The exit strategy I would like to make would be to close this business in 5 or 10 years and rebrand it as a farm to table restaurant in the same area, Southeastern Michigan. I believe one of the strongest attributes of my original business model would be the connection to the community, fostered through personal relationships with customers and also with utilizing local farmers as much as possible. There are many other meal preparation services that offer national service, ie. Blue Apron and Hello Fresh. These companies are forced to spend large sums of money on shipping and sourcing products in order to meet the needs of customers all across the country. Alternatively, my business would be local and serve the community more personally.
My personal long term goal would be to own a farm-to-table style restaurant where the menu could rotate frequently and feature in season produce. This business would have great start up costs and I believe this meal preparation service would be a great way to both raise capital for that business as well as attention. Additionally, I could recipe test in this smaller facility, without the large overhead expenses of a restaurant at the beginning stages. This has influenced my other business decisions as I do not intend to rapidly expand and sell, for example, franchises around the country or develop complicated logistics methods. Because I would want to transition into another aspect of the hospitality industry, I would be concerned with selling the company once I had built it as I would want full control over the brand moving forward. Likely to sell a food related business, I would need to sell the recipes and intellectual property with it. I would be unwilling to do this.
Hey Avery!! Great work!! As I read through your exit strategy, I appreciate how much thought and detail you put into it. The fact that you include details such as where, when and how, is so crucial to the legitimacy of your operation. I think that rebranding and turning your entrepreneurship pursuit into a farm to table restaurant is an excellent next step in the development of your business. After getting some practice in the food industry and field, developing into a restaurant is a solid idea.
ReplyDeleteHi Avery,
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a well thought out business. I actually started this class with a business idea of vertical farming. I found it to be too ambiguous to persue for a class format, so I changed my venture to something more related to my current industry. I would consider the idea of vertical farming to incorporate into your business model. This will help you control costs and allow for a year-round harvesting of what would have been ‘seasonal’ selections. Especially if you’re in Michigan, the wintertime can be brutal. Vertical farming is in doors and you’ll have a greater control of your assets.
Good post, thanks for sharing!
Edwin
Hey Avery,
ReplyDeleteYour farm to table restaurant idea sounds like a place I would love to eat at. Although, on the back end, it does sound like a difficult business to run, considering all of the moving parts. Farming is hard, running a restaurant is hard and putting the two together would need an extremely dedicated work force. This is great work! Good job.
I was really surprised and happy to hear that you’d sell your business in a few years to a farm, it seems like you put a lot of thought into this exit strategy and I don’t see anyone else doing this. I feel like selling your business this way keeps giving it this meaningful, family idea. I like how you also pointed out that other similar businesses exist like this, and then proceeded to give strong points to how your business was different.
ReplyDeleteHey Avery,
ReplyDeleteYour rebranding idea sounds so cute and smart. I think it would give you a new range of customers with a lot of new concepts to keep in mind. Rotating the menu frequently would definitely keep customers interested, but it also seems like a lot of maintenance and keeping up with the new crops. Shifting your brand in this way is a great idea that has a lot of potential!
Hi Avery!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about your exit strategy. I love the transitional vision you provided for your business venture. I definitely agree that something like this would be a lot more feasible once trust with the community has been established. I believe a timeframe of 5-10 years is fair given the understanding that it takes time to built trust. This is a unique and exciting idea and I really hope you can bring it into fruition!