Starting a small business by yourself is not an easy matter. My wife and I wanted to take advantage of her amazing culinary gifts in making healthy, vegan desserts. We live in Miami Beach, so we felt that there was enough demand for healthy chocolates and cakes to make our venture successful.

We had gotten as far as coming up with a name we liked:  “ChocoBliss,” but we were far from realizing our ultimate goal of creating a new company. That’s when I reached out to the Veterans’ Business Outreach Center and I’m very glad that I did. Within a day I was speaking by phone with my coach, Janice Benggio, who was not only an expert, but also a caring and patient individual. She discussed our ideas for the business and the opportunities we had to turn it into a successful venture. The business start-up checklist that she sent to us was instrumental in making sure we didn’t miss anything.

Within two days, we were able to construct our business plan and set up a Federal Employment Identification Number (FEIN). Within two weeks, we had registered the name “ChocoBliss” and applied for our Florida Resale License. By the end of fourth week we had set up an Instagram Account for raw_choco_bliss, loaded our first photographs, and created a website through Go-Daddy at https://rawchocobliss.com.

It was a pleasant surprise that my wife also turned out to be an outstanding food photographer (who knew?!). We immediately started to receive inquiries. Within a few days of ChocoBliss’ one month anniversary, we received our first order and our niche business has continued to grow through Instagram, the website, and word-of-mouth referrals. I am pleased to say that we have contributed to the economy of Florida by paying our first quarterly sales tax!

It only took that first phone call to the VBOC to get us started. Since then, Janice Benggio has continued to keep in touch with us to see how we are doing. Thank you VBOC for helping us to realize our dream!

Written by Steve Arnold, U.S. Force Veteran