Duncan’s Burgers: Making ‘fast-food’ style burgers using only pasture raised beef

I am a former Marine with a lifelong goal of entrepreneurship. After 4 years of active duty I entered the bar/restaurant industry and immediately fell in love. Serving others brings me great joy, and I’ve spent many years as a bartender and server. This felt like the right industry for me and I sought to formalize some of my passion into college degrees related to the field.

I first received an Applied Associate of Science in Wine Marketing and Sales from the NorthWest Wine Academy in 2010. I then moved to New York and received a Bachelor of Technology in Hospitality Management from New York City College of Technology – a CUNY school – in 2014. I diligently saved money and invested in a bar in the up-and-coming neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Helping to manage this bar gave me much insight into what it would take to one day own my own business. After two years I was ready to start my own concept – Duncan’s Burgers!

Duncan’s Burgers strives to bring pasture raised beef hamburgers to everyone. High quality beef burgers are priced out of the reach of most consumers. Our goal is to make a ‘fast-food’ style burger using only pasture raised beef. With a plain hamburger plus housemade potato chips starting at $3.50 we’ve achieved this goal!

With this model we hope to support small farms by creating more demand for pasture raised beef. Grassfed local meat should not be an occasional treat. By offering an affordable outlet to sell this high quality of beef, local farms have an outlet as well.

Our biggest challenge is getting the word out about what we do. Once someone has a Duncan Burger they are a customer for life. Our quality and price point are unmatched.

The Kiva loan will help to increase revenue by approximately $1,500/month with additional locations and further market outreach. This will make the hiring of new staff sustainable into the future!

This loan will help me purchase equipment to grow the business:

Electric fryer – $800
Fridge – $1,400
Freezer – $350

This loan will help me to market my business:

Flyers – $225
Blogs, etc. – $800
Google ads – $375 ($125/month budget)

This loan will help me to hire and retain loyal hardworking employees:
3 months of 25 additional hours/month @ $14/hr – $1,050