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From Applications to Zoning, the City of Escondido Supports New Businesses
The Escondido Arch welcomes commuters into the City.
Looking to open a dream business in Escondido? Whether searching for the perfect parcel, navigating zoning restrictions, making tenant improvements, or getting ready to open the doors for business, the City of Escondido goes above and beyond to support business owners throughout the process.
“We have continued to help streamline our processes and provide digital access in order to make them as user-friendly and accessible for business owners as possible,” said Joanna Axelrod, Escondido’s Deputy City Manager/ Director of Communications & Community Services. “This includes support in searching for commercial and industrial properties available for sale or lease in the City, an online portal for processing business license applications and renewals, a plethora of helpful resources and marketing tools to support business success, and access to staff who can provide individualized assistance.”
A required element of operating a business is to have a current business license. Every year the City of Escondido receives nearly 1800 business license requests. People looking for a new business license or to renew an existing license can apply online using an easy step-by-step process or visit City Hall to complete their application or renewal in person. The Business License division has created a Business Resource Guide that walks new business owners through the process. It begins with a checklist that new applicants can follow to ensure they have worked through necessary City and State requirements.
The Business Resource Guide is available at the Economic Development Department and online.
Department Specialist Sylvia Atwan added that the Resource Guide is meant to help answer many questions that the department gets from new business owners when they are starting out. “We act as a one-stop-shop for them to get their business off the ground, and this Resource Guide will help them start out strong.”
It is a comprehensive guide that includes specific information on required forms, permit information, processing timelines, and other business resources, groups and associations that can be of value to starting a business. “The guide was also created to provide prospective business owners a way to navigate and understand the State, County and City requirements”, said Atwan.
Aside from helping businesses get started, the City has several online resources available to help businesses grow. Recently City staff hosted a digital marketing workshop that brought together a panel of business owners to share strategies for success. Three Escondido companies participated: ManzanitaRoasting, The San Diego Code School, and DayDream Makers Market and discussed web design, branding, hype marketing and more.
Escondido is one of the oldest incorporated cities in San Diego County, and is the fourth largest city by population. Even with its large size, it still maintains a small community feel and welcomes large, established businesses, small mom and pop shops, and everything in between.
“Every business is important to the City,” said Robert Van De Hey, Escondido’s Deputy City Manager/Director of Information Systems. “We support business establishment and growth by supplying information that can help owners understand demographics to know who their customers are so they can tailor their businesses towards that.”
Van De Hey explained how finding the right location for a business is essential and that he and his team work with new and existing business owners to find locations that best fit their needs. He also said that the City continues to improve existing locations such as the Escondido Creek Trail to help improve foot traffic and bring more customers to every location.
City staff have also been instrumental in helping new and current business owners navigate the pandemic while making sure that new business licenses could be delivered on time.
“We try to be very proactive in engaging with our business community,” said Van De Hey. “As the City changes, we reach out to our businesses to make sure they can take advantage of these changes and be successful.”
Because of Escondido’s diversity, it is the perfect location for retailers and businesses of all types. “The Mercado District looks very different from the Old Escondido Downtown District which is different from the South Side of Escondido or East Valley. That affords us the flexibility to accommodate big box stores and mom and pops. Our diversity makes us very unique and attractive to business owners,” said Axelrod.
Axelrod said she hopes businesses see City staff as a resource that can help steer them to success. “The key takeaway is that we are here to help.”
For more information about opening a business in Escondido, visit the business page.
For information on business updates/workforce, presentations, and Coronavirus updates, visit the business news page.
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Are You Hungry Escondido? There’s an App for That!
They say necessity is the mother of all inventions and these two apps, created by Escondido locals, were both driven by a need. And, they give users some help when it comes to figuring out what to eat, while helping boost business for local restaurants.
Looking for Local Restaurant Deals and Specials?
Escondido resident Rudy Rodriguez is a software engineering manager at Northrop Grumman. Using his expertise, he has created an app that allows restaurants to highlight their daily specials and deals while giving users insider deals at special prices. Like apps such as Groupon that give users access to daily specials, FabnGrab gives users access to food specials from local eateries that might often be overlooked or not promoted elsewhere.
“Our main mission is to help locally-owned restaurants get more foot traffic into their eateries and get more customers,” said Rodriguez, founder and CEO of FabnGrab.
FabnGrab easy app QR code.
The app launched on April 10 exclusively in Escondido and is currently in its beta phase. Rodriguez is currently working solely with Escondido restaurants to build the app, modify it, and adapt it so that he can begin to grow and expand FabnGrab into greater San Diego and beyond. By using Escondido as a blueprint for other cities, Rodriguez feels he can really understand the needs and desires that both restaurants and users are looking for in an app.
Like most businesses, COVID-19 had a big impact on the development and design of this app. “Originally the idea was just going to be an app for lunch specials,” Rodriguez said. “But when COVID hit, we pivoted.”
