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Ask YC: Advice on startup idea and funding.

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Re: Ask YC: Advice on startup idea and funding.

#31

Post by sebg »

asnyder wrote: post #8

Interesting idea, but be wary. I opened up a hookah lounge last year 2 blocks from Brighton Beach in Brooklyn NY. Before we opened we were hoping to get the chic, hip, free-wifi crowd, but instead got 18yr old troublemakers that don't spend a dime. It's one thing to want a particular clientele and it's another to actually get it. There's no guarantee, and with something like cookies, you don't know who you'll get. To…

Always on the look out for new places in Brooklyn. What's the address so that I can stop by?

Re: Ask YC: Advice on startup idea and funding.

#32

Post by kynikos »

For something like this to succeed, I really think you'd need to incorporate an innovative revenue stream or way of obtaining customers. The individual cost of producing each cookie is relatively low, but as many of the posters have indicated, most of your risk lies in being able to keep up with labor, real estate, and capital equipment costs.

If I were you, I'd be sure to have tested, killer cookie recipes, then consider...

-Integrating online ordering system for in-store pickup or shipping

-Cater to fans of vegan baked goods (definitely a burgeoning market segment)

-Work with moms and Susie Homemaker types to determine favorite cookie recipes or trends

-Perhaps use the store as a distribution channel for home-based bakers. I know a lot of people who think they bake "the best" cookies. There's a lot of different directions to take this; profit sharing, recipe licensing, etc.

-Develop an "open source cookie", modified by customer suggestions and input

-Keep a basic product line of old standby cookies (chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, etc.) and have a secondary product line that's shuffled or changed very frequently (at least once a month)

-Publish an annual book of recipes

-Children influence how their parents spend money. Offer a free cookie on a child's birthday and seek distribution in local schools.

Just my thoughts...not sure if any of them align with what you had in mind. I think this is a very cool idea and could definitely succeed if executed correctly. Good luck!

Re: Ask YC: Advice on startup idea and funding.

#33

Post by smanek »

Tichy wrote: post #20

Both cookies and milk are very unhealthy. What I really miss is a venue where I can get healthy food. There are coffee shops everywhere, selling cookies, doughnuts, muffins and so on, but there are hardly any healthy choices (Edit: there are NO healthy choices). I can only speak for Munich, Germany, but I suspect the situation in the US is far worse. But from my local perspective here, I think the coffee shop thing i…

How are you 'destroying your customers[sic] health'?

Cookies and Milk are perfectly healthy in moderation - and if a customer chooses to over-indulge, that is their business alone.

Remember personal responsibility?

Re: Ask YC: Advice on startup idea and funding.

#34

Post by Tichy »

smanek wrote: post #33
Tichy wrote: post #20

Both cookies and milk are very unhealthy. What I really miss is a venue where I can get healthy food. There are coffee shops everywhere, selling cookies, doughnuts, muffins and so on, but there are hardly any healthy choices (Edit: there are NO healthy choices). I can only speak for Munich, Germany, but I suspect the situation in the US is far worse. But from my local perspective here, I think the coffee shop thing i…

How are you 'destroying your customers[sic] health'? Cookies and Milk are perfectly healthy in moderation - and if a customer chooses to over-indulge, that is their business alone. Remember personal responsibility?

At least cookies are addictive (sugar), in general, I would not agree to the "perfectly healthy" notion - I am not a physician, though.

Also, I think as a cookie shop owner, you will want your customers to eat as many cookies as possible. I want to see the shop owner deny entry for everybody who is too heavy? Don't think it would happen.

How many cookies per customer would be ok, you reckon? Because that number could be factored into the business plan nicely.

Re: Ask YC: Advice on startup idea and funding.

#35

Post by smanek »

Tichy wrote: post #34
smanek wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are you 'destroying your customers[sic] health'? Cookies and Milk are perfectly healthy in moderation - and if a customer chooses to over-indulge, that is their business alone. Remember personal responsibility?

At least cookies are addictive (sugar), in general, I would not agree to the "perfectly healthy" notion - I am not a physician, though. Also, I think as a cookie shop owner, you will want your customers to eat as many cookies as possible. I want to see the shop owner deny entry for everybody who is too heavy? Don't think it would happen. How many cookies per customer would be ok, you reckon? Because that number could…

It isn't the shop owner's problem to stop customers from eating too much. It's the customer's.

The health risks of over-eating are fairly well understood; I think the person eating is best qualified to do the cost benefit analysis for themselves.

