Golden Business Plan

It's Baton Rouge: Out to Lunch

Making a business plan is an essential part of launching a new business. But it’s not a skill an aspiring business owner necessarily has. Which is where Camille Terk comes in. Writing business plans is literally what she does for a living. Her firm, Terk Consulting, is a boutique consulting firm that specializes in business planning.

Camille founded her firm in 2005 and in the nearly two decades since has served over 700 clients, helping them draft business plans and pitch-decks to present to investors and lenders. All told, she estimates she has helped her clients raise more than $350 million.

Camille has an MBA, is based in New Orleans, and is one of the few firms specifically focused on doing business plans for small business. She counts among her clients some of our previous guests on this show, including: Falaya, Marex Services, Resource Environmental Solutions and Speedy Eats.

If somebody went to Camille and told her they wanted to open a vegan restaurant in Zachary Louisiana, I don’t know what Camille would say but she might suggest that that doesn’t immediately look like a recipe for success, right? Maybe a poboy shop or a Bar B Q restaurant, but vegan. In Zachary?

Well, Neshia Rowe opened Golden Vegan restaurant in Zachary in 2022, after launching the concept from her home in 2021. Was it a success? Sure was! And still is. In fact it’s turned out to be such a success that Neshia has since opened two more Golden Vegan restaurants – one at LSU and the other at Southern University.

Neshia will be the first to admit that Zachary was an unlikely locale for her first restaurant. She says she founded it there because the area didn't have a lot of healthy food options and the concept behind her menu is to educate her customers about healthy eating, to help them gradually transition from a diet of fast food and fatty food to plant-based options that don’t deprive and taste great.

And, talking of great tasting food, Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard. You can find photos from this show by Ian Ledo and Miranda Albarez at itsbatonrouge.la.

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