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FEATURED MOM INVENTORS > DREAM DINNERS
Dream Dinners evolved from the homegrown practice of co-founder Stephanie Allen, a working mother who began making fix-and-freeze meals for her family in 1986. By preparing and freezing entrees using fresh raw ingredients, Allen created delicious, easy-to-prepare affordable meals perfect for her family's busy schedule.
Allen was showered with requests to share her secret method for timesaving meal preparation. When the demand became overwhelming, Allen enlisted the help of long-time friend and experienced business manager Tina Kuna. The partners hosted the first series of large-scale meal assembly sessions in March 2002, which became the catalyst for opening the first Dream Dinners store three months later. Within one year, the company established a national franchise and opened 35 new stores across the country.
At the stores, customers assemble their own dinners with pre-chopped, diced raw ingredients and take them home to freeze. On busy nights, they can simply pull them out, thaw and cook them for healthy, delicious dinners.
Why did you start this company and when? We started the company in March 2002. Our initial goal was to help our friends put a nutritious dinner on the table in a way that was less time consuming, less expensive - and more fun. We decided to have a girls' night out and invite our friends. We planned the menu, ordered the food and provided the fun. Soon we had friends of friends calling to ask if they could join us, so our one night turned into four nights the first month. What were your initial goals? Our initial goals were to help our friends two to four nights per month. Stephanie and I would make an extra $500 a month. Describe yourself and your family. What is your background and how does it relate to your company? Stephanie and I managed a dental practice together over 20 years ago. After that, Stephanie owned a very successful catering business with a friend. In the meantime I had started my own bookkeeping service, and have a background in business management. Stephanie is married and has 2 children - a 20-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son. I am married with 3 children - 21 and 19-year-old sons, and an 11-year-old daughter. Have you ever experienced an epiphany that changed the direction of your life? In my 30s, I decided that I never wanted to look back on my life and say, "I wish I would have, could have or should have." I did not want to live in regret of what I could have done in my life. That applied to everything - my marriage, my children and my professional life. At that moment I decided to live boldly and move beyond my comfort level. Now that I'm in my 40s, it is amazing to see the opportunities and the personal growth that have come my way. What process did you follow to develop a prototype? We did not have a prototype to follow since we invented the concept. It has been creating the wheel as we go. We did pull from our past experiences in catering, business, financial management, and customer service. 
What process did you follow to determine your product's marketability?
The business took off like a rocket from the beginning. Our assembly session grew out of demand from our customers. We kept adding sessions as our customers requested them. Franchising was developed from demand. People across the U.S. had heard about Dream Dinners from friends or by reading an article, and would call and ask if we were going to franchise. To be ahead of the game, we began the process early on. What process did you follow to find a manufacturer for your product? Stephanie had a strong knowledge and relationship with SYSCO food distributor through her catering years. Because they are one of the largest national distributors, they were our first contact. Quality and consistency is very important to us, and we knew we had to set our system up right for future growth. SYSCO believed in what we were doing and has been instrumental in our growth. Were there any setbacks in product development that had to be overcome? The Dream Dinners account and concept is unlike anything SYSCO had ever dealt with. We both had to grow and learn from each other to make it work on a national level. What was the biggest learning curve in terms of developing your product? Developing Dream Dinners was the easy part; our goal was to serve our friends by helping them to put dinner on the table so they would have more time to enjoy their families. The learning curve came when we decided to franchise, which is an entirely different ball game. It meant Stephanie and I would no longer be small business owners - we are now in big business. The most important thing we have learned is to surround ourselves with others who we trust, and who are experts in their field. Through what markets are you selling? We have retail locations where customers assemble their dinners. However, the gateway to our stores and all transactions is the Internet - www.dreamdinners.com. What secrets have you learned in terms of publicity and marketing your product? Grassroots marketing and PR have driven our success. Our best form of marketing has been through existing customers (a trusted source) telling their friends about our service, who then tell two of their friends... and so on and so on. We have also received a tremendous amount of publicity that launched us into another sphere. New companies rarely have the financial means to purchase advertising, so publicity is the key to get your name out there. Publicity is also a more a trusted source. A news article, TV story or magazine article can do so much more for your business than paid advertising. FYI - our favorite marketing books are written by Al & Laura Ries. What was the biggest learning curve in terms of marketing your product? Stay true to your product, mission and vision. Do not try to be all things to all people. You can never win this way. Ask yourself if your marketing efforts are in line with your mission. If the two do not complement one another, then you are wasting time and money. How long did it take to get your product from idea to market (conception to product launch)? Because of the tremendous excitement and demand, there was no time between conception and launch. Stephanie would say to me, "God keeps opening doors." And I would jokingly add, "And he keeps shoving us through them." 
