This Spring 2026 our bootcamp will be focused on entrepreneurs looking to start a food service or restaurant business. Start a food truck open a full service restaurant, or side gig a new catering business. This is a one-day intensive for F&B entrepreneurs.
This workshop series was 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 restaurant or food budget, learn about how to evaluate a commercial lease and meet other like-minded foodie entrepreneurs.
As part of this boot camp, I&E 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 - Spring 2026
Restaurant Entrepreneurship BootCamp Schedule (Tentative)
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. | 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 food entrepreneur who started a food service business after graduation. Learn about what he did right or wrong to get to where he 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. | Human Resources - Hiring, Labor Practices | People are at the core of every food and service business. So how do you recruit, hire, train, and motivate employees in the food service business? How do you build a robust system so that your employees perform, and where you minimize risk? |
| 4:15 p.m - 5:00 p.m. | Wrap-up, networking |
Schedule Speakers 2026 (Tentative)
- Market Segmentation & Customer Values (Sybil Yang)
- The Legalities of Food Retail and Service (Mark Ciotola)
- Food & Beverage and Restaurant Entrepreneur Conversations
- Recipe & Menu Development
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.