In this article, we will talk about Spencer Donaldson, a multi-faceted entrepreneur whose busy schedule made it difficult for him to cook healthy meals, so he launched “Eat Well Nashville,” a meal-trade business to meet his personal needs. In this episode of the Shopify Masters podcast, Spencer Donaldson shares his journey in building his business based on community feedback, acquiring a competitor, and finding the perfect connection with customers.
The Dietary Changes That Inspired the Business’s Start
In this section, Spencer Donaldson discusses the product idea and how “Eat Well Nashville” started. He explains how he and his partner had been entrepreneurs their whole lives and were busy all the time, and they were unable to eat healthy meals, feeling it was unfair to have fast food restaurants on every corner but no easy options for healthy eating. Therefore, when they launched “Eat Well Nashville,” there really wasn’t anyone providing what they wanted. They tried every service, attempted all the national services, tried CSAs and Blue Apron, but nothing was comfortable enough or matched the quality of the product and nature of the ingredients. They were looking for something healthy with clean ingredients that they could just microwave or put in the oven.
How Did You Get Into the Food Industry?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson talks about their background in technology marketing. They started several different companies based somewhat on their personal needs but simply wanted to solve the problem of healthy eating. So they had no background in the food industry at all. They just wanted to promote health and wellness for themselves. Thus, they decided to continue with the idea and start just with friends and family to see how things would go in a small kitchen. Soon they realized things would go well because they thought they would only start with 30 or 40 customers, but they had about 100 customers in the first month and only told friends and family. Therefore, they learned they had something and decided to expand the business further and make it something that truly fits the community and promotes that wellness across Nashville. Thus, “Eat Well Nashville” was born out of the personal need for convenient healthy meals.
What Do You Recommend for Other Entrepreneurs in the Early Stages of Starting a Business?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson discusses the importance of preliminary research and learning from the experiences of other companies in the same industry. He points out that there are many similar companies that failed, which is why he listened to many podcasts and read a lot about those companies. He then contacted the founders of those companies to find out what they recommend doing and what to avoid, and he learned a great deal from that. Additionally, he traveled to other markets to see what other companies in the food delivery space were doing to understand what works and what doesn’t. He emphasizes that the most critical components of research and learning are communicating with customers and getting their feedback.
What Did You Do to Prepare for Entering the Food Industry?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson talks about the importance of reading a lot of information about what is happening in any given industry. Additionally, he points out that communicating with others in the market is the most crucial part. He mentions that after spending 10 years in Nashville, he was able to build a very open network and believes that the market you are in should be an open market. That’s the great thing about Nashville, where everyone is willing to share ideas and achieve success in the community.
What
Is the vision in the early stage before things succeed?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson talks about his vision in the early stage before things succeed. He points out that they only saw themselves in Nashville and focused on the fitness and health community, which was one of the biggest mistakes they made at the beginning. They believed that everyone would want to eat bland brown rice and plain chicken. However, they quickly realized that this was not the need. First and foremost, the food and product must be amazing. You need to have something that people want to eat, whether it’s healthy or not. So when they started, they attracted an audience interested in fitness, and then realized that there was a much larger market with busy leaders and people who don’t have much time and who don’t necessarily want to eat the plain food. Therefore, they had to go back to the beginning and find out how to make healthy recipes that look great.
What drove you to make those transitions instead of moving forward with the original hypothesis?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson talks about the importance of customer feedback. He points out that they continuously conducted customer surveys to find out what they wanted and needed. From those surveys, they realized that the people ordering food were not necessarily those who worked in the fitness field. These are single mothers with two or three children, and these are CEOs of major companies in Nashville who are asking for other things. So there is a much larger market. Through those surveys, they realized that the customers trying their food were not necessarily the people interested in fitness. That’s why they quickly decided to shift their focus to providing healthy natural options but with enhanced flavor and spices and the like.
What are some of the most important questions you ask customers?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson discusses the importance of asking the right questions to customers. He notes that it depends on the product you are selling, but for them, it’s about product quality and stability. Additionally, he mentions that they ask customers how they would like to be marketed to. He believes that many companies forget to ask this question. They had many people requesting marketing via text messages, for example, because they tended to forget to order food by Friday, which is another day for orders. And when a company is community-based and focused on the local market, it’s very easy to get customers willing to share that information because they want the company to do well and last a long time.
Where do you start researching and what are the important questions to ask in your industry?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson talks about the importance of product quality and stability. He notes that most focus tends to be on the product, how to ensure its stability and quality, and what aspects they like and what aspects they don’t like in different dishes. Because customers eat this food at a rate of seven meals a week, every week, every two weeks. So they need to be very consistent, especially when they reorder the same meal. Thus, because of that, they were able to gather a lot of information and grow the business based on the stories they received from those visits.
What did you do to prepare for entering the food industry?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson talks about the importance of reading a lot of information about what is happening in any particular industry. Additionally, he mentions that connecting with others in the market is the most important part. He points out that after spending 10 years in Nashville, he was able to build a very open network and believes that the market you operate in should be an open market. This is what is great about Nashville, where everyone is ready to share ideas and achieve success within the community.
What
What motivated you to make those shifts instead of moving forward with the original hypothesis?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson talks about the importance of customer feedback. He notes that they continued to conduct customer surveys to find out what they wanted and needed. From those surveys, they realized that people ordering food were not necessarily fitness enthusiasts. This is why they quickly decided to shift their focus to offering healthy natural options but with increased flavor and spices, and the like.
