Berkana Sauna & Restaurant | Application Preview
Berkana Sauna & Restaurant is seeking a $100,000 government grant to establish a physical location in Brunswick, Maine, supported by positive market research. The funds will be allocated from April to October for various purposes, including contractor deposits, technology systems, kitchen equipment, menu development, and staffing costs. The business aims to employ six people and support local producers through its offerings.
The founders plan to create a space that offers heat therapy, rooted in ancient traditions, and intends to provide the Maine Indigenous community with access to the sauna twice a year to support healing and balance. Berkana will be an attractive investment opportunity due to its prime location, strong sales channels, and a chef-owner with a solid reputation, with potential for growth in multiple areas, such as cooking classes, mobile units, and retail sales.
Berkana's competitive advantage lies in offering a sustainable, Finnish-style sauna experience powered by community solar energy, featuring both private and communal sauna rooms. The business model emphasizes unique, locally sourced products, enhancing customer experience while minimizing environmental impact.
-
General Information
Business Registration Number: 2220592340040
Location: Brunswick, ME, United States
Length of Operation: 1-5
Number of Employees: 1-10 Employees
Annual Gross Income: $1M to $10M
Annual Gross Expense: $500k to $1M
Open to Loans: NO
-
Funding Usage
April - June: Contractor deposit, software and tech systems, kitchen equipment July-Sept: Menu development, farm and purveyor visits, construction, chef salary Sept-October: Finishing, retail merch development, manger salary, artist commission The $100,000 grant would allow me to secure a brick and mortar space in the Brunswick area where market research supports the business. I have a wonderful contractor who has agreed to take on this project, and does everything in-house from electric to plumbing. They require a $5-8,000 pre-construction payment to get started. Any extra would be put directly toward business development cost and build, such as a payment system and software, and kitchen equipment so that I can get started in a physical location. At the end of the year I would expect Berkana to be open and thriving in the Brunswick community, providing employment to at least 6 people. I support local workers, purveyors, farmers, and makers through my restaurant and retail business. The initial startup grant would allow me to at this point refine the business offerings and aesthetic - including commissioning a piece of art by a local artist to feature in the space - as well as support community donations. Heat therapy has been used since ancient times for mental, spiritual, and physical cleansing and balance, including by Indigenous Americans. With Maine being the only state whose tribes are repeatedly requesting and being denied self-governance, our Indigenous neighbors are facing massive stressors and loss of connection. At least twice a year I intend to offer Berkana for use by the Maine Indigenous community as a way to help restore balance and foster healing. The grant will help me to cover some operating costs in this ongoing community-supporting effort.
-
Business Plan
Berkana is attractive to investors because of the location (only 30 minutes from Portland, Maine), many sales channels, reputation of the chef and owner, and the growth potential to additional prime locations such as the world-class Sugarloaf mountain area, and Maine’s stunning Acadia National Park, which draws millions of visitors annually. Sales channels include: Fermentation workshops Cooking classes Sauna-building workshops Mobile sauna & food truck units for event rentals Hot yoga Hot meditations Event rentals Memberships Gift cards Robe, towel, slipper rentals Retail items Retail food Potential growth in catering, additional locations, and by renting overnight rooms The experience and capability of our wife/husband team in hospitality, sales, and startups is well-established. We have a passion for growing, foraging, processing, and creating goods of our own, which we will offer for retail sale as well. This reduces retail overhead, allows us to stay in the creative “maker space,” and keeps the Berkana experience unique and proprietary. When you can order tea made from herbs grown in our garden, elderberry spritzer made from our own elderberries and honey, salve made with our own herbs and beeswax, and unique dishes made with chef-foraged foods, it makes us feel like we’ve really taken care of you in a special way.
-
Self Identified Competition
There are a few sauna offerings in Maine, including the clothing-optional Russian bath, the public sauna 30 minutes away in Portland, the rustic sauna/pizza restaurant in rural Maine, and a mobile wood-fired sauna that costs over $300 to rent. Berkana provides a different and premium authentic sauna experience. With a lower carbon footprint than burning wood, modern electric sauna heaters offer the same löyly (steam from throwing water on the heated rocks) as wood-fired but without the time constraint, wood, and subsequent labor cost, or environmental impact. Berkana (the Nordic birch rune for rejuvenation) will be a Finnish-style sauna that runs on community solar electricity and is built sustainably. There are private sauna rooms for 2-6 people and one common sauna that can seat up to 20. There will be a retail space selling unique Finnish and Maine-made skincare, sauna and shower products, as well as food and beverages to go.
-
Contact Applicant
Subscribe to our Administrator Dashboard to gain full access to this application. Learn More
