[0:09] [Music] [2:36] Heat. Heat. [3:01] [Music] [4:56] 5 seconds everybody and we'll begin. [5:07] Ah sound good. Let everybody sit. [5:12] All right. Welcome everybody. Welcome to the second year of Hatch Bloomington, a $100,000 pitch competition for our local [5:20] business community here in Bloomington, Minnesota. And uh I'd like to introduce Mayor Tim Busy to everybody. [5:30] Good evening everyone. My name is Tim Busy. I've got the honor and the privilege of serving as the mayor of Bloomington. Welcome to the Blackbox [5:37] Theater here at Civic Plaza and year two of Hatch Bloomington and our top 10 [5:43] finalist pitch competition tonight. It's great to see everybody here tonight. A very exciting night. Uh congratulations [5:49] to everybody who's made it to the top 10. And I know you're excited about being here. I assume there's some sweaty [5:54] palms and you know maybe some butterflies. I get that. I mean you got 10,000 re 100,000 reasons why you might [6:00] be a little bit nervous and I understand that fully. But if last year was any indication for us, this this is uh you [6:08] everyone here has somebody who they're cheering for, including people cheering for themselves, family members, uh [6:14] friends cheering for whoever they're cheering for, but there is an extension of support across this entire program, [6:19] which I thought was very special last year, feeling it again this year. So, you may be a bit nervous. There may be, [6:25] again, as I said, sweaty palms, but trust me, we're all rooting for everyone here. all rooting for everybody to do as [6:32] well as possible, looking for great opportunities, great pitches, great possibilities for entrepreneur uh [6:39] entrepreneurialism here in the city of Bloomington. So, thank you all for being here. Additional thank yous. How about a [6:45] round of applause and thank you for our judges who are putting in a lot of time doing this. They're doing a great job. [6:54] Well done. Appreciate it. I know this is a lot of hours and a lot of brain power that goes into this, but we really do appreciate your work and doing all of [7:00] this. I want to thank our city staff who have been working tirelessly on pulling this all together. Second year in a row, [7:06] you can see the changes. You can see the refinement. You can see how it's just uh rounding into this outstanding program. [7:11] It was great last year. It just keeps getting better and better as we do this. So, congratulations to our staff who are [7:17] working on this. Congratulations to our tech staff who've got all this all set up. Let's give them a round of applause and thank them as well. [7:26] And we have learned in all of this that uh entrepreneurial uh work is a team sport and part of the team sport with uh [7:33] Hatch Bloomington are the sponsors who have done so much to make this all happen. I want to thank specifically [7:38] Bloomington Minnesota travel and tourism our port authority here at the city of Bloomington FHLB De Moines and Sterns [7:46] Bank and our friends at the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce. Let's give them a round of applause and thank them for the work that they do. [7:53] As I said, a big and exciting night for our 10 finalists. Everybody uh will have 10 minutes. So, we'll get into all the [7:59] the rules here in just a minute. Uh but it's it's such an exciting time and I thought you got 10 minutes. All that [8:05] you've been thinking about all these years about this wonderful business plan, this wonderful idea you've got and here it comes. You've got 10 minutes to [8:11] to to bring it forward and to and to convince folks this is the way to go. It's an exciting thing. It's a it's a a [8:17] challenge for all of you and it's something that I can't wait to hear them. Really looking forward to the to [8:22] the pitches. Once again, congratulations. Thank you all for being here tonight. Thanks to our folks who [8:28] are watching online. Let's get to this. Thank you, mayor. [8:34] Thank you. And I forgot to say last time, I work for the city of Bloomington. I'm the assistant port authority administrator and my name is [8:41] Barb Wolf. Um, so just as the mayor said, uh, this [8:47] evening we have our top 10 contestants. They will have 10 minutes to pitch and [8:52] then 10 minutes, uh, question and answer from the judges. I just want to highlight that this evening around 7:30, [8:58] we will take one 10-minute break. And starting now, uh, the voting is [9:06] open. So, uh, that will remain open through Tuesday, August 12th at 11:59 [9:11] p.m. Uh, so everybody is welcome to vote only once. Uh, you can use the QR code [9:17] here or you can go to hatchbloomington.com/vote. [9:23] So, without further ado, uh, let's begin and we'll begin with our first pitch [9:28] this evening. Bast Bloomington, welcome. [9:48] Okay. Thank you, Barb, and thank you, Mayor Tim. Uh, thank you to everyone for being [9:53] here tonight or tuning in online. We are so honored to be kicking things off tonight. Now, to set the tone, because [9:59] there are some sweaty palms and we're all a little nervous, uh, if you'll indulge me for just 30 seconds, I want [10:05] you to focus and imagine yourself walking into this space on the screen. Take a full breath in [10:12] and slowly exhale as you close your eyes. You can smell a gentle cedar tone mixing [10:20] with mild lavender and eucalyptus. A humid warmth grazes your skin. Steam [10:26] rolls from a frosted door and light dances from water on a warm pool. A [10:31] refreshing cold plunge awaits. Before you even begin, you can feel the tension and stress melting away. Welcome to [10:39] Boston Bloomington, your modern Nordic inspired bath house featuring hot and [10:44] cold therapies for mental and physical wellness. You can open your eyes if you haven't already done that. Uh we are [10:51] Dave and Diana Arian and we uh when we got married about seven years ago, we were house hunting all over the metro [10:57] and we chose Bloomington because it really checked a lot of the boxes that we were looking for in a community. As [11:03] we updated our 60-year-old home, changed jobs, had kids, entered a global [11:08] pandemic, we started to realize that fatigue and stress were lasting a lot longer. As we sought out self-care, our [11:16] current gym memberships and occasional vacations weren't giving us the lasting relief that we long for. [11:26] Like Dave said, modern life beats us up daily. So whether you're renovating a house, on your feet all day, hunched [11:33] over a computer, or maybe behind the wheel of a car, our bodies take a real toll, and we only get one. So it's [11:39] essential that we take good care of ourselves. Dave and I first fell in love with the idea of a ritualistic bath [11:45] house with hot and cold therapies when we took a short trip to a hotel spa near [11:50] the Wisconsin Dells. And we left feeling so refreshed and energized. But unfortunately, this hotel spa was about [11:57] three and a half hours away. So just not available for day-to-day use. So also our 1960s Bloomington Rambler doesn't [12:05] exactly have the extra space for a home spa. So, we started searching and there's really nothing like this in the [12:10] south metro and the closest thing is probably about 30 minutes away without traffic and still didn't really check [12:17] all the boxes. So, we want to bring our very own Bastu right here to Bloomington. [12:25] So, what does a visit to Bastu Bloomington look like? Well, as you can remember on that first slide, it does look pretty relaxing. Um, but we're [12:32] envisioning a very peaceful and uh modern communal space with a hot tub at [12:39] the very center and other amenities will surround it such as a variety of [12:45] temperature saunas and various temperature cold plunges as well as a few rainfall showerheads [12:52] uh along with some locally sourced salt scrubs. And we want to make sure this is [12:57] welcoming and not at all intimidating. Uh, so whether you're a first-time visitor or maybe you're experienced in [13:04] this area, we will have a step-by-step guided ritual posted on the wall to [13:09] really encourage people to go at their own pace and do what feels comfortable to them. If you're like myself, I really [13:15] prefer the hot therapies. So, you can find me in the sauna and the hot tub most of the time, maybe very brief [13:21] episodes in the cold plunge, but my husband Dave feels the exact opposite. Again, the choice is yours to really [13:28] maximize your own benefits and experience. [13:35] So, speaking of benefits, elite athletes, celebrities, and biohackers know that there's real benefits to this [13:41] therapy, and we think it's time that our community has access to it as well. Yes, it's trendy with over 600 million views [13:48] of cold plunge Tik Toks last year alone. But don't just take my word for it. There's real science that backs these [13:54] claims. Now, I don't have time to dig into all these benefits tonight, uh, but I'll touch on a few, such as 50% lower [14:01] risk of heart attack, 61% lower risk of stroke, an increased resilience to [14:07] stress, and a boosted immune system, just to name a few. Now, at the end, we'll link to our website, which has [14:13] dozens of studies and peer-reviewed articles with some really incredible emerging studies. you'll start to [14:19] understand why the cold plunge therapy and sauna industry are north of a billion dollars in the United States. [14:27] So, we can say there's definitely a demand for this. And who do we expect to visit Bastu? Our core demographic are [14:34] adults that live or work in and around the Bloomington area, but we plan on [14:39] heavily marketing to the tourism industry. There is about 32 million [14:45] visitors to the Mall of America annually. and there's almost 10,000 hotel rooms in Bloomington. [14:52] Uh so we believe our business model is uniquely positioned to capitalize on these visitors. Plus, we really want to [14:58] give people a vacation from their vacation. I'm sure we've all seen a parent chasing their little one around [15:04] Nickelodeon Universe in the morning that could probably use an afternoon at Boston. [15:10] We also expect this to be very popular among multiple generations. So, from our boomer dads that spend a [15:18] lot of time at their local YMCA hot tubs chatting it up with friends over to Gen [15:23] Z, which is a generation that uh has heavily prioritized their mental health. Um, and speaking for millennials, we we [15:30] know a lot of them are in the thick of parenting right now, maybe opening up a business or having career changes. A lot [15:37] of us are just waking up with new aches and pains most days, too. [15:46] Okay, so speaking of pain, let's talk about numbers a little bit. Uh, how do we build that beautiful Nordic inspired [15:52] modern bath house, make it available to the community while also remaining profitable? Between loan and monthly [15:59] expenses, we're budgeting our debt service to be around $10,000 per month. The beauty of that is break even happens [16:05] at just 85 members and less than two drop-in visits a day. At 150 members and [16:12] five passes a day, we're already at $85,000 in Ebida. [16:22] Oh, we'll get this figured out. Okay. So, who's involved? Well, um Diana and [16:28] myself have been fortunate to have uh decades long corporate careers uh helping support our clients with [16:34] marketing initiatives, new product rollouts, adding locations, grand opening events, etc. We've spent a lot [16:40] of time helping other businesses grow and we're ready to do the same with our own. Uh we're also joined by our good [16:46] friend Jan here, a lifelong Bloomington resident and owner of a software development company. He's going to help [16:52] us with all of our tech integrations such as TrueMed, which will allow our users to utilize their HSA or FSA funds [16:58] to pay for their memberships and save a little bit of money. uh ROM, which is a staffless entry company. Uh that'll [17:05] allow our users to key in and out of the building early in the morning, late at night when maybe a staff member is not [17:10] there. They'll also be able to manage their memberships, buy day passes online. Uh and we've begun talks with a [17:15] few equipment manufacturers as well, such as Loot Sauna, which is right around the corner from the uh city [17:21] office here, maker of high-end saunas, and a couple of cold plunge companies as well. [17:28] So, where does that leave us? We built our mobile contrast mobile units called [17:33] Bastu Beta this spring and we just couldn't wait to open our brick and mortar. So, we were really excited um to [17:41] bring this concept into our community and we have gained a lot of interest. We've had people wave at us, stop stop [17:47] us and ask what is this? Uh what are the benefits? How do I sign up? How do I rent this thing? So, it's been a really [17:53] exciting first phase of our business. We're now asking for the community and [17:58] judges support uh for the hatch competition and we'll find out those results in September. And we expect to [18:05] uh finalize our location by the end of this year which means our construction phase would start in spring or summer of [18:12] next year and hopefully open by the end of next year. We really really believe [18:18] in this business model. So help us do hatch right here in Bloomington. And guys, this is just the beginning for us. [18:24] We really believe this could expand outside of Bloomington and even outside of the state, but it starts right here. [18:30] So, we'd love your vote. We really do see this as just the [18:36] beginning. We're very fortunate that Bloomington has a variety of spas that include massage, facialists, and [18:41] acupuncturists. That allows us to focus 100% of our efforts on the bath house and our footprint on a blighted building [18:48] that maybe other businesses couldn't fit into. Boston Bloomington isn't just a spa. We see it as a movement to bring [18:55] wellness, restoration, and connection to everyone in our community. Remember how you felt in the beginning when you [19:01] walked in, full of excitement. Now you're walking out feeling strong, relaxed, and energized. The best part of [19:08] that feeling is that you don't have to wait 6 months or a year until your next vacation to feel it. We'll be here for [19:14] you right in Bloomington. Thank you for your support. [Applause] [19:32] Hi there. Great job. Couple of questions about the facility itself. How large is [19:39] that? How many people? Um, and it's kind of a three-part question. [19:44] Sure. So, how large and how many people can go in at the same time? [19:49] uh the the smallest footprint, the kind of example that we had on there was about 1500 square feet. So, we're kind [19:55] of targeting that 1500 to 2,000 square feet. Um the way that that might change [20:00] is just what extra amenities we can have. We'd like to have a little lounge area. Obviously, we'll have some lockers [20:05] and things like that. Um so, that's kind of what'll what'll vary there. And then, so is there one tub and just [20:12] several saunas or I couldn't I mean, the picture is lovely. I was just trying to get down to the [20:17] Yeah, the the goal would be to have a little something for everyone. Um there's some people that really you're [20:23] getting a cold benefit at like 55 degrees, but there's some people that really do like that extra cold. So the [20:28] the cold tubs would fit two people each and ideally have two different temperatures and then two to three [20:34] saunas. Um Right. Sorry. Go ahead. Well, no, because the membership model, [20:40] you know, what if 50 people come? Yeah. So the the software we've been in talks with uh will have a way to manage [20:47] both the day passes and the members and then we'll have pretty good readouts on if people are coming early in the [20:52] morning. We've talked to a few people around the country that have similar businesses and it seems like there's a spike really early morning a little bit [20:59] in the afternoon and then later in the day. So those are times where we'd probably cut back the number of day [21:04] passes we'd sell. Congratulations. [21:10] Um uh your uh what is it? Your staff budget per month is looks low. Can you [21:17] give give me a little bit more details about it was like 2900, right? Per month. It is. Yeah. We're we're only budgeting [21:24] for one 30-hour week employee. We're heavily leaning into technology. So from the way that you enter the facility to [21:30] cameras around the facility, uh even the way we are setting up and looking at um [21:36] dispensers for the salt scrub, she was talking about shampoos, things like [21:41] that. We want it to be something that doesn't have to be managed all day. I would be working there full-time as well, so I'm not including my salary in [21:47] there. Okay. Um how about, you know, towels, right? Risks. Somebody might have a heart [21:53] attack, god forbid, or something. you know um all of those thing have you considered all the risks all of the you [22:00] know u possible something with just one 30 hour employee that might be a little [22:06] bit you know yeah definitely um I mean there's inherent risks with it we'll have a pretty a pretty good waiver with that we [22:13] obviously want people to consult their doctor and make sure that they're healthy for this type of thing um you know I would liken it to maybe a 24-hour [22:20] fitness where you don't have a staff member on or a hotel where you've got people working out or pool or a hot tub [22:26] where there's aren't physically somebody staffing that. We would have someone there most of the busy hours though. [22:32] Thank you. Thank you. Um, two questions. Um, so the competitor [22:37] that's about 30 minutes away, uh, would you guys seek to be a similar kind of offering or would you want to be [22:43] differentiated from that? Yeah, I mean there's a there's a few that have popped up in the cities in the last couple years which is awesome. Um, [22:50] I I think the way that we envision it, uh, I don't know, I guess you can speak to it differently. Um, there's not a lot [22:56] to have a hot tub and I think we think that adds a lot to the community. At least for me, when I'm going into the cold, I'm, you know, just focusing on [23:03] that, meditating. Maybe in in the sauna, you're a little bit more social, but we kind of see that as our focal point. Uh, [23:08] but we would do want to add some of those amenities like the salt scrubs, some some rosewood um sprays, uh, maybe [23:14] a hot and cold towel or like little fridges. So, a little bit more of that like spa experience versus just the [23:20] utilitarian vibe. Great. Um, and how do you market to [23:25] tourists? Like you can think if it's a local company is like, "Oh, we're marketing building uh you know market [23:31] locally by saying hey come but how do you market to tourists?" Like like what would the strategy for that be? [23:37] Yeah, I mean that's that's definitely going to be an emerging thing. Um I I think we'll try to partner with other like key iconic businesses that would be [23:43] non-competing. So maybe it's a Great Wolf Lodge if they'll have a conversation with us. Other businesses like we really want it to be a a thing [23:49] like you come visit, you stay at the Great Wolf Lodge, you're staying at Mall of America, you're visiting there. Also, [23:56] this is like a stop on your way. But that's definitely going to be a an emerging part of our strategy. So [24:01] luckily we have great folks here at the city that head that up. Hi there. Uh congrats first of all. Um [24:08] couple questions real quickly. Um do you see larger gyms like Lifetime as a competition now or in the future? [24:14] Um, yes and no. I was actually at a happy hour at Lifetime in Adina uh last week [24:20] and I was talking to somebody about the business idea that was very excited about it. I said, you know, that they they have a cold plunge here and they [24:27] were kind of surprised to hear that. So, um, all the new lifetimes have it. We unfortunately don't have it here in [24:32] Bloomington. So, um, I do think it's there's there's probably some overlap there, but uh, I also think this is [24:39] something that people specifically go to. Uh there's two sauna specific [24:44] companies in Adina that are only about a mile apart or less than a mile apart and they've both been in business for about [24:50] a year. Um they're about $189 a month for an unlimited membership and that's [24:55] just infrared saunas. So I think there's, you know, some proof that they can coexist as both of those are pretty [25:01] close to that lifeline. Okay. And then have you talked to Embrace North or other peers in this new [25:07] category to find out how it's going or even done an informal traffic count and you know kind of what kind of flow comes [25:12] in and out the door? Sure. Yeah, Embrace North we haven't yet. Um that's or anybody else like that? That's definitely on our list. Yeah, [25:17] we've been to Portal a few times. We've talked to those guys. Um, we've been to Watershed and then, you know, some other like large spas, but there's a couple in [25:25] around the country that we've engaged with a little bit just to, you know, I don't know. I don't necessarily see us as competition since we're farther [25:32] apart, but we've talked to one in Austin, Texas. We've talked to one in Oregon. So, we're definitely putting the [25:38] feelers out to see what what works well and what doesn't. [25:43] Thanks for being here. Um, appreciate the opportunity. Sorry. Are you okay? [25:49] Okay, thanks. Sorry, I didn't see. Yeah, I'm not going to. No, if you if [25:55] it's you're wasting time. Don't worry about it. Um I am interested in understanding your [26:01] upfront expenses. So I think you the the p the page that you showed us had more [26:07] of an operating expense, right? So you said here's what our expenses on a monthly basis are going to be versus our [26:12] expenses on or our revenue on a monthly basis. What are your what are your what [26:17] are your startup costs specifically and and like can you help us understand what what you're going to do with the money that is up for grabs here in terms of [26:24] what you're prioritizing? Uh yeah, definitely. So so in that we have a loan payment um that was figured [26:30] on a 10-year commercial loan at $200,000 uh for the initial startup cost. That's equipment, HVAC repairs, like that kind [26:37] of thing. Um figuring an eight and a half% interest rate. Hopefully that goes down a little bit. We'll see. Um, so [26:43] that loan payment was like I think 2,800 of that 10,000. Um, and then the way [26:49] we'd utilize the money, I think it really just depends on what experience we're able to offer. I mean, this is [26:55] something that we want to be full steam ahead with. And um, if we were to be fortunate enough to have the judges and [27:02] community support us, I think that just creates maybe a larger space and then maybe a nicer space. I feel like I'm [27:07] answering all the questions. I don't know. I'm standing closer to the mic. Great. follow quick follow-up question then for you. The um the [27:17] understanding how people are going to leverage this um and and the uh how they might layer it into um other programs [27:24] that they have or whatever um that tends to be um indicative of a trend trend [27:32] style business. I'm curious what your thoughts are if not not that the science [27:37] isn't there. I get it. But if if people trend out of this being the hot topic right now, what how do you how do you [27:44] see your business being able to pivot, let's say 5 years from now? Sure. I mean, I think it has staying [27:50] power. Like if you look at the history of Nordic sauna, it's been around for 2,000 years. So, um, we only see that [27:58] going up, but if there were a pullback, I think that's kind of the beauty in our small footprint is we're not going all [28:04] out on a several million dollar spa. Um, but we do offer something that I think is is very unique. Um, and there we're [28:12] really encouraged by a lot of the emerging studies. I mean, there's there's things that have shown these benefits. I think anybody would would [28:17] agree with that. But there's some really really cool emerging stuff to show. I mean, just basic longevity and the [28:23] future generations showing more of a emphasis on their mental health, [28:29] physical health. Millennials are were trying. Final question for me. um give us a [28:34] little bit of a hint from your background about why you can run a business like this. It's in you indicated you're both in the corporate [28:39] world. So I'm curious about how you feel like your background and experience translates into this program. [28:47] Um I I'm an aiologist by training, but I currently work for a hearing a [28:53] manufacturer. Um so I'm a regional sales manager. So I do a lot I support uh private practices, uh medical clinics [29:00] with marketing, open houses, things like that. And Dave also has had a lot of experience in sales. [29:07] Yeah, I mean I worked for Milwaukee Tool for 12 years. So not in the spa industry at all. We'll definitely want to bring on a consultant that's specific to this [29:14] industry. Most of our background is in sales, marketing, grand opening events. So we've we've done a lot to attract [29:20] customers just to other people's businesses. So couple quick questions. Um you have a [29:26] beta testing. Can you give us the results of that? Have you raised revenue? Do you plan to continue that? [29:32] What about safety since this is a mixeduse uh environment with a bunch of people and as I can tell uh there aren't [29:39] changing rooms and things of that nature for it? Um and those those would be my two quick questions. [29:45] Sure. I'll try to answer as fast as I can, but uh there would be a few changing rooms that's just not in that render. So, as you come in, there'd be [29:51] lockers, changing rooms, showers. So, that would be a small part of it as well. Um safety wise, again, we're we're [29:57] really leaning heavily into technology. Uh, we've found some lowcost cameras that use AI to detect submersion into [30:03] water. Um, I don't have time to get into all the rest of that right now, but uh, and then the beta thing has been [30:09] awesome. We've we've taken that around to a couple businesses. Um, like Diana said, we we've been here at the farmers [30:14] market and we don't even have our website on it and people are somehow finding it and we've gotten like a dozen emails of people saying, "Hey, can you [30:20] just bring this to my house? I'd love to try it out." Yeah. [30:27] Thank you. All [30:34] right. And we will transition to the next one. U Bloomington Farm and Feed. [31:32] 10 seconds. Judges. [31:45] Okay. All right. So, we'll start with Bloomington Farm and Feed. [31:52] Hi guys. My name is Michelle Zimmer and I'm excited to tell you my story. [31:59] So, picture this. You're caring for backyard chickens, right? and you [32:09] have these cute little fluffy butts and so forth, but your nearest pet food store is 20 miles outside the city [32:16] limits. So, you need premium food, but the big box stores don't carry what [32:22] you're looking for is they have lower quality kind of more mass-roduced commercialized feed. [32:27] Well, you want to support local farmers, but there's nowhere in Bloomington to buy this local feeder supplies. [32:38] So this was my reality was to drive outside of the city whenever we needed our feed and supplies [32:44] for our chickens and so forth, right? Because your chickens produce healthy eggs when you feed them healthy food. [32:51] Therefore, we eat healthy eggs and you can taste the difference than what you get at a storebought. So that's another [32:58] subject. However, so this was my routine was to go outside of the cities to always go get our feed and supplies [33:03] whenever we needed it. And that was my reality until my world came crashing down because my husband was hospitalized [33:11] and um he was in a severe hit and run. And suddenly I didn't have time to do [33:17] things like drive to a rural store to go get what I needed for my backyard flock. So I had a couple options. I could I [33:25] could have friends bring me what I needed, which was kind of a lower quality stuff because it was from the [33:32] big box stores, uh, or order from Chewy or Amazon, which still was only mediocre [33:38] at best. So, [33:45] he can walk again, just so you guys all know, he's recovered. Um, but so here's [33:51] the thing. While I was juggling the kids and work and the husband's recovery, out [33:56] of tragedy came opportunity. I couldn't stop thinking about how many [34:01] other people had a similar situation to us and had struggles sourcing healthy [34:07] food, whether it be busy or physically not able or vehicles broken down, whatever the case may be. But they [34:12] wanted to support local farmers with local feed. So, I started surveying the [34:18] area and I started surveying all the chicken forum groups that I'm a part of and I started to find that there was a [34:26] very high percentage of fellow flock owners around the cities uh who also had [34:31] to trek outside of the metro to get the good stuff. So, that's when my vision [34:36] happened. My name is Michelle Zimmer and I'm the [34:43] owner and founder of Bloomington Farm and Feed. [34:48] And we have an acronym called BFF. So [34:54] BFF isn't just filling the gap, it's creating a community hub. And in just [34:59] one year, we've built what I call Instacart for backyard farmers. We actually have a service where we [35:06] service customers across the Twin Cities with next day delivery services and we [35:11] have a small warehouse where we deliver premium locally mil feed and supplies [35:17] that goes directly to your front door. Rain or shine. This has resulted in increased convenience with top quality [35:24] products to keep people uh to keep your flock and animals happy and healthy. Rain or shine. Now, here's some fun [35:31] facts. 