Business
LocalStove Satisfies Your Cravings For Homemade Food
Steve and Greg believe that everyone deserves homemade meals, but realize that with our busy lives, homemade meals are not always possible. As a result, they cofounded an online platform called LocalStove that connects the best home cooks in your neighborhood to you. On their website you can select which dishes you want from a variety of home cooks, and the food will be made and delivered to your event. We had the opportunity to interview them and learn more about their entrepreneurial journey and startup.
What inspired you to become entrepreneurs in the food industry?
Steven Finn: Food has been an obsession of mine for as long as I can remember. I started developing my own skirt steak marinade at age five, had a few years where my primary source of media was the food network, and have traveled as far as Australia and back in search of the best food out there. Wherever I go, I want to eat like a local. I spent several years as a software engineer for Bloomberg, and was ready to go out on my own and build something that I had a burning passion for. I decided I wanted to found a startup before we had the idea for LocalStove, and was exploring a variety of ideas. When it came down to actually doing something, working with incredibly talented local chefs who make authentic food from all over the world made so much sense!
Greg Dubin: I learned about the power of food to bring people together at a really young age. While growing up, my grandfather owned a restaurant in a small town in Wisconsin. It was the type of place where almost all the customers were regulars and everyone there knew everybody else’s name. People were drawn in by amazing comfort food (like deep fried balls of cheese as big as your fist!), but would stay for hours because they were made to feel like family. Spending a lot of time at the restaurant from as long as I can remember left a deep impression on me about the emotions that food can bring out in people and drove me to find away to impart this gift on to others, like my grandfather did. Yet, this exposure also taught me how tough owning a restaurant is. Between the brutal hours, high risk and thin margins, I realized it wasn’t the right business for me. LocalStove came about as a result of the realization that we can still create amazing culinary experiences, without a brick and mortar establishment. So, I sought to abstract away the worst parts of the restaurant business and harness tech to enable talented, passionate cooks to share their creations with the world.
What was your biggest challenge when founding LocalStove?
Steven Finn: Our biggest challenge was in deciding to take the plunge to pivot our business model. Our original model was to have our chefs offer individual meals through our website with us providing marketing, payment processing, and delivery logistics, and more. While this business was growing, it was difficult to spread the word. Then, we fell into office catering, mostly by accident. We originally viewed it as a marketing activity to sell individual meals, but corporate clients kept calling us back. We discovered that there was a real gap in the market serving small to mid size offices, where groups of around 10-75 people are too large to order effectively from restaurants and too small to get good menus for good prices from traditional caterers. These groups were regularly ending up with pizza and sub platters. This is the perfect size group for one experienced cook with no help and low overhead to cook for, and it allows us to sell much better food to offices for prices comparable to (or better than) existing options. On top of that, our cooks are making a lot more money per hour of labor than they would on virtually any other “gig economy” platform. As catering became a larger and larger portion of our revenue, we noticed that the catering model actually solved a lot of the problems we were having in individual meals. Having office catering become our primary business model was a tough call to make, but one that has worked out and allowed us to build the beginnings of a sustainable and scalable business.
Greg Dubin: The biggest challenge was probably emotional or mental in nature. Mainly, just taking the plunge into pursuing our endeavor full-time. Doing so at the end of business school was particularly challenging. Right when the majority of our friends were accepting high-paying jobs in lucrative industries, we were committing to having no income for the foreseeable future with absolutely no guarantee of success. The fact that all of us were married and either had kids or kids on the way certainly made the consequences of failure feel more daunting.
How was your experience like having 2 other cofounders?
Steven Finn: Having cofounders is great. I’ve worked on a startup alone before, and it’s hard to keep moving! Having cofounders gets everything done faster, provides a source of instant feedback on your work, and allows for rapid iteration. We are lucky to have complimentary skill sets. At this point, we know almost without talking about it who should take responsibility for something that needs to get done because we each know our cofounder’s strengths and weaknesses as well as we know our own.