Now the app includes menu specials that can be purchased throughout the day. It also allows businesses to highlight items that may not be otherwise known. For instance, Cute Cakes, one of the Escondido businesses that is signed up with FabnGrab, has a Mimosa deal on Fridays and Saturdays for diners in the shop's outdoor dining tent.
Another benefit to Escondido restaurants that sign on for the beta phase is there are no fees to join. Rodriguez envisions FabnGrab as an opportunity to help rebuild the community and help get customers back into their favorite restaurants and try new ones. “We are creating a customer experience that will have customers returning to dining and finding deals,” said Rodriguez.
Not only do restaurant owners get the benefit of greater foot traffic but Rodriguez also plans to give them data. “We ultimately want to use data to drive consumer behavior and help the restaurants,” he said.
By knowing their customers, and which specials get the most use, restaurants can target consumers with specials that meet their desires. This information can also be used for holiday specials and celebrations.
Likewise, customers will begin to receive customized push notifications when their favorite restaurants are posting new deals and trending specials.
The FabnGrab team from L to R: Keith Conway, Paul Schaefer, Rudy Rodriguez, and Zack Robb.
Currently, the team at FabnGrab is small, consisting of just Rodriguez, his Co-Founder Keith Conway; Director of Engineering Paul Schaeffer; and Zack Robb, Customer Experience Lead. They also have an overseas team who ensures reach back support. But as developers, the team is able to create, develop, and update the app together without the need for additional developers, which also helps keep overhead low. As FabnGrab expands into neighboring cities, Rodriguez hopes to grow the team.
FabnGrab hopes to have 50 Escondido restaurants on the app before expanding into other local cities this summer.
FabnGrab can be downloaded on both Apple and Android phones or accessed online.
Eating In Made Easy
Hungr, a mobile ordering and delivery service, was inspired by a work trip. The founders were at a convention center in a city they didn’t know and they were hungry. They realized the need for an app that would find local eateries, show menus, and deliver the food to them. From that desire, Hungr was born.
Deliveries come in specialty made Hungr bags.
In 2012, they created a mobile app for restaurants that allowed customers table-side ordering in lieu of a waitstaff. In 2014, they expanded their app and added a driver network to help deliver food for restaurants that didn’t have their own delivery services. Hungr now includes over 60,000 restaurants throughout the US.
Based in Escondido, Hungr stands out from its competitors as it places its focus on customer service and gives restaurant owners a lower, constant flat rate charge of 12%. “Our percentage rate is one of the lowest of any delivery platform and it includes all credit card processing,” said Aaron Mortensen, a co-founder and Escondido resident. “The way we compete is through our quality of service.”
Keeping food hot and fresh is also a priority. They found that food packing plays a large part in making sure the food gets to the customer hot and fresh. “We spent a lot of time finding thermal bags that have heat packs in them,” said Mortensen. “We also ask restaurants to separate the food if they have different temperatures. So salads go in one bag and steaks go in another.”
As a result, food keeps its temperature no matter the distance the driver has to go. Unlike other delivery services, Hungr doesn’t have delivery limits.
“We delivered Perterson’s Donuts to Hemet,” said Mortensen. He explained these were a Mother’s Day delivery for a family that has a longstanding tradition of Peterson’s Donuts on Mother’s Day, but due to COVID-19 they couldn’t be together.
Escondido deliveries have gone as far as Bonsall, Valley Center, Palomar Mountain, and Ramona. The longest delivery Hungr logged was 150 miles. A wedding ordered 10 dozen donuts from Peterson’s Donuts. Delivery charges to the customer are competitive with other mobile apps. They have a $3 minimum charge for the first three miles or less and an additional $1.10 charge per mile.
To maintain such a high-quality customer service, Hungr trains its restaurant clients to bag the food properly and maintain proper delivery conduct through training videos and manuals they provide when restaurants join the app. Mortensen added, “We make sure that a high customer service level is provided from the beginning to end.”
COVID-19 increased the number of food deliveries which helped many restaurants stay afloat but with dining rooms closed, many still had no work for their servers. The Hungr team found a way to help keep them employed.
“We reached out to restaurants, whether they were working with us or not, and fast-tracked servers to be drivers,” said Mortensen. Mortensen and his team also launched a Hungr Heroes program during the pandemic, which allowed customers to buy meals for hospital staff, firefighters, police officers and front-line workers. This program has continued and expanded to include the homeless.
“We are a very community-oriented company,” said Mortensen, who strives to maintain a community feel with his company.
He said customers get to know their drivers and realize they are getting the best delivery service with Hungr whether they are in Escondido or anywhere in the country.
The Hungr app is available on Apple and Android devices. Restaurants can sign up online. To become a Hungr driver click here.