Short Summary
We are a small Detroit-based, vegan, fast-casual startup restaurant. We will be serving plant-based versions of classic diner food such as burgers, fries, hot dogs, and sandwiches.
We are currently seeking an investment of $15,000 which would cover our initial investment costs. These costs include inventory costs, property acquisition and renovations, ServSafe certification, and our Health Department costs and other government agencies fees. My brother-in-law who owns his own commercial and residential construction business will be doing the renovations. He and his wife will also help with the day-to-day operations of the restaurant.
My name is Dustin Vanderburg. I am the Co-Owner and Head Chef here at Vegan in the Hood LLC. I am currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a Major in Hospitality Management. My expected graduation is August 28, 2020. I currently work as a Shift Supervisor Rx for CVS. I also have experience with management at BabiesRUs and ToysRUs. All 3 positions allowed me to manage in a team setting. I have 15 years of retail experience and about 2 years of warehouse experience. I also have an Associate's degree in General Business and an Associate's degree in Multimedia and two certificates in Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship, and Supervision.
My wife, Angela Vanderburg is the other Co-Owner. She has kitchen experience with a local community organization and also has retail experience.
Our current demographic is approximately 2% of Detroiters who are vegan and vegetarian and the unknown percentage of flexitarians and pescatarians here in Detroit. The aforementioned 2% of Detroiters are roughly equivalent to 106,300 people. We hope to reach many of these people with social media and marketing. We are already making a name for the restaurant and have already had calls regarding orders. We are trying to get this project off the ground so we can fulfill future orders that come in.
What We Need & What You Get
We are currently seeking an investment of $15,000 which would cover our initial investment costs. These costs include inventory costs, property acquisition and renovations, ServSafe certification, and our Health Department costs and other government agencies fees.
At the $5 Level, you will get a handwritten thank you note from myself and my wife, collectively the co-owners. This will ship out on or around August 2020.
At the $25 Level, you will get a dish with your name on it. This is a limited prize due to our limited menu of course.
At the $100 Level, you will get an invitation to the Soft opening private food tasting. This prize is limited due to the cost and available space. If we can raise much more than the goal we can offer more of this prize level depending on the number of contributions.
At the $2500 Level, we are offering a Chef's Table after-hours private tasting of my favorite dishes in a 3-course meal setting.
The Impact
If we can reach our goal this will offer a healthy comfort food option to the food desert that is Downtown Detroit. Our mission is to bring a healthy alternative to the fast-food garbage that is served locally. We want to offer comfort food that we and the people around here locally grew up with but in a vegan format. This will also give vegans in the area some of the options they are missing or crave. Detroit is a hotbed for vegan food and we want to offer an alternative to the million and one non-vegan diners and Coney Islands around this area.
Risks & Challenges
Our biggest challenge is the timeline for the Health Department certification and inspection. Once we tackle that hurdle it is mostly smooth sailing for the most part up until opening. Getting the building we want for a good price and getting the renovation done quickly and cost-effectively is the other major challenge facing us. The Health Department is a necessary evil that we must face and there is not much we can do to remedy that, however, getting funding for this project will help get the building and get the process started. Another major hurdle is advertising. We have already started to make a name for ourselves and have orders coming in even before we are open. This is great but to maintain customers we need a building and to advertise. We have already started on this process thanks to social media. We plan to increase this by reaching out to local news stations and radio personalities once we get closer to open to spread the word even further. We hope to catch the eye of the public like some of our competition. Of course, we also plan to utilize traditional advertising methods as well to increase public awareness of our location. We have selected a high traffic area in which to operate as well.
Other Ways You Can Help
We know in these uncertain times that not everyone has the funds to help us grow this business. However, you can help us in other ways by sharing this via the share tools above, sharing it on social media and sharing it with other friends via SMS (Text message), and other options like Kik and Snapchat. Thank you all and have a great day.