11 million households now own backyard chickens. And couple that with [35:38] the steep increase of urban farming, your sourdough bread makers, people who want to do things more naturally in [35:45] their own backyard. You're looking at an increase of 400% and a demand that isn't [35:50] being addressed. But that's where we come in. So, here's our vision. We want to add a [35:56] brickandmortar store with a location that becomes Bloomington's go-to destination for expanded options, [36:04] premium pet and livestock care while supporting local artisans and farmers and includes small event space all under [36:11] one roof. So [36:16] what makes us different? Well, we have locally sourced [36:21] manufacturers. So all of our feed comes from Minnesota. the farmers. You're supporting more than just a family-owned [36:29] business. You're supporting the farmers. You're supporting the people who have the backyards that want a better [36:34] lifestyle. So, we partner with local grain mills, food manufacturers, [36:40] uh, which lowers the carbon footprint as well. We have the freshest and the highest quality feed that you can't get [36:46] at a big box stores. And our repeat customers love that fact. So, we even [36:52] offer non-GMO, non- soy, corn-free options if you'd like, even for your pets, cats, and dogs. We have various [36:59] options for you as well. Community partnerships. So, we work with [37:05] local breeders for chick deliveries, and we can connect customers with trusted flock sitters, which creates a complete [37:12] ecosystem for care. Now, we also sell [37:17] coups from a local builder. we've we've we've got you covered, so to speak, [37:22] right? And we also have trusted rescues around the metro which help with injured [37:28] animals um or just simple wellness checks, etc. [37:34] We have uh excuse me, this physical location that we're hoping to get uh will allow us to place will allow us a [37:41] space to showcase local makers like handmade soaps, candles, aprons, coffee, [37:48] and art and more. Plus, we're going to have a drop site for the local farmers [37:53] who have produced products that they want to bring. There's there's a lot of [37:59] um farmers that aren't close enough for the farmers markets that we have here. So, this would give them once a week [38:05] they would actually have their customers order the food from our website and once a week we would then call them in and [38:11] let them know what day their food would be coming in and this would be that drop site so those farmers can help get it to [38:17] the customers from one local position. All right. [38:23] So, we are backed by an incredible team. So, [38:29] we have professionals like Liz, who's a former corporate web designer. We have Ken, who's a purchasing adviser from [38:35] Best Buy. Kim is a rescue and rehabber for injured and abandoned animals. And [38:40] we have Jen, who handles all of our legal needs, plus S, who keeps our books in order. [38:47] We're not, excuse me, they're not just advisers. They're actually our customers [38:52] who believe in our mission. On top of that, Elevate Henipin has been [38:57] tremendous in guiding us and educating us on so many invaluable things that I [39:03] just can't say enough good things about them. We have a proven market demand. The age [39:10] bracket is from 18 to 75. And men, [39:15] women, cat, dog lovers, chicken, luck, duck, quail, you name it, we've got you covered. So, with that, we're currently [39:23] doing daily deliveries across the Twin Cities. We have a 20 mile delivery radius radius uh from Bloomington. And [39:32] um you know, our customers, they're amazing. They know that we're loyal to [39:37] them. We've already done the research to find the good quality stuff and so these guys are just growing exponentially in [39:45] numbers which is good. So with the fact that we solve a real problem with the organic products and [39:51] personal service I just want to make sure you guys know that's just the beginning. [39:59] With Hatch investment, we will be allowed to secure our [40:04] Bloomington storefront with monthly rent and utilities for prime retail space. It'll help with [40:11] that. It'll help with monthly marketing budgets. And it's going to help with money for shelving units, cosmetic [40:17] updates, inspections, permits, and all that startup stuff that you don't foresee until you're there. [40:24] This is going to allow us to get two to three full-time local jobs from day one. And we're projected to have a break even [40:31] point by the end of year one with growth acceleration into year two. [40:36] So we're going to have educational pet classes and all other kinds of fun things in the maker space. And it's not [40:42] just about selling food. It's about creating a destination that draws customers from across the metro in [40:47] Bloomington to come here and learn and care and spread the word and help support farmers [40:53] and the community. We're ready to hatch. We have proven business model. We're dedicated to [41:00] growing our customer base and we have a professional team. We just need the physical space to bring our community [41:05] together. With Hatch and Bloomington support, we'll transform [41:11] a simple need for quality food and thriving local business that puts Bloomington on the map and a go-to [41:16] destination for premium pet and livestock care in the Twin Cities and Metro beyond. Thank you. [41:24] [Applause] [41:37] Great job. Thank you. Your business is no yoke. You like that? [41:43] I'm stealing that. You can just give me a little attribution. You'll be all. [41:48] Okay. Quick question. Yeah. Uh all-in cost. Yeah. to get open for your location. [41:55] Yeah. What do you think? You know, that that's a really good question. We we've probably invested [42:01] about 15,000 in products that I have like liquid right now. And so, again, [42:07] you're looking at what I've read recently from my Elevate Henipin emails. There's even like plumbing or sewer [42:13] connection. You don't you don't realize those are there. So, I'm assuming it's more than a 100,000. [42:20] But I'm even dedicated to because I'm actually considering buying a storefront [42:25] instead of renting a storefront because it will create equity. I actually wanted the True Value location that just sold [42:33] uh on 90th and Penn. So instead, I'm probably going to just shift to one of the the strip mall stores on 90th and [42:39] Penn there. Um there's a big parking lot on the side and I want to do petting [42:45] zoos and things like that for people to come. So, you know, working on permits and and stuff like that to make it all [42:50] happen. Got it. So, one other question I have for you. Yes. [42:56] Why do you need a retail location? I feel like you're killing it on the internet. Good question. My customers are asking [43:02] for it. Every week I probably get at least half a dozen people that literally call me or email me asking for a [43:08] physical location. Uh just last week I had someone drive down from um North [43:14] Branch to get and purchase what I had available, but I had to kind of like shift my day around to make it same day [43:21] pickup for him near the warehouse. And I want to be able to to accommodate people like that. [43:29] Congratulations on making the top 10. Thank you. I have two questions. Yeah. You mentioned that um there are 11 millions [43:37] of backyard farmers. Is that in the Twin Cities or just in general? In the US? [43:42] Okay. So, do you know what how many in the Twin Cities? No, but I do have a couple little [43:48] statistics. So, it has to do with the backyard with the Facebook chicken group. Not that it's an official [43:54] statistic, but I do know that they have increased their number of members by [44:00] about a thousand per year over the last two years. A thousand people. And it's [44:05] called Twin Cities Chickens. And so those people have been joining [44:10] that group and they are looking for answers. They're looking for a location. And so we also as BFF have actually [44:18] become um an advisor or um an experienced person that we answer all of [44:23] their questions on there regularly. Thank you for that. One more question. Sure. You are currently in business. [44:29] Yes. How much is your revenue per year? uh last year was about 50 and so far we're we're currently at about projected to be [44:37] about 85 by the year end. However, 85,000. [44:42] However, um every month we've been getting more traction than the month before and that's exactly why last year [44:48] I sat in these seats and I wasn't in the stage because I knew I wasn't ready for it yet. But this year we have hundreds [44:55] of repeat customers that are knocking at that door to have that happen. Have you done projection for the next five years? [45:02] I haven't yet. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Hello. Hi. [45:07] Um quick question, just one question. Uh you mentioned some partners. So you said like a coupe builder and all these other [45:14] things. Yeah. So um help me understand what your relationship with those like are you getting referrals or like what is the um [45:22] uh what is the Yeah. What is the relationship there? Sure. So, I have a a friend who is the [45:28] website builder and she's like a silent partner basically. Um, and [45:35] I guess uh what is the word when you have your your group of of um advisory [45:41] council, right? And so the my business attorney actually is a [45:47] person who was the customer and just same thing just went like, "Oh my god, there's nothing like this." And I go, [45:52] "You're a you're a lawyer. I have questions and we just created this bond, you know, and same thing. So, you pay [45:58] them a retainer and and whatnot. So, it's all legit that way. Um, and that's [46:04] what I used to get started to make sure my legal rudiments were in and things like that. Um, some of the other guys [46:10] that we had said that they um they kind of helped just out of the [46:15] goodness of their own heart. Sure. Sure. I just want to understand like is are they a part of your business? Like are you getting refer [46:22] like for example the coupe builder are you get is that a part of your business or is it just like ancillary like you just have relationship with them [46:28] they're no I just have a relationship with them so basically he gives me a discount let's say like a 10 or 20% [46:34] discount so anything that gets sold on my website I mark it up 10 or 20%. The [46:39] rest of the proceeds go to him and then he builds it he's up in Baxter and then [46:44] he delivers it to wherever in the state technically. Yeah. Hi. Hi. [46:51] Um, so with your numbers of sales that you've had from your website, are you [46:57] profitable or just breaking even? Yes. And I say I say yes with hesitancy [47:03] because uh any business when it's first starting out basically we started with only a few products and I just keep [47:09] reinvesting into the company, your apparel, your core, your maintenance, your everything like that and then we [47:16] keep expanding into these additional warehouse spaces. So up until about now, [47:22] literally now, I have been just reinvesting and increasing the the [47:27] product selection that we have. And I think we have now over like 200 items available um for various animals and [47:33] peoples and and activities. So good. And then um uh two two questions. [47:40] Do you have um another partner for raising funds or is this all your own? I do not. [47:46] Okay. Yeah. And then um what do you think is your biggest risk? Like who's who is be your competitor? [47:53] I keep thinking about that and then I really the big box brands but but again [47:59] when you have customers that are so dedicated like it is actually an essential service at that point. We're [48:04] not just an ice cream shop, you know, or a coffee shop. Like it actually is essential because people really care for [48:10] their pets and they care for what they eat and what they put into their bodies and we want to help facilitate that. So, [48:16] it's it's a hybrid question and a hybrid answer because I'm I I I there's nothing like it really. So, [48:24] um do you know your gross margin on the products that you're selling currently? Do you know your break even point? And [48:31] do you know, uh your break even point with the bricks and mortar place? How much additional revenue and sales do you [48:38] need to generate to cover the cost of that brick and mortar place? Well, the cool part with the with the hatch [48:45] contest and hopefully winning that that will help us with that first year in the liftoff of paying for rent. Rent right [48:51] now is running about $3 to $4,000 a month. That's not including utilities. So, I've already done a lot of the [48:57] guesswork to make that um a reality, right? So, um it depends on the [49:04] products. To circle back on your other question, some of these things that we get from uh Miller Manufacturing, which [49:10] is a Minnesota company manufacturer that they make um feeder and water supplies, [49:17] dishes, um incubators, and things like that, right? Okay. So, those types of [49:23] items, there's about a 30 to 45% markup, but the feed, we literally go up to St. [49:28] cloud and go get the feed ourselves and go get one to two tons at a time and bring it down here and then load it. [49:34] That usually that has about a a 50% markup. So, we make pretty good money on [49:40] it because these people are ordering it constantly. And now we've added the dog food and the cat food. Um, and it's kind [49:46] of a similar markup from other pet stores. So, [49:51] I I don't know if I do have time for another question. Okay. Uh, I'm curious about your customer base. So I I I [49:59] completely understand that there is an existing base of customers who are passionate about this. I'm just kind of wondering when that caps out and then [50:07] what do you do because you know I imagine there will always be people who are interested in this but I can't [50:12] imagine that like it goes beyond you know the 20% or 30% even if it if it [50:18] ever gets there. Yeah. So, I'm curious about like um is your is this a plan about taking care of the people that are [50:26] already doing this or is there a plan for growing customers? And if so, I'm curious about your thoughts on that. [50:31] Well, if you look at our only competitors are Flugals, which is in Rose Mount um and Tractor Supply that's [50:38] in Prior Lake and they've been there for quite a long time. Um there's always the importance of being able to shift and [50:45] adjust if there is a if there's a drop in one thing. the owner needs to be able to see that import and and and uh [50:53] forecast that. I don't see urban farming and backyard farming going anywhere for [51:00] quite some time because it it was pretty big after World War II and then it died down. But there's been such a resurgence [51:07] especially since co that people started doing this on their own and realizing that it's becoming a movement that you [51:13] actually can have a higher quality of life right in your own backyard. and we help you create that whether it's a [51:19] large or small yard with personalized service. So other than that, it's the same thing of that we have the cat and [51:25] the dog food. And then with the store, you go, well, how? Yes, there's a cap. That's why we want to include the [51:32] farmers. I have a whole list of people that I'd love to tell you about next time that is they are waiting to get [51:40] into a storefront. Thank you. Thank you. [52:51] Uh, so next up we'll get started with bookmother. [53:00] Hello, I'm Twilight Deng and I have proudly lived in Bloomington for over 20 [53:05] years and I'm opening a bookstore called Bookmother right here in Bloomington. A [53:12] community rooted business designed to thrive in our city. There is something powerful about walking into a space and [53:19] instantly knowing you belong there. That's what I want Bookmother to be, a place where grown-up readers feel seen. [53:27] welcomed and invited to stay. For the first time in 30 years, our city has the [53:33] chance to support the launch of an independent bookstore that adds real [53:38] economic value and becomes a cultural destination. [53:43] Bookmother will bring in revenue, foot traffic, strengthen local partnerships, and give Bloomington something we've [53:49] been missing. A communitybacked third space where books, people, and ideas [53:55] meet every day. Let's talk about the opportunity. [54:02] Bloomington is a city of almost 90,000 people with a daytime population that swells to more than 140,000 on weekdays. [54:11] And over 825,000 people live within 15minute drive of Bloomington. And we don't have our own [54:18] independent bookstore. That means local readers are spending their money elsewhere in Minneapolis and St. Paul [54:24] and online. It's time to bring that energy and spending back home. [54:32] Our solution is Bookmother. Bookmother is the place between your local library and your living room. A modern, [54:39] welcoming bookstore built for adults who love to read. We'll open with 4,000 handpicked titles and will create a [54:45] space where people feel like they belong. [54:50] Why now? Well, we already know that the demand is there. There are more than 37 [54:56] independent bookstores thriving in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Minnesota's book industry is projected to reach a [55:02] high of 580 million this year. And this summer, Inbound Brewing's adult [55:09] book fair brought in between 2,000 and 5,000 people in a single day, and they [55:15] only expected 1500. Bloomington is ready, and after 30 years, we have the [55:20] chance to bring a bookstore back. Let's talk about who we serve. Our core [55:27] group are the aunties. They're taste makers. They're women who shape culture, guide choice, and bring others with [55:33] them. We also plan to focus on the uncommon readers. These are adults who passionately read what they like. Audio [55:41] books, books, zenes, newsletters, and beyond. At Bookmother, all reading is [55:47] valued. And of course, we want people who love stories. From novels and [55:52] romance to memoir, history, sci-fi, fantasy, business, and manga. If you love stories, we want you to come to [55:59] Bookmother. What you'll find at Bookmother. [56:05] On opening day, you'll find 4,000 books across the top categories. Comfortable areas to sit and gather, prepackaged [56:13] drinks and snacks, events like dinner with a book, gathering nights and author talks, booked themed goods like our [56:19] totes, journals, e-readers, and accessories. Space rental and online shopping through bookshop.org. [56:28] Early traction. What have we had? Well, um, we are a top [56:34] 10 finalist in Hatch Bloomington. Um, and we built an advisory board with finance, legal, real estate, and [56:40] business expertise guiding us. We're also launching launching our founding book club, um, our founding reader book [56:47] club, our newsletter, and our podcast very soon. And we also have a rapidly growing email list. [56:54] And we've been approached by individuals and companies to build partnerships. [57:00] Let's talk about the money. Our financials were built with a focus on what it takes to become profitable if we [57:07] only sell books. It's important to understand how we get to profitability with our core product books. [57:14] Here's our projections of what we'll make, what we'll spend, and where we'll land. In year one, we'll make 380,000. [57:21] We'll spend 394,000, and we'll end about $14,000 in the red. [57:27] In year two, we'll make $475,000. We'll spend 480,000 [57:33] and we'll wind up 5,000 in the red. We close the gap a bit, but we're still negative. And in year three, we make a [57:40] turn. We'll make 550,000. We'll spend three 530,000 and we'll turn $20,000 in [57:47] profit. Now, what do we need from our customers? Sidebar, there's a mistake in [57:54] this slide, and I'm going to correct it. Now, our average C customer spend should [57:59] be $22. What we actually need to sell is 17 books per day. That's actually eight [58:06] to nine customers in store a day that are purchasing. And we need 10 online [58:11] orders per week. Remember, this is profitability only selling books. [58:19] But that's not the only thing we're going to sell. We plan to diversify revenue by introducing several ongoing [58:25] revenue streams. We have a year of pre-opening events and opportunities to build community and funding, including [58:31] our founding reader club at $125 per member, dinner with a book nights, and a [58:37] community book event. We'll also have ongoing revenue in our store, including quarterly dinner with a book nights, [58:44] five themed gatherings a year, two evening space rentals available per month, and merchandise and accessories. [58:53] We're also going to sell coffee, tea, and local snacks. Again, all prepackaged. We'll have bookshop.org [58:58] sales. And we'll have affiliate sales through our newsletter and podcast. Altogether, these opportunities can add [59:06] up to 45,000 to 60,000 a year in additional revenue. [59:13] What will Winning Hatch do for Bookmother? It will help us build out and furnish our warm and welcoming space [59:19] as well as secure it. We'll be able to stock 4,000 titles on day one. We'll be [59:25] able to hire and train staff. And we'll secure technology like our payment and security system and additional [59:30] technology for the store. It's the difference between starting lean and starting strong. [59:38] Bookmother will be more than a bookstore. It will be the first independent bookstore in Bloomington in [59:43] 30 years. A place where people who love stories feel at home and a long-term [59:49] business that keeps dollars and community energy in our city. Oakmother is a business that knows its audience [59:56] and respects its community. It's not built to be trendy. It's built to be lasting. We're not asking you to take a [1:00:02] risk. We're asking you to invest in a business that has momentum and is already proving it belongs here. [1:00:10] Thank you for having me. Thank you for everybody who came out tonight. And thank you for supporting Bookmother. [1:00:23] And now I get to do the fun part. I like answering questions. [1:00:30] Thank you. Okay. Can you hear me now? Yeah. [1:00:35] Fantastic. So um one there's um Barnes & Noble and Mall of America. [1:00:41] Yes. And people use it as ation, right? Like you can walk around, see the store and [1:00:47] then la, you