First of all, congratulations on starting your own business- especially a healthy one. This has worked well for places like Whole Foods. It is so important to understand your current and potential customers. Are they ready for a healthy store, or will they need education? I would start asking potential customers. Ask them what they could use and what they see as the needs of their friends and neighbors. This is VALUABLE information for you and your planning. One thing to remember: you are not Whole Foods....they can charge less than you do because of their size, but you should differentiate and provide your unique offerings. I own Surpass Business Alliance a small firm dedicated to the REAL business needs of REAL small business owners. If this advice was helpful, please visit us. I look forward to working with you in the future! (This post was edited to remove a link. Please review our Community Best Practices for more information about how best to participate in our online discussions. Thank you.)

Make a list with everything that you will need:
- a location - rent or buy?
- how many employees - how big is the space? what are the opening hours?
admin vs. counter
- how much inventory? - how big is the space? how much do groceries cost to
source
- cost of computers (and software), cars, everything else you need to run the
business
Thinking about this on your own and doing the research will help YOU
understand the business intimately, so when you have to pitch for funding,
they will see you understand the business. If they see that you know what
you're talking about, you won't have problems getting the funding you need.

You might look on-line for associations. I completed research for a client
wanting to start a convenience store in a small community and I found much
financial information on association web sites.

Have you heard of the Filipino style store - commonly called by them as
"Sari-Sari Store". Sari-Sari means mix - a mixture of products just like that
found in grocery stores but only uses a small area to facilitate where people
could buy their needs without going to far grocery stores in downtown.

Try searching info about it as it may help you out on your small business
idea. Goodluck.

You may want to use one of SBA's resource partners such as  SCORE, They are trained to serve as advisors and mentors to aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners (at no cost to you). You can find your local office or set up an online meeting to chat with someone about your questions. Good luck!