Be Bhalo
“The advisors are kind, helpful and so very knowledgeable in their fields and beyond. The free classes and resources have allowed us to better understand our business and business in general.”
Bhalo ( Bhālo ) is the Bengali word for ‘good’ and a word Anjuli Bhattacharya would hear often as a child. Not knowing the language fluently, but knowing the word helped her to understand the nature of a conversation, ‘Bhalo’ was exclaimed when food was particularly good.
Anjuli Bhattacharya opened Be Bhalo in September of 2022. Be Bhalo offers a variety of freeze-dried snacks and meal preparation kits made with fruits and vegetables from local farmers markets and farms. All the packaging for Be Bhalo foods is biodegradable, and products are available to purchase online and at farmers markets.
Today, Bhalo represents good food practice for Bhattacharya.
She first connected with the Solano-Napa SBDC in September of 2022 as a recipient of a $5,000 DREAM Fund grant. She continued working with the SBDC after completing the DREAM Fund to launch her business.
In November of 2022, she worked with a Solano-Napa SBDC advisor on the development of her business plan. These early months were an especially big time juggle for Anjuli who worked as a personal chef during the holiday season while also trying to get her own small business open.
In the fall of 2023, Anjuli was selected to participate in the Napa Success Accelerator program for a $2,500 grant for her business. As part of the program, Anjuli worked with Solano-Napa SBDC advisors to develop a pitch deck for her business.
“The advisors are kind, helpful and so very knowledgeable in their fields and beyond,” she said. “The free classes and resources have allowed us to better understand our business and business in general.”
As part of the accelerator program, she was paired with Solano-Napa SBDC advisor Carolynne Gamble. In addition to the pitch deck, Gamble also worked with Bhattacharya on her marketing efforts for her business. She has continued to meet with Gamble regularly since then.
They have developed an e-marketing campaign, researched farmers markets and pop-up events, and possible menu expansion. They have had several business pop-ups in Napa and Benicia that have been especially successful and have been approved to take part in the popular Napa Farmers Market.
Learn more about Be Bhalo at bebhalo.com
