What's for Dinner? Somewhere between soccer practice and homework, BIZ Experiencess are helping families get dinner on the table with do-it-yourself meal preparation services.

It's 4 p.m. Families, couples and singles everywhere aregetting hungry. Cornish game hens are a whimsical fantasy, butthere's a fast-food joint on the drive home. You do the cookingmath.

What's changing about this scenario is that more familiesare looking for dinner options that are fast and healthy. WorkingAmericans are more constrained for time than ever. Over 70 percentof mothers with children under age 18 were in the labor force as of2004, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics--that's 35.4million families. What's more, an estimated two-thirds ofAmerican adults are overweight, according to the NationalInstitutes of Health, and nearly 31 percent are obese. Factor inthe growing number of obese children--approximately 9 millionchildren over age 6--and it's no wonder Americans are perkingup at the idea of skipping the battered, deep-fried chicken infavor of a nice, light stir-fry.

Stepping in to fill the need are do-it-yourself meal preparationservices--places where time-constrained, health-conscious consumerscan prepare their meals in a hurry for up to a month in advance.It's a new take on fast food--and one that's raking in theproverbial dough for BIZ Experiencess nationwide.

"For at least the past 15 years, the foodindustry--supermarkets and restaurants-has been looking to dealwith the frantic consumer," notes Jonathan M. Seltzer, founderof food industry consulting firm Corporate Resource Inc. inMinneapolis and project manager for The Food Industry Center at theUniversity of Minnesota, Twin Cities. "[These consumers are]trying to have quality mealtime while dealing with work andchildren's activities." Certainly, the evidence is in thegrocery aisles, where pre-cut or pre-made fruits, vegetables, sidedishes, and even meats and cheeses coexist happily with moreleisurely fare behind the deli counter and in the produce bins.

Indeed, in a 2005 customer survey conducted by do-it-yourselfmeal preparation company Dinner By Design, fully 98 percent ofrespondents cited time savings as their reason for using Dinner ByDesign, and 81 percent credited Dinner By Design for "lessstress" in their lives. The Grayslake, Illinois,company--founded in 2003 by Julie Duffy--offers make-and-take mealpreparation at its 24 franchise locations throughout theMidwest.

Then, too, there's the entertainment value of do-it-yourselfmeals--and not just from the perspective of easier dinner parties.At retail locations like Dinner By Design's, consumers can hangout with friends while they prepare meals. "It's a reallygood bonding time, especially if you take your children withyou," says Jorj Morgan, director of life-style content forworking-mom internet portal BlueSuitMom.com in Pompano Beach, Florida."And it can mean new ways of entertainment--[as aget-together] for a group of new mothers, for instance. Theentertainment aspect is very popular."

According to Duffy, having fresh, quality food on hand for aday, a week or a month-meals that go from the freezer to the ovento the table in about 30 minutes-appeals to families and singlesalike. "People are really thinking about what they'reserving and what the ingredients are," says Duffy, 37, whoexpects sales of $4.7 million in 2006, a dramatic increase overlast year's $1.4 million, with approximately 60 store openingsplanned for 2006. "They have the control back in theirhands."

It's About the Food

Naturally, if you're looking to start a do-it-yourself mealpreparation business, you'll need to have control in your ownhands first-by investigating your desired market and making sureyou have the makings of a successful enterprise. "You mighthave a good product, but do you have the basis for a company?"asks Seltzer. "One good lasagna doesn't mean you haveenough [inspiration] for 50 recipes."

It's questions like these that Duffy pondered endlessly inthe startup stages. "I literally couldn't sleep atnight," she says. "I would run numbers and marketingstrategies through my head 24/7. I just knew that it couldn'tfail."

That kind of passion will go a long way in any BIZ Experiencesialventure--but particularly one like this, where you need to be morethan a little inspired by food. "I enjoy cooking andentertaining," says Duffy. "Additionally, I came from acorporate working environment where my clients bemoaned the factthat they couldn't get dinner on the table--and when they did,it was often takeout or a less 'feel good' option. I knewthere was a niche."

