Raising Dough

Book excerpt: Increasingly, food-based businesses are seen as key solutions to solve our social and environmental problems, and yet entrepreneurs report a surprising lack of access to money to help them get started or grow. Raising Dough is an unprecedented guide that provides social entrepreneurs - as well as their potential supporters - the tools necessary to enable more of these businesses to launch and thrive. Through a mix of case studies and her own personal expertise, social-finance expert Elizabeth U explains what every budding entrepreneur should do even before they begin asking for money, including choosing an appropriate ownership model. She covers a wide range of possible funding sources, from traditional public and institutional grant and loan programs to cutting-edge, community crowdfunding models. Written primarily for people managing socially responsible food businesses, Raising Dough includes resources, strategies, and lessons that can benefit any socially minded entrepreneur and those who would support them, including investors.--COVER.