I grew up in a city called Madison Heights, not far from Detroit, MI. Growing up in a big family in the city neither myself or my sisters or parents were informed on organic food, it was a high cost just for my Dad to provide for the 6 of us. As I became older I slowly had organic food and holistic health integrated into my life as I struggled with some very difficult health issues. One struggle I had was with anxiety and depression, after going through a rough divorce and losing my home and a bad car accident which affected my neck, doctors tried over 10 different medicines to help with both the emotional and physical pain I was going through, Because doctors can only devote 10-15 minutes of their time to discuss your problem and then offer a medication to help the symptoms I began to realize there must be an underlying cause that needs to be treated and actually fixed or I’ll constantly be chasing an easy fix for momentary relief.

After realizing this I began to research and learn how what you eat directly correlates to how you feel and how your body heals itself. Sure enough, I changed my diet and eating habits and learned about what I was eating and since then I know that my purpose is to help people through sharing my experiences and offering a healthy alternative.

As a single Mother of two with joint custody it has been my goal to be with my kids as much as possible and not let work consume my precious time with them which has led me to starting a cleaning business. After working at several apartment communities as a manager I gained the knowledge and met really great people that have opened up a huge market for my cleaning business foundation, going on two years as a self-employed business owner it has been extremely life-changing and I am so thankful for the ability to make my own schedule and work at the jobs I want.

Over the past few years I have partnered with business owners in Downtown Detroit’s busy Sport’s and apartment area and now have a HUGE opportunity to move forward and bring organic food options to the area which currently has almost none. I have complete and total trust that I am following God’s plan for my life. He has given me the work experience, great business contacts and cooking skills and passion to help others. It’s my hope that I can find more great people to help in moving me forward so I can be a blessing to many.

I would like to start an organic, home-cooked prepared meal delivery service. There is a huge desire by a lot of the clients that I clean for that stay in the Downtown Detroit area and they have a big interest in my service because many are sports athletes that have limited time or access to real, organic meals. The ease I offer of online is perfect for them because it takes only minutes to place the order, checkout and arrange for their meals to be delivered when they want.

My biggest challenge is getting the start up funds to get the kitchen equipment, food inventory, and location leased. My start-up costs can remain low as I will be able to have the apartment managers insert my marketing material to their residents and have taste test events to bring my business presence in the area.
My business plan is to find a small kitchen space I can lease that is inexpensive to start. I need enough room for the basic cooking equipment, refrigerator/freezer and food prep area. I will have a rotating weekly menu and start to use social media, my cleaning business contacts and the property managers I clean for as a launching pad to get marketing material into people’s hands.

About one month prior to opening I will start to take pre-orders to get inventory and supplies needed and have an idea of my starting costs, this will help prevent over-buying by having clients prepay for meals before I prepare and deliver them. I plan on having re-usable tuperware so we can lower costs and have our customers wash and return from their previous order and deliver their meals in insulated bags.

I am very proud of the idea itself and the huge potential it has to help many people live healthier lives.

This loan will give me the start up funds I need to have a strong foundation for the business, kitchen equipment costs can vary however I can purchase a used stove, mixer for about $6000.00. The upfront costs of leasing a space will be about $2000.00 and upfront food stock costs about $1000.00. Marketing material including business cards and flyers about $1000.00.
This loan will be a huge opportunity to make a firm foundation for the business and allow us to focus on outreach through referrals and making our presence known by getting into the Detroit market. I know that my company will be a great option for many people that are looking for great tasting healthy organic food and will solve their problem of not having the time to cook or the place to get their meals from.