know, stay at the uh Barnes & Noles and have their Starbucks. So, how are you going to compete with that? [1:00:53] That's question number one. Question number two is that how are you going to like you've identified the three [1:00:59] categories of clients? Oh, customers. How are you going to bring them in? [1:01:04] Well, first, um, that's a great question. The Mall of America is its own destination. And actually, a lot of [1:01:10] people don't know this, but there's a Books a Million that's going to be opening on the very far west side at the border of Bloomington. So, there'll be [1:01:15] two big box retailers in our city. Um, but those serve a very particular purpose. Yes, you get to sort of capture [1:01:22] the foot traffic and the sort of like we hopped and skipped through. Um, but this is more of a destination. Everybody [1:01:28] knows what it's like to have a favorite little store, a place where you like to go pick up a gift for a friend or where [1:01:33] you know that the people know you or the people actually care about helping you. When you hit big box retailers, often [1:01:39] you're just wandering blind trying to figure it out yourself and you're trying to get in and get out. This is a place that we want you to come in, tuck in. We [1:01:46] want regulars. We want people who can come in and know that even if this is the first time you've been here, you [1:01:52] don't feel lost. You feel like you can get help. You can get support and and to be honest, you can find something that [1:01:57] you love and buy it and maybe come back. Um, now, as far as drawing those folks in, um, in particular, I think most of [1:02:04] this is going to come down to community work. Um I'm entrenched in community. I actually know a lot of the aunties. I [1:02:09] was one of the aunties. Um so we actually have a really robust um community of folks uh that are already [1:02:15] sort of getting on board those uncommon readers. I think the easiest way to get to them is to start actually having [1:02:21] communication with them. Um I'll be honest, uh my secret sauce is I work in media currently. So I actually do know [1:02:27] how to talk to demographics and the public and people. It's one of the main reasons we're launching a newsletter and a podcast because I have deep experience [1:02:34] in being able to construct and carry on ongoing conversations with the public. [1:02:39] So, I feel really confident that once we start that conversation and we continue to like talk back with the community, [1:02:47] we'll be able to address that and bring people in the doors. Hi. [1:02:52] Hi. Uh so, how how big is this store? give me an idea of the size of it. [1:02:59] Our initial footprint, um, I'm trying to get in lean, so I would like success to dictate sort of a larger space. Right [1:03:06] now, we're looking at about 2500 square feet, which is nice and sort of I some [1:03:12] people call it quaint. I'm going to call it cozy. I think it'll be just enough that you have room to move around, but you're not overwhelmed. you can actually [1:03:19] sit down and sort of tuck in. If you can't find something, which with 4,000 books on shelves, I think you'll be able [1:03:25] to. We also will have the online bookshop, we'll be able to order and bring something in as quickly as possible. And we're in about the same [1:03:32] footprint as a lot of the local independent bookstores. Um, I'm hoping that we are so successful that it either [1:03:40] necessitates a second location or a larger space. And Bloomington has been more than wonderful in supporting us [1:03:46] looking at everything from 2,000 square feet all the way up to 5,000 square feet. But uh financially I would like us [1:03:52] to start smart and grow. Okay. And then would would I want So [1:03:58] your customer would want to come in and maybe sit Yes. and whatever for a while and then or [1:04:04] andor just come and buy Yes. and leave or whatever. They they'd have the opportunity to do [1:04:10] either one. So, what we want is to make it a a space comfortable enough that if you have time, you can come sit down. Or [1:04:16] this might be a great alternative to I'm going to meet my friend at the coffee shop. Or an even better alternative to I'm going to meet my friend for happy [1:04:22] hour. They might not want to go, you know, like be in a noisy bar. They can just come tuck in at this little quiet bookshop. But if you only have like 10 [1:04:28] minutes in between or the end of your lunch break or you're running errands on a Saturday morning, happy to see you, too. [1:04:36] Um, quick two quick uh clarifying questions. $125 is that for a year for [1:04:42] or Okay. Um and average spend of $22. What would the margin on that be approximately? [1:04:49] I would love to tell you that I know the margin on that. Um it's really essentially like like maybe 25% margin [1:04:56] on depending on what's coming in the door. Uh well, depending on how we're ordering. Books have this fun thing that we cannot [1:05:03] adjust the prices. The publishing industry said what they set them at is what we have to sell them at. I don't [1:05:08] get to have sales unless we have something that's sort of um zeroing out and I don't really have the opportunity [1:05:14] to sort of like mark down or have like end cap pricing. We are we have what the [1:05:19] market gives us? Okay. Um and then in terms of like the location, um do you have a location in [1:05:25] mind and what would the layout look like? Like it would just be books on the walls and then tables or what do you [1:05:30] have in mind for that? So we do have a location in mind or an area in mind. I'm I live in Bloomington. I live in the east side. The east side [1:05:37] corridor does not have enough of these types of options. It's a growing corridor. We're seeing like the Cloverlely Shopping Center just had a [1:05:43] great new renovation direct like Kitty Corner across the street. There's some great available space um that we've been [1:05:50] looking at and talking to folks about. I would like to help us build that corridor. I think the city is growing. [1:05:56] The east side is actually sustaining itself and gaining more ground, gaining more young families. So it it would be [1:06:02] great to have an opportunity to have something in that corridor where when people come say here for like a night [1:06:08] like tonight or for the farmers market in the morning, they don't have to get in their car and then drive all the way to Ein or Eden Prairie or even all the [1:06:14] way to the Mall of America to have that option. They could just hop down the street. We'd be just down the street. [1:06:19] That would be fantastic. Um I'm sorry, you had a second question and I'm Oh. Oh. So we're building the layout of [1:06:25] the store to actually be modular. Um, yes, some of the books shelves will be anchored on walls, but we're trying to [1:06:32] be wildly creative in how we create um the visualization of books, like how you [1:06:37] shop, how you're able to move through the space. But we already know that there might be some interest in people wanting to rent the space, which means [1:06:44] the main floor print of the main footprint of the floor needs to have things that can be moved. So, we're [1:06:50] actually figuring out right now how to design things on casters, how to design things that are easy to move, how to design things that are, you know, like [1:06:57] mobile. Um, that's going to be the fun part. It's like a big puzzle right now. [1:07:03] Great job. Thank you. Um, I love the vibe. Thank you. Couple questions. [1:07:10] I heard about the aunties, but how about the uncles? I love that. So I always tell people um [1:07:17] when you build a space where women feel safe and welcome, everyone comes in because everyone feels safe and welcome. [1:07:24] So it is not that the uncles aren't welcome. They always are. And they usually come along because the aunties [1:07:30] tell them, "We're going to come here today or you should go check out this bookstore today or it's my birthday. Go [1:07:35] here." They know what I like. And that's what I'm hoping will happen. I I actually feel really confident that we'll wind up with a great set of just [1:07:42] community members who love to use the space. But when you're building something and you need traction fast, get the aunties on board. They will [1:07:49] bring everybody. Gotcha. Uh okay, couple questions on the finances. [1:07:54] Yes. Thank you for providing that information. Very helpful. Um your slide for your first year, I [1:08:02] can't remember the exact number. Three uh 80ish like Yeah. All in. Yeah. Yeah. 390. Was that Did [1:08:10] that include buildout as well? Yes. Okay. And then in your second year, your expenses went up by like a 100 grand. [1:08:17] Yes. Um can you tell me a little bit about what that's about? Books are expensive and we have to um [1:08:24] and in order to keep the volume in the bookstore that we need where the average spend is going to go up. Um if we do [1:08:31] this right, what will happen is we stock the shelves and then people will come in robustly and continue to. So, it's not [1:08:36] like in in other situations where you have the type of inventory where you can [1:08:41] say, "Well, we're going to do a little more of this or we're buying this at a bulk and it's, you know, at a lower amount and then we can carry a lot [1:08:48] more." Because of the pricing of books and because we don't set it, we have to be pretty flexible and honestly nimble [1:08:55] in knowing that just every single month we're going to probably be having to spend somewhere between like 7 and [1:09:00] 10,000 to keep up with demand. If I'm really good at getting people in my store, which I hope to be, they're going [1:09:06] to empty those shelves. And we can't ever have a time where the shelves are kind of empty. Like, it's not cool to [1:09:11] come in and have an empty bookshelf. Um, so we're going to have to be thinking like that. Um, we're also trying to think of su like problem success will [1:09:19] dictate like having one staff member when we start and myself in the store, which will hopefully lead quickly to [1:09:25] having more staffers, which will then, you know, necessitate, you know, having more money available to pay for things. [1:09:31] Um I essentially we tried to build that deck to be as conservative as possible but also with growth in mind. And the [1:09:39] kind of growth I'm thinking about is not just like oh dollars in pockets. It's how do we keep this experience set and [1:09:45] and at an excellent standard all the way through. Yeah. Welcome. [1:09:51] So um this is probably on me but um can you help me understand the numbers a little bit better? You indicated that [1:09:57] there would be 17 purchases per day, average sale $22, [1:10:03] 365 days, that's 135,000. Can tell me how you got the revenue up to 350 [1:10:12] and then obviously 80% of that is cost plus your overhead. So can maybe I'm [1:10:19] missing something, but can you help me understand those numbers? Okay, so 17, it's not 17 purchase, it's a 17 books [1:10:27] per day. Those books have different price points. So it could vary between the lowest book, which we'd probably [1:10:33] wind up carrying in store at at the pricing that we have to charge for it, is probably going to be somewhere in [1:10:38] like the $15 range. We're going to sell a variety of books. So from $15, that could go all the way up to like [1:10:43] cookbooks that list live in the $30 to $40 range, possibly even further if we're carrying specialty books like [1:10:49] photography books, things like that. So those those books aren't at a standard price. They there's a range of price [1:10:56] that we're going to wind up seeing. So we were kind we were trying to account for yes on average this is what you [1:11:02] would you could see like if the average person comes in and they said this is how much you might spend on average but [1:11:07] the other numbers reflect like what the swing could look like and would likely look like. Um, and also that standard [1:11:14] average is like if everything goes according to plan every day with no sort of drops in revenue or no increases. [1:11:20] Like we know that November and December are the holidays, your inventory actually shoots, you need your shoot [1:11:26] your inventory up because that is the most like popular time of year for people to be in bookstores. Right now we [1:11:31] could be looking at say like March and April where it's actually like way more quiet and I'm doing a lot more tap [1:11:36] dancing outside to get people in the doors. So, we tried to make sure that those numbers reflected the whole range [1:11:42] of where we could wind up. Thank you. Thank you. [1:11:48] Thank you. [Applause] [1:12:57] Okay. [1:13:33] Oh, is that okay? There we go. Um, before we get started, I'll be introducing my pitch with a poem. [1:13:47] Ah, how off setting was that phone ring or the endless ding-ding dings? Midreach [1:13:54] for that glowing screen, my inner voice says, "Wait, no more socials, alerts, or [1:14:00] clickbait." Some say our society is addicted to our smartphones. Research suggests it's an [1:14:07] addiction to feel less alone. The phone is just the medium. What if there was a [1:14:12] healthier way to bond without the lithium? [1:14:19] Hi, I'm Colleen Stidle and I give you and Bloomington hearts and spades for classic games, curated food, and [1:14:26] childhood feels. In a world oversaturated by technology, [1:14:33] we've grown used to the feeling of smooth glass screens. We're bringing back the joy of physical touch through [1:14:40] game pieces, cards, and don't forget my personal favorite, the board. [1:14:46] As a food hall, we will elevate today's dining scene by blending tactile play with distinctive food experiences and [1:14:53] redefine how people connect in a techdriven world. We aim to become a [1:14:59] metro wide destination for all. [1:15:06] My business goals include establishing a flagship location in Bloomington, achieve profitability within the first [1:15:12] year, and expand to multiple locations within five years. Let me just go back. [1:15:19] On the right is a photo to my visit to the closed David Fongs. I've spoken with [1:15:24] a realtor who suggested it as a potential fit for Hearts and Spades. [1:15:32] Most gaming spots just don't serve food or they have a limited menu. There's no [1:15:38] consistent space combining variety in both gameplay and food. The market's clearly underserved. [1:15:48] That's where I give you Arts and Spades. [1:15:58] It would bridge the market gap. We will offer 200 plus board and card games and collaborate with six restaurant partners [1:16:04] to craft game themed menus. Priority would be given to underrepresented chefs in Bloomington. We'll also have a full [1:16:12] bar and host weekly entertainment and events. Here [1:16:19] are just some examples of classic and modern board games that you should expect to see on our shelves. [1:16:27] When developing our themed menus, items may include the top secret tacos [1:16:32] inspired by code names featuring the double agent El Pastor, the mole protocol, or the coverup vegan taco. Or [1:16:40] maybe it's going to be a royal burger board featuring the king's feast, uh, the corner queen, and the green knight. [1:16:48] Maybe you'll find unothemed cocktails like the draw two daiquiri or the wild whiskey sour, or maybe mocktails like [1:16:54] the yellow card fizz. [1:17:01] While familyfriendly, we're also creating an experience-driven destination for adults. Instead of want [1:17:08] to grab drinks, the invitation can be, "Hey, want to play a game?" [1:17:14] With more people, especially Gen Z, choosing sober or sober curious lifestyles, this model meets them where [1:17:21] they're at, delivering connection without compromise. Pictured in the middle, you'll see a friend of mine with [1:17:27] bartending experience, including at FEMA's Rectangle Pizza, and Norseman Distillery. He's an industry contact who [1:17:34] can help strengthen our launch. [1:17:41] We'll host game nights for kids and their loved ones like this scrabble moment captured by my friend studio at [1:17:46] Queer Family Portraits. We'll host private parties such as for birthdays and weddings. And we'll host corporate [1:17:52] team building events and fundraisers. [1:17:59] Our core customers will be Gen Z and millennials who make up 30% of Bloomington. With 20% of residents under [1:18:07] 18, we will provide a family-friendly setting where adults can relax, join in [1:18:12] the games if they want, or let their kids partake in screenfree play without [1:18:17] the need to pack toys and tablets. [1:18:24] To reach customers, we're going to focus on three main strategies. We use social media to pair games and food visually, [1:18:30] and we'll host some popups at parks, uh, breweries, and food halls. And we'll [1:18:36] leverage our restaurant partners networks as well. This is my friend Victor on the right, founder of Stop [1:18:42] Drop, and Rolls. He's the first vendor I've approached and the first I'd consider vetting for our establishment. [1:18:54] Our direct competitors include Foxen, Full Tilt, and Nine Mile Brewery. [1:19:01] Foxen and Burnsville serves coffee and again just has a limited menu. They do not have a bar and are focused on [1:19:07] trading card games and role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. Full Tilt is a sports bar with arcade games [1:19:15] and just about 20 board games. and NM Brewery hosts occasional game nights and a limited menu. Knowing our competitors [1:19:23] gaps sets the stage for our path to profitability. [1:19:29] Shown here are my financial projections for year 1 through three. I'm envisioning a 7,000 ft space costing [1:19:36] $200 per square foot. Should be a 1.4 million buildout. We'd seat around 200 guests. Each restaurant partner will [1:19:44] manage its own operations and profits. Arts and Space will oversee the bar, common areas, and their own revenue. [1:19:51] Restaurant Partners will retain 80% of the non-alcoholic beverage revenue and food revenue. Hearts and Spades will [1:19:58] retain 20% of the food and non-alcoholic beverage revenue, plus 100% of alcohol [1:20:04] sales, game sales, merchandise, and event fees. You'll see my revenue projections in red. Subtract my product, [1:20:11] labor, operations, and occupancy costs. You'll see my unit level profit in black. [1:20:19] On this slide, you're going to see the same revenue in red, but now my net profit is with a loan repayment included [1:20:25] in black. This represents a 1.4 million conventional loan at 8% interest to be [1:20:31] repaid over 10 years. We'll also pursue additional funding sources like new market tax credits and nonprofit [1:20:38] Minnesota funders such as Fortis Capital, which offer fa favorable lending terms. [1:20:49] These projections show the potential. Now, here's why the moment is ours for the taking. To quote Ray Adler, the vice [1:20:56] president at Mattel, "Grownup collectors and game players are the fastest growing toy buying population, and Gen Z [1:21:04] consumers are eager for in-person experiences. Now is the time to reimagine what game [1:21:10] night can be. Bringing people together for real world fun, connection, and a little bit of friendly competition. This [1:21:17] summer, Mattel launched UNO Popups, starting in Las Vegas and expanding nationwide with themed cocktails and new [1:21:24] game releases. This shows that in-person play continues to endure. [1:21:32] Bringing this vision to life will require a strong operations team led by an experienced general manager [1:21:37] overseeing dining, bar service, and administration. I will assist supporting our operations team and remain actively [1:21:44] involved in partner selection, sales, and brand management. As I move forward, my first priority will be creating an [1:21:50] advisory board with expertise in legal, real estate, marketing, and finance for guidance. I will ensure my finance board [1:21:57] member has experience with funding programs like new market tax credits and nonprofit funders, Minnesota funders. [1:22:04] I'll also seek technical support from programs like Elevate Henipin and those offered through the city of Bloomington [1:22:09] as well. As I close, I invite you to reflect on [1:22:15] how deeply technology has integrated into our lives. Let's connect face to face, support local businesses, and put [1:22:23] people first. That's the that's that's the hearts and spades of it. [1:22:28] We will create opportunities for the community youth, generate revenue for Bloomington, and support local [1:22:34] restaurant startups and be a space for all generations. [1:22:39] Judges, I will be giving you a connect for game piece. [1:23:00] Um, so uh we'll play Connect 4 to end things here. May this represent the past, the [1:23:07] present, and what's to come for Hearts and Spades. Thank you for connecting with me and with Connect Four. Now, [1:23:12] let's play. So, [1:23:23] feel like [1:23:31] the best possible [1:23:45] you want me to cover up where I don't see this right here, [1:24:20] And as a note for that, thank you for participating. We all get a free drink ticket to [1:24:29] [Applause] [1:24:44] I can go right. Cong congratulations on making the top 10. [1:24:49] Thank you. Thank you for being here too. So I have two questions. Um one is that [1:24:54] 1.4 million buildout that requires a serious equity for you to get that loan. [1:25:01] Can you give me a little bit of a detail of how are you planning to do that? [1:25:06] Yes. So, um I'll be seeking uh you know formal lending institutions in terms of [1:25:12] funding there startups um and maybe working with developers though as well that uh you know they if there's a [1:25:19] developer out there that would like to um uh work with a specific space working with them to come up with an agreement [1:25:25] to build the space for it having agreements like that. Okay. And then my second question is so [1:25:30] so have you done like a a a sample study study to attract Gen Z's and millennial? [1:25:37] I have like okay my kids are two genzies and one millennial. I don't see them [1:25:42] going like and I'm very curious like how do you you know like what's your plan in [1:25:48] attracting them and did you do a study of you know if you're able to attract them into Sure. [1:25:53] into it. Sure. Yeah. Um that's a really valid point. not everyone may want to come and play games. That's totally [1:26:00] valid and um a genuine concern to bring up. Um I think there's also been um a [1:26:06] lot of the gaming communities that we've seen um you know with a lot of business [1:26:11] there and um there are people that go to breweries to play board games as well. [1:26:17] Uh but there's been you know I don't know if that everyone wants to bring their kids to to a brewery per se. So, [1:26:23] it kind of just gives a it enhances the experience, you know, it brings the best of what breweries have to offer, plus um [1:26:30] more of the dedicated gamer spaces into something more unique and more geared towards families. [1:26:37] Thank you. Hi there. Good work. Um, just a couple questions. Have you talked to peers or [1:26:43] prospective peers in the industry when it comes to food and beverage retail or even uh very like-minded like Chatterbox [1:26:48] and South Minneapolis for example to find out the ups and downs and what to expect in terms of like [1:26:54] just market research market research for food even uh for all of it for the for the retail experience and food even uh the [1:27:01] Fong's location is a huge footprint so um have you had conversations just to find out anecdotally [1:27:08] um I wouldn't say specifically within the Twin Cities ities. However, there are spaces where um across the nation [1:27:14] that are doing gaming locations. One that I researched and looked up was uh they're called Nirvana, not to be [1:27:21] confused with the band. Um it's spelled Nard D- A N A. Um they're based in Frisco, Texas, and they did really well [1:27:28] that they expanded to Rochester, New York. There's also more of a corporational um starting to be a chain, [1:27:34] Snakes and Lattes, that uh started in Toronto, I think. Um, and they have some other chains across the US, I think in [1:27:40] Arizona, other places. So, it's trending across the US. Um, but that's a fair point. I haven't necessarily done the [1:27:46] market research for Minneapolis, just basing on the gaming world here and what we've seen, though. [1:27:53] Did that answer? What research have you done to [1:27:59] substantiate the costs? Um, I mean that uh like the funk site would likely be [1:28:05] several million dollars to purchase. Um, and then you'd have the buildout and you [1:28:11] estimated that to be $200 a square foot, which I would consider probably fairly [1:28:16] low for an entire buildout, including food services, bar, things of that [1:28:21] nature. So, what research have you done to substantiate those costs? Yeah. Um, that's a really good question [1:28:27] and a fair point. Um, I've been working with a financial consultant in terms of looking at the numbers and figures and, [1:28:34] uh, a 7,000 foot space. Um, you know, looking at doing some value engineering, thinking about the kitchen buildouts not [1:28:41] necessarily needing to be full customized kitchens, like if we're serving ice cream or something along [1:28:46] those lines. Um, there might be less of a cost in that area. Um, so I think it's [1:28:52] a combination of that uh in in terms of kind of how can we do it a little bit cheaper with uh the buildouts. [1:29:00] Couple questions. Oh yeah. Yeah. Uh [1:29:06] so um two questions. What is your background and then how do you plan on [1:29:12] building your customer base? Good question. Uh well, in terms of my [1:29:18] background, I've served I've served in a restaurant industry before for a few years. Um I'm learning as I go and it's [1:29:25] really going to come down to building the right team for my advisory board um [1:29:30] to focus on that and lean on those contacts and networks to develop the plan. On a personal note, and and I have [1:29:36] I would hire a experienced general manager as well for that um and bar [1:29:42] service, making sure they're all experienced and qualified to really help it. Um, on a personal note though, um, [1:29:47] as a Korean adoptee, uh, I like to think of the fact that we're pretty adoptable or adaptable. You swapped out the O and [1:29:54] replace it with an A. Um, so it's been kind of a, you know, a pivoting experience in the startup world. Um, and [1:30:01] something that's been part of my life and, um, between that and my resilience, um, I believe that I can I can make this [1:30:08] forward. Your second question in terms of how it was how building your customer [1:30:14] building my customer base um that's going to come to growing our social networks um using maybe people like [1:30:21] Victor my bartending friend people in the gaming world I do have friends that um I've gone to their place to play some [1:30:27] games uh Dixit other things like that in terms of that so it's going to come to [1:30:32] um just word of mouth I think will be a main one um but also promoting maybe in schools uh as as schools seem to [1:30:40] continue to plug that um you know less time phones, tablet time, screen time um you know posting in newsletters, things [1:30:46] like that to get the word out. Yeah, thank you. [1:30:57] Great. Thank you. [1:31:07] Oh yeah, I might need help with the board. [1:31:19] Everybody, we have a 10 minute break. Um, so do need more snacks. We do have [1:31:29] [Music] [1:34:22] [Music] [1:35:09] Heat. Heat. [1:35:47] Heat. Heat. [1:35:52] [Music] [1:37:14] [Music] [1:40:06] [Music] [1:42:58] [Music] [1:44:54] Okay, judges and crowd will get started with hot pass. [1:45:04] Uh hello everyone. Uh my name is Seth Wal and on behalf of me and my son Moses, who's my partner in this who [1:45:11] couldn't be here tonight, uh we want to thank you for this opportunity. Uh I'm excited to tell you about Hotbox Pies, [1:45:18] our business. It's a gluten-free pizza joint. Hotbox Pies is a personal passion of [1:45:25] ours. I've been working in the food industry for years. A lot of that has been in pizza restaurants. Surrounded by [1:45:30] a food I love, but tragically ironic was making me sick. I was diagnosed with [1:45:36] celiac disease and couldn't enjoy what millions of us do is having a great pizza. As a person who couldn't eat [1:45:43] gluten, my options were extremely limited, expensive, and really didn't taste that great. Plus, anything made [1:45:49] from gluten-free at a restaurant that wasn't gluten-free would still make me sick because of crosscontam [1:45:54] crosscontamination. So, we set out on a mission to create a gluten-free restaurant with pizzas [1:46:00] crafted by family with care, made from locally sourced ingredients that don't compromise on quality. [1:46:08] This isn't just a me problem. 