HELP US OFFICIALLY OPEN FOR BUSINESS!

Hey there! My name is Minna Kim, and many of you who are reading this know have heard me talk about my passion of opening my own business with my husband Julian and my good friend, Cody Wagers. The three of us met working together at a neighborhood sushi restaurant in Austin, TX.

My husband has been the head kitchen chef there since they first opened in 2009, and our love story started a few years later when I first started working there in early 2012. Cody later joined the team in the summer of 2014, and it wasn't long before we realized we shared the same mindset of opening a business together.

This past December, I made the difficult decision to leave my job after 11 long years so that I could fully commit my time to pursue this dream.

On December 30th, we were given an incredible opportunity when a kitchen space suddenly became available at an amazing location in the heart of Austin.

After touring the space, we immediately fell in love and made the decision to sign the lease without hesitation.

We were so excited to get started on this new journey, but my enthusiasm blinded me from calculating all the pre-opening costs needed to officially open for business.

I started the year off dedicating all of my time and doing everything I could to come up with the startup funds. I was meeting with a lot of people, including a few of you reading this now, trying to get as much information as possible from the right resources.

January 23rd was our official kitchen access date and if we were lucky and stayed on top of everything, we had hoped to launch on February 1st. I had enough confidence that it was possible, but little did I know how difficult it was to raise capital for a business.

As we were approaching our kitchen access date, I was unable to make any progress in raising the capital we needed in such a short period. Then, I slowly started doubting myself and questioning why I thought I was capable of doing this in the first place until I had a brief flashback of a specific regular customer of mine who I had taken care of since when I first started working.

At the time, not many people knew about this business plan idea, and he was one of the first people I informed. I remember how his face lit up with excitement for me when I shared the details of my idea. He offered his support along the way and his encouragement really lifted my spirits up. He contacted his network of friends who he thought could assist me in this process and this was the email he had sent…

I teared up when I had first read this email because I was deeply touched with his assuring words of support and encouragement. Rereading the email helped me snap out of my mini-depression state, and I was able to remember my purpose in this whole dream. (Thank you.)

Many of you reading this are regular customers from my previous job; and many of you believed in me and urged me to open a restaurant of my own someday. You guys have become a big part of my life, and I consider all of you a part of my restaurant family. You guys are the reason this became my dream in the first place, so it only makes sense that YOU be a PART of it too.

After securing the kitchen space and also leaving my job around the same time to fully commit to this dream, it has been a very financially challenging time for my family. My husband recently gave his notice as well hoping that we will raise enough business capital & to financially provide our family expenses for a few months. We are hoping to raise enough funds before the end of February so that we can formally start working together in the launching process as we aim to open sometime in March.

Learning and understanding the financial aspect of starting a business has been beyond overwhelming, to say the least. And although this next chapter is very new to us, we are determined to overcome each challenge that we encounter.

THIS IS AN OVERVIEW OF EXPECTED OPENING COSTS FOR MONTH ONE

With YOUR support, a donation in the amount of:

• $300 - $500 COULD HELP US START OUR ONBOARDING PROCESS AND PREPARING BUSINESS DOCUMENTS (STATE FILING FEES, PERMITS, LICENSING)

• $500-$1000 COULD HELP US IN BUILDING OUR BRAND (WEBSITE, MENU, ADVERTISING) *VERY IMPORTANT*

• $5000 CAN COVER ONE MONTHS RENT OR FOOD COSTS FOR FIRST MONTH

• $10,000 - $12,000 CAN COVER ALL OF OUR KITCHEN EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES

• $12,000 & OVER COULD HELP PAY EMPLOYEE SALARIES

Our $50,000 goal is just to get us through the first month until our launch day, and despite all the personal and business-related financial worries that we are currently facing with the lack of funding, we are trying to stay positive by holding our heads up high!

Our #1 PRIORITY right now is to GO LIVE and to officially open for business to serve some amazing food that you all deserve!

SO FAR:

• We have received keys to our kitchen space

• We have formed our business entity and are currently waiting to receive legal documentation for the business.

• Approval of submitted kitchen layout - COMPLETE

• Ready to order all of the kitchen equipment ASAP & currently on standby awaiting to receive funding for equipment -

• Reviewing all major edits of final menu

• Business bank account - IN PROGRESS

• Licensing and permits - IN PROGRESS

We will be posting updates often within the next month informing everyone how the raised funds are being used. In the meantime, I will be working on the onboarding process including the branding (building logo, menu, website, etc.) of our business, then plan on going live on social media and delivery platforms.

As we start our adventure, we expect to face many unexpected expenses and will need a lot more assistance, guidance and monetary support in the upcoming year, however we look forward to seeing the outcome and growth of all the mutually beneficial relationships we build along the way.

We plan on making a special announcement for ALL of our donors once we have reached our initial goal after officially opening for business, so STAY TUNED for updates!

We truly appreciate all of the encouragement and helpful guidance that you have given us throughout the years. We wouldn’t have made it this far if it weren’t for you! We are super excited and we can’t wait to see what the future brings for us as we make the first step in getting closer to our dream.