Community Collective OR Week 3:
For Week 3, the Community Collective team drove 6 hours from Nashville to Columbus, OH to work with Freedom a la Cart. Freedom is a cafe, bakery and catering business that empowers survivors of sex trafficking and exploitation to build lives of freedom and self-sufficiency. Freedom has a 24-month comprehensive life skills training and workforce development program for their employees which includes: resource management, job coaching, social connection, trauma counseling and financial literacy.
Over the week, the Community Collective team had the opportunity to support Freedom a la Cart’s mission by assessing the feasibility of expanding into the vending machine space. The goal of the expansion is to increase revenue for Freedom, revenue that will support the wrap around services provided to Freedom’s employees.
Day 1: The team had our first meeting with Carissa, the Social Enterprise Director, where we discussed the project scope with her. After the initial meeting, the team was heads down doing research about vending machine best practices. We learned a lot about starting a vending machine business, including marketing, location and financial considerations.
Day 2: The team was on the ground exploring Columbus to find the best location for a vending machine. Throughout the week we checked out hospitals, offices, gyms and coworking spaces. We also conducted external interviews where we asked people questions about where they buy their lunch, how much they are willing to spend and if they have purchased food from a vending machine. We also scoped out the food options in the area and took note of the foot traffic at each location.
Day 3: On Wednesday, the team continued our external research and conducted calls with vending machine suppliers as well as other companies in the food industry. We also began work on a financial model to assess the profitability of the vending machine pilot.
Day 4: We spent the day wrapping up our analysis and checking out a few more locations. We also interviewed people who went to Freedom a la cart and asked them questions about what brought them to the cafe and what more they would like to see from Freedom.
Day 5: Final presentation day! The team met with Carissa to discuss our final recommendations. Our project was a great opportunity to step away from our computers and see more of the city and engage with local residents. We had a great time exploring Columbus and working with Freedom a la Cart. Not only does Freedom have an incredible mission, but they also have amazing food!
