Los Angeles Urban League
Black Restaurant Accelerator Success Stories
California Coffee Company, LLC
Has accomplished the set-up to open the California Coffee Company in the Sherman Oaks Galleria after many modification challenges. Receiving the green light from the health department to open is a major accomplishment. Funds will be use to pay staff and continue marketing ads.
My Sweet Melanin
The owner is a wife, mother, and entrepreneur juggling the affairs of life and focused on building a business and maintaining self-care. Her goals are written, and she tracks the accomplishments of each day. Her focus is using food to bring relationships together through baking. She is developing a curriculum to use in retreat environments.
The intent is to use the funding for a commercial refrigerator to help with large and multiple orders. Additionally, funds will be used for marketing a possibly a virtual assistant.
The Toss Up, LLC
The husband-and-wife dual work well together in this restaurant. They have much care and passion for the customers to understand the food. Each new customer receives an explanation of the menu and has the option of building a personalized salad.
They are focused on hiring the best employees and equipping them with training to provide quality customer service. However, identifying high-caliber staff is a challenge but in many cases investing time to educate on soft skills is beneficial.
Funding will be used to market the business and increase customer traffic to the restaurant.
Wingopolis, Inc.
The CEO of Wingopolis has used the funds to help re-established his location in the front unit of his facility. He experienced multiple challenges with the items, like plumbers staying on schedule so that the restaurant could reopen, but the additional financial flexibility helps him persevere.
He’s working on a new pricing structure to reflect the increase in wholesale prices without increasing too much to the customer.
City Catering
“The Entrepreneurship Center at the Los Angeles Urban League is a wealth of knowledge for new and seasoned business owners. Over the last two years, I have worked with Rhonda Holbert and Crystal Mitchell, and their wisdom has helped shape my two businesses. During the pandemic, when most businesses were decreasing in sales, ours increased. At their suggestion, we targeted one day when we could provide services for our clients and built the structure around it. After one year of targeted service, our sales increased by 80%. Our back office strengthened to the point where we can now apply for RFPs and other business opportunities because we can produce the financial reporting that is necessary for investors and financial institutions to make informed decisions. Also, during this time, we have qualified for several grants specifically created for Black-owned businesses. My business partners and I are very grateful for the incredible staff and resources the Urban League makes available to us daily, free of charge.”