There are already a few online vegan stores but I don’t like shopping online and have been wanting a physical store to exist for quite a while so that’s why I'm jumping in head first. Also I'm young, full of passion and enthusiasm and not yet ready to grow up and put my savings towards a home loan deposit.

If you want to develop your business ideas further I'd definitely recommend doing part one of the cert IV in Business (small business management). I did it through Kangan Batman TAFE two nights a week but other providers may be just as good, and you will complete the entire certificate if you do NEIS.

As for getting onto NEIS I'm much the same as rocket. I quit uni (technically I was banned) then applied for new start the next day.

Basically The Radical Grocery Store aims to be 100% ethical (apparently this makes it a radical business) and so will not exploit anyone or anything in anyway. This includes the customer, the farmers, non-human animals and the environment. The store will stock the largest range of vegan specialty products, the largest range of fairtrade and no sweat products and no un fairtrade products (I am still debating whether to also stock local organic when fairtrade is available), certified organic local fresh produce and grocery items and a range of recycled and reusable products (I’m also interested in other qualities such as packaging, ethics of parent companies etc). The store will eventually be a one-stop-shop for vegans and other ethically minded consumers and include a small café and activist space. I also hope that the store can act as a kind of vegan show room to introduce more people to veganism.

Jo - if you have any hospitality experience or want to get some, I also have a vague vision of a vegan, organic, fairtrade cafe with vegan cheese cake, cup cakes and every kind of tea, throw in Rocket’s vegan cooking classes and rent some kitchen space/time to other vegan entrepreneurs (the pastry chefs in my TAFE course thought a business which just rents kitchen space would be an awesome idea and much needed). I was thinking of eventually opening something like this as part of the long term vision of my store but I'd much prefer if someone else started it or something similar sooner, either in my store or close by because I don’t know Jack about hospitality.

Rico - Glad you like the name, a lot of debate went into it over the last few months. When the world is ready for it, it may one day change to 'The Radical Vegan Grocery'.

Sorry that was such a long post. I’d love some more feed back on my plans and if you have time, below is a link to one of my surveys. Cheers

Click Here to take survey

Melbourne - Cruelty Free/Vegan/Environmentally Friendly Shop & Cafe

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