Keri Willenborg, 34, knew it, too--as did her husband, Brett,34. It was at a Super Bowl game that the Nebraska couple stumbledupon the concept after chatting with some fellow game-goers."They told me they had a niece who did once-a-month cookingsomewhere around Seattle," says Keri. "I thought,'What a neat idea.' I came home and did a bunch ofresearch, and I could not find anything like that [in myarea]."

Teaming up with their friends Cher and Jim Stenger, now both 38,as well as a friend who owned a diner, the Willenborgs tested theconcept on a small scale with friends and family. "It was alogistical nightmare," admits Keri. "We tried to keep[ingredients] cold in tubs, and that didn't work."Ultimately, the testers loved the concept and the recipes, shesays, but getting things to flow smoothly--and keeping the food atthe proper temperature--was a different story.

That didn't stop them from plowing forward, however. Theytook out second mortgages, borrowed from savings and mutual fundsand bought a facility to open Omaha, Nebraska-based Supper ThymeUSA in 2003. "We put everything on the line," says Keri.The payoff was a lot of free local PR upon opening thefacility--and within a few months, people were asking when theywere going to franchise. "That's when we took our secondleap of faith," she says. Now they have 20 franchises, with 40more planned this year. The company brought in $3 million lastyear, and they project $7.5 million in revenue for 2006.

Starting on Your Own
Franchising has turned out to be a viable option for a number ofdo-it-yourself services that have cropped up in recent years--aswell as for the franchisees who buy them. "Franchises have thebrand recognition, and franchisees get ongoing support andtraining," says Keri Willenborg of this option'sappeal.

However, both Duffy and Willenborg--along with Dinners By theDozen founder Tracy Elceser--are evidence enough that starting yourown meal preparation service is doable, as long as you are preparedfor tasks like finding a facility, purchasing equipment andinventory, creating a website, hiring a chef and coming up withrecipes. "Finding a spot was a hurdle, not to mention gettingconstruction done and finding all the recipes," says Elceser,39, who started her Davenport, Iowa, company in May 2005. "Itmeant freezing a lot of meals, tasting them and seeing if theyretained their flavor."

Elceser, a busy mom who is also a registered nurse, prepared forthese hurdles by carefully researching simi-lar companies andearmarking $60,000 in savings and business credit to finance theventure. "I looked at some facilities doing this kind ofbusiness to see what I liked and didn't like, and I researchedother businesses online," says Elceser, who projects 2006sales of $400,000. She, too, has a few people interested infranchising, so she's considering that growth strategy.

Most important to your startup success, these BIZ Experiencessagree, is your willingness to roll up your sleeves and commit hugeamounts of time to your new business. "The food industry is alot of work-it's not a princess job. There's a lot ofstanding on your feet and getting dirty," says Dinner ByDesign's Duffy. "But the flip side is that this is hot.The concept is hard to explain, but once you develop your clientbase, they come back again and again."

Heading for Greatness
Whether you choose to purchase a franchise or strike out on yourown, the do-it-yourself meal concept is one that's bound tosucceed in coming years. "In most cases, it's a healthierway to eat," says Morgan, who is also a home chef, cookinginstructor and author of several cooking and entertaining books."It's a great way to bring busy, time-constrained peopleback to the idea of having dinner at home."

Indeed, the opportunities are seemingly endless forentrepreneurs who have the right mixture of passion for cooking andpassion for BIZ Experiencesship. "I see this trend expanding andsegmenting very quickly," says Seltzer. "This concept oftrying to provide additional [meal] solutions to [busy] people islimited only by your own creativity."

For more information on franchises that offer do-it-yourselfmeal preparation services, visit the websites of Dinner ByDesign, Dream Dinners Inc., My Girlfriend's Kitchen, SuperSuppers.