🧠 A Locally Grown Food Delivery Service

Things I'm Reading and Martin Shkreli is Back!

Today’s read time: 3 minutes

What’s up party people! We’re back with another side hustle idea!

Before we dive into today’s idea, let’s connect on Twitter!

1. Business idea of the Week: Locally Grown Food Delivery Service

As Warren Buffet once said, when it comes to business:

"It doesn't matter how hard you row. It matters which boat you get in."

This is why trends and current events can make or break a business.

Just like we saw during the pandemic. Mask manufacturing was an ok business in the early 2000s, but an amazing business in 2020.

Nothing changed about the business fundamentals, but current events caused an unnatural demand for their products and supercharged their business.

Starting with a growing industry or niche gives your business a better chance of success.

And that’s exactly what today’s idea starts with.

The idea: Start a local grocery delivery service that sources and delivers locally grown food (vegetables, fruits, meats, etc.).

In the last 5 years, searches for “farm near me” and “carnivore diet” have exploded.

With this data, we can assume the demand for locally grown food has also gone up.

And since this service would just take care of sourcing and delivering the food, it can be started as a side hustle with very little upfront money.

Here’s how I would get started:

1. Build a list of local farms/vendors that produce locally grown vegetables, fruits, meats, eggs, etc. You can do a quick online search for farms in your areas and give them a call, or attend local farmers markets to build relationships with these vendors.

2. Decide the structure of your service. Will this be a subscription that delivers a specified amount of food every week or will this be an a-la-carte service that allows customers to order what they want?

3. Once you know how you’ll structure the service and how to source the food, you need to find your first 5-10 customers. Start by creating a simple website with a description of the service and email capture. Then you can market to your neighbors, advertise in local Facebook groups, or post flyers around town.

This business is a prime example of something that can be started with just a small email list and grow into something much bigger.

For example, you can email the available selection of food out to your list once a week, give them a few days to order, and do the pickup/delivery on the same day every week.

Farmhouse Delivery is a great example of this service, but they have the look of a national service.

By focusing on one specific region, you can build trust in your customers that they are getting food made right in their area.

And that’s a wrap!

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2. Things I’m Reading.

How to Get Rich by Felix Dennis (founder of Maxim Magazine)

Long Youthspan - A newsletter about longevity news and tips (how to live longer)

How to Get New Ideas by Paul Graham (founder of Y Combinator)

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3. Martin Shkreli is Back!

If the name “Martin Shkreli” doesn’t ring a bell, here’s a quick background:

Shkreli is a 40-year-old guy that founded a hedge fund and biotech company. In 2015, Shkreli bought the manufacturing rights to a drug and raised the price by 5,455% (from $13.50 to $750 per pill).

This got a lot of people pissed off because it was seen as unethical, and Shkreli was labeled the “Pharma Bro”.

In 2017 Shkreli was convicted of two counts of security fraud (unrelated to the drug controversy) and sentenced to 7 years in prison.

Fast forward 5 years and Shkreli was released from prison.

And now he’s back!

In an attempt to right some of his wrongs in the healthcare industry, Martin just released his new company: Dr. Gupta

Dr. Gupta is an AI-powered chatbot that answers your medical questions like a doctor.

Think of it like WebMD, but it doesn’t tell you your headache is caused by a brain tumor…

Shkreli believes in the next 10 years, it will be normal for people to rely on AI as their doctor. Which will cut down on medical costs and allow 3rd world countries to access top medical care.

What do you think?