1% of people have celiac disease. But check [1:46:14] this out. Of the largest growing consumer demographics, millennials and Gen Z, they are choosing to dine [1:46:20] gluten-free. The market is growing fast. Consumers are willing to pay for it. And [1:46:25] frankly, there are way too few choices for a market this size. [1:46:32] For the Twin Cities, this represents about a half a million people who only have a handful of fully gluten-free [1:46:38] restaurants to choose from. Think about that for a minute. What if the only places you could take food to go or dine [1:46:45] in were a few bakeries, a handful of restaurants across the Twin Cities? Yes. Again, you'll find a few gluten-free [1:46:51] options on the menu, like a vegetarian at a steakhouse. The difference is that crosscontamination will make them sick. [1:46:58] Besides that, gluten-free items have had some barriers. They often are less appealing with texture and taste alone. [1:47:05] Just compare restaurant searches in your browser maps or apps. Fully gluten-free is hard to find. Even the demand for [1:47:12] gluten-free, allergen-free, plant-based, and locally sourced food is skyrocketing. [1:47:19] Our vision is to provide just that. We want to deliver products that are healthy but also taste amazing. Our [1:47:25] pizzas have the perfect combination of crispy and chewy. Here's a few pics of Hotbox Pies creations. We do pizzas, [1:47:33] sandwiches, cookies, and more baked goods. And on our main feature are five [1:47:41] signature pies we've come up with so far. Uh trying to take into consideration [1:47:47] people's dietary uh needs or structure. Uh we have meat lovers and we also have [1:47:55] completely vegetarian and actually a non-dairy pizza. Uh [1:48:02] so let's talk about Bloomington. We think Bloomington is the perfect place for hotbox pies. is there is a great [1:48:08] base of both residents and visitors into the city every day with ample residents and even more visitors due to the [1:48:14] proximity of major attractions like the MOA, airport, transit systems, and work [1:48:21] commuters. As we think there's a wonderful opportunity for more non-chain pizzeras to complement the strong [1:48:27] diverse economy here that makes it such a wonderful place for entrepreneurs like us. And the Twin Cities itself boasts a [1:48:34] huge Gen Z growth and that's a lot of pizza. [1:48:40] Our business has been developing and evolving on a planned continuum. [1:48:46] A few short years ago, we started developing our product. We did our friends and family funding round. We [1:48:51] secured our pizza oven and began testing recipes. From there, we began hosting [1:48:56] private parties to gather feedback on the product and to start earning a little revenue. We established our brand [1:49:03] and social presence and now it's time to bring this passion to the public. Our next phase of development is to [1:49:09] establish a commercial kitchen in a brickandmortar site. We'd first offer to go foods and then expand to dining in as [1:49:16] we grow revenue and secure funds to scale. [1:49:23] As I alluded to earlier, the competitive landscape is more adjacent than it is [1:49:29] direct. There are a few fully gl gluten-free options in the Twin Cities. [1:49:34] A few bakeries, a handful of restaurants, one pizzeria in Oakdale, but the crust isn't in-housemade. [1:49:41] Other than that, it's a pick of two options of a menu of 20 options in a non-gluten-free kitchen or just throw [1:49:47] out pizza altogether at other pizzeras. And by the way, we stand by the quality [1:49:54] of our pies, taste, and appearance compared to any other gluten-free pie or not. [1:50:00] On the business side, our next steps are to establish a commercial kitchen so our business can scale. The Hatch [1:50:07] Bloomington Award would do that for us and bring this needed option to the community. Speaking of community, it [1:50:14] would also create jobs, especially as we grow into dining services. And as the business grows, so does the brand and [1:50:20] support for our jobs and supporting more locally sourced ingredients. [1:50:27] This award would fund three things in order. Firstly, we need a place to do all this stuff, and it needs to be a [1:50:33] commercial kitchen that's HASSAP compliant along with gluten-free compliant. Second, we need a systems to [1:50:40] do all this stuff, uh, point of sale, packaging, everything operational. And [1:50:46] thirdly, we need to get customers in the door. So, amplifying our marketing and [1:50:52] communications is necessary. We estimate about about 90k to establish the brick [1:50:58] and mortar along with three months of operating expenses. It would take another 25k to prepare the restaurant [1:51:04] and staff for dining. Besides Hatch Bloomington, we are continually exploring other funding sources [1:51:10] including other contests, grants, small business loans, and angel investors. [1:51:17] Our team today is me and my son Moses along with our marketing team, Dana and Jason. Moses and I are third generation [1:51:24] food folks. My parents ran their own catering business that I worked up worked in growing up and I have worked [1:51:30] in every aspect of restaurant services. Dana and Jason have a Twin Cities based boutique mar marketing agency that [1:51:37] specializes in brand building strategy and business transformation to help companies like mine grow. [1:51:44] Bottom line is everybody here today, the odds are we have friends or family that has some sort of gluten intolerance or [1:51:51] celiac disease. Healthy dining options are critical and our community needs more and better options. And hey, who [1:51:58] doesn't love a good pizza? So, we'd be honored if you show us some love. Cast your votes for hot box fives. Thank you [1:52:04] very much for your time and attention. [Applause] [1:52:15] Hi there. Hello. Thank you. Um, are you currently uh have sales for pizza out of your home? I know [1:52:22] you were developing it. Yeah. No, we don't. Okay. [1:52:29] Hello, Seth. Congratulations on making the top 10. Thank you. Have you done a little projection [1:52:36] finding out your, you know, like um what will you make in the first year should you, you know, w this competition and [1:52:43] have your brick and mortar. We have we uh this is a 12 month P&L to [1:52:49] go projection. where we find ourselves being profitable [1:52:55] about after six months time. [1:53:04] Um, in terms of the I'm just looking at the pricing 23 and 30. So, is that based [1:53:09] on size or what what what is what is 23? What's 30? Basically, that's my question. It's what would an average p [1:53:17] price of the pie would be in terms of comparative to other pizza places around town in terms of higherend pizza places [1:53:25] let's say not like a Domino's or a papa John's but more like a [1:53:31] luch or pizzeria lola or you know Sure. So is that like a is that like a [1:53:37] medium and a large or what are what do those represent? one size pizza which is 10 inch uh you get you get six slices [1:53:44] per pie. Got it. Okay. So, it's just it's like the different kinds of pizzas that would [1:53:50] make the the range vary from 23 to Yeah. depends of how many ingredients [1:53:55] per se go on each pizza. Some are less, some are more. So, Okay. And uh just also um these great [1:54:02] projections. Um it sounds like to me you plan to at some [1:54:08] point like start just doing the commercial kitchen then eventually migrate into a restaurant. Uh is that [1:54:13] what's what tell me help me understand the arc and timeline that would be ideal for you. We would like to begin uh takeout to go [1:54:22] services. Uh we f I found that this other pizza place I worked at um well we [1:54:29] were closed for the pandemic and we only did takeout and of course numbers skyrocketed but numbers maintained the [1:54:36] same level even after we open for dining in. So instead of having to, you know, [1:54:43] use overhead costs for dining in staffing, everything, glassware, stuff [1:54:48] like that, it it'd be more profitable for us to just do takeout. [1:54:54] At this time, perhaps in the future, if it gets to a point where it's popular or [1:55:00] successful, we could talk about dining in services. [1:55:08] Hi there. Thanks for being here tonight. Um what what is the um uh what is the [1:55:15] availability of the products that go into uh gluten-free dough and other [1:55:21] things like that? Obviously um there's a read readily available flowers you know you can get them from lots of places. So [1:55:26] like what is the supply chain look like? What are the risks associated with that supply chain if any? Do you have issues [1:55:33] of of contamination that you know have recalls associated with them? I'm just kind of curious how you're planning for [1:55:40] um the the regular availability of the kind of core product line that you need. [1:55:46] Uh good question. Um well, the flower we're using is an Italian heritage blend [1:55:51] flour uh from Italy actually. Um, so with tariffs and whatnot, you know, I [1:55:57] don't I don't know if that has really I've checked the prices and it's only raised the prices about 10 bucks in [1:56:05] terms of wholesale per bag. But, um, crosscontamination, there's not really [1:56:10] an issue with that in terms of basic ingredients. You know, it's five [1:56:15] simple ingredients of, you know, olive, oil, flour, yeast, whatever. no other, [1:56:22] you know, preservatives or anything like that. So, are you is there any concern that you have that that if that product from [1:56:28] Italy is not readily available or it becomes too expensive, you can't find other sources? [1:56:34] No, because I believe there's a breakdown of the ingredients [1:56:40] in the act, you know, in the flour. It's a blend. So, we could per se destruct, [1:56:46] you know, deconstruct the recipe and work on it, you know. Okay. Okay. Understood. Um similarly, [1:56:53] what is the um expectation you have uh for what it would what it would take to [1:56:59] maintain the facility as a as a certified gluten-free facility? If that's I'm assuming that's what HACCCP [1:57:06] means that Yeah. HACCCP is uh protection in terms of all aspects of you know if there's [1:57:15] crosscontamination like I identifying where it comes from and then you know [1:57:21] reaching out to the supplier in terms of their if there's a expired bat you know it's just a chain but then there's a [1:57:27] certain the gluten-free organization they come out and they inspect the [1:57:33] kitchen and they give it certification so is that something that has to be maintained Like is that in your budget [1:57:38] here in terms of like maintaining those kinds of Yeah. In terms of insuranceances? Well, like so they've [1:57:45] already certified our trust. Okay. And they gave us a quote in terms of what [1:57:51] it's going to cost to work with them to maintain that certification. And then [1:57:56] they, you know, they um maintain data and [1:58:02] stuff like that. And I'm I'm sure the kitchen is re-evaluated over a certain [1:58:07] amount of time, much like a health inspector would come check it out. So, [1:58:13] uh, two quick questions here. Thank you for the pizza as well. Um, have you talked to other peers in the category [1:58:20] like Sifted Gluten-Free Bakery in South Minneapolis to find out because I think that started at a farmers market then [1:58:25] has evolved into a successful location. Um, so start there. Have I talked to [1:58:31] Yeah. Have you talked to anybody in the category that says how does how does the cons I mean do you have loyal how's the the loyal customer show up time and time [1:58:38] again? Uh well like I said we haven't produced any sales yet. It's more in a concept [1:58:44] mode. We have gotten lots of feedback um in terms of the quality of it in ter [1:58:51] also from a couple food scientists from General Mills were actually taste tested [1:58:57] it and kind of gave it two thumbs up and you know [1:59:04] so okay and then second question is have you um considered other revenue streams [1:59:09] like selling just the dough or sauce or that sort of stuff too to diversify your mix a little bit? We have. We uh we once we like to get [1:59:18] the takeout going first and then reach out to uh co-ops. I've worked at a [1:59:25] couple co-ops who express interest in uh just selling the frozen pre-baked [1:59:30] gluten-free dough, which is an idea we had. Um but we're also doing like other baked goods, uh ficasha sandwiches. [1:59:38] There's a sample of the ficasha, so it's not just strictly pizza. So, [1:59:46] uh, I just have a couple questions. First of all, pizza was fabulous. So was the picasha. [1:59:52] Thank you. So, if no one's going to eat that, I'll take it. Okay. Okay. Just kidding. Um, quick question. You [2:00:00] had indicated that you have been, you know, financed through friends and [2:00:06] family. Is that fair to say? It is. And is there a debt component to [2:00:12] that? Like are you in debt or is that equity? What does that look like? [2:00:18] It was a GoFundMe account to We needed to really taste test and research the [2:00:25] the dough in a in a commercial uh woodfired pizza oven. Um so that's what it was. It was a [2:00:32] GoFundMe account. Uh we raised about $4,500. So [2:00:37] Got it. Got it. And competition. Tell me, can you tell us a little bit [2:00:43] about competition and your differentiator? If I had a dollar for every time a [2:00:48] business person told me there was no competition. Well, and well, we're gluten-free. So, like I said, the only fully gluten-free [2:00:55] restaurant that I've come across, and it's in Oakdale, is I'll give them a shout out. It's called Ry's Gluten-Free [2:01:01] Pizza. Uh, and it's a very hole, it's a hole in the wall takeout joint, strictly [2:01:07] takeout. And uh, but his crust is a pre-made [2:01:14] uh, from a large food distributor. Actually, the last time I went out there, that's what it was. It was It was [2:01:20] actually the same frozen pizza that Lola was using before they started making [2:01:27] their own in-house gluten-free crust. Got it. And and what I'm actually thinking a little bit more about is, you [2:01:34] know, existing pizza pizza chains like, and maybe they do this already. I'm not [2:01:39] gluten-free, so I don't know. But Pizza Hut, now they start to sell a gluten-free guy. Domino's, Papa John's, [2:01:47] whomever. But it goes into the same oven as the all the all the other regular [2:01:53] uh pizzas that has all the regular flour on it, which then doesn't make it gluten-free anymore. I started eating [2:02:00] pizzas when I worked at Pizzeria Lola, they had a gluten-free crust, but once it went into the oven with all the [2:02:05] regular flour, it made me sick. Got it. So, this is this would be certified gluten-free. This would be the first [2:02:12] certified gluten-free uh bake house in the metro area. [2:02:18] So, timing. Great timing. [2:02:23] [Applause] [2:03:36] We'll get started with Nuna. Welcome. [2:03:45] All right, let's get started. As we can see right here, there is a [2:03:51] need that Nuna aims to fulfill. We can see right here that there is a highest like Bloomington in Minnesota has the [2:03:58] highest percentage of foreignb born residents in Minnesota which is mainly consistent of African immigrants um [2:04:03] among other or uh groups that we have here in the city. Um, we're also home to [2:04:08] the Mall of America and MSP airport, meaning that we regularly see people from different backgrounds year round, [2:04:14] meaning that there are a lot of different people who are coming here to do different things, whether it's to try [2:04:20] out the different options that we have to offer in Bloomington at the mall or even just to fly out because of MSP. We [2:04:27] also have a diverse, thriving food scene with global cuisines listed on this slide. for example, with Asian, um, and [2:04:34] Mexican, Swedish, and Scandinavian, Brazilian, and Afghanistan cultures. [2:04:39] But as you can see, as it's highlighted right there, we don't have any African restaurants currently. That is a very [2:04:45] clear market gap and niche, which Nuna Restaurant aims to fulfill. Like it says [2:04:50] right here, we'd be an authentic African cuisine, catering, and takeout. Be focusing mainly on selling spices, [2:04:57] sauces, fabrics, and African arts. Um, our kind of atmosphere would be focused [2:05:03] on fostering inclusivity, cultural appreciation, and community connection through the food and the atmosphere that [2:05:09] the restaurant would bring, as well as attracting Africans from other cities and other immigrants and even other [2:05:15] people who are living in Bloomington who have yet to experience what African cuisine has to offer. As it says right [2:05:21] there, you'd experience the richness of West African culture right here in Bloomington alongside your local favorites. [2:05:28] A little background on my mother. As we can see, a few things are updated on here. First of all, she is now safe [2:05:34] serve certified. So, she is knowledgeable on the different food [2:05:39] safety measures she should be taking when serving food to people in restaurants. Um, she is fluent in French [2:05:44] and specializes in authentic African cuisine, as you already aware on the table. um culinary roots began in her [2:05:51] grandmother's restaurant which she grew up in and she's renowned for her secret spices and her signature dishes, one of [2:05:57] which you guys already have right there. Oh, you want to go over and explain a couple of the foods? [2:06:03] So, some some example of the food we have [2:06:09] from lamb, fufu from flour, chicken and veggie. We have [2:06:18] brochet make with beef and vegetable. [2:06:24] That's just a couple of the examples of the items that we have to offer at the restaurant. Our plan, as you can see [2:06:30] right here, initially for the first two years, we plan to build our brand and customer base for expanding to full [2:06:35] service dining, which is mainly going to be through emphasizing on takeout and catering, which are our main two [2:06:40] options, and then also having retail on the side through specialized arts and texture um textiles that people would be [2:06:47] able to purchase for whatever they want to do. Um we'd be focused specifically on Pen Lake Shopping Center. Um that is [2:06:53] where we would have mo like that's where we've anticipated a lot of traffic would [2:06:58] come through because we also have some other local cuisines such as Kotu um Pen Lake roast beef and Europoulos pretty [2:07:05] popular attractions for food over there. And we have some more examples of the [2:07:10] food right there. Yes, you have come. You have trip com beef. You have wer [2:07:18] with plantin, fly plantin, beef and turkey, fried turkey, and peanut butter [2:07:26] soup. Onto our revenue model, like I mentioned before, we'd have three main ones. [2:07:33] Takeout orders, um, 20 to different 30 varieties, different options for people with different dietary needs. We'd also [2:07:40] have catering services so they can get the same quality that they would get in the restaurant maybe at like a party or [2:07:46] like a corporate gathering or something like that. We want to bring the experience to them as well. And then [2:07:51] also like I mentioned, we'd have a third model being retail product sales through things like textiles and arts, spice [2:07:57] blends and marinades. So people can experience true African culture at home without us. [2:08:05] So, for our takeout concept, um we've been working with our business advisor throughout the year. Um we have settled [2:08:12] on wanting 2,500 um square feet because we've realized that throughout the [2:08:18] research that we've been doing along with our adviser who has really helped us throughout the entire thing. We've [2:08:24] realized that the earlier sizing that we specified from last year was too small and we wanted something a bit more [2:08:29] spacious because then that way that would provide more of a comfortable experience both for us and also for any [2:08:35] customers who would want to be interested in stopping by, grabbing a quick bite to eat, maybe come chat, say [2:08:40] hello and get to know us. For our catering services, we have taken [2:08:46] steps towards government and corporate contracts since last year because we want to show that we're serious about initiating this business in Bloomington. [2:08:53] As you can see right here, we've registered with SAM system for award management under catering and food services. Um, we've created templates. [2:09:00] We have enrolled as a vendor with local governments. We are officially registered with the state. Um, so we [2:09:06] have our official licenses and everything like that. And we have also been connecting with corporate decision makers to introduce our catering and [2:09:12] food services as well. And that's just a little image of what it could look like with the catering. [2:09:19] And like I mentioned, we've been working really hard since last year. Other than registering with SAM and local [2:09:24] governments, my mother has become safe serve certified. We have toured several commercial kitchens and we've selected a [2:09:30] few that we think would be appropriate for the food that we're going to be making. We've launched a website. We've created a brochure. We've been engaging [2:09:37] decision makers. There's a whole host of things that we've been doing since last year, and we're confident that we'll [2:09:42] keep moving forward from here. And as you can see, there's even more. We've been developing our social media. [2:09:49] Um, we've been working on securing general and professional liability insurance through an insurance broker. Um, we've been finalizing our catering [2:09:56] service agreements. We've been developing invoices and documents and everything. We've been exploring our [2:10:01] funding options. And we've also been reaching out regularly to the city of Bloomington to find out additional [2:10:06] recommendations for things like certificates and licenses necessary to operate. [2:10:13] With the help of our with our business consultant, um we have identified with the things that we would need in that [2:10:19] space earlier listed at 2,500 square feet. Um with the in initial inventory, [2:10:25] the marketing that we would need to launch successfully and leaseold improvements to help make the space feel [2:10:30] a bit more like home, we have settled on needing $2,500 [2:10:35] approximately about. And then as for revenue projections in [2:10:41] the first year based on market research conducted um as you can see right here [2:10:46] the biggest chunk comes from the takeout and delivery which is expected it's a restaurant but then we also have the [2:10:53] catering option as well for other people um who might not be able to travel to [2:10:58] the restaurant but we can bring it to them. And then we also have our instore retail which might not be as big but [2:11:03] offers a different source for people to experience what we have to bring. and [2:11:09] the monthly revenue 55,000 and annual revenue is projected to be 660,000. [2:11:16] As for our operating expenses, we have again done the research and connected [2:11:22] with our adviser. Um with all these numbers that we see right here, which we [2:11:27] have worked through, um we've settled on we think would be an [2:11:33] appropriate number. We've tried to be conservative with it because we understand that operating a business, especially a restaurant, can be very [2:11:39] expensive and can fall under if you're not careful with