Episode 6: Margaret Kamara- Cuisine, Community and the Impact of COVID-19
Margaret Kamara is the co-Founder of District Chop Bar, a West Africa fusion concept based in Washington DC. Developed from Margaret’s love of food and her culture and buoyed from advice from a personal life coach, she started her business over two years ago with a focus on pop-ups, local festivals and catering events in DC, Maryland and Virginia or the DMV. District Chop Bar takes West African food and other fusion favorites and brings them to a wider DMV audience, hungry for a unique culinary experience. Margaret has been a leader in the local community founding Young African Professionals,, which has been supporting the over 10,000 diasporans in the area attain professional growth through workshops, conferences and events. Margaret became intimately connected to the area's culinary opportunities as well as the programs and organizations available in the District of Columbia to support entrepreneurs. Margaret discussed the decision making process of going into “food experience” versus a sit down venue or food truck, conscious of the failure rates and meagre margins associated with restaurants. She finally settled on operating from a commercial kitchen which has been a key factor in being able to not only scale but also currently pivoting to provide curb-side pick up and delivering food to customers within the area. Margaret also talks about how taking District Chop Bar from year 2 to year 5 and beyond is not only a labor of love but a family affair, requiring engaging her extended family in food operations and delivery. Margaret’s business funding philosophy for District Chop Bar is focused on grants tailored to support entrepreneurs working in the local community, whether that's supporting economic vitality in DC’s Ward 7 or 8 or addressing food deserts and the lack of healthy options. She stressed the need to research and network and pointed out Chambers of Commerce or business cultivation workshops as key hubs for funding information and opportunities. Focusing on grants rather than loans at this time allows Margaret to ensure true understanding of tax liabilities as an LLC and a clean credit line should loans be necessary as the company grows. Margaret discussed learning from the success and insights from DMV staple Swahili Village and how they exemplify the best balance of presentation and customer service and discussed unveiling the District Chop Bar “African Fusion Lunch Box” - allowing a weekly sign up for a lunch portion size of delicious food available for busy families all currently at home due to the pandemic. Resources shared by Margaret DC Seed Grant. Catherlic University of America for Start-up Business Conference Latino economic development center DC Department of small and local business development Sister Economics Empowerment Grants Chobani Incubator Program Ebay Start Cup District Chop Bar can be found on Instagram. Facebook and Twitter and the Tastemakers Commercial Kitchen on Sundays starting at 2pm