Discovering My Crowd Funding Option

Hey There Y'all...Welcome Back to Que-Licious!

I first heard the term crowd funding while watching something on Fox News in regard to the Jobs Act; and my curiosity was peeked. Although I hadn't heard this exact term used as a source for start-up capital, I was familiar with similar options such as Angel Investing and Venture Capital. Was crowd-funding just another “trendy” term used to re-invent the financial backing wheel? Or was this something different? Turns out; something different.

“What the heck is crowd funding anyway?”, well…here is my take on it.

Crowd-funding is the combined effort of individuals making up a “virtual-crowd” usually via social media or a website to pool their money and support your cause or project. Again…just the way I see it. Crowd-funding projects can range from start-up capital to scientific research and virtually everything in between. A person or group sets a financial goal, describes what the money will be used for, finds an online portal like Kick Starter or GoFundMe to collect contributions for their project, and updates contributors on the progress of the project.

I had mixed feelings about this approach and to a certain degree, still do. This particular source for obtaining capital would most likely attract some unsavory characters and allow scammers to run a muck. And…to be honest with you...it kind of reminded me of begging. I don’t go for handouts! So like I usually do; I picked up the shovel and yet again began to dig. (I should be almost to Kansas City by now!)

There are some amazing, legitimate organizations and individuals out there helping people just like me achieve their goals. Sadly; the complete opposite end of that spectrum is true as well. Dishonest people are going to be encountered everywhere, but it seems as though the Internet is their favorite place to dwell. Your greatest weapon against being scammed is research. Research the crowd-funding site through the Better Business Bureau. Research the individual asking for backing or support. If they don’t have contact information or can verify they are who they say they are…don’t invest. Whether you are investing $10 or $10,000,000 the same principles apply.

After searching the Internet over and reading article after article on crowd-funding from websites I trust such as Forbes and Fortune; I decided to give it a try. But I wasn't about to ask for a contribution without contributors getting something in return.

…and that is where the home bakery comes into play.

I decided to implement a crowd-funding campaign in hopes of raising the funds necessary to purchase our food truck. I found a dealer close to us just over the border in Indiana and have priced the trucks between $8,000 and $10,000. Details of the project can be found on  “GoFundMe”,  the crowd-funding site where my project is hosted.

Success or Epic Fail it's all on me; and I am perfectly fine with that. What I would not be fine with is quietly waiting on the sidelines for my turn to play. I know my own capabilities and my own limitations. Unfortunately my major limitation at the moment is cold hard cash. Yes…I know I’m not the only one and I have exhausted all other resources to fund my little barbecue biz. However, in today’s unpredictable economy; financial institutions are not only limiting the amount of funds they will lend, but the type of loans they will approve, SBA backed or not. I believe this to be the primary reason for such an explosion of crowd-funding sites and a true testament of the American Entrepreneurial Spirit not to give up simply because of someone else’s decision.

If you are inclined to donate toward my cause, please click on the GoFundMe link to the right for details on my project. If not, I sincerely hope you take the time to look over the site and find a project you feel strongly about and invest in someone’s dream.

Until next time…Keep cookin’ y’all!

Welcome to My Whiskey Soaked Barbecue...Bakery?

Hey There Y'All...Welcome Back to Que-Licious!

Okay! I know by reading the title of this blog post you may think I have had a sip or two of whiskey instead of cooking with it; but trust me...it will make sense after you read through the post – hopefully – especially after reading my previous post, Creating My Own Opportunities.

As you know, I am on a mission to earn the funds necessary to purchase my first food truck outright without financing, which brings me to my "barbecue bakery", so to speak. In my last post I touched on an opportunity to sell baked goods from my home kitchen through several local markets as well as online through two very specific venues; Etsy and Crowd-Funding.

I was already familiar with Etsy; but for those of you who are not, I encourage you to check out this wonderful site of talented Artisan Entrepreneurs. Etsy is an online marketplace where you can find everything from handcrafted jewelry to gluten free cookies; and the Artisans selling on Etsy are as unique and individualized as their products. What I like most about this site is the Artisan community feel for an online environment and that feeling is carried over into every part of the site and not just the shops. I have found Etsy to be a supporting, encouraging online assemblage of talented crafts-people; which persuaded me to choose Etsy as my preferred online platform to introduce a “Sweet-Heat” product line. Additionally, once the requirements and licensing is complete to start production for our barbecue sauce; those items can be sold on my Etsy Shop as well.