what you're doing. Um, we have seen based on what we're [2:11:45] planning that the number 2000 200,9 oh my gosh, $298,000 [2:11:53] is what we expect to spend. As for our net profit, um, we're [2:11:58] expecting to see 360,000 for the first year. Um but then we also have our um [2:12:05] operating expenses after we take that out. We also have EBITDA which is 62,000. Um around then after all those [2:12:13] things are taken out we would have around 50,000 net profit with an 8% net margin is what we're expecting [2:12:20] and then some more food to make you guys salivate. [2:12:25] And then the market opportunity, which I think is very evident in and of itself. As we mentioned earlier, there is there [2:12:32] is definitely an African presence in Bloomington, but there haven't really been establishments to show that. Um, [2:12:40] we also, like I mentioned earlier, are in a city with a major tourist attraction being the Mall of America. [2:12:47] Um, with that we attract people from all around the globe, meaning that we would be exposing ourselves to people who have [2:12:54] never tried African cuisine once in their life. And that means that we can attract those people and even people who [2:13:00] are living in Bloomington who have never experienced the same things to come to us to experience what we believe is the [2:13:06] true culture that has been hidden in Bloomington. And we want to help expose that. [2:13:13] And then we also have been revising on our impact as well. As you can see, we'd be creating jobs. We'd be interacting [2:13:19] with other small businesses to source things like ingredients, um, utensils, all those different things. Um, we would [2:13:26] also drive foot traffic because in the location that we have selected, we'd be near other retails and other restaurants [2:13:33] as well. um providing providing exposure and a local and convenient option for [2:13:38] food and also helping to contribute to diversity and inclusion goals through exposing what we have to offer through [2:13:45] Nuna. Thank you. [2:13:53] A little thank you at the end. [2:13:59] Congratulation on uh congratulations on making uh the [2:14:04] top 10. Thank you so much. Question. Uh so can you show me a [2:14:11] financials of what would you do with that $100,000 should you get it? [2:14:16] Actually I can we'll get right to that right there. So, as I mentioned before, [2:14:21] we said that our goal was to raise $250,000 and um that $100,000 would be a big [2:14:29] chunk in the funding that we have. Well, the funding that we have projected that we would need. We already have set aside [2:14:36] around $200,000, not 200, $20,000. Numbers are tough for me. Um [2:14:42] um we're also connecting with um different nonprofits and also resources [2:14:48] that are willing to offer grants for helping to open a business. Like for example, we applied for an SBA 7A grant [2:14:55] specifically because we're not going to buy a building, but we're going to be renting and we would need that additional funding for miscellaneous [2:15:02] things like administration, maybe needing extra money for um renovations, [2:15:08] hiring, marketing, things like that. It's included in our budget, but we want to make sure that we have extra funding [2:15:14] just in case. and the $100,000. It would be a very helpful addition to the pie [2:15:20] chart that you see up here cuz then that would help us reach our goal. Thank you for that. One more question, L. Okay. So, what's the time? Okay. So, [2:15:28] should you get this, you know, should you win this competition? What's your timeline? [2:15:34] Glad that you asked right here. Well, with what we've projected so far, [2:15:40] um, in October of this year, we would continue like garnering that funding [2:15:46] through like for example, applying for the SBA loan and also applying for additional grants that would be offered [2:15:51] um, in addition to connecting with those um, decision makers like connecting with [2:15:57] the banks and e um, also with an accountant to help us figure out the [2:16:03] financial things. Um, in January, we would then we hope to have our lease [2:16:08] agreement signed by then. Makes perfect sense. It's the beginning of the year. You want to start off on a fresh foot, we do it then. Um, and then in February, [2:16:16] we have our buildout for construction, skip a couple months, April and May, we'd start an installation with [2:16:21] marketing. We would actually get there in the physical space, renovating things, bringing in kitchen items, um, [2:16:28] making sure everything is all set and safe and up to all the codes that are necessary. And then finally in June, [2:16:33] we'd have our grand opening ensuring that we have properly marketed and shared with everyone both in our [2:16:39] communities and outside to come experience true West African culture. Of course. [2:16:47] Uh question about the loan, the SBA 7A loan. What are the terms on that? [2:16:52] Usually like in terms of years, I guess. Do you know? If you don't, it's okay. No, we're still connecting with our [2:16:58] business adviser. It was a recommendation that we would go and apply for that and we agreed, but we have yet to fully like dive deep into [2:17:05] those terms cuz right now we've been mostly focused on like like as I [2:17:10] mentioned before we've been mainly focused on the commercial kitchens and what we're looking for. Um, recently we [2:17:16] also connected with someone from the city of Bloomington because we also wanted to make sure we had all of the necessary licenses and if not planning [2:17:22] to apply for those. Um but then we would continue with the funding and applying [2:17:28] for grants and things like that further down the line once that's fully solidified. Okay. Yeah, that's fine. Uh cuz the only [2:17:34] reason I was asking is like uh I would did was that in the first year projections like like [2:17:41] loan like having to pay a loan back at all? Um was that in the first year projections or I I guess I didn't see it [2:17:46] in Yeah. So yes. Okay. Um and then in terms of like so you projected about 25K in catering, 20K [2:17:54] in takeout. How many employees would be required to execute all that food? And [2:17:59] you know again I'm glad you asked right here. Okay. So including my [2:18:06] mother. So, one, we'd also have a prep cook, a cashier, a staff member who can handle a wide variety of tasks um [2:18:12] outside of the kitchen, and also having two part-time individuals for, for example, like assisting with the cashier [2:18:18] or maintaining hygiene or even just welcoming people in at the door. That would be about six people. And part of [2:18:25] our budget um going towards salary, I believe, is around 120,000, which was [2:18:31] also projected on the screen. Um, it might have flashed by quick because, you know, a bunch of slides, but obviously [2:18:37] because my mother is not going to be working for free, we're going to split that between those six people. And we just anticipated that having those six [2:18:43] individuals with that amount would be appropriate for what we were trying to build out here. [2:18:55] Um, thank you for being here again. Thank you for the food. um uh the [2:19:02] um I'm I'm curious about the um [2:19:07] way that you have thought about pricing your food. So when you think about as [2:19:13] you mentioned there's no restaurant like this. So what is the expectation of what a an average meal would cost? How have [2:19:20] you projected that? Have you how have you considered that? And how does that go into then your profitability model? [2:19:28] So, we've taken that into consideration um with the help of our business consultant um even because there isn't [2:19:34] really any African cuisines here in Bloomington, we've had to venture out outside of the city um to scope out what [2:19:41] things are looking like um like for example in Brooklyn Park or St. Louis Park or something like that because [2:19:47] although it's not prevalent here, we've needed to get examples from like other [2:19:52] successful businesses, maybe not specifically in the African niche, but [2:19:57] other similar like cultural cuisine uh cuisines. Oh my gosh, I'm tripping on my words. Other cultural cuisines that [2:20:05] might not exactly be like, I don't know, like McDonald's where everything is frozen in the fridge. like they make everything fresh from scratch with fresh [2:20:11] fruits and vegetables and um with that kind of thing. Yes, we have like gone [2:20:17] out and we've like interacted with the people we've like how do I phrase this? [2:20:24] I'm trying to think of the way to put this together. No, I understand where you're coming from. Do you know what on average a a [2:20:30] meal would cost? Like if if somebody's coming into your restaurant and taking an order out, what do you what are you kind of projecting the total bag would [2:20:38] cost? like what their what their spend is. We would say like on average like around like $15 per person. Um but then that [2:20:46] would be for like the takeout because like for example all the boxes that in front of you like that would be like for [2:20:51] example like a meal um that would come with the food. Um if we had time it [2:20:56] would have included like a traditional drink along with that to show off like what specifically it would be it would [2:21:01] be like illustrated as but um yeah we've around like 15 for like takeout in [2:21:08] particular. Yes, of course. Uh thank you for the food. Uh also um so marketing wise and that's I [2:21:16] think your background your focus on marketing. How mass market is the opportunity or or I mean who who are you [2:21:21] targeting? Um, and is this going to be is this a mass awareness campaign? [2:21:26] Okay. So, mainly we're focusing on a the underrepresented African community in [2:21:33] Bloomington and then also b people who are interested in um experiencing the [2:21:39] different cultures that we have to offer in foods because like initially stated in the first slide, we we boast a very [2:21:48] diverse like population of different kinds of cuisines. Um, but it's not the [2:21:53] same. It's not balanced throughout. There have been more that are more popular. And I would like to say that's partly due to the fact that social media [2:21:59] with the way that algorithms work that certain things are promoted more than others, leaving other things in the [2:22:05] shadows. And so our focus would be on targeting those people who a miss home and want to be able to experience the [2:22:11] flavors that they once did before they immigrated here. And then also to people who are thrillseeking and adventurous [2:22:18] and want to experience new flavors and textures. Um because we can see that [2:22:23] from the way that we've currently like promoted our business so far throughout [2:22:28] the year, there have been plenty of interested individuals um from all different backgrounds and races who have [2:22:34] been willing to wanting to try like fufu, like jalaf rice, like a goosey soup, suya, all these different like I [2:22:41] would say like not unusual but like something like they haven't experienced before if that makes sense. And then for [2:22:48] people who haven't been back home or aren't able to prepare the foods by themselves because they can be pretty tedious to make. It would be another [2:22:54] convenient option for them because some people are willing to drive hours just to experience a taste of home again. [2:23:02] Hi. Hello. Uh so building on that question um certainly I think you mentioned it but I [2:23:10] might have missed it from the African community even in Bloomington or the Twin Cities. Do you have those numbers? [2:23:16] I think you said them once. Yeah. So, specifically, um, Bloomington [2:23:22] out of all the cities in Minnesota has the highest percentage of foreignb born residents. And African residents make up [2:23:28] a pretty big chunk of that. Um, but that's not accurately represented in the amenities that the city has to offer. [2:23:35] And we want to help fix that by offering the restaurant and then not only just the restaurant for a but for a space for [2:23:41] people to exist in and collaborate. And it would also help influence cultural dissemination as well too. Of course, [2:23:51] just a quick question follow up on that. Do you know the the the number uh or the [2:23:57] population in Bloomington that makes up the African community? So, we don't have that number [2:24:03] specifically, but what the work that we did with our business advisor um and [2:24:08] then also our what's business consultant as well. um they were able to do that [2:24:14] market research and they didn't specifically find like that number, but they did find through various studies [2:24:20] and the numbers that were put together that African residents did make up a pretty significant portion. Um and [2:24:26] although they're under reppresented, um it was there in the numbers. [2:24:32] Thank you. Of course, [2:25:47] Uh, we'll start with the chocolate bar. Hi there. I want you to take a moment [2:25:53] and think about what your ideal end of day treat looks like. Might be indulgent. Maybe it's something [2:26:00] sweet, but you also want something that's a little bit good for you. Maybe you've had a long day and you just want [2:26:05] a cocktail. The truth is this answer is probably different for all of us and it's going to depend on the type of day you had. [2:26:12] And this was a frequent conversation that I had with my partner while I was on maternity leave. At the end of the [2:26:17] day when we were all together, we wanted to go out and do something and we wanted to end the day on a sweet note. And what [2:26:25] we were finding is that everywhere that we went to um ended up being a compromise and by that I mean [2:26:31] restaurants are kid tolerant. They're more than that or they're kid tolerant [2:26:36] versus kid-friendly. Sorry. Um, breweries are great, but only if your ideal treat is a beer and whatever the [2:26:43] food truck might be serving. There are really friendly places which aren't really a treat for the adults. And when [2:26:50] we're thinking about casual treats, we often were going to ice cream shops and it was in the summer and there's a lot [2:26:56] of it. So my background is in marketing for food brands and I have seen how food [2:27:01] brands bring people together and how people connect over food. And so we were really looking for some place that we [2:27:07] could not feel like it was a compromise. And so while I was on maternity leave, I had a lot of time to just ideulate. I [2:27:14] started thinking about what it would mean to reimagine the way we treat ourselves. What if there was a place [2:27:19] that wasn't necessarily a grab-and-go spot, but a place that you wanted to stay and savor and hang out for a while? [2:27:25] What if there was a place that was accommodating to adults and kids and then there was a place that had more [2:27:32] variety in the types of desserts that they were off offering and different concepts like sharable types of cuisine. [2:27:41] So, as I started thinking about this concept a little bit more, I realized that the way we indulge is changing and [2:27:46] chocolate hasn't quite caught up. If you think about Crumble and the Cold Stones and the um the doughnut shops of the [2:27:53] world, they are kind of places where you have to pick what type of dessert you want to go to. And then there's [2:27:58] different flavors, but there's not really variety in terms of what you can get there. And chocolate, when you look [2:28:04] at chocolate, it hasn't really been transformed into being seen as more of an ingredient. If you go to a chocolate [2:28:10] shop, it's behind cases. It feels a little bit expensive, maybe not as approachable. It's in the gift aisle in [2:28:18] a box most often. And when you think about um the way that traditional chocolate shops offer it up, it does [2:28:25] have a tra the different types of flavors, but it's not thinking about chocolate as an ingredient. [2:28:31] So that's why I started to think of a new kind of dessert house, which is the concept of chocolate bar for a way that [2:28:36] we eat and connect today. And what I mean by that is there are four different things that would make this place unique. One, there would be a dessert [2:28:43] and drink menu with range. So there would be things that were curated towards um different types of [2:28:51] um experiences. So like dessert flights like a dessert flight like this in the [2:28:57] shape of a chocolate bar that have would have different options in it that you could get. There would be sharables. So think like monster cookie dough dip. [2:29:04] There would be better for you options as well. So think chocolatecovered fruit or snicker dates if you wanted something [2:29:10] that was sweet but a little bit good for you. And then there would be beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. So [2:29:15] think na s'mores Manhattans or espresso martinis. The way that this place would feel would [2:29:22] be like home. It would feel inviting. It would feel inclusive. And there would be things that would be accommodating to [2:29:28] everyone who's there. I don't know if you've ever tried to go to the bathroom with two kids, but it's almost [2:29:33] impossible. So there would be things like a single stall bathroom big enough for a stroller or a wheelchair. Always [2:29:39] functional changing tables. There would be sound reduction. There would be adjustable table lighting so those folks [2:29:45] who wanted to go there didn't have to bring a flashlight to be able to see things in a dim environment. Um, and [2:29:51] different things like seating variety both indoor and outdoor for different types of groups like private or with if [2:29:58] you're with a a group of people. There would also be no lines and no [2:30:03] counter chaos. So, this concept would be you walk in, you find your seat, depending on who you're with, what type of vibe you wanted, if you were on date [2:30:10] night or if you wanted a larger table for a group, you would walk in, scan a QR code, you would be able to browse the [2:30:15] menu, and you wouldn't have the chaos of having multiple people in front of you waiting in line trying to pick different [2:30:20] options of what they wanted. And then there wouldn't be any um pressure of a wait staff trying to get you out the [2:30:27] door. You would be able to order more if you want. You would be able to leave when you're done instead of waiting for [2:30:33] a check. So, it would have accommodating things like that. And then last but not least, it would have events that bring [2:30:39] people together. I feel like there's a lot of missed opportunity in terms of how people incorporate events into their [2:30:46] restaurants or businesses and they don't often tap in tap into pop pop culture as much as they could. It's often around [2:30:52] holidays, but there's so many more opportunities. I see this with trend consumer insights and what people are looking for in terms of connecting with [2:30:58] their community. There's so many more opportunities. So, some examples could be a watch party um for a drama that's [2:31:06] happening. It could be curated events around specific targets like Sweet Relief for a Mom's Night Out. Um events [2:31:13] curated towards kids where you could have your kid meet other kids and you can meet other parents and you could be [2:31:19] there for an experience like Tiny Tastemakers. So, while you could argue that dessert [2:31:24] is for everyone, obviously we need to have a target. So the two people or the two groups of people in mind are [2:31:30] millennial parents and younger adults. And both of these groups of people are really seeking inclusive environments. [2:31:39] Millennial parents, they're in the stage of life where they're constantly on the go, but they're looking for a place that they can also feel like adults and that [2:31:45] their kids can come without being a burden. And younger adults, whether they're date night, going on date night, [2:31:51] or hanging out with their friends, they're kind of seeking this additional third space that is an alternative to a [2:31:56] bar. Both of these groups of people are active online and they are also looking for experiences that they can share with [2:32:02] one another. These are some things that they really care about. So they really care about [2:32:09] connection over consumption. They want variety in their menu. They want somewhere where they can feel included [2:32:15] and they just see dessert as something worth going out for. In terms of competition, um, everyone [2:32:22] else kind of has this package or takeaway concept where chocolate bar would have that connection and that atmosphere as part of the environment [2:32:28] that you walk into. A lot of dessert places are also in different areas that are retail based. So, the hours don't [2:32:35] fluctuate into the evening. They're often cut off around dinner time. There's limited local options. So, I [2:32:41] would love for chocolate bar to be able to change that. And then there isn't a lot of places that have a sitdown bar or [2:32:46] experience. So with cocktails in mocktails and events, it would be an inclusive place that incorporates that [2:32:51] as well. And people in Bloomington really feel this gap. I've talked to several people [2:32:56] and I would continue to talk to people about their experience and kind of what they're looking for and what they feel [2:33:01] like is missing in Bloomington, but really at the core of it, they love to spend time at places where they feel like they can connect with other people, [2:33:07] where they see their neighbors, and they're looking for places that are unique to Bloomington that aren't chains. This would offer that [2:33:14] opportunity and it would bring something that would offer an after hours into the evening experience that isn't a bar or a [2:33:20] restaurant. And then Edward's dessert kitchen. This [2:33:26] is a concept case study. So you guys asked about this last time. I had not been, but I talked to various people who [2:33:32] had been. Lovely concept. It sounds like it was great. it unfortunately closed. But dessert bar would be or chocolate [2:33:38] bar would be a different type of concept in terms of what it has to offer. It would have more versatility in the menu. [2:33:44] It would be a little more approachable versus being on the higher end and kind of a occasional thing. It would be more [2:33:51] curated towards date night. Um the location would obviously be different because of downtown. And then there [2:33:57] would be a service experience that would be different in terms of the counter chaos and having it be more [2:34:03] accommodating to groups of people. Three revenue streams between desserts, [2:34:09] liquor and events. I have been ideulating and working on research for three budget t budget [2:34:15] scenarios. Um obviously with more more money you can do more. So lean build all [2:34:21] of these would require getting some additional funding. Um, but the lean build would kind of be, you know, the [2:34:27] bare minimum that we would look towards. And as you get more money, there would be more full expression builds, [2:34:33] additional menu buildouts. Um, and then in terms of sweet spot, there [2:34:40] would be uh just looking at average traffic and average ticket spend, this would be the ideal range where you would [2:34:46] see your break even point to dipping into profit. So, if this feels like an experience [2:34:52] you'd enjoy, please consider Chaka Bar. [2:34:57] [Applause] [2:35:04] Congratulations on making the top 10. Thank you. Uh question, have you done a projection [2:35:10] like you know at least the first year projection for these projects? Yeah. So the traditional I have some [2:35:17] notes here too because um with 130k that would kind of be the minimum that we [2:35:23] would want to do but there would be a projection of like a 20k monthly spend and then off of that we would format [2:35:29] things depending on the type of budget that we we had in order to make a profit. So if we needed to have less events or we needed to curate the menu [2:35:37] exclusively around, you know, different types of equipment that we had, um we've kind of explored different case [2:35:43] scenarios like that. Uh one one more question. Have you [2:35:49] identified or kind of looked into what area within Bloomington are you thinking about having this? Um [2:35:56] I've looked at a couple areas. The specific names are evading me, but I think it would also be dependent on what [2:36:02] lease options were open. I think if there's a place that already has a kitchenesque setup, that's obviously a [2:36:09] more enticing experience and a situation than finding somewhere that doesn't have a kitchen and would need to include that [2:36:14] type of buildout. Uh so looking at your three options for buildout, have you uh are you looking at [2:36:21] investors or what other types of funding are you looking at? Yes. Um, probably small business loans [2:36:28] and likely investors. It would be, you know, probably a blend of both of them. [2:36:36] Uh, thanks for being here. Um, you mentioned a kitchen. I am curious, what does a kitchen for a dessert concept [2:36:43] look like that's different from a restaurant concept? So, it doesn't have as much of the like [2:36:50] made to order type of equipment. um it can be decisive or it can be dependent [2:36:56] on the type of menu that you land on. I've went and looked at a couple dessert specific spots that don't have um you [2:37:02] know the larger conventional conventional ovens and more of like the commercial type aspects like that. It's [2:37:09] more refrigeration. Um but it's really going to depend on what the final menu looks like. There is a range though. I [2:37:15] have seen ones that are functional spaces that include less equipment and then places that do have more options on [2:37:22] their menu that might have a bigger buildout in the kitchen space. Okay. Um, one of the one of the things [2:37:28] you said in your speech that um caught my attention, you said uh people these [2:37:33] folks, I think it was your Jen uh Zeers see dessert as something going something to go out for. I want to