Greg Dubin: I believe there is a study that correlated three cofounders with the highest chances of success for a startup. I completely understand why. First, launching a startup requires so
much work every day, across literally dozens of areas of expertise. I truly cannot
comprehend how sole founders can do it alone. Second, I cannot overstate the
importance of having a diversity of opinions and perspectives when formulating strategies and finding solutions to problems. Moreover, having three cofounders instead of two helps break through impasses where only two equal founders may be at a stalemate.
(Side note: Our third cofounder Henrique left the company a few months after launching to take a full time job. He left on good terms and retained a tiny bit of equity, but isn’t involve in any day-to- day operations of the business)
Why did you focus your business around home cooked meals?
Steven Finn: We believe that the best food in the world is locked behind the front doors of our neighbors. It doesn’t necessarily take years of culinary training to make food that resonates deeply with people. To us, home style cooking is Grandma’s recipes. It’s something you’ve made 1,000 times, but you still love to make it. It’s cooked with feeling, passion, and editorial control. We find that we’re more likely to get this type of food from a local, independent cook who works for his or herself than we are from a professionally trained line cook who spends their days pumping out somebody else’s recipes in a restaurant setting. We don’t tell our cooks what to make or what to charge. They give us menus of what they’re best at, they set their prices, and we match them with offices whose budget and dietary preferences are a good fit. On a personal note, some of our food is some of the best food I’ve ever had, and I’d eat at Per Se for my wedding anniversary or drive to South Dakota for a rack of ribs (Bob’s Broasted Ribs in Sioux Falls!).
Greg Dubin: I’ve always loved to travel and quickly came to appreciate what an immense impact food has on culture. When visiting other countries, I truly believe there is no better way learn and understand about another culture than through its cuisine. A single dish can represent the mosaic of hundreds of years of history; a cross-section of the country’s plants, animals and ecology; and the long-held, rich traditions of the people. However, you don’t have to get on a plane to have these experiences. Philadelphia represents a rich tapestry of cultures, be them ethnic, religious, or simply socially-based. All these cultures have unique, exciting and authentic foods, which until now had been locked inside people’s own kitchens. The best cooks aren’t the ones on line pumping whatever they are told to cook for minimum wage. They are the ones who truly live and breathe their cuisine, because it is a part of who they are. LocalStove’s mission is about unlocking the kitchen door and enabling these amazing cooks to share not only their food with the world, but their passion, history and story as well.
How do you choose and evaluate new cooks?
Steven Finn: Most of our best cooks have come to us. The value proposition of LocalStove for them is very strong. We bring them new customers who otherwise would never have found them, we handle payments, we provide them with a web presence, we deal with delivery logistics. We like to say that our cooks only have to worry about the cooking, and that they should let us worry about the details of running a food business. Evaluating cooks for LocalStove is the best part of our job. We meet with the cooks, learn their stories, and eat their food. Our cooks are great people to work with, but it’s their food blows me away almost every time.
Greg Dubin: Finding new cooks is actually one of the easiest parts of LocalStove. We developed a comprehensive marketing plan to attract new cooks, but haven’t had the need to implement it yet. Whenever we explain to anyone what LocalStove is about, the most common response we get is, “I know the perfect cook for you.” Pretty much everybody knows the “best cook in the world,” who makes incredible food but has no desire to actually open their own restaurant. As far as evaluation, the cooks have to go through our screening process before being allowed to post food on the platform. Part of this involves us trying the food first, which is definitely one of the best perks of the job. We also usually to have friends and loyal customers sample the food as well and give us their honest opinions. Ultimately though, it is really the user ratings that will determine how successful a cook will be on LocalStove. The best cooks rise to the top pretty quickly and can command higher prices for their meals. Cooks who aren’t incredible fall to the bottom pretty quickly and don’t get orders. Furthermore, if their rating falls below a certain threshold we remove them from the platform.
What are some memorable company milestones, and what developments do you project for this year?
Steven Finn: Getting our first “subscription” customer for LocalStove was amazing. Having somebody tell us that they loved our food so much that they wanted to have it again every week was something I’ll never forget. Passing $100,000 in sales was great as well, and we can’t wait to add a digit and get to $1,000,000 and beyond!
