We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Audra Nasser a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Audra, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

The idea for Dinner Done came after I read an article in Entrepreneur magazine about a meal prep startup on the West Coast. As a mother of three young children struggling with the daily dinner challenge, I felt drawn to the idea of making meal prep easier. I traveled to see their business in action and loved the concept, but I also saw opportunities to make it uniquely mine. I envisioned a focus on using more fresh produce, hand-trimmed meats, and a level of quality that felt more like cooking for family at home.

When I returned, a good friend gave me invaluable advice: “What’s the first small step you can take toward your goal?” Without that advice, I’m not sure Dinner Done would exist today. It made the thought of building a business from the ground up feel manageable!

I invited a group of six busy moms to my house for a meal-making session. I created the menus, designed cooking labels, sourced packaging, prepped ingredients—everything a real business would require. Together, we prepped several family-sized meals to freeze and use throughout the month.
That first session was a success, and I hosted another the next month. Encouraged by the positive feedback, but also recognizing the workload, I got my husband involved. We rented a church kitchen to test the idea further and invited more participants. After a few months, it was clear we were ready to take the next step.

We found a retail space, and, after signing the lease, we got to work. There was so much to do – decide on a business name, find our URL, logo design, menu development, meeting all of our local and state regulatory requirements. All of this was new for us.

We wanted to launch debt-free, so whatever we could do on our own, we did, but we also sought professional help where we thought it would matter most: A marketing professional was instrumental in helping us develop a logo, tagline, and marketing materials. An interior decorator who helped us hone in on the right colors and decor for an energetic workspace. A web developer created our online ordering and reservation system, as well as back-end tools to help us run our business as efficiently as possible.

When we opened in 2004, we were fortunate to be featured in two of our local papers, and our community’s response was amazing. Within six months, our meal-making classes were sold out weeks in advance, and we were operating six days a week. As soon as we could afford to, we began hiring people. Between prepping ingredients early in the morning and cleaning up after sessions late at night, we had teams in the store from 4 a.m. to 2 a.m. most days. It was a whirlwind time filled with steep learning curves, countless mistakes, and invaluable lessons on the job.

Today, Dinner Done looks a little different. Post-COVID, we shifted our focus entirely to ready-to-cook pickup and delivery, no longer offering meal prep classes. We’ve updated (slightly!) our logo and our store décor, but the heart of our business—making life easier for busy families with high-quality, delicious ready-to-cook meals—remains the same.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m Audra, co-founder of Dinner Done, a family-owned business that has been helping busy families get dinner on the table since 2004. At our core, we’re all about providing high-quality, freshly-frozen meals that redefine what people think a frozen dish can be. Our meals are convenient, affordable, and designed to be cooked for the first time in your home, delivering that freshly prepared experience without any of the hassle. This unique approach has been years in the making and is something I’m incredibly proud of.

Dinner Done offers a wide variety of meals, from comforting classics to globally inspired dishes, catering to a range of tastes and dietary needs, including gluten-free and keto-friendly options. Our menu is complemented by seasonal offerings, like our Valentine’s Day Gourmet ToGo package, which provides a no-prep, restaurant-quality dining experience for special occasions. Whether it’s a quick dinner on a busy weeknight or a thoughtful gift, our meals fit seamlessly into our customers’ lives.

What truly sets us apart is not just our food, but the care we bring to every interaction. Exceptional customer service is at the heart of what we do. We take pride in being a positive and reliable presence in our community—a business that people trust and turn to when they need a helping hand. Building those connections and being part of our customers’ lives is as rewarding as perfecting a recipe.

Looking back, I’m most proud of how we’ve grown while staying true to our mission: making life easier for families and individuals by providing meals that are as delicious as they are convenient. It’s a privilege to do what we do, and we’re excited to keep innovating and serving our community for years to come.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Our most effective strategy for growing our clientele has been simple: treating people well. Time and again, we’ve seen that we’re a word-of-mouth business. Years ago, we experimented with traditional advertising—radio, newspaper, and print ads—and today, we’re very active on social media and use online ads. But when we ask new customers how they heard about us, the answer is almost always the same: a friend told them.

This is a reflection of the customer-centric approach we’ve prioritized from the very beginning. We pride ourselves on offering a level of customer service that’s increasingly rare. If something goes wrong, we genuinely do everything we can to make it right. Our customers recognize that our desire to make them happy comes from the right place, and that trust has been key to our longevity.

We don’t take this loyalty and advocacy for granted—it’s something we work hard to earn every single day. And, honestly, it makes us feel great to know we’re providing excellent service. In a world that’s increasingly automated and less people-centric, it’s rewarding to create those personal connections. It truly is a win-win, and we believe that’s what has helped us thrive for 20 years.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Our most significant pivot came during COVID-19. While a pandemic pivot isn’t unique, it was incredibly pivotal for our business. From one day to the next, we had to cancel all of our meal-making classes—a necessary step to prioritize health and safety. These classes had a core group of longtime customers, and although our business had been shifting toward pickup and delivery for years, it was hard not knowing how this sudden change would impact us.

At the same time, we were fortunate to provide a service that was especially valued during the early days of the pandemic. Home meal solutions became essential for so many families, and our first goal was to ramp up production to meet the surge in demand while ensuring our team’s safety. It was a stressful time with so many unknowns, but we are incredibly grateful that we could continue to operate and that our team could keep working throughout those uncertain days.

We immediately pivoted to curbside pickup, a transition made smoother by the online store we had added to our website in 2017. This system allowed us to manage inventory efficiently and handle the influx of orders. Once we stabilized operations, we took the time to analyze our business and refine our processes. We reorganized our store layout to gain efficiency in production and order fulfillment, rewrote recipes for large batch preparation, and shifted fully to ready-to-cook pickup and delivery.

In the end, this pivot left us with a much stronger business model, one that better aligns with today’s customer preferences for convenient, high-quality meals. While the sudden changes were challenging, they also highlighted how much our service was valued during a difficult time—a fact we don’t take for granted.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.DinnerDone.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dinnerdone
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DinnerDone/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dinnerdone/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2cmxDsTlNLo1JkIOD7rJwg

Image Credits

These are all pictures that I have taken.