know how you [2:37:39] know that. I'd be curious. You seem like a marketing oriented person. I'm curious how you know that that's true. [2:37:44] Uh, Reddit threads and research. I think I would continue to vet these two targets. I think the only way that you [2:37:51] can really get to know them and earn their trust is by speaking with them and understanding what they value. So, they [2:37:58] do see it as an experience to go out for, but I would be, you know, talking to these people and getting more [2:38:05] nitty-gritty into in the types of questions I was asking to see what are the attributes that really get them out [2:38:10] of the house and what are the things that they value in the atmosphere. Okay. Yeah, that there's nothing wrong with it being kind of, you know, an [2:38:16] assumption you're making that you have to test. I was just curious if you actually had data around like how much they're spending on dessert these days. [2:38:23] Um, and speaking of that, if you do the math at eight, you know, 18 $18 a [2:38:29] person, six people, $108 ticket total, like what's the capacity you're hoping [2:38:35] to have in a place like this in order to generate the numbers you were showing us? I think the foot traffic is, you know, I [2:38:42] I would love to have a space that was accommodating for both indoor and outdoor space. I I think especially with [2:38:47] families, there just there's a lot more space that's needed. Um, it would be a [2:38:53] space that would hopefully be able to accommodate 50-ish people within the hour. Um, is what I'm thinking in terms [2:39:00] of like the ideal case scenario. If I can get bigger than that, that's great. Um, but at minimum, that's what I would [2:39:06] look for. Um, two questions. Uh, and you kind of maybe touched on it the second half. So, [2:39:12] um, what makes this place accommodating of kids? Like, like, yeah, like how would how would it be? I mean, I like [2:39:19] have just stopped going to restaurants with my kids. It's just not worth it. It's not worth the trouble. So, explain to me how this would be accommodating of [2:39:26] kids. Uh, there's a couple different ways. I think the bathroom situation is a big one. I can't tell you how many times there's been a restroom with a hard to [2:39:32] find changing table and I've ended up it's broken and I've ended up changing my kid on the floor with socks on their hands and trying to like make do. So, [2:39:39] the bathroom situation is huge. I think other accommodating things for kids to be able to move around is big. Um, there [2:39:46] could be interactive elements like a chalkboard wall where it's a place that kids are encouraged to be kids. That's [2:39:51] something you run into when you go to restaurants. It's like you're confined to your little space. They don't really have a place to move around and that [2:39:58] feels restrictive to them and that therefore it translates into behavior that feels like someone's telling them [2:40:04] what to do. So, there would be aspects like that. I think other things are just having water available. I think um I [2:40:10] personally have like a restaurant bag that I bring to restaurants that's for my kids. So even like rentable things [2:40:16] like that could be cool. I have a lot of ideas around it. Um but yeah, I think [2:40:21] making the space accommodating to kids would be super important. Sure. And is there like an existing [2:40:26] model that you would like to um like that exists that you've seen that you're [2:40:32] doing? I mean obviously you did the research on Edwards. Good job. Um like is there an existing model that you [2:40:37] would like to at least start to like model this after? It's based off of places that have [2:40:43] different amenities. So like Centro is um somewhere that has a really that's kind of where the ordering concept I I [2:40:49] love their ordering concept. You don't have to wait for a serving staff. You can order, you can pay, and it comes to [2:40:55] you. Um that also has like cost benefits. But I think that concept of how it works and not having lines and [2:41:01] stuff would work really well for this. I think if you've ever been to Yum Kitchen, their like bathroom experience is great. It's single stalls. There's [2:41:08] plenty of room. you could bring a whole stroller in there versus like if you have to go to the bathroom not packing everything up and bringing everyone into [2:41:15] Yeah. Yeah. You get it. Um so yeah, I think there's like bits and pieces of places just around the Twin Cities that [2:41:21] I've saw that don't exist in one place where a chocolate bar could offer that. [2:41:27] So I have one question. Is there a chef involved in this? Are you the chef? [2:41:32] I I mean I'm not opposed to learning how to be a chef. Um, I think we would have people who would be trained in the [2:41:39] space, but I don't necessarily think that you would need a like a a traditional chocolier to be able to make this idea happen. I think there's range [2:41:46] in in the menu where something like a dessert dip, it doesn't take and require [2:41:52] a lot of experience, but things like if there would be like tempered chocolate, that's obviously a learning curve that I [2:41:59] would need to account for. So, if I can find someone who is experienced in that area, great. But you also don't need [2:42:04] specific schooling to be able to pick that up. So, you indicated that there are [2:42:11] locations that do sort of dessert only menus. C. Can you give me a sense of where they are? Because I got to be [2:42:17] honest, that kind of blows my mind other than ice cream. You know, I get you go to an ice cream shop, but where else do [2:42:25] people go for dessert only? I mean, it really is like chains. So there's like the ice cream chains like [2:42:31] Dairy Queen or Cold Stone and then there are other places. I think the closest [2:42:36] place I feel like that has a similar concept in terms of dessert is [2:42:42] um this place called Golden Nuts in Colombia Heights. They have um dessert [2:42:47] forward aspect where it does include like a place to sit. They don't have really the beverage variety, but in [2:42:53] terms of going out at night to a dessert specific place, a lot of them are really seasonal, too. [2:42:59] Okay. So, because I can think of going out like if I went to dinner, I'd have [2:43:04] dessert at dinner. Yeah, exactly. And uh but I can also think of other places I might go to after dinner for [2:43:10] the drink aspect of it. Maybe that's just my problem. Um, but I would also [2:43:16] say I I just got back from Ireland and so as an expansion opportunity, there's [2:43:21] a place called Butler's Chocolate and it is one of the most prolific coffee shops [2:43:27] around there, but it's chocolate centered. Okay. And they they really distinguish themselves based on that. And so I can [2:43:34] see having some type of um after-dinner type of place where where couples would [2:43:40] go or families would go and and be able to do that. So I I can kind of get the concept. Um so I I I think it's [2:43:48] innovative. So thank you for kind of challenging my thoughts. Yeah. A good night cap that could mean several things. [2:43:54] Yeah. But I do think that's important in terms of location. Yeah. Because I I think if you put that in the [2:43:59] middle of a residential area, there's not going to be a lot of driving traffic to a good night cap [2:44:04] for obvious reasons. Hopefully. Uh but if you're in a location where there's walking um or short commute um Uber lift [2:44:13] type of situation, I think it could uh there could be an appeal to that. Yes, absolutely. [2:44:18] Thank you. [2:44:25] Thank you. [2:45:35] judges. Okay, we'll go ahead and start with [2:45:51] Hi everybody. My name is Audi Solram and I'm very excited to be here today and thank you again for bringing us back and [2:45:57] for the opportunity. This is my friend Zach and Zach's going to be interpreting for my strategic partners. Uh last time [2:46:03] you you saw us, we pitched delivery, pickup and lounge, but we looked at the rent and all the costs with it. We have [2:46:10] to bring our retail partners so that my partners have a retail license and alongside my delivery angle and lounge, [2:46:17] we're going to combine and pitch you how the plug experience really works. So, [2:46:23] Minnesota has legalized cannabis and there's a lot of users, right? And the Department of Health has kind of done [2:46:30] done a study that shows over 1.3 million users of cannabis. And I get it. [2:46:36] Cannabis is a magical plant. It's actually it helps some people with pain relief. It helps some people manage [2:46:42] anxiety and just the daily stress that comes with life. And for some people, it's a lot of fun. So, [2:46:49] it's going to be an interesting challenge of how to increase the accessibility while protecting the community. And that's really what we're [2:46:56] here to do. Because the downside of cannabis that nobody tells you about that it is is that it could lead to [2:47:02] dependency. If you do too much of it in a day, it turns into a week, a month, and all of a sudden, before you know it, [2:47:09] your life starts to disappear in front of your own eyes. So that's why we're [2:47:14] here on a mission to increase the cannabis accessibility while protecting the community with the other hand. And [2:47:20] it equates to a big $1.5 billion industry. So we know that there's a lot of opportunity. So the last time we were [2:47:27] here, we talked a little bit about the Plugmobile, which is our Door Dash for cannabis, but believe it or not, that's [2:47:32] just actually one piece of it. The Plug is is who embodies this mission that in [2:47:38] that's all about increasing cannabis accessibility while protecting the community. But we have different verticals that are underneath the plug [2:47:45] mobile. So for example, the plug house is what actually is going to be our brickandmortar pitch today which we'll [2:47:50] get into. But we also envision the plug pod which is our media and podcast arm but also plug impact. There's a lot of [2:47:57] state grants that come with it. But ultimately they're customer acquisition channels that feeds back into this [2:48:03] bigger entity that we call the plug. So here's our vision. The challenge is to [2:48:08] increase the accessibility in the right way. And we believe through our strategic partners, we can bring this [2:48:14] innovative business plan coming to life. And it's essentially a micro business that allows retail first, but also [2:48:21] pickup and delivery concepts through our proprietary Plugmobile concept for delivery and also a lounge atmosphere [2:48:27] where the community can grow, build on what's new, and also understand more [2:48:32] about cannabis. And really what we want to uh do for the plug is ex uh curate [2:48:38] great experiences and that comes with THC on-site consumption. A lot of people [2:48:44] think that you can consume cannabis like actually smoke in there, but that's not reality just yet. We could do edible low [2:48:50] potency um edibles for THC consumption in store. Um but also we can have [2:48:56] exciting vendors. With this $ 1.5 billion opportunity comes a lot of brands and with our space we can [2:49:02] actually encourage them to come educate their consumers whether that uh beverages for sleep for pain relief. So [2:49:09] a lot of opportunity uh to really educate the community but we can also party at night but also open it up to [2:49:16] co-working hours in the morning times. Obviously we want to encourage and remove the stigma of you know the [2:49:22] cannabis consumers always partying whatever that is. So we want to encourage and put light to this cannabis [2:49:28] industry that we can be very productive. Um obviously that combined with our discrete pickup locations and and [2:49:34] delivery that just adds to the discreetness that the consumers will feel and switch from the illicit [2:49:40] channels which is also another big challenge. But overall what we envision for this community lounge and retail is [2:49:46] different themed nights as well that invites different target audiences within cannabis. There's actually a wide [2:49:52] variety. 55 plus love edibles and they love beverages, things that are not [2:49:57] inhalable. But the 21 to 35 year old consumer, it's a completely different kind of market. So, we're trying to [2:50:04] curate to different entities and different target markets through our different verticals within the plug [2:50:10] organization. Man, I'll even do magic tricks all day if it if it drives consumers, right? So, I think there's a [2:50:15] lot of opportunity in how we do it. But let's now talk about how this really works. And like I mentioned before, it [2:50:21] really is a strategic partnership. This is an innovative business model. And Hatch wouldn't just be supporting one [2:50:27] entity. It's actually bringing Sean and his team and my team with John to mesh [2:50:33] our cultures and our specialties both from a retail perspective as well as delivery and omni channel to bring them [2:50:39] together to work as one entity. and my partners have agreed to kind of do a DBA [2:50:45] as the plug house so that our branding is is consistent and with all the marketing that Hatch would be doing. It [2:50:52] just drives our SEO strategy by having a universal name such as that. But just to [2:50:57] kind of keep it um high level, my partners have a micro business license and that's what enables that retail uh [2:51:04] on-site consumption and lounge. And my partner John and I, we have the delivery license which adds to everything. uh [2:51:11] that they can't do. So, the micro license can do everything except for delivery. So, by the law, we're a [2:51:16] perfect fit to partner. Now, quick slide on traction. Here's where we are. Our [2:51:22] micro business partners, they're already preliminary approved. So, they've gotten their licenses and what's holding them [2:51:27] back right now is locking in capital, believe it or not. And cannabis and capital, they are really tough. I know [2:51:34] it's a really tough market already, but cannabis, especially with uh the federal nature of it, it's really tough. So, in [2:51:40] a way, this has kind of given us an opportunity to bring their store to life, but also from a delivery [2:51:45] perspective, we're a qualified applicant, and our background checks are clear. We're just waiting for the OCM to [2:51:51] say, "Go for it." Um, and also having an office space for us is our final step. So, we're being really creative and [2:51:57] innovative around this Hatch competition to bring two different businesses to life, but as one entity. And the other [2:52:04] piece of traction that I think is really important is that for the last 18 months, we didn't just wait around and apply for the license. We actually built [2:52:11] our own proprietary technology that powers the Plug House. So the Plugmobile is a big part of it. We have POS built [2:52:19] into that system. We have table reservations for lounge. Obviously, delivery and omni channel was our main [2:52:24] focus, but we also have marketing and things like that. And really with the use of funds, we're going to get really [2:52:30] scrappy. So, this blueprint is what I like to call a minimum viable retail [2:52:35] store where we learn from people who've made the costly mistakes and do it for a lot less. To be honest, $100,000 goes a [2:52:42] long way, but you have to be really smart in how you deploy it. So, we're bringing our operational excellence and [2:52:49] building out what's really needed. For example, the secured vault room. It doesn't need to be a vault like a bank, [2:52:54] but it has to be a closed off thing. ADA bathrooms, believe it or not, that's where people waste like $50,000 because [2:53:00] it's not compliant. So, making sure we understand what the layout should look like um is going to really help us um [2:53:07] strong. And our customer flow with the door. We're going to have somebody check the ID and walk right through to our uh [2:53:13] secured retail area if they wanted for uh to go for just a purchase and they would walk out this second door and walk [2:53:20] back out. So, a very easy flow of consumers, but also we'll have lounge consumers that are just chilling, having [2:53:26] a good time, and we'll make sure to agegate every area so it's um seamless. And we'll also have a pickup locker and [2:53:33] delivery operations in the corner as well. All the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6, those are the cameras. So, cameras are a big [2:53:40] part, adds to the cost and things like that. But, we just want to show you that we're thinking about those things. And from a projections perspective, we've [2:53:47] drawn out a very detailed category strategy. I personally come from Best Buy and this is something we do every [2:53:53] year for every one of our categories. For example, TVs. For me, cannabis is just another category. And we look at [2:53:59] what is our budget and we really believe $ 1.5 million revenue goal is not out of the question, especially if we can get [2:54:06] started with the help of partners um and also some capital. So, that's kind of what we're aiming for. And with that [2:54:12] comes a good understanding of how many units we have to turn as well as what is the gross order value, how many [2:54:17] transactions and that gives us an idea that we're going to make about 20% um EBIDA which is earnings before the [2:54:24] taxation and all of that good stuff. Uh our initiatives for 2026 will really just be clarifying operationally like [2:54:31] who does what. It sounds simple that my partners will manage retail and lounge where I come in with the technology [2:54:37] delivery and pickup. And if you take a look at the breakdown uh with the pie chart, retail is going to be the biggest [2:54:43] chunk of it because of the location and the power it brings. But delivery and pickup combined that omni channel brings [2:54:49] in 30 to 40% roughly and also the lounge will add to uh the revenue model as [2:54:54] well. While the lounge is a small part of it, we think it's really important because it builds community and those [2:55:00] are probably the same consumers that are also buying retail and delivery and things like that. But some of the some [2:55:06] of the metrics we're going to track to grow profitability is driving order value. So every ticket price, you know, [2:55:13] it's industry average is uh $79, but we're going to make sure that we understand and drive that further. But [2:55:19] in the last few seconds, we have I just wanted to say I I presented a big vision here today and it's really thanks to you [2:55:25] guys. you guys ma made me put this together and thanks to Art and many other mentors through the program, we've [2:55:31] gotten a lot of good help um to do this and we would love to have your support and I promise you one day if you were to [2:55:38] vote for us, you'll look back and say we voted for that guy and that's what I want to do for you. So, thank you. [2:55:45] [Applause] [2:55:54] Congratulations on making the top 10. Thank you. So cannabis dispensary have a very high [2:56:01] chance of being wrapped. Yes. And but you are going to plan to have [2:56:06] somebody you know like retail and open floor and stuff like that. Yeah. [2:56:12] How are you going to making sure that your uh business is secure enough [2:56:17] without spending lots of uh money on security? Right. and still allowing [2:56:22] people to be around and not get robbed. Yeah, I think last time you also asked me a riskrelated question. I'm maybe [2:56:28] thinking you were that kind of a major or something but have a risk background. Perfect. Yeah, so I get it. Um, so we in [2:56:34] the blueprint that I showed you, there is a secured off area which is going to have key fobs and security cameras and [2:56:40] at the end of the night we want to make sure that everything is placed in our vault room and that's what the state [2:56:46] wants. And the good news here is that the state has given my partners a checklist of things that help mitigate [2:56:52] some of that risk. So we do have guidelines. It's not like we're inventing this part of it. But I agree [2:56:57] with you. I would never put myself in a situation where we would get robbed. Um so we we are thinking about those and [2:57:03] adhering to the guidelines. Um how large is this space and do you [2:57:08] have an idea of where you want to put it? Yeah, I think ideally we want it to be [2:57:14] around 2,000 square feet. I think that's a good way to get the minimum viable product while it's being comfortable and [2:57:19] we push people in and out. Um, so 2,000 square feet is what I want. We're contemplating which area of the [2:57:26] Bloomington um to kind of be placed in. We like East Bloomington. We know there's a lot of foot traffic and [2:57:31] especially being with Mall of America, that's a great area for us to tap into. Um, but we we are yet to look at kind of [2:57:38] our map of the zoned uh areas to really pinpoint which location, but we do have [2:57:44] a few specific and our top pick is East Bloomington. Um, so yeah. So, so if I'm from out of town, I can [2:57:52] buy it. Absolutely. Yeah. And transport it. Is that right? You you could order through our Plugmobile app to be delivered or come [2:57:59] pick it up or even have a consumption edible at our place. Right. And so then one last one you um [2:58:05] in one of your statements you said that you would uh how do you protect the community that was part of it? So [2:58:12] talk to us a little bit. Yeah, absolutely. That's a great question. So partly is kind of being aware that it could lead to dependency, [2:58:18] right? And with our our approach, we're taking a digital first datadriven approach. So we'll even though I won't [2:58:24] say this to the consumers, we'll have a problem set of data that we could identify as high risk. So if we see [2:58:30] somebody buying, you know, five ounces a month, that's too high in my own standards. I like to say, you know, a [2:58:37] joint a day keeps the doctor away, that kind of a thing. So we will have a little bit of a guidance and through [2:58:42] technology, we'll gently nudge them saying, "Hey, here's how to get back in control of your cannabis use and not the [2:58:48] other way around." So we that's one part of it, but education is a big thing that we're going to have to drive [2:58:54] continually. Um so given the nebulous legal framework [2:59:01] with the federal you know federal state all that stuff um is there any examples [2:59:08] of similar kinds of businesses having any issues navigating that or or is it [2:59:14] just generally if you're if it's state is legal then you're no problems like generally what's No great question so banking is the [2:59:20] biggest one that comes to mind because banks like US bank are federally compliant obviously they they're not [2:59:25] going bank us. However, to your point, state level banks do exist. So, we we have Park State Bank is a is a good [2:59:32] partner that's actively out there. Um, Northeast Bank, uh, I believe that's the name of it. So, like there's community [2:59:38] partners like that who we're going to, uh, really tap into. But banking is a big issue. With that comes access to [2:59:44] capital, right? There's no loans. I mean, some of our partners here, uh, other, uh, contestants, they can at [2:59:49] least apply for SBA loan to add to the 100K. We don't have that, unfortunately. [2:59:55] So we have to be very strict on our operations to make sure that we can pull off what they can. Um so access to [3:00:02] capital and banking is the biggest one, but that's going to flip in the next 3 to 5 years. And just kind of going back to Door Dash, the other arm with the [3:00:09] Plugmobile, Door Dash is going to come in and do what we want to do regardless of what happens. We're just trying to [3:00:15] get there before them and have a good base and would love to start right here in Bloomington. [3:00:21] Great. Uh great great uh pitch. Thank you. Uh, I just have a couple questions. [3:00:26] Yeah. Um, it seems like we have two businesses that are coming together. [3:00:31] Yes. Has that all been worked out? Yeah. So, we actually had a due diligence call with the city actually [3:00:37] where we laid out the law and and kind of like I mentioned earlier, the micro guys can do everything except for [3:00:44] delivery. And that's why the delivery license was broken off and where I applied for it. So, the the law is [3:00:51] actually telling us to partner, but you're right, we're getting really intimate as to how we go to market, and [3:00:56] it's going to be a five-year marriage. So, we we we have to be very strong and compliant, of course. Um, and if we were [3:01:03] to move forward within this process, we would bring the OCM to do another due diligence. But so far, with what we've [3:01:09] showed the uh the city, um, we feel really confident and so does the city. Yeah. And and maybe I can be a little [3:01:16] bit more pointed. Please. Yeah. like you're standing up here. I am really supportive of giving you [3:01:24] $100,000, but I don't know. Yes. Any of your partners. I don't know the [3:01:30] differences between the retail business and the delivery business. I mean, I do because I'm in it, but you know, in your [3:01:37] situation, what does that look like? Yeah, absolutely. It's me to give you $100,000 when you're [3:01:42] going to split it with three other guys. That's or whatever. Great question. And I like what Sean says. I don't know if he's here, but you [3:01:48] bet on the jockey, not the horse, right? And sometimes that's true. In today's market, you actually have to bet on the horse and the jockey, I feel, but that's [3:01:56] kind of that approach. We all four of us, therefore, partners and us, um, [3:02:01] we've been in this for the last 18 months. So, I can speak with confidence that my partners, whoever I pick, I [3:02:06] picked to win. So, I want to give you instill that back to you. But really, we would have to kind of next round if we [3:02:13] were to move forward. I'll make sure to give you that confidence that my partners are in it to win. And obviously, they're here today. Maybe [3:02:19] we're leveraging Zach to