Hey mamacitas! {And papas!}
As you all know, I am working on a business plan for a company that I want to start. I have named it Pure Blend Organics because my main goal is to sell organic steamed/roasted baby food that is cooked and bottled on the premises. I want to help other mothers (or fathers) with feeding the most nutritious foods available to their little ones. Not only will this store be a one stop shop for baby food, but I will also have a cafe with comfy couches and play areas for mums (or dads) to meet with friends, relax, and enjoy themselves. My customers will be able to preorder their food for pickup at a certain time, or they can simply come in, order, and enjoy a coffee or tea while shopping through select books, DVD’s, and organic apparel. I will also be offering book readings (children’s books) for parents to bring their little ones and enjoy being read to.
Here’s my question for you! As fellow parents, does this sound like something you would be interested in? My target customers will be the parents that prefer to feed their little ones homemade food, but work and usually do not have the time or knowledge to prepare it for them on a regular basis.
Any insight would be appreciated, as I want to get this ball rolling on finding investors and finding a location! Thank you all for your encouragement and support!
A (Hard) Working Mum 
I totally love this idea for its convenience and health consciousness at the same time. Few things are both these days.
Thank you so much!
If you have any ideas to improve any aspect of it, please don’t hesitate to tell me!
I don’t mind a little constructive criticism 🙂
I will mull it over and let you know!
Awesome!
Your new business venture sounds awesome. My advice would be to start locally (farmer’s markets,regional Whole Foods) and open up a flagship store. Once you have a successful and proven business model, you can look into franchising it outside of your area. Best of luck!
– K.
There’s a winter farmers market here in Indy. I am considering applying to be a vendor for them. Thanks so much for the suggestion!
That’s exactly what I was thinking! I was lucky enough to have a stay at home daddy for the first 12 mos so he made all the baby food, but had he been working I would have bought some every week @ the farmers market!
I was blessed to be able to stay home with W (aside from classes) for 11 months so far. I start my internship a week after his 1st birthday. With my first, I stayed home for only 2 months before going back to work. I am so happy I was able to this time around. And I LOVE farmers markets! {Lol}
Oh this sounds amazing! If there was one in my area, I would absolutely be a patron. I really look forward to seeing the process as your business starts and grows.
Thank you so much Erica!
K from Day Today Dating had an excellent idea, and I definitely want to try it.
Think it sounds great, I was hoping you we’re English on the off chance it may be opening near me, but no such luck! What are your time scales?
Emma,
I am hoping one day to be able to franchise it so other health conscious entrepreneurs can open the store for their area. For now, that’s a far way off. Where in the UK are you?
What does “time scales” mean?
Reblogged this on Mother Em and commented:
Wouldn’t it be lovely to have something like this in Cambridge? Much better than coffee in Starbucks!
I just meant when are you hoping to open a store up? How far along are you in the process? I’m in Cambridge, where we have lots of chain coffee shops, I’m lucky enough to have a great deli around the corner from where I live, that has a coffee shop attached but there’s nothing like what you’re suggesting here.
Well, if I had an investor, I’d start getting it ready immediately. Until then, I am just perfecting the business plan and trying to locate someone willing to invest. The reason I chose this type of business is because no one else is doing it, it’s such a simple idea and there is so much potential.
This idea sounds perfect. If I’m the customer, I’ll be visiting regularly to relax and meet with other mothers or families for a coffee. This is also best for business meetings for parents who doesn’t have baby sitters (like me, I don’t want to leave my baby to a baby sitter or nanny. I always bring her on my work/ business meetings) In your location, you can also put some materials or equipment that could be used for infants (from newborn-11 months) such as high chairs, walkers, toys (you could add some rental fees for that for additional income).
Sadly, my location is too far from yours. Country to country or should I say continent to continent? I’m from Asia (Philippines)…But anyway, parents will probably love this.
Thanks for following my blog site, I followed yours too! Looking forward for your interesting posts. 🙂
That’s exactly what I’m hoping for! Customers that can relax and enjoy themselves. I plan on purchasing these awesome 8 sided playpens that have toys built into them. I also intend to get games and toys for older kids that come in with their parents. I want the store to be a place where mum’s can come in and comfortably breastfeed without all of the judging that takes place in other stores and public areas.
Thanks for following! I look forward to reading more of your posts as well!