You may have a case if he were selling to unsupervised children who can't make these sort of decisions for themselves - but adults can. Even if sugar were physically addictive, and I doubt that it is, that doesn't magically absolve a consumer of their responsibilities. We're still humans with free will.

Frankly, if a restaurant tried to figure out how much food I 'should' eat I would refuse to do business with them - it's just insulting.

Re: Ask YC: Advice on startup idea and funding.

#36

Post by Tichy »

smanek wrote: post #35
Tichy wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least cookies are addictive (sugar), in general, I would not agree to the "perfectly healthy" notion - I am not a physician, though. Also, I think as a cookie shop owner, you will want your customers to eat as many cookies as possible. I want to see the shop owner deny entry for everybody who is too heavy? Don't think it would happen. How many cookies per customer would be ok, you reckon? Because that number could…

It isn't the shop owner's problem to stop customers from eating too much. It's the customer's. The health risks of over-eating are fairly well understood; I think the person eating is best qualified to do the cost benefit analysis for themselves. You may have a case if he were selling to unsupervised children who can't make these sort of decisions for themselves - but adults can. Even if sugar were physically addicti…

To each their own - all I am saying is that I would not want to base my business on selling unhealthy food. I would not want to sell cigarettes, either.

The talk about customer responsibility is all good and well, but the fact remains that the "stuff industry" is exploiting human weaknesses all the time to make people buy stuff they shouldn't. I can't really blame them, just want to point out that customer responsibility does not necessarily work out so well. I guess if I shoot somebody, it is also their responsibility of being in the path of the bullet.

Edit: just thinking about it some more. I think it is also in the responsibility of the merchant not to sell crap to their customers. Sure, legally probably nobody could touch you if you sell crap. You can indeed say it was the customers choice to buy crap. But in general, humans expect a certain amount of fairness in dealings with each other.

You can probably get away with selling cookies, because customers are not yet broadly aware of the health implications. I wonder what it is like to be a producer of cigarettes these days, though. I could imagine that many people would react negatively towards such a person. What I mean is: society ultimately tries to enforce people being nice to each other, so in the long run selling crap might come back to you.

Re: Ask YC: Advice on startup idea and funding.

#37

Post by smanek »

Tichy wrote: post #36
smanek wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It isn't the shop owner's problem to stop customers from eating too much. It's the customer's. The health risks of over-eating are fairly well understood; I think the person eating is best qualified to do the cost benefit analysis for themselves. You may have a case if he were selling to unsupervised children who can't make these sort of decisions for themselves - but adults can. Even if sugar were physically addicti…

To each their own - all I am saying is that I would not want to base my business on selling unhealthy food. I would not want to sell cigarettes, either. The talk about customer responsibility is all good and well, but the fact remains that the "stuff industry" is exploiting human weaknesses all the time to make people buy stuff they shouldn't. I can't really blame them, just want to point out that customer responsibi…

Fair enough - if you don't want to sell something unhealthy that's, of course, your perogative.

I guess I always see facilitating a trade between willing participants as a good thing. As long as I'm selling something that people want, everyone is better off and I'm making the world a better place (in the pareto efficiency sense).

Re: Ask YC: Advice on startup idea and funding.

#38

Post by orlick »

I'm not sure if this is really the place to be asking a question about style and fashion :)

A) Yes I would go to this if it was branded correctly and all my friends were going to it. I wouldn't go there regularly. For examples that are working in Portland, OR check out Voodoo Doughnuts and Saint Cupcake

http://voodoodoughnut.com/

http://www.saintcupcake.com/

B) You would need a bank loan, perhaps backed by SBA.

Re: Ask YC: Advice on startup idea and funding.

#39

Post by Tichy »

smanek wrote: post #37
Tichy wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To each their own - all I am saying is that I would not want to base my business on selling unhealthy food. I would not want to sell cigarettes, either. The talk about customer responsibility is all good and well, but the fact remains that the "stuff industry" is exploiting human weaknesses all the time to make people buy stuff they shouldn't. I can't really blame them, just want to point out that customer responsibi…

Fair enough - if you don't want to sell something unhealthy that's, of course, your perogative. I guess I always see facilitating a trade between willing participants as a good thing. As long as I'm selling something that people want, everyone is better off and I'm making the world a better place (in the pareto efficiency sense).

Apparently what people want is not always good for them. That is for another discussion, though. I don't really know why that is the case.

It's also interesting in the light of advertising. So first you make people want something they did not originally want, and then you make a win-win trade because now it is something they want? Or is it not so win-win, because your ads distorted reality? (Note, this is not meant as an counter-argument, I am simply interested in this).

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