The Spring 2024 bootcamp will focus on entrepreneurs looking to start a food, beverage or restaurant business. Whether you're looking to commercialize your nanna's tamale recipe, sell the newest vegan smoothie supplement, or open a full service restaurant, this is the two-day intensive for you.
This workshop series is designed to get you up and running and ready to go into F&B entrepreneurship with your eyes open. Learn about food safety, permitting, legal requirements and more. Cost out your first recipes, learn about how food delivery systems work, build a budget and meet other like-minded foodie entrepreneurs.
As part of this boot camp, we will cover the cost for you to get your California Food Handler's card, and to get ServSafe certified - both are necessary first steps to owning and operating any food business.
Come join us and other foodie entrepreneurs for a weekend of networking and development!
Day 1 - Friday March 8, 2024
Restaurant and Food & Beverage BootCamp Schedule
| Time | Session | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. | Welcome Breakfast & Networking | Continental breakfast, coffee, teas |
| 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. |
Market Segmentation & Customer Values |
Knowing what you're selling goes hand-in-hand with who you are selling to. This session will help you determine who you are selling to, how to reach them, and how to position your product to them. |
| 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. | Break & Networking | |
| 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. |
The Legalities of Food Retail and Service |
The legalities of the food business are arguably more intricate than those of many other businesses. |
| 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. | Lunch (Vista Room - Burk Hall 401) | Self-serve lunch provided in the SFSU Vista Room on the 4th floor of Burk Hall. |
| 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. |
Food & Beverage and Restaurant Entrepreneur Conversations |
Meet fellow SFSU alumni Cristina Wu Feng (HTM '21) who started a full service restaurant, after graduation. Her restaurant is Cantoo Latin Asian Rotisserie, a well acclaimed Venezuelan Chinese Food concept. Learn about what she did right or wrong to get to where she is today. Q&A and networking to follow! |
| 2:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. | Break | |
| 2:45 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. |
Low-risk concept testing and next steps. |
What should your next step be? You'll learn about a few low-risk ways to test your F&B or food service concept. Move forward under cottage food laws, the farmers' market, online retail, or through the SFSU food incubator. |
| 4:15 p.m - 5:00 p.m. | Wrap-up, networking |
Day 2 - Saturday March 9, 2024
BootCamp Schedule
Please note that the order of sessions will be updated and change.
| Time | Session | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. | Welcome Breakfast & Networking | Continental breakfast, coffee, teas |
| 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. |
Restaurant Budgeting & Financial Model |
Start to build out a forecast to get an idea of your sources and uses of funds. How much start-up capital would you need, how should you price, and how much in sales can you expect from your venture? Note: You may want to bring a lap top for this session. Workshop materials will be provided electronically. |
| 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. | Break & Networking | |
| 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. |
Food Industry Technology |
Information systems have made their way into the day to day of food service operations. How should you handle payments, how do you connect to food delivery services, and how should you collect sales data and turn that data into actionable information? Get a view into the information systems that you'll have to work with in F&B. |
| 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. | Lunch (Vista Room - Burk Hall 401) | Hot, self-serve lunch provided in the SFSU Vista Room on the 4th floor of Burk Hall. |
| 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. |
Recipe Costing & Pricing |
There's no way around it. Food is a business, and you have to know your food costs. This session will teach you how to estimate your recipe and food costs, and then move into how food products are priced for the consumer market. |
| 2:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. | Break | |
| 2:45 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. |
Food Safety |
All food and beverage must be made, handled and transported in a manner that is safe to consume. This session gets you ready to for the ServSafe food safety and California Food Handlers certifications. |
| 4:15 p.m - 5:00 p.m. | Wrap-up, networking |
Day 1 - March 8, 2024
- Market Segmentation & Customer Values (Sybil Yang) - Slide Deck
- The Legalities of Food Retail and Service (Mark Ciotola) - Slide Deck
- Food & Beverage and Restaurant Entrepreneur Conversations (Cantoo) (Cristina Wu Feng, HTM '21)
- Low-risk Concept Testing and Next Steps (Sybil Yang) - Slide Deck
Day 2 - March 9, 2024
- Restaurant Budgeting & Financial Model (Sybil Yang) - Handout, Excel File
- Food Industry Technology (Sybil Yang) - Slide Deck
- Recipe Costing & Pricing (Tim Shaw) - Handout, Slide Deck
- Food Safety & ServSafe Certification (Tim Shaw) - Slide Deck
Next Step Resources:
- Take your ServSafe California Food Handlers exams! Save your receipt, and we will reimburse you (instructions below).
- Apply for a free mailbox in the HUB (HUM125) for your SFSU start-up
- If your startup is ready to take the next step, apply for the IncuGator
- If you need help with business, legal or technical consulting, visit us during open consulting hours!
- Are your ready to pitch your business idea? Think about pitching at the SFSU Innovation Pitch Competition!
- Feel like you need to learn more about entrepreneurship? There's a minor program for that: Entrepreneurship Minor.
Reimbursement Forms:
If you signed up for a ServSafe California (and/or San Diego County) Food Handlers' Certification course and exam within three months of attending the micro-entrepreneurship workshop, we will reimburse you for the cost of your certification. Email: incugator@sfsu.edu.
- Market Segmentation & Customer Values - Sybil Yang, PhD
- The Legalities of Food Retail and Service - Mark Ciotola, JD, MBA
- Food & Beverage and Restaurant Entrepreneur Conversations - Christina Wu (HTM '21), Owner, Cantoo
- Low-risk Concept Testing and Next Steps - Sybil Yang, PhD
- Restaurant Budgeting & Financial Model - Sybil Yang, PhD
- Food Industry Technology - Sybil Yang, PhD
- Recipe Costing & Pricing - Chef Tim Shaw, M.P.A., M.A.
- Food Safety & ServSafe Certification - Chef Tim Shaw, M.P.A., M.A.