You’re welcome. A room for breastfeeding will give convenience to mommies. A quiet/private room (maybe a divider or a closed room if there will be enough space for it) that has diaper changing area, nice pillows, breast pumps, etc… games and activities for kids are great ideas too. Organic and eco-friendly products/materials are plus too. And what if it could also be an seasonal/thematic event (such as Halloween, Christmas, fashion shows, sports, contests, or any traditions that you have) designed for kids [while mothers or fathers are on the other side of the room, sipping tea]. 😉
I am considering renting out the large living room area for birthday parties/sleepovers. Gives the parents the choice of having tons of kids all together without having to deal with the cleanup. I’m not entirely sure whether I want to provide a babysitter for the parents while they’re there. I have been mulling it over, but I know how expensive that can get since those employees would need to have certain certifications and there can only be a certain amount of children for each employee. It is definitely a possibility though 🙂
Hmmm…have you done a business plan? I know most investors want to see the numbers before they’ll even talk to potential business owners. My best advice is “keep it simple”. I have owned a photography studio and a salon & day spa. Keeping costs low is really tough. Will it be food with a “shelf life”? Will you have to charge premium prices for it that most won’t be willing or able to pay? I absolutely love your ideas. I do know that the business duldrums are tough for the creative/ideas people…speaking from experience here. 😉 But they are very important.
My business plan is almost complete except for a few financial sections {like the sales estimates}.
The food itself will be in baby glass jars. The parents can buy small amounts and keep it in the fridge or they can buy in bulk and keep the extras in the freezer until they need them.
I plan on joining a CSA to keep the fruits/vegetables local, inexpensive, and seasonal. The prices will be competitive but will reflect the quality of what the parents are asking for. I’m super excited about it 🙂
Wow…good answers. You certainly seem prepared to me! And I am very much in support of CSAs! I have an huge garden in the summer. (when I have way too much I set up a vegetable stand) I’d be excited too. It sounds wonderful!
Thank you! I’ve been thinking about every possible aspect of this store, and it would be the perfect job for me and my family. I just need to bring it to fruition! I think one day I’ll have a vegetable garden. I’d need a yard for that 😉
A greenhouse too! 😉 All in time, love, all in time. lol
I admire your idea! I think it is a great business plan,and going to be a very hopeful one too. Many people in society are now leaning towards organics, and I know there is a big demand for it. I wish you all the very best. Thank you for following my blog, I will follow yours too!
Thank you for the encouragement! I hope to make this business a success, and help change the lives of parents and children alike. With obesity becoming such an issue, teaching your children to eat right from the beginning is the best course of prevention! I look forward to reading more of your blog posts!
Sounds like an awesome idea! I especially like the cafe part for parents and play area for kids. All my friends with children would love this! Congrats on your drive and discipline. Thanks for following my blog. I am already enjoying yours!
I’m so happy to hear that! And thank you so much for the feedback. I truly think this store will be an inspirational place for parents to go. I want it to be a home away from home. If I open at 7am and a mum comes a little early because baby wouldn’t sleep, I want to be able to open early so she’ll be able to have her coffee right away. As a mum, I know what it’s like to have nowhere to go for a cup of coffee with a restless baby in tow, and this will remedy that issue. Yay!
Here on the West coast, I think it would be a big hit. Stores like Whole Foods and PCC (local co-op) are vibrant because of health conscious consumers.
I am looking into getting it started first through a farmers market. We have Whole Foods and Trader Joes as well a bunch of individually owned health stores. If I can get them interested in letting me advertise in those places, that would be amazing.
That is such an awesome idea! If we had something like that in our area I would go, even if I was making my own food anyway. It’s something different!
Thank you! I want parents to be able to come in to get some coffee/tea and relax or shop through the organic apparel and DVDs and books. I want to be able to get to know each parent and their kids. I want it to be a home away from home. I truly think more parents need something like this. We all know how impossible it can be to find an oasis when we have our kids with us. This will be just that!
I love it, though in my opinion there is one thing you could add to it: the pregnancy angle. I know that as a pregnant then nursing woman, I immediately realised I had to chose healthy options and that meant reforming my eating habits very, very quickly. Now as a nursing mother I am having the same issue. I can only imagine how hard it must be to combine suitable food for a nursing mother with suitable food for the rest of her family; not to overlook the cooking, which won’t be easy.
So I was thinking some kind of business that caters to the needs of pregnant women (literally delivering all the food for the family in 1 day) would be a huge success; it could be marketed via ob gyns’ offices, especially if one included “special GD menu options”.
Hope this helps? Your idea is awesome enough as it is!
I definitely don’t want to get into meals for adults. I would like to focus on food for the little ones. But I am considering offering recipe cards for pregnant women. Or maybe selling cookbooks that cater to pregnant women and women with gestational diabetes. I would love to develop relationships with all the pregnant mama’s so they’ll feel welcome to ask questions or come in once they’re babies were able to eat solids.