How have you managed to juggle the roles of business owner and mom? What falls by the wayside (laundry, work-out, etc. etc.)?
This has been very difficult. While both Stephanie and I have wonderful husbands who carry more than their share, it is difficult to run a business, run a household and make time for yourself. One thing we have always told ourselves, our staff and our franchise owners is that we are moms first. That means when there is a school field trip, work stops and you go on the field trip. There are times when we are stretched too thin, but we try to measure the priorities on a scale of 1-10 with family being number 1 - which means sometimes laundry doesn't make it on the list. What kind of support system do you have in place personally and professionally? We both have very supportive family and friends - husbands and kids who pitch in at home, and friends who lend a hand with running kids to soccer practice when we are tied up at work. We belong to business networking groups as well, and work with a life coach to help keep it all in perspective. How did you finance your business? To open our first store, Stephanie & I financed the business on our own. Stephanie cashed in some stocks and I took out a loan from my husband's credit union. Once we began franchising and realized how expensive that was, we took out an SBA loan and used our homes as collateral. How much money have you invested so far? How do you feel about that? Starting out, we invested a total of $25,000. As we continue to put profits back into the business, that number grows. We do still have our houses on the line, which is scary. The business is bigger, but so are our risks. What is your company's current financial picture and what are your projections? Our company has doubled in revenue and size every year since it began. What has been your greatest success or "high point" in the process? The greatest "high point" is when we held an essay contest across the nation, asking people to tell us how Dream Dinners changed their lives. It was an amazing experience to read stories from people all over the U.S. Dream Dinners is not just a business, it is a movement of families spending time together, eating dinner around the table. Our belief is that dinnertime creates a time of bonding. Studies show that children who eat at home at least 3 nights per week have a lower rate of teenage pregnancies, substance abuse, and juvenile obesity... and higher SAT scores. Our dream is that as a result of our business, kids will grow up to be healthier, happier adults and in turn raise healthier, happier kids, which will then create a better world in which to live. Have you experienced a "low point" and if so, how did you rally yourself to get back on track? There are times when the work is so difficult and you run into one roadblock after another. That's when we look at the big picture, look at our goals, and reflect on where we have been. We realize that our hard work is for something, that God (our personal beliefs) did not bring us this far to let us fail now. Then we pick ourselves up and push onward. Who has been your biggest source of inspiration? What keeps you going? Our customers and storeowners are what keep us going. When we hear how Dream Dinners has helped customers create more family time, or about how our storeowners are making a difference in the lives in their communities, Stephanie and I know we are on the right path. Did anyone in particular help you along the way? Our family and friends have been our biggest source of support and help. Many of them were our first employees. Nobody believed more strongly in what we were doing. They have been there through the tough times and the celebrations, and we are truly blessed because of them. What advice would you offer other moms developing their products/ideas? Be true to yourself, your vision and your family. You will always have people turn you down and try to change your product or idea. But remember to stay true to your vision and never give up. If you believe in what you are doing, and you're passionate enough and willing to work very hard, someone out there will believe in you too. Is there a resource that proved to be invaluable that you would like to share with other moms? From a business perspective, the most valuable book I have ever read was Michael Gerber's The E-Myth Revisited. It teaches you to look at your business differently...how to work on your business, not in your business. We share this book with all of our franchise owners. | ||||||
