About this idea
Our unique product caters to three emerging trends: less sugar, plant-based, and allergen-friendly, filling a huge market gap. Our cookies are free from 8 out of 9 major allergens, including gluten. Each cookie contains only 7g of sugar and we don't use any artificial sweeteners, coloring or preservatives. Most importantly, our cookies are absolutely delicious. We have a very unique recipe and I can guarantee that you have never tried anything like that before. Both kids and adults absolutely love them! Currently we have created 3 flavors, but we are selling only 1 most popular flavor - Chocolate chip. We are planning on launching 2 more flavors by the summer time if we can secure the financing. Currently we can only operate with one flavor due to budget constrains.
We are a small women - owned business that is operating out of a shared commercial kitchen in downtown Grand Rapids. We are licensed and insured.
Impact
Notably, 10% of Americans have food allergies, and demand for plant-based and less-sugar options is soaring. That means approximately 1 million Michiganders are suffering from various food allergies. Despite this, no single competitor caters to all four categories (Plant based, Less sugar, allergen friendly and Gluten Free), creating a lucrative opportunity for our unique offering. Many people are suffering with more than one food sensitivity/ allergy which makes it really hard for them to find a safe food.
Just recently a mother and her daughter approached me during one of the sampling events and the mother started listing all of her daughter's allergies. That list was too long and too limiting for a little 7 year old that simply wanted a treat. I was very happy to tell her that my product is free from all of those allergens and the daughter seemed so happy after she tried my cookies. You could tell that she doesn’t get a treat very often due to her allergies and lack of appropriate products on the markets. The little girl told me how thankful she was for my product. Just little moments like that is what keeps me going and makes me believe that the success of my business can impact so many lives which ultimately will make me happy.
What I'll do with $5,000
I would spend $5000 in 3 ways:
$2500 will be spent on the website with an online shopping platform. This will not only help me to reach more customers, but it will also look professional and help me negotiate with the retail partners as they often look at the website before considering a new partnership.
$1500 will be used to cover marketing research, Facebook/ Instagram advertisements and a possible partnership with a small blogger.
$1000 will be spent on the roll stock film that I’m using to individually wrap the cookies. So far I was able to afford only one roll which cost me $500. It has all of the necessary information printed on it, including nutrition label, logo, upc, etc. This film is used to individually wrap the cookies . Each roll has 2500 prints, and purchasing 2 more of them will let me launch more flavors. The revenue from the future sales will allow me to purchase the film later on by myself
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