Edible-Alpha® | Edible-Alpha® Learning Center

Weekly Cash Flow Forecast Template

Free template by Edible-Alpha®

Cash is not the same thing as net income, and most food companies burn up more of their cash on their balance sheet than on their income statement. This template helps model projected cash flow to help businesses properly manage cash.

Tool or Template about Operations for businesses that are Startups | Growing and Scaling

Biological Farming and Human Scale Meat

1 hour & 35 minutes of Free audio by Edible-Alpha®

To satisfy demand for local/organic meats, Barlett Durand needed consistent throughput and quality. Rather than scaling up to compete with large-scale industrialized meat processors or launching a direct to consumer farm, he began aggregating meat from existing local farms under the brand Black Earth Meats.

Podcast about Business Models for businesses that are Growing and Scaling

A Food Business Model Journey with Leanne Cordisco

55 minutes of Free audio by Edible-Alpha®

Leanne Cordisco started out making a toffee for wholesale via a local distributor. However, she realized that she did not want to raise the capital to cover at least $1 million of upfront costs to support a national brand. She opened Chocolaterian as another revenue stream and more immediate source of cash flow, and now it is her main business model.

Podcast about Business Models for businesses that are Growing and Scaling

Working With Credit Unions Like Summit Credit Union To Grow Your Food Business

55 minutes of Free audio by Edible-Alpha®

This podcast outlines what it is like to work with credit unions. Summit helps food entrepreneurs access SBA 7a programs to provide up to $5 million of capital to younger businesses for working capital, inventory, and equipment purchases. The SBA 7a Express program provides a quicker turnaround than the traditional 7a, allowing for loans up to $350,000.

Podcast about Raising Capital for businesses that are Growing and Scaling

Working With Alternative Lenders like WWBIC To Grow Your Food Business

50 minutes of Free audio by Edible-Alpha®

This podcast outlines what it is like to work with alternative lenders and CDFIs like WWBIC. WWBIC offers a combination of relevant business classes, business loans up to $250,000, assistance with personal financial management, and connections to people who can make things happen for business owners and entrepreneurs across the state of Wisconsin.

Podcast about Raising Capital for businesses that are Pre-Venture | Startups

Getting All The Way to a Strategic Investment In Your Food Company

50 minutes of Free audio by Edible-Alpha®

Stephen and Chris McDiarmid of Gorilly Goods, a certified organic raw healthy snack maker in Jackson, Wisconsin talk about how their dehydration process and unique flavor profiles make them defensibly unique from other snack brands and how focusing on pitching their business model led to strategic investment in their company.

Podcast about Business Models for businesses that are Growing and Scaling

What’s In a Name? Trademark Protection for Your Food or Beverage Brand

40 minutes of Free audio by Edible-Alpha®

Since selling food or beverages like beer are about selling your brand, protecting that brand and its growth in value through the trademark process is very important. Trademarks should be distinct and evocative as opposed to generic and descriptive, mimizing the likelihood of confusion with other trademarked intellectual property.

Podcast about Operations for businesses that are Growing and Scaling

Running the Gauntlet: Leveraging Legal Rights and Regs in Craft Beer Startups

45 minutes of Free audio by Edible-Alpha®

Distribution rights matter a great deal for breweries and distilleries. Talking with a lawyer who has training and experience in the matter is the best way to protect the financial future of your beer brand. Whether or not you are a brewery vs. a brewpub matters a great deal to regulators.

Podcast about Operations for businesses that are Growing and Scaling

Formation Documents, Raising Equity, and Protecting Recipes

30 minutes of Free audio by Edible-Alpha®

The type of entity you form and the type of legal protections you undertake matters in terms of your strategic path to grow and what kinds of money you are able to raise to support that growth. When raising equity, find legal counsel that understands what you need to do to comply with securities law and its required disclosures to investors or potential investors.

Podcast about Raising Capital for businesses that are Growing and Scaling

Growing An Artisan Cheese Company By Selling Direct to Consumers

30 minutes of Free audio by Edible-Alpha®

Bill Anderson of Creme de la Coulee is a Wisconsin local artisan cheese maker who uses a CSA model through a cheese of the month club to connect directly with consumers. He talks about what it takes to grow a local artisan cheese company and what you have to consider when thinking about scaling that up.

Podcast about Business Models for businesses that are Growing and Scaling

Building Yumbutter Into a National Nut and Seed Butter Brand

1 hour of Free audio by Edible-Alpha®

Matt D'Amour of Yumbutter talks about the challenges in growing a national food brand and it is important to raise the right amount of money (usually more than you think) to support the roll-out of your national brand in grocery stores. It is important for your brand to have multiple pillars to remain defensibly unique.

Podcast about Raising Capital for businesses that are Growing and Scaling