Update: Daniel Emailed us and told us that: Localesh is actively looking for food advocates to help us sell produce in the SF Bay Area. Earn 20% commission plus discounts and support local farmers. Email: localesh@gmail.com for information.
Also, here is the link for the sales advocate sign up page: localesh.launchrock.com
With all the technology at our disposal, how is it that we still have trouble finding and sourcing fresh, local food? It makes no sense. There has to be a better way that going to the local farmers market every weekend. Daniel Will, the founder of Localesh, thinks there is a better way. Localesh, launching sometime in June, is a virtual farmes market, of-sorts. Daniel told us a little bit about the product, and his idea:
Localesh
What is Localesh?
We know that people are busier than ever and shop differently now than they did last year. We also know that people value quality food. We’re making it easier and faster for busy people to get local farm fresh produce by creating a virtual farmers market with an affiliate model. Users can pre-order, pre-pay, use coupons when issued and either have it delivered for a fee or picked up free at a convenient location from someone in their network!
Who is the target user of Localesh?
We’re aiming our product at people 24-60 who are professionals, health conscious and tech savvy. We’re accessing these people through people they know and support. We’re creating food entrepreneurs. We realized the best way to get a movement going was to hire farm produce advocates who appreciate and value local produce over grocery store items and let them tap into their network of friends, family, co-workers etc to promote sales on our virtual market in return for 20% commission and discounts on their own purchases.
Why did you build Localesh?
We know that people are busier than ever and shop differently now than they did last year. We know that people want quality food but don’t always have time to shop at farmers markets as they are only open short hours, only take cash, small areas of real estate causing lines and crowds and are susceptible to weather issues. We’re making it easier and faster for busy people to get local farm fresh produce from their community.
How is your product different from what is currently available?
There is GoodEggs.com, FullCircle.com, Spud.com and Farmigo (closest competitor) The first three are simply delivery services for farm produce. Farmigo is running a model similar to Localesh.
We are different for various reasons:
1). We offer more of an incentive to advocates to sell with us as we offer 20% commission on sales plus discounts. Farmigo only offers 10% on orders over $500.00
2.) We offer daily pickup/delivery unlike Farmigo where they do once a week pickups. We see daily fulfillment as more convenient to the user.
3.) We get our produce from farmers markets at a huge discount, giving us larger margins so that we can still price our product around the same price you’d find at a farmers market. Plus we’re not storing produce for days, it’s used that same day. *Any order that comes in to be delivered/picked up on a specific day is the same day we go out and get the produce from markets to be packaged up and given to the advocate.
4.) In terms of the first three competitors other than Farmigo, we are creating food entrepreneurs by empowering farm food advocates to make a difference in this industry by promoting sales.
Tell us your founding story. Was there an “ah ha” moment?
My ah-ha moment was when I did this awesome program in San Mateo called Draper University. I was able to think outside the box, learn about Silicon Valley from VC Tim Draper and meet/network with great entrepreneurs. I was able to think about what industry problem I wanted to solve and realized I’ve always been a farmers market advocate. I then attempted to integrate ideas into the farmers market industry but with great resistance! It was a failure essentially. I realized then that I need to do what I’ve tried to do with farmers market vendors on my own to reach a new demographic of people and to empower those to help with this movement.
Tell us about your founding team and their backgrounds.
Daniel Will, Founder. I was born and raised in the midwest in a big family of 15 siblings! my family went to farmers markets weekly and live in farmland my whole life. I grew to love and appreciate the industry and supporting my local farmers and economy. I went to college in Minnesota, studied accounting and worked in that industry for a bit but got bored. I have always had the entrepreneurship desire and found Draper University as a way to learn about entrepreneurship and give it a shot!
What are your short-term goals?
The next step is I’m currently building my sales team (sales advocates), with a few candidates hired already who will help me bring traffic and sales to my virtual farmers market. Our short term goals are to launch June 16th and sell on average $500-$800 a week while we do beta and grow. We also want to share our vision with people who can become customers and/or advocates to spread our mission!