communicate, interpret a little bit, but I think next time around we'll have more time to give [3:02:24] you that confidence, but I feel really good. Go for it. [3:02:29] I have a one very quick question. Um, do you know what people's consumption numbers in retail establishments are [3:02:35] today? like um and what are the considerations you have to manage around [3:02:41] okay I take an I take an edible and I hang out for 30 minutes and then I want to go out to my car do I get to go out [3:02:46] to my car or like are you going to control that like tell us a little bit about like how many people are going to hang out [3:02:52] and how long do they have to hang out and you know what do those numbers look like? Absolutely. So this is new retail and [3:02:58] lounge combo is a it's something that the the other markets are trying as well. Obviously, we're sticking with the [3:03:04] lowd dose consumption of it. Um, but there are very good examples of bars and restaurants now doing that. So, by law, [3:03:11] I believe we they can have two drinks um within a certain amount of time. Don't quote me. I I don't know if it's two [3:03:18] hours, but there is a timer on how many consumption uh how many drinks that they can consume. Similar to alcohol, right? [3:03:24] Uh with, you know, this level of potency, you're supposed to, you know, you know, take a little break and not [3:03:30] drive for a certain amount of time. So we are waiting for the state to clarify that a little bit as well but there will [3:03:35] be guidelines um because every micro business is going to do this probably um [3:03:40] uh you you had asked another question about consumption there um yeah it's really hard to tell I think people at [3:03:47] home prefer high dose right so with the lowd dose market being so new it is research has to be like more um deep for [3:03:55] us to understand those things but uh we we will have safety guidelines on hey we want to make sure we serve you a good [3:04:02] amount of whatever you need but not too much more. So we may have a two drink limit especially if you're going out and [3:04:08] maybe consuming alcohol that adds a whole another layer to this. So we will be conscious of the consumption. Um yeah [3:04:15] it's more of a lounge where people hang out as well. So thank you. Go ahead. [3:04:20] More question. No it's okay. So there are like four people being [3:04:25] partner in this business. Do you have any partnership agreement in place like detailing like people grow, right? [3:04:32] Right. I've seen day in and day out business partners grow apart and all that stuff. Absolutely. [3:04:37] Do you have a partnership agreement that's spelling out like okay should you grow apart? What that look like? [3:04:43] So we have a highlevel agreement just because we didn't want to put the horse before the or the cart before the horse [3:04:48] just yet. However, I have been briefing my partners on this is what I'm expecting and how it could look like. [3:04:54] So, especially so within this, it's going to be a five-year marriage. That's for sure what what we know right now is [3:05:00] if we're going to do this together, it's going to be an effort that's going to bring us to our long-term strategy. Um, [3:05:05] and I have laid out certain terms of what I want I would like to see. Good news is I won't be taking any ownership [3:05:12] from them or they won't be taking anything from us. That's because Hatch doesn't take any dilution, right? So, we [3:05:18] are very flexible. I'm basically going to have a branding agreement with these guys for sharing the Plug brand on on [3:05:25] that retail storefront, but it's still going to be entirely their business. And on top of that, I'll add the delivery [3:05:31] and pickup business within the Plugmobile delivery channel. So, it is a partnership. Um, we we want to lock in a [3:05:38] agreement by next round if we were to go forward. But today, we wanted to keep it high level. We first wanted to, you [3:05:45] know, just like dating, right? You want to make sure you're okay with this person. and you don't get married right away. So, we're in that process of of [3:05:52] getting to that point. We're just We haven't signed anything yet. Thank you. Thank you. [3:05:59] Thank you guys. Appreciate it. And thanks for my friends for being here, too. [3:07:24] We'll move on to Twin City Street. Perfect. [3:07:30] All right. Hello once again everyone. My name is Schllo Meadow. I'm the CEO and founder of Twin City Streetwhere. For [3:07:35] those who are new, Twin City is a sneaker and strewer supplying business that I started in 2019 when I was in ninth grade and it's been the biggest [3:07:42] part of my life ever since. So, a quick background. Six years ago, I [3:07:47] started this business because of my love for sneakers and street wear. I've always thought of it as a way for people to express themselves and be unique to [3:07:53] one another. I hated how there were so many problems within this industry. So, I strive to fix it all and become that change that everyone in the industry [3:07:59] needed. I've been allin since the moment Twin Cities Street was created, and this business has been my pride and joy, as [3:08:05] well as my passion, which has turned into persistence. No matter the obstacles, I've made sure to keep pushing hard. For example, in 2022, uh, [3:08:12] my face was broken and my jaw was wired shut for months. However, I made sure not to miss out on a single opportunity, [3:08:18] still operated like nothing had ever happened. Um, actually, if you look at the picture in the bottom right, uh, [3:08:23] that was during a sneaker event. I negotiated and purchased a 100 pairs of inventory, all while having my mouth [3:08:28] wired shut and not being able to talk. Uh, I can promise you this. Twin City means the world to me. And if you're [3:08:34] unsure about betting on the business, then bet on the person behind it. [3:08:40] All right. So, here at Twin City Streetware, we buy, sell, trade, and consign all sneakers, street wear, and [3:08:46] accessories that are exclusive. That means items that you won't be able to find at any retail store and that sell [3:08:51] out instantly. Because of this, all of our products have huge demand, resulting in large profit margins and a surplus of buyers. Twin City Streer started with an [3:08:58] inventory of just one item, but now we have over a thousand pairs in our inventory for consumers to choose from as every penny gets reinvested back into [3:09:04] building and growing the business. So, in this day and age, especially business like this, having a good online [3:09:11] presence is crucial. So, the last six years, I've taken several marketing and sales courses, and my background in [3:09:16] content creating and editing has helped us greatly and achieving over 160,000 followers across our social media, as [3:09:22] well as an average of over 500,000 views a month. Uh, my production team and I, we spent several hours a day working on [3:09:28] improving our online presence and creating a good image for our business through social media, which has helped secure clients and establish trust with [3:09:34] people from all over the world. So, there's several problems now that [3:09:39] consumers face in this industry. First of all, uh prices are very high both locally and online. Between resale [3:09:44] markups, platform fees, and limited stock, most buyers end up overpaying online for the same shoes that they [3:09:50] could get anywhere else for less. And as for local resale stores, they all mark up their shoes much higher than online [3:09:55] and market prices. Second, the replica market is out of control. Fakes are everywhere, especially online, and [3:10:00] there's a lot of people that get scammed without even realizing it. And there's just a real trust issue in this industry right now. Lastly, accessibility and [3:10:07] variety are lacking. Most stores don't carry a wide selection and there's nowhere that really lets you buy Sil Trade in person with confidence. And if [3:10:14] you order a shoe online, you're not just hit with high fees. You also have to wait an average of 7 to 10 days to receive your product, making it very [3:10:20] inconvenient. And that is exactly where we step in. At Twin Cityear, we've [3:10:25] already built real solutions to the biggest problems that consumers face. For starters, we offer 100% authentic [3:10:30] sneakers, streetear, air, and accessories. Every item is thoroughly verified and trusted so our uh customers [3:10:35] never have to worry about receiving a replica. Our pricing is very competitive and transparent. We use real-time market data to make sure that people aren't [3:10:42] overpaying unlike what happens on online platforms like StockX or Go where extra feels extra fees pile up fast. We also [3:10:49] heavily undercut local competitor pricing ensuring the best and lowest price possible for all of our consumers. [3:10:55] Uh because we prioritize more volume and building new relations with customers. Something that we also do is offer no [3:11:00] interest holds for up to for a product with 20% down for up to 30 days as well as offer payment plans for those who [3:11:06] can't pay the full price for any product upfront. We've created a trusted system where customers can buy, sell trade, or [3:11:11] consign all in person at events or through our social media and website. We've also built an online we've also built a strong online presence with [3:11:18] thousands of followers and hundreds of five-star reviews backing our service and reputation. Now, we just need a [3:11:23] storefront to take it to the next level. So, here's kind of the vision of what the storefront will look like. [3:11:28] Essentially, there will be uh just walls full of over a thousand pairs of shoes uh as well as clothing racks for the [3:11:34] streetear and display cases for accessories. The store will look very appealing to consumer's eyes and will [3:11:39] draw in a lot of foot traffic due to the ambiance, vibes, and just the wide selection offered at the store. [3:11:46] Now, we offer 100% authentic items, competitive pricing that undercuts major platforms, and a wide selection to serve [3:11:53] everyone from collectors to everyday shoppers. We ensure that there's something for everyone. Customers can buy, sell, trade, and consign directly [3:11:59] with us either online and in person. And we've already built the trust and customer base as well as establish relations with bulk sellers, ensuring [3:12:06] that we could fully restock our inventory at any time within just hours. Like I mentioned, we also host bi-weekly [3:12:12] uh free sneaker events that bring people together, not just uh not just to shop, but to connect and support other local [3:12:17] small businesses. This has greatly helped put our name in front of the community and has caused many locals to get to know Twin Cities Street, uh as [3:12:24] well as help us find hundreds of new lifelong connections that have greatly helped grow us. Now, the need for a [3:12:29] store isn't just about growth. It's about timing. Right now, there's still no space in Minnesota that truly brings the Sena community together. There's [3:12:36] nowhere people can go to just hang out, trade, shop, and just, you know, feel part of the culture. And that's something that we're going to change. [3:12:41] We've spent the last six plus years building Twin City into a trusted name. We've got the inventory, the brand, the [3:12:47] loyal customer base all ready to scale. The sneaker resale market is growing very fast, and the demand is already here. Now, with a physical store, we'll [3:12:53] be able to display more inventory and serve significantly more customers every single day. We'll be able to offer full [3:12:59] in-person authentication for our customers, do live trades, and have seller consignment displayed at our store. We'd also be able to host larger, [3:13:06] more consistent events and give the community a permanent spot to connect, shop, and just grow the culture with. [3:13:11] We'd bring great foot traffic into Bloomington. We have many influencers, artists, and other businesses connect with us, and we'd be able to [3:13:16] significantly increase our revenue and profits with the storefront. Uh, the store will essentially bring all of our solutions under one roof and put us [3:13:22] right on the map. So, our target customers cover a wide range from serious sneaker collectors, [3:13:28] resellers to teenagers, college students, parents, really anyone just looking for reliable, authentic shoes at [3:13:34] a fair price. Our customers are pretty much everyone no matter the demographic. And we also attract streetware lovers, [3:13:39] local artists, and influencers. People who just come for the culture, not just for the kicks. Now, as far as competition, like I mentioned earlier, [3:13:46] online platforms like StockX or Go charge a high fees. They're flooded with fakes and don't offer the trust or [3:13:51] in-person experience that customers want. Mall chains carry general releases and there's no really resell or tradeins [3:13:57] and not much demand. And while local resale shops do exist, most either lack in variety, overpric their inventory, or [3:14:03] only deal with a certain type of items. And that's what sets us apart because we're not just selling sneakers. We're building a community. We're creating a [3:14:10] name for ourselves all while expanding and growing our business. So, let's talk numbers now. Twin City [3:14:16] has been profitable and growing since day one. We started in 2019 doing $40,000 in sales and we've scaled every [3:14:22] year since, hitting over $200,000 in 2024 and already reaching $190,000 year [3:14:27] to date in 2025. This shows consistent demand, repeat customers, and a proven ability to sell online and in person as [3:14:33] well as at events. Now, with $100,000 from Hatch, we'll right away right away open a permanent retail location in [3:14:39] Bloomington, expand our team, and increase our operational capacity, and ultimately double, even triple our [3:14:44] monthly revenue because we'll be able to um we'll be able to have more customers and fulfill more orders with our brand [3:14:49] recognization, inventory, and customer base already in place. Having the store gives us the space to turn momentum into [3:14:55] scale, and we'll take Twin Cities Stewart to the next level. Thankfully, we won't need to allocate any of the money towards inventory as we've already [3:15:00] spent the years growing our inventory uh to a store scale. So the distribution of the money would be split by 50% going [3:15:07] into the first year lease, roughly 10% in building and designing the store, 5% into marketing and launching of the [3:15:13] physical store, and 35% going into payroll. Now for expenses, our biggest expense [3:15:18] will be our lease estimated between 3 to $5,000 per month depending on the final location in Bloomington. As a Minnesota [3:15:24] realtor myself, I'll be able to dig deep into finalizing a location that will greatly benefit us, as well as the city of Bloomington bringing in great foot [3:15:31] traffic and being at a prime location. We also need to cover utilities, insurance, and basic payroll to bring on [3:15:36] one to two part-time employees. Uh we're setting aside monthly budgets for marketing, event hosting, and intore [3:15:42] maintenance as well as a point of sales system. Um all these things we've already proven that we can manage on a smaller scale since we won't need to [3:15:48] spend anything on our inventory. That allows us to focus our capital on the lease staffing and just scaling the business. Hence, we could just start [3:15:54] rolling into production right away. Our growth so far has been very consistent [3:15:59] with starting off with $40,000 in 2019, reaching over $200,000 last year, meaning a 400% total growth in those [3:16:06] five years. Now, with a physical store, we're projecting to we're projecting significant revenue growth, not just [3:16:11] from daily foot traffic, but from expanding operations, consignment, tradeins, more out ofstate orders, and just being able to work with multiple [3:16:17] customers at our store all at once. With the store open, we expect to double our monthly sales within the first year with [3:16:23] the potential to hit $400 to $500,000 annually by year two, which is a heavy underestimate in my opinion. [3:16:30] Twin Cities Street has always been more about sneakers. It's been about building something real, standing for the community, and growing our brand name [3:16:35] while making lifelong connections and relations. From day one, the ultimate goal was to open a store and a true home for Secret Culture. Here, we built [3:16:42] trust, grown a loyal following, and created impact. So, now we are more than ready to confidently open a storefront. [3:16:47] This opportunity just isn't about funding. It's about the chance to finally bring that vision to life. If you believe if you believe in what we're [3:16:53] building and you see yourself coming to shop and hang out at Twin City Streer, then we'd be honored to have your vote. [3:16:58] Thank you very much. [3:17:10] Can we Okay. Uh, hi. Thanks for being here. Congrats on getting here. Thank you. Um, you mentioned a you [3:17:16] talked a lot about having your inventory ready to go. Uh, search your website and all like your like the product. I I have [3:17:22] had a question about like new inventory and like what are you setting aside to like I I assume if this exclusivity and [3:17:28] like you know um uh that's an important part of your um the way that you work um [3:17:35] that you have to be able to like buy on the spot and like be a part of that. um [3:17:40] picking up those those new things that come out and making sure that you have those exclusive options and everything [3:17:45] available to folks. So, I'm curious about like how you manage your money uh to to like and be prepared for [3:17:53] spot purchases or or other things like that when you need to get the kind of inventory that you need to continue the [3:17:59] stock. Yeah, absolutely. So, at all times I keep a certain amount of just liquid [3:18:04] cash that's available at any time because once again, you never know. I could get a phone call anytime that, hey, I have 50 pairs of shoes. I need to [3:18:11] get rid of them right away. For example, just recently, one of my buddies got in a car crash. He only had um limited [3:18:17] liabilities, so he wasn't able to pay for all the damages and everything. He had to sell his full collection, and within one hour, I went to his house, [3:18:23] bought everything. Um, so there's two things I do. So, I do keep a certain amount of funds that are readily [3:18:28] available. I have a good amount in my inventory, like tied in in my inventory already, so at any time I could sell [3:18:33] that right away. There's uh apps called StockX where I could I'm at a high level where I could sell the product and [3:18:40] before even shipping it I'll get the money right away. So that's always available. But something that we also do [3:18:45] is we buy most of our inventory from credit cards and we have 30 days to pay that off in full. So that that's really [3:18:51] helped out a lot. Okay. Uh and then let's talk a little bit about the people who uh who are [3:18:56] here. So, can you talk a little bit about the demographic of the Twin Cities market for for this so that you know it [3:19:02] would justify a retail place for you? Um, the online community is obviously [3:19:07] huge. Um, but here in the Twin Cities, what are we looking at in terms of the availability of people who are [3:19:13] interested in this on a regular basis and would can allow, you know, would enable you to keep the lights on over a [3:19:19] several year period of time. Absolutely. Yeah. So, I mean, you'd think that for a business like this, the [3:19:25] demographic is mainly people my age, like college students or, you know, artists, influencers, and all, but in [3:19:30] the last six years, what I've noticed is I've gotten a mix of everyone. So, there's a lot of parents that come to me [3:19:37] wanting to buy their kids a gift or something. There's a lot of old sneaker heads who have just been collecting for [3:19:42] years. It's kind of a mix of everyone, but I do have a lot of ties and relations with universities like the [3:19:47] University of Minnesota, St. Thomas, like the athletic department and everything. So, a majority of my customer base does end up being those [3:19:54] demographics from like 15 years old to like 30 years old or something. That's what kind of just keeps me going. But [3:20:01] like I said, there's really no demographics for this kind of business. I'm open to everyone, you know, and I've [3:20:07] gotten seven or eight year old kids coming up to me, but at the same time, I've gotten [3:20:13] people older than my grandma wanting to shop for a pair of shoes for themselves. So, it's really open market, I'd say. [3:20:20] Um really impressive. Thank you, sir. Uh [3:20:25] you know, your age and what you've done is amazing. Uh so congratulations on [3:20:31] that. Thank you very much. Um a couple things. One, uh I think you [3:20:36] should think about your buildout costs. I don't know that $10,000 is going to cover what you're going to need. [3:20:42] Um so just something to think about. Um, and the other question I have or I have [3:20:48] two other questions. Uh, one has to do with competition. Who are your competitors? How do you [3:20:55] differentiate yourself? That's my first question. Sure. My second question is, and maybe this is [3:21:01] me, just me, but it seems like this type of a thing has kind of got a little shady aspect to it when you, you know, [3:21:08] there's kids out there who are doing this and buying and reselling these, etc., etc. Um, and so I'm just [3:21:15] interested like where are you buying your stuff from? Are you know you talked about your buddy um but for example like [3:21:22] does the University of Minnesota say hey we have 200 pairs of sneakers that we [3:21:27] didn't give to our athletes make us an offer. Is that how you're finding your inventory? Can you talk a little bit [3:21:33] about that? Yeah so as far as the inventory I am buying everywhere. Um just a couple [3:21:40] weeks ago actually I flew to Mumbai. I have some family down there and they have a partnership with Nike directly [3:21:47] and so I was able to land a deal there and I could directly get you know 500,000 pairs all at once together for a [3:21:54] discounted rate. But I'm also that's the best part that makes me stand out from other people too. As you talked about [3:22:00] competition, there is like one main competitor here in Minnesota. It's called Third Degree Heat. They have a store locally right here and you know [3:22:07] they're kind of the big dog. They've been here for a long time. But the thing is, first of all, they don't buy from everyone. They only have a couple people [3:22:13] they only do deals with, and they only deal with brand new shoes. What we do is we do street wear, accessories, and [3:22:20] sneakers. And then we do both new, used, grade school, women's sizes, men's sizing, everything. So, that's why I'm [3:22:27] also open to buying from everyone, whether it's one pair, 100 pairs. Um, I feel like I'm knowledgeable and [3:22:32] experienced enough now where it takes me a couple seconds to just hold on to a shoe, feel it, and I'll know if it's authentic or not. So, [3:22:40] literally we will buy from everyone. I've um flown all over the country. I've [3:22:45] been everywhere for like sneaker events and all buying 50 to 100 pairs at a time. I bought them directly from stores, from outlets. You name it, I [3:22:52] bought it from every platform. What's the mix between new shoes and used shoes? [3:22:58] Yeah. So, at least for my inventory, I'd say it's about a 6040. I'd say 60% is used, 40% is new. And that is completely [3:23:06] based off of what my consumers want. So, an average college student or, you know, like a young adult, he doesn't want to [3:23:13] pay, for example, this sneaker right here, this is a $1,000 shoe. If this shoe was used, worn a couple times, it [3:23:19] would be selling for $500. So, there's a huge difference in that. And a lot of people, if these my consumers, they [3:23:25] prefer used pairs over brand new pairs. So, I've kind of adapted to what my consumers want and I kind of just listen [3:23:31] to them, see how they're feeling and yeah, I'd say 6040. [3:23:36] Sir, congratulations on making the top 10. Thank you very much. The merchandise you have um draw lots of [3:23:45] wrong crowd in a way and then also there's a high chance of fat, right? Because high chance of theft she said. [3:23:51] Yeah. Yeah. because you know like people are going crazy over you know uh special [3:23:56] shoes. Uh how what's your plan for security if should you get the front [3:24:02] store? Yeah, absolutely. Uh security is not something I'm really worried about at all. Um so there are yeah so within the [3:24:08] sneaker stores here there's been a lot of breakins too. Um and the best part is you know even right now I have insurance [3:24:14] for all my shoes and you know we have cameras and security systems everywhere whether it's like ring cameras a bunch of cameras that are hidden. Uh what [3:24:21] would work in a sneaker store all we'd only have one shoe displayed out and there would be like a secret like room [3:24:27] in the back where you lock it and that's where the other shoe is placed. But hypothetically, say it's the middle of the night, someone just rams their truck [3:24:33] right into the store, breaks in, takes all those pairs. In that case, insurance would cover the value that we tell them [3:24:40] got stolen. Kind of a random question. Are you driven or motivated by the shoe or the [3:24:46] sale? I've learn the sale. I'm I'm more of a [3:24:51] volumes person. I I learn not to have any feelings towards any of my products because what a lot of people in this [3:24:58] business do is, you know, they start off just wanting to collect for themselves. They start selling, but they let their [3:25:03] feelings get in their way and that really alters their business. It could be my favorite pair in the world. If [3:25:08] someone gives me the right