In the new place

So we moved into the new place this weekend. We have only had one problem so far, the water got turned off yesterday and we had to wait till today to get it turned back on. Other then that things are looking great. We bought two new mattresses yesterday and will be getting cable and internet installed on Thursday. The cat is doing pretty good with the new place and really enjoying the stairs, which is good because hopefully it will cause him to loose some weight. Should have pics up in the next couple of days.

Finding a producer cont

Ok so I had sent out a couple of emails at random to see if I could find a producer to supply my new business. I did hear back from one, Tender Grass Farm. He wasn't able to give me any price quotes right now because they are redoing there prices. I did learn that they have a separate pricing for restaurants, or at least that is what I am inferring from the email response. This could bode well for the business. I went ahead and decided to push my luck and ask the person who emailed me back a bunch of question so we will see if he responds. Anyway progress is being made and I am one step closer. I have found if is all luck and persistance when it comes to starting this kind of business. I mean I am sure I could have just called Sysco and gotten a bunch of meat from them or gone to the DC Wholesale market. I don't know where that meat came from and I don't know who raised it and what is or isn't in it. I have a long way to go I am sure but things are really starting to at least take shape.

Finding a producer

So today I emailed a couple of farms to see if I couldn't find a producer supplier for the business. I am hoping I will be able to get the meat at a reduced rate because I will be purchasing a substantial amount more then a regular individual. We will see however, I don't know if a small farm will account for this. With all that being said I am convinced after reading The River Cottage MEAT Book, that this is the way to go and hopefully I will be able to even supplement my own food with some organic beef and pork. As for everything else well we are moving this weekend and I am sick of my actual job.

Oscar Mayer Wienermobile

So if you ever wanted to drive the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile here is your chance.

Cooking with the Fury

So much cooking completed. I got a bunch of things purchased this Saturday to make things on Sunday and I actually got most of it done. I bought about 3.5 lbs of beef blade and about 7 lbs of pork shoulder. From that I ground 8 hamburger patties and saved some of the beef for meatloaf. The pork I am going to use to make breakfast country sausage to see how that comes out. I also made some butter yesterday which is getting easier and easier, and this time I raped it in wax paper this made it a little easier. I also made two loaves of fresh bread with a little white whole wheat flour. So tonight I will make the meatloaf and have lunch for the rest of the week ready to go. Other then that just put a patch on the last part of the living room wall so that should be ready to be sanded here in a day and then primed and painted. That will pretty much do it for repairs in the house and it only leave painting and not much of that. Dillon and I hope to be moved out of the condo and on into the new place by Sunday. All in all things are moving along quite well.

Totally Focused

Wow so I am making all kinds of progress in with respect to the biz. Today during lunch I called my insurance company to get quotes for the biz. So what I need is liability insurance which will cover me if someone gets something and becomes sick. This is all very exciting because I was worried that it wouldn't fit into the budget and thought that it might be the deal breaker. But the insurance is totally reasonable, mostly because I don't think I will have that much in gross sales so they see it as I won't be able to kill that many people. Anyway with that I am now getting close to being able to put together a decent proforma and business plan which will let me see if I can actually make any money. I have also been looking into the cost of real equipment for this little venture and I think it is going to be around $2k to get all the stuff I need to start and produce in the quantities that will make the business viable. Its all very exciting and I can't wait till the beginning of the year to start everything up.

Renaissance Man

Wow so much going on. So the new house will be ready to move in next weekend, though we might not actually do it then. I have a load of money to spend on Gift Certificates for the Company Party, it is always fun to go buy gifts and not have to spend your own money. The charcuterie is coming along quite well, as evident in the last post. I have a couple of issues that I need to resolve like insurance, final health department approval, and actually creating the business as an LLC. Other charcuterie issues that I will be taking care of here in the next couple of weeks are writing a proforma, a business plan, and contacting farms to get prices and quantites of meat available. I am talking with my friend Wentz about maybe doing a cookbook. We are thinking maybe a knitting club book what has knitting ideas along with small entres and appitizers. Still doing the night club, and I will be working New Years so if you want tickets let me know. On a cooking note I made two loaves of bread last weekend and they have come out great and we have used them for toast, grilled cheese (the secret is the melt butter and spread it on the bread then cook it), and stuffed chicken breast (though we pounded the breast out and then stuffed it and added blue cheese to the recipe). Well there is all that and I am sure a whole lot more that I can come up with off the top of my head.

How to start a company

So I had an excellent day today and it was all about learning how to start a company in VA. So to start you need to find out if you company is already registered in VA, by name of course. So to do that you go to the Virginia State Corporation Commission. Once there you just do a look-up to see if your name is registered. Then check out the Business Registration Guide which in my case tells me to fill out the ARTICLES OF ORGANIZATION OF A DOMESTIC LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, so I am going to do all that. Before or after this I need to look into insurance. The issue with that is I have like four different types of business things going on like restaurant, retail, and manufacturer. So that is just another step in the process, and once both of those are done I need to get a Tax ID number from the IRS. With all of this and the Health License for the kitchen I am going to use I can go to City Hall in Alexandria and get my business license. Well that is pretty much as far as I know I will keep it up to date though as to exactly what I do.

Just back from NYC

Dillon and I just got back NYC here are the pics.