Greg Dubin: One of our cooks is a culinary student who was also working a part time job to help put herself through school. She recently told us that she was able to quit this job that she hated, because LocalStove was giving her enough income to support herself. This was a powerful reminder of why we do what we do.
What is one character trait that defines you and why?
Steven Finn: I love to learn new things, and I always have. I like to understand how things work. I have three Penn degrees in totally different subjects (Operations, Entrepreneurship, and Computer Science), and am always reading about something new. Entrepreneurship is the best way to learn rapidly that I’ve found yet.
Greg Dubin: Believing that there is always a solution to any problem. This means never admitting “it’s impossible” when faced with a challenge. Instead of asking “can we,” I only ask, “how can we?”
What are your tips for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Steven Finn: Don’t pursue a great idea that you aren’t passionate about. If you wouldn’t be a user of your product, it doesn’t matter how great the idea or opportunity is, you are not the person to execute on it. Make sure if you get into something that it’s a field that you’re willing to spend the next 5+ years in and be eager to learn everything about it. Also, I can’t stress the idea of putting something out into the world quickly enough. We started selling food less than three weeks after we initially had the idea for LocalStove, and we’ve learned so much because of the pace. I’ve worked at a startup where we spent way too long in a room, figuring out every little detail of our product to make it perfect before launching, and we failed before we’d even finished the product. Startup guru Steve Blank says that “No business plan survives first contact with customers.” He’s right. The only way to move quickly enough toward real product market fit in an industry like ours is to put something out in the world, double down on what works, and quickly abandon what doesn’t.
Greg Dubin: Focus all your energy on finding product-market fit and don’t be afraid to pivot. Don’t spending all your time and resources developing what you think is a perfect product before you know if enough people are actually going to buy it. Instead, get your MVP out there as quickly as possible and see how it resonates with various audiences. If the product-market fit is right, they will accept an imperfect product because they innately see the value of what you are trying to do. Once you’ve identified the right customer base, engage and listen to them. They will be your most valuable resources for perfecting your product and driving your company’s direction.
Having your own business provides a multitude of benefits, but why is it that not everyone is doing it? The majority of people see the prospect of leaving a steady paycheck behind as scary. They look at opening a business, a task that requires a first step that’s steeped in uncertainty, fear, and self-doubt. Here are a few steps you can take to create your own business without the hesitations:
Set Achievable Goals
Identify your goals and start listing smaller but attainable goals from them. This way, you will become less fearful and avoid being overwhelmed. Small goals will be easier to digest and reduce your chances of failure, enough to help build your confidence gradually.
Stop with the Perfectionist Mindset
You may want that website to be perfectly working or that version of your product to be as perfect as possible. According to Entrepreneur, mixing perfectionism with entrepreneurship is a bad idea. Getting started is hard enough. You’d do better if you ignored perfectionism. It will be so easy to set yourself up for disappointment when goals aren’t met. Make sure they are attainable.
Do Your Research
When starting a business, you’ll find yourself doing a lot of research. Don’t get tired of learning, as this is what will propel you toward success. The more you know about your niche, the better you’ll be equipped to handle it. In this day and age that information is just a few taps away, research, learn, and absorb.
Start Small
Easing into entrepreneurship can be the best route if starting big is daunting for you. Start with a part-time business, and as you grow and build confidence, you can add to it more and more. This will also let you keep your day job and still look forward to that paycheck until your business is stable enough to let you focus on it full time.
Have Realistic Expectations
The idea of having that perfect work-life balance when having your own business may only be a myth for beginners. Of course, it would be difficult, and if it were easy, everybody would be doing it. Having realistic expectations can help you prevent disappointments. The key is to have great support from family and friends and the understanding that you’ll have that balance soon if you remain persistent.
Go For Low-Risk Businesses
It would really be daunting if you start with a high-risk business, but if you go for something smaller, it wouldn’t be as scary as it seems. Make sure to align your goals with your resources. If you have a limited budget, it’s okay to find a business that matches your finances. Just thinking of production and marketing costs can stress you out, so start small.