price, I will sell it. So then why do a brick-andmortar store? Meaning, you know, if you have a record [3:25:13] store, you're a music fan, you talk to people, there's that connection, that's a community, so on and so forth. The way [3:25:18] you're doing it, you're obviously doing very well at it. Why take a left turn to a store, to a brick-andmortar store? So, [3:25:26] the biggest reason I need a store right now is I will really be able to scale the business with the store. Right now, [3:25:32] kind of how it works is I do local meetups. I have like events going on, and then I ship my pairs. So normal day [3:25:39] maybe I'll go to UPS1 ship out 10 12 packages a day but the meetups are very timeconuming because I can only meet [3:25:44] with one client at one time and chances are you know they'll only buy one pair sometimes they buy 100 pairs at once it [3:25:51] really depends but that just takes up a lot of my time because one meetup can take you know 30 45 minutes with a store [3:25:56] I'll be able to satisfy all my clients at once because they could just come into the store look around still talk to [3:26:01] me talk to the other staff and I know I said like I'm not attached to any of the shoes That's just because I mean in a [3:26:09] business like this that's probably the worst thing you could do because it could go south really quick. You just end up collecting shoes for yourself. [3:26:16] So real quick followup. Um then why do retail? Why not just get an office space or a warehouse in the far out suburbs [3:26:22] and save a bunch of money and kind of make people come to you? Yeah. So even with that like I really I [3:26:28] want to grow the name of Twin City Shrewer. I want to make sure every household here in Bloomington knows what Twin City Shrewer is. We've already [3:26:34] started our own apparel and like custom like clothing line and everything. Um, but basically it's just to have like a [3:26:40] nice, like I mentioned in the speech, a nice open hangout spot for people to come talk about the culture, guys to [3:26:46] just hang out, help people out, what they need, and just, you know, talk about the love of the sneaker culture. [3:26:53] Um, is there seasonality in this? Like I'm just trying to think like I mean I don't I'm not I don't wear much street [3:26:59] wear. Uh, but like is it like do people come in the evenings? They come throughout the day. Is it week nights, [3:27:04] weekends? Like is there season like is it more busy? Are you more busy in the summer or over winter? Like help me [3:27:11] understand that. Yeah, I'd definitely say I'd be more busy during the summer and kind of I'd [3:27:16] say um the only I mean this is a 12-month round thing. Like the secret business is thriving [3:27:22] 365 days. However, I will say first quarter is usually a little bit slower compared to other months just because, [3:27:28] you know, Christmas just ended, New Year's done. with sneakers, nobody really wants to wear shoes, you know, in the middle of like a winter storm or [3:27:34] something. So, I'd say March is kind of when it starts to pick up again, but at the same time, that doesn't really slow down sales or anything. It's just like [3:27:40] somewhat of a notable noticeable difference. And as far as customers, um, a lot of these people, you know, they have like either school 9 to5 jobs or [3:27:46] something. So, it's mainly during the evenings or like during the weekends where you would get a lot of foot traffic, but I mean, I couldn't imagine [3:27:53] it would be any different during the day, too. Um, one question. Do you have any [3:27:58] partners in your business or is it uh you raise any other funds or just [3:28:04] No. Um everything's just been invested myself. No loans or no nobody else's funds. Um I am doing this myself, but I [3:28:11] have incredible support for my family. So they've helped me out with whatever I needed to. So very thankful for that. [3:28:18] Yeah. My shoes. Those are awesome. But I'll hook you up [3:28:23] with some better ones, too. Thank you guys very much. I do. I wasn't [3:28:30] sure. [3:31:48] So, we'll get started with veterans post provision. [3:31:58] Um, do I just point to you or change the Oh, your clicker. [3:32:03] Yep. You don't need to point to that. Okay. Awesome. Thank you. All right. Well, [3:32:11] without further ado, can you hear me? Yes. All right. Hello. My name is Trevor [3:32:16] Glick. I'm a US Army veteran, father of four, and I'm the founder of Veterans Post Provisions. We are a uh small batch [3:32:24] lowquantity wholesale and snack business. Um we are currently here to [3:32:29] introduce what we call Veterans Post Coffee. Um Veterans Post Coffee is mission grade coffee, field tested fuel. [3:32:37] What does mission grade mean? It doesn't mean premium. What it means is premium with a purpose. At Veterans Post [3:32:44] Provisions, our business is based on providing and provisioning for the working warrior, the working class uh uh [3:32:52] worker and the average Joe. [3:32:59] Um I am not here to sell you a coffee shop. [3:33:06] I'm not here to pitch you a sale. What I'm here to do is give you a mission [3:33:11] brief on what we're going to be deploying here in Bloomington. And before we do that, we need to define a [3:33:16] few things and redefine a few things. One being the name Veterans. Veterans [3:33:22] Post Coffee isn't just a name. It's who we are. We are veterans. We're veteran [3:33:28] trained. We're veteranowned. And we are built for veterans. Not just the military alumni, but the veterans of [3:33:35] everyday life. Our definition for veteran is one who has endured the long war, both military and otherwise, and [3:33:41] keep showing up. The thing I love about veterans is you can't polish a veteran. [3:33:49] When you polish something, you are bringing the shine out of it. The process that happens when you become a [3:33:55] veteran is something that ingrains into you. Veterans don't have shine that [3:34:02] comes out to them. What it is is a it is a shine that's worn into them. And that [3:34:07] is what we bring forward to everything that we do at Veterans Post Provisions and Veterans Post Coffee. [3:34:14] Right now, we if you work an early shift in Bloomington, you've and you're a [3:34:19] shift worker, the vast majority of um shift workers in in the United States [3:34:26] are still fueling with the classic coffee, hot drip, cold brew, canned, [3:34:33] bottled, whatever. It's ingrained into our culture. It's ingrained into who we are. It's a connection that we all have [3:34:39] um both from when you were young to uh to when you were old. It is a universal [3:34:45] connector between us. Unfortunately, we have a breakdown in our society when it [3:34:50] comes to the frontline workers. In the military, the rule of thumb is you never [3:34:55] let your front line out your supply line. And unfortunately in America, in Bloomington, in small business, that is [3:35:03] what's happened. We have a systematic failure of delivery as well as quality. [3:35:08] And what the specific thing I'm talking about is coffee and snacks. Right now, if you're early morning [3:35:15] worker in Bloomington, you need to work at 6:30 in the morning and you want to get a cup of coffee, you really have two [3:35:20] options. You can either go ultra premium, i.e. the Westside Perk in [3:35:26] Bloomington. Great coffee. Highly recommend it. If you live in that neighborhood, if you're in prestigious [3:35:31] West Bloomington, they are the place to go. Otherwise, your options are Starbucks, Caribou, or the gas station. [3:35:41] I don't need to paint the picture. You can see what it looks like. It's dark. It's dingy. It's already filthy. And it's disrespectful to get in and out of [3:35:47] that place to just get a cup of coffee. When we interviewed workers here in Minnesota and here in Bloomington, we [3:35:54] had over 250 people. The vast majority of them said the exact same thing is [3:35:59] that they drink coffee on a regular basis. Of all the veterans that we interviewed, which turns out of 250 [3:36:06] people, almost half of them actually either were veterans or veteran family members, 100% of them said they drink coffee. [3:36:13] 100% of them said they use caffeine to wake up in the morning. 100% of them also said that they don't go to cafes [3:36:20] because it's not for them. that they end up at gas stations because it is the default system that they fall into. It's [3:36:27] a system that's not built for them. It's a system that's built around them to catch them. Veterans Post Coffee is not [3:36:33] doing that. Veterans Post Coffee is deploying a coffee system that's made for workers that respects their time, [3:36:40] that respects uh their their effort, and respects their dollar. But the [3:36:45] overwhelming consensus from our polls and from our feedback was they want something that's quick. They want [3:36:51] something that's convenient and they want something that tastes good. And with our coffee, I believe we've done [3:36:57] all three of those. And with the system that we have in place, I believe that we are able to do that better than anyone else. [3:37:05] How do we do it? Well, we have two different fronts that we're fighting in this war. We have both the direct to [3:37:10] customer front, which is your cafes and your convenience stores, as well as you have the breakroom uh and your employer. [3:37:18] The vast majority of people we talked to said that the coffee that they drink in the morning is either from a gas station [3:37:25] or is from a chain rest or chain style uh coffee shop. The anybody that drinks [3:37:31] after 9:00, the overwhelming amount of people that said they either do it at home or they make it at work. So what we [3:37:39] do is we're deploying a coffee system that fights on both fronts. a direct [3:37:44] coffee or direct to customer storefront which also doubles as our cold brew hub [3:37:50] as well as a business-to business uh supply and coffee model directed towards [3:37:56] small businesses and the working warriors, the people that employ the people that do the hardest jobs in the [3:38:01] country and in our in our communities. We've we've done this by introducing a [3:38:07] new product and a way of doing it. The vast majority of co coffee shops are ran [3:38:14] by the espresso maker. It is the bottleneck of operations within the coffee shop and the only way to to work [3:38:20] around it is to either make it faster or get rid of it. And that is what we've done with our what we call the cold brew [3:38:26] core. We've eliminated the espresso maker, the 10 to 15 to $30,000 machine that sits in the in the middle of the [3:38:32] cafe that runs runs steam and electricity. We've eliminated that and [3:38:38] we've eliminated espresso in general. What we do is we use a cold brew core, which is a cold brew concentrate that we [3:38:45] use uh we have a simple process of a warm a hot bloom and a cold 18 hour cold [3:38:51] brew. And what we get is we get a four or five to one ratio concentrate. From [3:38:57] that we we use it to create all of our drinks. From one base, we can create 10 [3:39:02] different drinks including espress including um lattes, cappuccinos, ice, [3:39:09] uh coffee, and we can do it um in an easy simple format. On the back side of [3:39:15] things, we've since we've eliminated the most fragile aspect of of the cafe and the coffee model, we've actually created [3:39:22] a more deployable, more uh systematic system. We we use a like similar to how [3:39:30] the military cooks meals. Um we use a small batch brewing system for hot brew [3:39:36] coffee and our cold brew system. So instead of having three avenues of coffee, we've simplified it to two. And [3:39:42] we've we're doing it in a format that get people in and out of the door within 90 seconds. Because this is made ahead [3:39:47] of time, because it's made in small batches, we can control the quality of the product and we can control the flow [3:39:53] of traffic. Combine that with a mobile forward setup and all of a sudden we [3:39:58] have a c not only just a coffee that you can deploy that tastes the same both in the cafe in the bottle and at your home [3:40:06] but you also have it in a way that we can send it anywhere. Along with this businessto business [3:40:12] options we standardize the products that we're offering for it. We offer uh equipment lease models that are along [3:40:19] the industry standards, but we're not going to lock you into a two or three-year contract. If you don't know [3:40:24] about B the businessto business coffee models that most places use, they send a [3:40:30] coffee maker to the business. Usually, it's a seven or $800 coffee maker and it cost them zero dollars, but every month [3:40:37] they have to make a minimum order of coffee products. A lot of times those minimum order of coffee products are $300 or $400. [3:40:43] It's a great racket. The problem is is that people buy commodity level coffee because of that. [3:40:50] And Veterans Post Coffee is not interested in selling commodity level coffee. We're interested in selling and [3:40:56] only dealing in mission grade coffee. Coffee with a purpose. [3:41:03] Along with this model, we have a deployment plan that's based specifically on shift workers, the [3:41:09] people that need the fuel first. We want to get the supplies to the frontline [3:41:14] workers and we're doing it here in Bloomington. Phase one where our revenue [3:41:19] is going to our phase one revenue is almost solely planted in businessto business contracts as well as our direct [3:41:27] to customer sales through our quick easy storefront and e-commerce through a uh [3:41:33] uh subscription service. Um he said our pl main plan of attack is to go for [3:41:39] first-line workers and they ask why Bloomington why Veterans Post because the reality is [3:41:46] is that Bloomington was built by veterans. After the Second World War we [3:41:52] experienced the largest boom that this city has ever seen and it wasn't because of committees or consultations. It was [3:41:58] because veterans came back from war and built infrastructure and did what we [3:42:04] needed to do. We endured through the hardest things possible and we built a better city from it. Veterans Post [3:42:11] Coffee is here to revive that spirit. [3:42:16] Thank you so much for this opportunity and I appreciate you guys coming out tonight. [3:42:22] [Applause] [3:42:31] Congratulations on making the top 10. Thank you. Since co consumption of you know like uh [3:42:38] the B2B uh coffee uh business has reduced dramatically because you know [3:42:43] like lots of people are now working from home or you know reduced hour to go into the office. Have you looked into [3:42:51] you know like the demand now? uh what is now the demand for um what is for [3:42:56] leasing your your items uh in the office or you know like the companies that are [3:43:02] still looking for uh what is it uh getting coffee into their business. So according to McKinley uh research [3:43:10] that I found is that actually is on the upswing. The numbers of businessto business revenue is actually tripled [3:43:16] within the last two years. Uh the state of Minnesota has instituted uh return to [3:43:21] work policies as well as a lot of people in the community. Um I think that the [3:43:27] frontline workers, the people that we're there to fuel have always been there. They're continuing to do it. The biggest [3:43:33] thing that uh the difference is is that the format in which they do it. Uh most [3:43:38] businessto business places offer uh they call brew packs pre-portioned depending [3:43:44] on the type of machine that you have. You drop it in, you turn the water on, it brews for you. Pull it out, it's already in the filter. We do that as [3:43:51] well, but we're also offering because there's a big shift in this is actually shift to single-use cups, the K cups. [3:43:57] Um, one of the initiatives that we're going to be starting, I believe it's on the the mission brief as well, is that [3:44:02] we are both offering brew packs and K cup designs as well as coffee makers [3:44:08] that are both for conventional brewing and commercial grade KP uh, brew kits. [3:44:16] And one more question. So for the storefront that is targeting the frontline workers, can you give more [3:44:22] detail about what does that look like? where would that you know what location are you thinking and all that stuff. [3:44:28] Um so we are originally a mobile for a mobile first prototype. Uh originally [3:44:34] designed uh this the coffee system that we have can be ran from anywhere from a [3:44:40] utility trailer that's converted you know obviously health inspection and uh [3:44:45] commercial kitchen quality um to the full retail buildout of a cafe depending [3:44:50] on what traffic and personnel can do it. I personally like the mobile setup because it allows us to go to where the [3:44:57] workers are. It allows us to take advantage of of foot traffic trends. It allows us to take advantage of events. [3:45:03] Um being able to have that mobility to get to the people that need it is something [3:45:10] that no one else has. Everybody else has Go ahead. [3:45:17] Absolutely. So should you receive should you win the the the competition. So your plan is to [3:45:23] have a mobile uh business instead of a brick and mortar. Uh uh no, we would have a conventional brew [3:45:30] station or uh be like a a brew hub for our cold brew. And if space and demand [3:45:37] is needed, we would have a front-end operation cafe. Um like I said, just quick to go, simple, something that [3:45:44] respects the workers. People go to the convenience store because it's convenience. Like they don't go there [3:45:49] because it's pretty or because they carry their favorite thing. They go there because it's in their neighborhood [3:45:55] and they have coffee. What we can do is we can be in their [3:46:00] neighborhood or where they work without having to own a lease on it. We own the [3:46:06] asset but not the lease obligations for it. And because it's a mobile design, [3:46:11] the actual movement of it creates content for people. It gives something [3:46:16] for people to follow. It's an event. Deploying a completely [3:46:22] standalone coffee unit is something that people want to see happen. [3:46:29] A follow-up question kind of on that. I guess I I just as somebody who's traveled a lot. I have been surprised my [3:46:36] whole life that we didn't have like the little coffee stations that you can roll up to in Minnesota in the winter time. I [3:46:41] just for the life of me can't figure it out. I can get that in California and I can't get that here when I don't want to get out of my car. [3:46:47] So, I conceptually I I get the kinds of things you're thinking about. If I'm buying a cup of coffee from you [3:46:52] and you know, you have price points that vary from like I can spend $6 or $7 at a Starbucks or I can spend $1.99 at a [3:46:59] holiday. Where where do you fit into that um price point range for for an [3:47:06] average cup of coffee purchased from you? As a rule of thumb, I tell people that we're at the 75% mark of premium. [3:47:13] That is where we need to be to get customers that both want to purchase a high quality product that tastes good, [3:47:19] as you can see, um, but also not at a price point where we're losing money. It [3:47:25] allows us to do the operation that we want and to hire people that at a wage [3:47:30] that they can afford that we can afford to do. Uh, the biggest hurdles for small businesses in America aren't that people [3:47:36] don't have good ideas. It's the fact that the overhead's ridiculous be the [3:47:42] the lease costs are too high. That's why we went with we want we have a mobile first prototype because we locked into a [3:47:49] location unless you know that you're getting that foot traffic especially in a cafe world it it could be the last [3:47:56] thing you do. Understood. Follow up on that then with this revenue target that you have here [3:48:02] at 12K a month recurring. talk a little bit about the breakdown of that revenue. [3:48:08] How much of that are you expecting you'd get from those B2B sales um you know in [3:48:14] offices or whatnot versus any kind of mobile forward retail front uh versus [3:48:19] events. Okay. So we have a 65% split for businessto business targets. [3:48:25] So we want to hit 65% of our businesses businessto business accounts. one, reoccurring. Two, people are a lot less [3:48:32] emotionally attached to their money when they're doing it through a business. I I am the cheapest person you're ever going [3:48:37] to meet, probably. And I don't and I don't say that with pride. I say that with embarrassment. Um uh I I have the [3:48:45] most difficult problem separating myself with my personal money. But when it comes to running a business, uh that [3:48:51] emotional lock is not there. And that is something that I've learned from doing businessto business work over the years [3:48:58] is that you can take advantage of that revenue because it's going to be consistent. It's going to be predictable [3:49:04] and it's built on relationships. Like that's it. People buy from people they like. And if you're doing something like [3:49:11] we're doing where you're a small business where you can make an impression, where you can go and tell people that we have a mission because [3:49:17] how many businesses out there have a mission other than to make money. Our business is to fuel the American worker [3:49:25] and to generate jobs for veterans and pathways for veterans. If you haven't [3:49:31] figured it out from watching the slideshow or the babbling that I just did, we have a system that is [3:49:37] repeatable, that is low overhead, and that anybody that knows anything about [3:49:43] coffee can break into doing. And that ultimately is the goal of this business is to create to create a business model [3:49:50] that other veterans like myself who can utilize the veteranowned status that can utilize procurement channels that can [3:49:57] get business to business, business to government contracts as well as direct to customers all unified behind a brand [3:50:04] that oozes respect and consistency and reliability. Because [3:50:12] Veterans Post isn't just a name. It's who we are. Everybody has this strange connection with Veterans. They're our [3:50:18] fathers, our uncles, our brothers, there are neighbors, there are gym teachers, there are all these people. The vast [3:50:24] majority of the negative things that I've got about Veterans Post coffee is is is this one thing is that Veterans [3:50:30] Post, that's that's not for me. That's for my cousin who was the Marine. That's [3:50:35] for my dad who fought in Desert Storm. like but the reality is that to be a [3:50:42] veteran you don't need to be a military alumni. You have to have been worn in to [3:50:48] find that shine. So you focused on accessibility and kind [3:50:55] of the vessels and the coffee is very good but talk about cost of goods sold and like what what are what's your supply chain? Are you roasting the [3:51:01] coffee beans yourself? Right now we have a outside roaster local here in Minnesota. Um, all of our [3:51:07] margins are between 35 and 45%. Um, like I said, we're running a wholesale [3:51:13] operation right now through snack foods and and ready to drink beverages. Are you a subcontractor under that? I [3:51:18] mean, what happens if that relationship goes away? How do you find your coffee? Oh, yeah. So, the the plan is to [3:51:26] integrate roasting as as soon as possible. Um, and honestly, willing to integrate the roster that we're currently using. [3:51:33] Okay. um if not necessarily we have a lot of connections in the industry. Actually, Hatch has been an wonderful [3:51:40] connection making opportunity for meeting people in the coffee industry. Uh coffee industry is incredibly [3:51:46] incredibly uh um like oversaturated with people trying to launch coffee businesses, but we're not launching a [3:51:52] coffee business. We're off we're launching a supply line. And that ultimately is what our storefront is [3:51:58] going to be. It's going to be a supply depot for early morning workers, not [3:52:04] just to get coffee, but to get snacks, to get the gear that they need. If you're a construction worker, you grab [3:52:09] one of our multi-m mission packs. Inside of it is a poncho, a pair of warm socks, [3:52:16] re uh reusable chemical hand warmers, and um glasses wipes. Things that outfit [3:52:23] what you need for the day. So, a couple things. one [3:52:29] the distribution model you're talking about is is basically a franchise um and [3:52:35] anti-ranchise franchise but yeah similar depending on how we do it. Yeah. And so my question becomes in terms of [3:52:43] distribution and in terms of the use of the $100,000. Um can you give me a clear picture on [3:52:51] how you want to use that money in terms of a of a location? Is it going to be a [3:52:57] retail location? Is it going to be a manufacturing? [3:53:02] Uh, so franchise is a pipe dream down the line. Not something that I'm actually legitimately doing within the [3:53:08] next 12 months. And honestly, through burning through $100,000 is not very difficult when you're on a small business. You you know, you you [3:53:16] obviously um the as far as location, what we're looking to do is do a small [3:53:21] retail buildout with the with the opportunity or with with flex use space that we can do our [3:53:28] packaging and brewing system. Um, some of the products that we have through our wholesale are externally sourced. Some [3:53:34] of them are internally source through co-ackaging or co- bottling. Um, so [3:53:39] and one last quick question on that. Yes. Have you looked at the cost to build that out? [3:53:45] Yes. Okay. And can you give me a estimate on the cost on it? Um, I can't [3:53:52] because I just I I don't have it with me, I'm afraid. Thank you. Yeah. [3:54:01] [Applause] [3:54:07] Okay. With that, we'll say thanks for joining us tonight. Um, as I stated at the beginning, uh, voting is open now [3:54:15] and it closes on Tuesday, uh, August 12th at 11:59 p.m. So, you're able to [3:54:22] watch these again and again online and vote for your favorite. So, thank you so much for coming and have a great night. [3:54:33] [Music]