Elevate holds a license from Rising Tide Capital, a nonprofit serving over 1,000 entrepreneurs each year. Here is a success story from the program!
Amin Grocery
Amin Grocery, like its owner, is a busy place. Product and people are all organized into the small grocery store in downtown Willmar, but bigger things are coming. Amin Grocery will be moving to a new, larger space soon. Abdiweli Yusuf, the owner, shows off the space, clean and spacious. And while looking around the walls he pictures it; plenty of storage for the fresh produce and specialty drinks his patrons want.
In the future, even a meat market where custom-order goat and chicken meat cuts may be available. “This is something people really value, it will make a difference for customers,” Yusuf says. “It is important I have a product that is fresh and looks good—one that catches the customer’s eye.” It is to meet this expectation of a fresh product that drives Abdiweli to the cities each week, collecting and bringing back product. He is asked ‘why not bring back a 10-day supply?’ It is because he wants only the freshest in his store. For Abdi, having a fresh product goes beyond the bottom line dollar and this is one of the reasons he is aspiring to get his CDL license.
With the tools in his tool belt that he gained through the CBA Yusuf is able to find a balance between the quality product he wants to carry for his customers and how to have a successful financial business at the same time. The current success of Amin Grocery, and where it is going, is a testament to how hard work and dedication create a dream come true.