Identify and Build Your Community
If you have the passion, grit, and a bit of cash, you’re well on your way to beating your fear of starting a business. Back these all up with an equally passionate community, and you have the foundation of a successful business. Build this community of investors, partners, and customers to help you gain confidence and the finances to get your business going. When you know you have a support group to lend you a hand, your fears will slowly melt away.
Believe in Yourself and Your Business
Don’t let fear get into your mindset. Start believing in yourself and your business, thinking that you don’t need others to be confident. You can boost it for yourself. Focus on what you need to do and steer clear of your insecurities and uncertainties. If they can do it, why can’t you? Just remember that failure is part and parcel of doing business and that it shouldn’t be a cause for fear.
TLDR: For scalable, high-volume, high-quality design without hiring hassles, Penji is your best bet. For deeply strategic, narrative branding work, go traditional with Contrast & Co, BB Agency, or ProDesigns.
Did you know design is responsible for 94% of first impressions? That means your design is the welcome mat for your soon-to-be customers.
Are you a startup or agency based in Space City looking to launch your design into the stratosphere? You need a design partner who can match your pace.
1. Penji
Welcome to the future of design. Penji combines the top 2% of design talent and AI tools for on-demand, monthly subscription, unlimited graphic design, illustration, and UI/UX work.
Get a whole team at your fingertips. Get drafts in 24-48 hours without having to hire a team or deal with inconsistent freelance pricing. From a quick social media graphic to a full web mockup, Penji keeps your project on track at all times.
Pros:
- Unlimited Requests: Submit as many projects as you want.
- Fast Turnaround: Drafts in 24-48 hours.
- Cost-Effective: Flat monthly fee, no hidden charges.
- Expert Designers: Access to top global talent.
Cons:
- Not Strategy-Focused: Best for execution, not long-term brand strategy.
2. Contrast & Co
If you’re looking for the traditional agency model with a little storytelling flair, Contrast & Co is the way to go. Although they’re based in Annapolis, they are experienced with many Houston clients and are known for building brands based on “radical differentiation.” They don’t just design; they tell stories.
Pros:
- Strategic Depth: Excellent for complex rebranding and brand positioning.
- High-End creative: Known for award-winning, narrative-driven visuals.
Cons:
- Cost: Their premium strategic approach often comes with a higher price tag ($10,000+ minimums).
- Timeline: Traditional agency models typically have longer turnaround times than on-demand services.
3. BB Agency
BB Agency works with SaaS and tech companies. They build businesses through thorough B2B branding and digital product design. If you are in the B2B tech space, their portfolio speaks for itself—clean, modern work which places UX at its core.
Pros:
- Tech Focus: Deep expertise in SaaS and B2B sectors.
- Holistic Approach: They handle everything from branding to development.
Cons:
- Niche: Their specific focus on tech might not be the right fit for consumer lifestyle brands.
- Budget: Project costs often range between $50,000 and $200,000.
4. ProDesigns
For businesses needing specific, project-based graphic design services, ProDesigns offers a solid middle ground. They focus heavily on logos, corporate design, and packaging. So if you need something created without a subscription or heavy retainer price, they’re great for local one-off projects.
Pros:
- Project-Based: Good for one-off needs like a logo or brochure.
- Affordable: generally more accessible pricing for small businesses compared to large agencies.
Cons:
- Limited Scalability: Managing high-volume, ongoing design needs can become costly on a per-project basis.
- Slower Feedback Loops: Revisions may take longer compared to a subscription model.
FAQs
How much does a graphic design agency cost in Houston?
Agencies in Houston typically charge $100–$175 per hour. Project costs range from $1,000 for small tasks to over $50,000 for full branding. Services like Penji offer a flat monthly rate, often much lower than a single agency project.
What is “design as a service”?
Design as a service offers a subscription model with a flat monthly fee for as much design work as you need for that monthly fee. Instead of paying per hour or project as normal with an agency, this is a way to ensure predictable budgeting and consistency with your design team.
Credit for cover image: Photo by Mikael Blomkvist on pexels
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