Chow Down

Chow Down

By Mark Gordon

Managing Editor

After seven years of working her way up the corporate food chain in sales with Computer Associates, Melissa Slack felt the other side of life gnawing at her: More time in hotel rooms and meetings meant less time at home. And the higher she got, it seemed, the more tension she felt.

Slack wanted out. She quit, and in 2001, went into what she called self-hibernation, caring for her just-born daughter Avery. But after two years, that move still left her seeking more. She wanted to get back into the business world, but one where she could balance having family time at home with a more stable, less grinding corporate life.

Slack's ticket came in August, 2003 when her friend Marni Poe called. Knowing of Slack's dissatisfaction, Poe said, "we should go into business together."

It was that simple. No diagrams and charts inked out on cocktail napkins. Just two friends with an idea. Their plan was to open a franchise of meal preparation stores where people can walk in, and through a pre-paid plan, put together already made ingredients for cook-at-home meals. The customer would come in, put the recipe together in the store, and bring it home to their freezer to cook later.

More franchises

The business venture caught some in their lives off guard, as both Slack and Poe, a Tampa-area mergers and acquisitions lawyer, had successful, albeit stressful, careers. Still, Poe was convinced she was on to something, saying, "If there is something I need, then there are probably so many others who need it to."

So far, Poe has been right. The friends, now business partners, formed the franchise Lets Eat! They started the business with one location in South Tampa, and since then franchisees have opened a location in Clearwater and most recently in Northeast St. Petersburg. More franchises are scheduled to open soon, including one in Orlando later this year and another one in Lakewood Ranch early next year; nationally, a store is scheduled to open in March in Ellicott City, Md.

Poe and Slack, both 36, have ambitious plans for the franchise ­– shooting for nearly 300 stores nationwide in five years. That growth is reachable, says Steve Hackett, president of FranChoice, a national franchise consulting business based in Eden Prairie, Minn.

"By having an ambitious growth plan," says Hackett, "it focuses them on not stopping at 40 or 50."

Hackett says he isn't aware of Let's Eat!, but the concept has been a hot one nationally in franchise circles over the past few years. One of the biggest chains is Seattle based Dream Dinners. Like Let's Eat, it was launched by two women. Dream Dinners has about 125 stores in more than 20 states, including a Florida location in Sunrise. Dinner Done is another similar operation, with a store in the Carrollwood section of Tampa and a second one expected to open in Brandon next year.

Another competitor is Supper Thyme USA, from Omaha, Neb. The chain has 11 stores, mostly concentrated in the Midwest. Patrick Callaway, of franchise consulting Francorp, says over the next few years, one or two of these firms will likely separate itself from the pack. Chicago-area based Francorp, which has an office in Naples, has consulted with Supper Thyme USA.

"This really is a virgin market right now," says Calloway. "There is no McDonalds or IBM out there" leading the way.

The initial investment for a Let's Eat! franchise is anywhere from $99,000 to $194,000. The flagship Let's Eat! in South Tampa made about $750,000 in sales over the last year, Slack says.

Where's the beef?

Sitting on stools in the kitchen area of the St. Petersburg store, Slack and Poe say the idea for the business was hatched, like many other businesses, when they sought to solve a problem. For the busy mothers of young toddlers, their problem was trying to cook healthy meals for family dinners while maintaining busy lifestyles. Poe says the idea of providing a place where people could come to prepare meals was a no-brainer. And if it would work along the Gulf Coast, Poe thought, it could work anywhere else people are both busy and in need of solving the tedious question posed daily in millions of homes: What's for dinner?

"We would have a bought a franchise likes this," says Poe, "if there was one like this to buy."

So the duo created one instead.

Poe and Slack say that many people have trouble understanding the Let's Eat! concept, at last until they walk into the store. Then they get it, and just about very person to walk in, from deliverymen to police officers, has told them how great the idea is or how their wife would love something like this.

The stores are set up to feel like a homey, relaxed and comfy kitchen. Soft music flows through speakers. Shiny counters and sleek refrigerators blanket the walls and work stations. Customers come in and work the store like an assembly line. One stop on a recent afternoon at the St. Pete store was dessert: pumpkin cheesecake pie. A customer-baker would be able to pick up the brown sugar from one bowl, mix it with other ingredients and leave with a pie. The only thing left to do would be to put it in the oven at home.

Menu items spread across the food groups and try to reach all sorts of tastes. For example, you can make a sun dried-tomato meat loaf – Poe's mom's recipe and her personal favorite – and you can make a low-carb brie and mango chicken. Potential customers can get a menu in advance for a month, and can also look on www.letseatdinner.com, the company's Web site, for more choices.

In addition to making meals, customers can buy salad dressings and pasta sauces, as well as a list of already made a la carte dishes off the menu. There is a minimum purchase of at least eight meals per session, with most customers going for 12 meals. The 12-meal package costs $204, with each meal serving four to six people.

When Poe called Slack in 2003 with the "let's go into business together" proposal, Slack was pregnant with her second child – the now 15-month-old Jake. Poe had two children of her own: Reese, 5, and Lane, 2. The friends, who met through their husbands 11 years ago, got going though. The Tampa store opened in February 2004.

There were several glitches in the beginning. Things like making sure there were enough chicken cutlets for one meal, Slack remembers. Poe says they learned from their mistakes as they went, but the first six weeks she rarely made it home for her own family's dinner.

Let's Eat! operates a corporate headquarters in Tampa. There are five other employees working for the company including a chef who helps oversee the menu and Slack's husband, Jeffrey, who is assisting with the growth side of the franchise.

Slack says she doesn't miss her job at Computer Associates, where she ultimately was a vice president in charge of Florida sales. She has found her happy medium with Let's Eat!

"It's a feeling of pinching yourself and that we are really doing this," she says. "It's really happening."

HOW TO GROW A FRANCHISE

Melissa Slack and Marni Poe, co-owners of Let's Eat, a meal-preparation franchise, offer five pieces of advice on how to succeed when trying to grow a franchise operation:

• Get top-shelf help from franchise pros before getting too involved, as there are many land mines in the process. Slack and Poe sought out IFranchise, a suburban Chicago-based consulting firm that has been helping Let's Eat navigate the process.

Hire good lawyers. A national franchise operation has to follow various rules and regulations, which vary from state-to-state.

Develop a well-defined and clear business plan for strategy and growth, going out five years. Steve Hackett, of franchise consulting firm FranChoice, says it's better to be aggressive – within reason – when setting goals, so there is something to shoot for.

Create a state-of-the-art operations manual for franchisees. These manuals act as a "road map and game book" for how the new franchisee should be set up and run, Slack says. The manuals also ensure there is across-the-board consistency, so the customer has the same experience, no matter the location. Slack says the manual should be detailed and methodical.

Develop a franchising marketing plan. Mark Seibert of IFranchise says a marketing plan is necessary to promote the franchise to interested buyers. "There is a finite number of people who buy franchises," he says, "and they are trying to reach those people."