A Fork in the Road

As the summer develops, things are starting to heat up - I am currently selling at two weekday farmers markets at about ~$100/market so averaging ~$200 a week. This should be expected given that weekday farmers markets typically draw smaller crowds given the overlap between the market hours and typical working hours.

At this time, my savings are dwindling as I have been burning through cash at a faster rate than I had originally anticipated - naturally this is the case. With about two months left to go (without triggering emergency savings), this is a critical time period.

How, will I survive this time period and move forward? First, there are three additional income streams in development. First, I plan on selling hot food at the markets. After obtaining approval from the city to sell prepared food, I will be selling oyster fritters at both marketplaces. This will likely boost sales by at least ~$100 per market if not more as people seem more interested in hot foods at both the marketplaces - especially in the Baltimore city, UMB one, where many professionals and staff stop by to grab something to eat. As a conservative estimate, I think this will increase farmers market sales to at least ~$100.

Second, I was invited to participate in a third weekday market in Crofton, Maryland through a connection I formed at my Tuesday farmers market. I will likely apply to this soon as I realized that farmers markets are just more lucrative than restaurant sales, especially for those who are starting out. They are also seemingly more forgiving as what I produce can just be taken without needing provide specific varieties this week. If another ~$200 - 300 can be earned by this, that would boost total sales to ~$1,500 - $2,000, which gives me some room to breathe.

Then third, I have refined the lions mane powder to a point where I am satisfied the fineness and quality and am coming up with packaging to sell it at the farmers markets and potentially health stores around Baltimore. This can also be sold online. This is a non-perishable product and can potentially bring in a few hundred dollars more each month.

All these sales streams, if advanced, will give me time to breathe while I plot out my next steps.

Regarding the planned expansion into a warehouse, there are two main paths:

1) Partnering with someone

2) Supplementing my income with part time accounting job

I recently serendipitously met an individual with whom a partnership would be highly likely to be successful. If we were to move together as 50/50 partnership, the cash infusion he provides would be more than enough to get ~2000 square foot commercial lease. His background in the beer industry and deep restaurant connections would also facilitate an increase in quality control and allow me to expand more aggressively. The only drawback might be that the warehouse would need to be in somewhere between our two homes which are an hour apart. This is not ideal as I would need to relocate to be next to the facility.

The second option would be for me to obtain a part-time accounting job and leverage my former skillset. This would allow for a ~$2000/month cash infusion which should be enough to allow me to obtain some sort of commercial lease as well. Though I would maintain ownership of the company, I would not benefit from a potential partner's deep expertise on the production of a similar industry and restaurant connections. Ironically, however, this might force me to develop my skillset as a salesman, whereas working with the potential partner might inhibit this aspect of my growth given that sales is his forte.

Regardless of how I move forward, I am very pleased with the development of the business over the past months. I haven't quite stabilized yet but am on track to do so within the next few months.