6 Steps to a Successful Business LaunchHow the founders of Tender Greens turned farm-fresh fare into a $16 million business -- and you can, too.

Erik Oberholtzer, Matt Lyman and David Dressler met while working in the kitchen at a luxury beach resort in Southern California. Together, they envisioned a restaurant where they could follow their cooking passions and serve organic, farm-fresh, "slow food" dishes at affordable prices. But the food wasn't the only thing that was slow. Once the trio decided to join forces andlaunchan eatery, they took their time to carefully plan every aspect of the business before taking the plunge.

"It took probably two years from idea to opening," says Oberholtzer, chef and co-owner of Tender Greens, which opened in 2006 and now operates seven locations across California. Much of those two years involved fundraising and constantly revising thebusiness plan.