion. In the meantime we had Pallavi and we had my in-laws stay with us for a while foll9wed by my parents. After they left, we started to think about the business idea again. and This time Padma called the local Indian grocery stores and inquired about the availability of the idli batter. a few had them, and a few did not. The few who did not were open to being supplied. So we started to provide the batter to Patel Grocery. who seemed most receptive to the idea and was keen on it as well.
We started out small, i.e., provide like 3 or 4 containers (24 oz.) to the store and see how long it takes to sell. Oh!!, that reminds me, we priced the batter at $2.50 for the Store and the store priced it at $2.99. It took a while before word got around. Now we seem to be selling around 10 containers a week at the store.
During all this time, Padma has been applying to incorporate herself and has been doing some research into getting a food preparation license. I am now looking for
a commercial kitchen that rents space to people like us so we can use their facilities. The requirements to prepare food at home are quite stringent (and rightly so). if all of our business ideas take off.. then we might be able to justify upgrading our kitchen to satisfy the commercial kitchen requirements from our city/state.
It is not simple going about starting a small business. things that need to be researched into:
1. City/State requirements
2. creating the business entity (either the LLC, or S-Corp or whatever else)
3. Accounting/Financial aspects of the whole thing.
4. marketing the product
5. tax implications.
I will keep a running blog about this (hope to)... and see how it all turns out.
This is how it all came about:
A while ago, I was hankering for some idli (Indian dish that is basically a steamed rice and lentils "cake"), but we did not have the equipment to make some. Of course the stores had ready mixes and what not. But they never did taste nice. At this point I also remembered seeing Indian Stores out on the east and West coasts selling the batter in disposable plastic containers. So I made the trek to the local Indian store of choice (Patel Grocery on Portland Ave S) and looked around to see if they had it. They did not. So I made Padma talk to the store manager/owner to find out if he is aware of the demand for such a product. He was aware of the demand but was not approached by any parties who would provide such a product. So we went back home and talked about this for a bit. and then tabled the whole thing.
Later on we decided to buy a wet grinder (one of those motorized gizmos, folks have been using in India for a long time to make idli and dosa batter). At the time we were not thinking of the earlier discussion. In the meantime we had Pallavi and we had my in-laws stay with us for a while foll9wed by my parents. After they left, we started to think about the business idea again. and This time Padma called the local Indian grocery stores and inquired about the availability of the idli batter. a few had them, and a few did not. The few who did not were open to being supplied. So we started to provide the batter to Patel Grocery. who seemed most receptive to the idea and was keen on it as well.
We started out small, i.e., provide like 3 or 4 containers (24 oz.) to the store and see how long it takes to sell. Oh!!, that reminds me, we priced the batter at $2.50 for the Store and the store priced it at $2.99. It took a while before word got around. Now we seem to be selling around 10 containers a week at the store.
During all this time, Padma has been applying to incorporate herself and has been doing some research into getting a food preparation license. I am now looking for
a commercial kitchen that rents space to people like us so we can use their facilities. The requirements to prepare food at home are quite stringent (and rightly so). if all of our business ideas take off.. then we might be able to justify upgrading our kitchen to satisfy the commercial kitchen requirements from our city/state.
It is not simple going about starting a small business. things that need to be researched into:
1. City/State requirements
2. creating the business entity (either the LLC, or S-Corp or whatever else)
3. Accounting/Financial aspects of the whole thing.
4. marketing the product
5. tax implications.
I will keep a running blog about this (hope to)... and see how it all turns out.
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