IT Stores LLC | Application Preview
IT Stores LLC is seeking government grants to support its operations, primarily due to a cash flow strain from a reserve held by their payment processor until December. The requested funds will be allocated to various essential areas such as advertising, payments to their advertising agency, inventory expenses, and compensation for their product upload team and copywriting specialist.
The business strategy involves expanding their product offerings and investing in SEO to increase organic traffic. Additionally, plans include hiring full-time staff to enhance customer service and streamline daily operations, including dealer correspondence and order submissions.
As a 23-year-old entrepreneur who launched the business solo, the applicant highlights significant achievements, such as generating nearly half a million dollars in revenue since the beginning of 2023. However, they express concern that without external funding, the company may struggle to maintain operations. The commitment to the business's success is emphasized, noting that ongoing work is focused on growth and improved customer service.
In terms of competition, IT Stores LLC faces established rivals like Katom.com, webstaurantstore.com, and restaurantsupply.com, which are all larger enterprises with extensive resources. The applicant believes their competitive advantage lies in providing exceptional customer service and custom quote requests, a feature that larger competitors do not offer. By maintaining a personalized approach and leveraging strong supplier relationships for bulk order negotiations, the business aims to carve out a niche in the market.
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General Information
Business Registration Number: 92-1943866
Location: Santa Barbara, CA, United States
Length of Operation: 1-5
Number of Employees: 1-10 Employees
Annual Gross Income: $500k to $1M
Annual Gross Expense: $100k to $250k
Open to Loans: NO
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Funding Usage
Our business is currently on a reserve with our payment processor until December that eats up all of our profits, so we will use this money to continue all operations. This entails ad costs, paying our ad agency, inventory costs, and paying our product upload team, as well as our copywriting specialist.
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Business Plan
I plan to continue to add new products and brands, as well as invest more in SEO, in order to generate more organic traffic. I also plan to hire a few full-time employees to help with customer service, as well as day-to-day operations, such as corresponding with our dealers and submitting orders. I am a 23-year-old entrepreneur that started this business entirely by myself, and although we have generated almost half a million dollars in revenue since our inception in January of 2023, we are struggling with cash flow issues due to our payment processor reserve, and I am afraid that we will not be able to continue operations unless we receive some sort of external funding. I am completely committed to the success of this business, and I work every single day to continue to grow and improve our service to our customers. This funding would be integral to our success.
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Self Identified Competition
Katom.com , webstaurantstore.com , and restaurantsupply.com are our 3 largest competitors. These are all multi-million dollar enterprises with countless employees, and many more resources at their disposal than us. We aim to make a space for ourselves in this market by providing superior customer service, and work with our customers on custom quote requests on a case-by-case basis, which our big competitors simply do not offer. As previously mentioned, we take a much more "hands on" approach with each customer, in order to understand their specific needs, to source the best product for them possible. We also utilize our close relationship with all of our suppliers to negotiate custom bulk order quotes on any order where a customer could benefit from it.
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Contact Applicant
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