So, you may be asking yourself why sweets? I say why not! With the Holiday Season just around the corner, I knew I would be spending a lot of time in my kitchen anyway so I just decided that this year I would try to make so extra “dough” while I’m there. (Yes people…I am that flaky!) I love infusing unusual ingredients together and creating unique flavor combinations that enhance foods natural flavor and it’s not restricted to just our barbecue. Okay…it’s kind of my obsession! Once you taste my Ancho-Orange Chocolate Dessert Sauce…you’ll be glad I’m obsessed! Deciding to introduce the “Sweet Heat” product line of Whiskey River before the sauces and dry rubs was born more out of convenience, timing, and necessity rather than perfectly planned marketing. People tend to buy more sweets, candies, and such during the holidays and are looking to fire up the grill in the spring; timing truly is everything. It just happened that finalizing the legal’s for producing the sauce was taking a little longer than anticipated. (Apparently government agencies don’t really care about your deadlines only theirs)

So I decided to make the best of it and start with the “Sweet-Heats”. Our dessert line and snacks tie into our barbecue through infusing chilis, bacon, and bourbon in our sweets just as we do in our barbecue. Opening a sweet shop on Etsy just seemed like a logical step to take for two reasons: 1) the startup process was more streamlined and easier to establish than mass producing bottles of acidic sauce and less regulated, and 2) introducing these products on the cusp of the holiday shopping season has the potential to generate enough sales to purchase our food truck before spring, or as I like to call it…Barbecue Season!

Opening the Etsy shop was a much easier decision than developing a strategy to market my fundraising food truck project through crowd funding. In my next post, I will share my insights regarding crowd funding and why I decided to give it a try. Until next time…

…keep cookin’ y’all!

Creating My Own Opportunities

Hey there y'all...Welcome back to Que-Licious!

It's not easy operating on a virtually non-existent budget during start-up mode, but I will say this much, I have discovered that even I have a creative side when it comes to financing a dream. Don't misunderstand me, there is absolutely nothing wrong with conventional financing; you know, baring your soul submitting a business plan to the bank and begging the SBA to back your dream, I've done it before. However, I am at a point in my life where I try to prioritize my financial wants and needs a little better. Financing a home takes precedent over financing a food truck. If I were interested in starting a full-blown restaurant that required a brick and mortar structure, I would definitively approach this business differently. But what I want to do is strictly mobile which keeps things simpler. And I have to admit, up to this point in my venture, it feels pretty darn great to have paid for everything I need to "get mobile" with no balance due!

That is why I have taken this pay-as-you-go approach to getting my little barbecue biz off the ground. I actually thought of this after we had completed our first set-up at the 127 Yard Sale and made enough profit to purchase our mobile concession sink. That set the wheels in motion...pun is definitely intended here. We needed a food truck or at the very least a cargo van, but my heart is set on a food truck. Our debt has started dwindling down and we like it. The last option I wanted to explore was to finance a vehicle and again have that payment looming over us for the next five years...especially during the off season which is typically December - April. (Ohio weather permitting) So I started doing some digging...and digging...and digging...oh wait!...I think I can see Memphis!

I am a firm believer that hard work, a little creativity, and by never giving up people are capable of creating their own opportunities. That is just exactly what I decided to do...create my own opportunity with a little outside-the-box thinking. Or in this case a little inside the box thinking...a candy box that is! It is no secret to those who know me best know I have an incredible sweet tooth! Seriously...it's ridiculous! When I am not conjuring up smoke in the backyard, you can most likely find me in the kitchen fixing something sweet to nibble on.   

And as I was doing so one day...I had a tiny little ½ pound epiphany! (An ah-ha moment even “Ms. O” herself would be proud of) I am always making these candy gift boxes for the holidays for my family and friends and each year I try to make something different. As I usually do when cooking anything, when I make sweets I add my own subtle touches to those treats as well. With shovel in hand...I started yet again to dig...and dig...and; well you get it. I discovered there was an opportunity for me to make some cold hard sweet cash straight from my own kitchen! For a whopping cost of $10 for an annual inspection of my kitchen and the cost of packaging and ingredient inventory, I would be able to sell my little gift boxes at craft fairs, farm markets, locally owned retail outlets, flea markets, local restaurants and businesses, and even online! Sweet! (literally)

Unfortunately this also prompted more questions:  Where online would I sell these incredible edibles? How would I let people know they could help support my dream when they buy one of these little gift boxes without sounding like I was begging? Was I begging? Well…you get the picture…don’t you?

Enter Etsy and Crowd-Funding! In the next few posts I will share with you how I decided on both of these venues to help me set and achieve my goal to raise the funds to buy my food truck. I hope it does not sound like begging; rather, like an creative opportunity for you – my whiskey-spritzed readers – to make a difference by empowering someone (me) to become more self-sufficient. 

I hope you will keep following along this whiskey soaked adventure of ours and until next time…

Keep cookin’ y’all!