What are some of the most important questions you ask customers?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson discusses the importance of asking the right questions to customers. He points out that it depends on the product you are selling, but for them, it revolves around product quality and consistency. Additionally, he mentions that they ask customers how they would like to be marketed to. He believes that many companies forget to ask this question. They had many people requesting marketing via text messages, for example, because they would forget to order food by Friday, which is another ordering day. When a company is community-based and focuses on the local market, it becomes very easy to get customers willing to share that information because they want the company to succeed and last a long time.
Where do you start researching and what are the important questions to ask in your industry?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson talks about the importance of product quality and consistency. He mentions that most of the focus is on the product, ensuring its stability and quality, and understanding what aspects they like and dislike in different dishes. Because customers consume this food at a rate of seven meals a week, every week, every two weeks. So they need to be very consistent, especially when they reorder the same meal. Thanks to this, they were able to gather a lot of information and grow the business based on the stories they obtained from those visits.
How did the idea succeed in the first month?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson talks about how success occurred in the first month. He notes that they had over 100 customers in the first month, which was double what they expected. In the first year, the company grew rapidly. They actually acquired a competitor in the first year of operation, significantly increasing the company’s size as they gained a new customer base. So in the first year, they were serving thousands of customers and became a seven-figure company.
What do you think happened that made you succeed so quickly?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson talks about the factors that contributed to their rapid success. He notes that word of mouth was undoubtedly the most important marketing channel for them. This is simply because the food is good. If you focus on your product and have a great product, your customers will want to share that information. They want to refer other customers to your business. So that was one of the key factors, and the other aspect was the business model that allowed them to go to companies and present the offer to entire companies instead of just one customer, which allowed them to rapidly expand the business. Because companies want their employees to eat better. So this was how they were able to approach companies, present the product, and inform them of what they were doing. They organized lunch-and-learns, perhaps provided them with some trial meals to try, and this helped them a lot.
How do you get customers to try the product for the first time?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson discusses how to get customers to try the product for the first time. He mentions that there are several ways to do this. They offer discounts to new customers, which helps a lot, as they provide a 15% discount to gain a new customer. He also strongly recommends any entrepreneur with an e-commerce program to use a reward points program or referral program. They use smile.io, which has been great for them. This allows customers to refer others, and the new customer gets a discount on their order, which helps a lot.
What
What serves as an incentive for the rewards program to get current customers to spread the word?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson talks about how to get current customers to spread the word through a rewards program. He mentions that they receive 2% of the order value as points, and usually, 1000 points get you a discount of $10. Since customers return frequently, they gain access to that. New customers referred typically receive a $10 discount on their first order.
When did you realize this was a growth opportunity?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson discusses how they recognized this as a growth opportunity. He indicates that they knew it right away due to their background in marketing and sales for businesses. It is easier to sell the product to 500 people rather than selling it individually to each person. So this was something they knew from the start, and one of the first things they acknowledged they would do was go and promote businesses, especially with the increase in companies having wellness programs and similar initiatives. It made them thought leaders in this space, promoting wellness within companies, not just through food but also through information. So they are bringing their partners along with them, like gyms, and educating the companies about fitness and nutrition.
What prompted you to acquire a competitor?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson talks about the opportunity that arose for them to acquire a competitor. He points out that this company approached them and was struggling financially, but it had a large customer base in the fitness sector. They could leverage their customers. They have a good retention rate. So the other opportunity was the knowledge they gained from that company. They hired one of its founders as the COO and utilized that knowledge for growth.
What challenges do you face when integrating another company into your own?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson discusses the challenges they face when integrating another company into theirs. He notes that it was the hardest week at work because they were on a tight schedule to finish the deal. Essentially, they integrated operations side by side for two weeks and identified weaknesses in the other company’s process, but also where they could improve it, which helped them transition. However, the biggest issue was that customer expectations might differ. So the marketing and communication side had to be redirected. There needed to be a shift in thinking about the product overall. They were expecting one type of product, one that was more fitness-related, while they were focusing on flavor and not just plain chicken and brown rice. So they had to re-educate them about how food can be flavorful and still healthy. You don’t have to eat plain chicken and brown rice every day for every meal. So they had to realign those expectations, which was challenging for a while. They lost some customers they brought in but retained most of them. In the end, it worked out well.
What is the development process for building menus and ensuring you stay updated on your products?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson talks about how to optimize conversion rates through improved photography. He mentions that the plating presentation was important to them. They were very careful about the colors on the plate, which is something they didn’t initially think about, but it was essential to have a variety of colors. So, you need to add different elements to the plate to make it appealing. There might be red diamonds, green diamonds, and garnishes. These things are very important. You need to have a good lighting studio because lighting is the key element to great photography and truly making those images stand out. So that was significant for them. They were also changing the store design and the various pages they created.
How
Did you know that categorizing products together in different meals will help with conversions?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson talks about how categorizing products together in different meals will help with conversion. He notes that he relied on customer feedback. They provided all the information they needed and told them about the keto diet; they hadn’t offered it until last summer and received a tremendous response from their customer base asking for the keto menu to be added. If you create this level of communication with your customers, they will tell you exactly how they want to see the site and how conversions will happen. The founder’s role is constantly changing.
What are you focusing on these days to expand to the next level?
In this section, Spencer Donaldson discusses focusing on expanding to the next level. He mentions that the most important thing is hiring and expanding beyond the current market. So they are adding more and more communities in the Middle Tennessee area. Currently, they serve a 60-mile radius around Nashville. But they are constantly adding new cities because they are receiving requests on their site from people saying, “Please bring your service to our city.” So they are focusing on building those communities, but they just want to do a great job here before starting
Source: https://www.shopify.com/blog/eat-well-nashville-marketing
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