Will This Evolution Save The Meal Assembly Business?

From his photo, Webster looks a tad on the skinny side. Old dry meat tends to be tough. Take me for example.

In the old days - and I was really there then - The JD was like a Cum Laude recognition of superior performance in law school. It stood for Juris Doctor - not Doctor of Laws which is the law school equivalent of a PhD.

We were just becoming involved with European lawyers because of the recent advent of the European Common Market as it was then called - remember the inner 6 and the outer 7 and that kind of crap?

Well, European lawyers called themselvesd Doctor. In fact they insisted on it. As I was doing a lot of common market comparative law work then, I had to be especially schooled on what to call these bozos who would take instant umbrage if you forgot to call them Herr Doktor or Herr Professor Doktor, or ther French or other European equivalent.

American lawyers who felt socially insecure that they were just called Fred or Frank or Joe, lobbied for the right to be called Doctor Fred, et cetera.

In 1963, if all you had was an LLB degree, and you wanted to be able to refer to yourself as a JD, your law school would, for a $ 25 fee, change your diploma and send you a new one that said JD instead of LLB.

JD then ceased to be an indicator of superior student performance, and became just a hood ornament. --

Richard Solomon, FranchiseRemedies.com,  has over 45 years experience with franchise litigation and crisis management. He is a graduate of The Citadel and The University of Michigan Law School

I'm confused by your last post. Are you disagreeing with Mr. Webster? I conclude you both think we are stupid, but for different reasons. Mr. Webster says we can't do what we're doing and you think we can but why would we, there is no money? Is that accurate? Thanks, Lisa

Mr. Solomon- You hit the nail on the head. Your position agrees with my research exactly. As to getting paid, there is a great deal of commonality amongst the zees and the problems they are facing. Creating a foundation for solutions that is flexible enough to adapt to unique problems can allow one to add value for many with little expense any. To the extent that these solutions require new relationships to replace those that are not working (e.g. software and eCommerce providers) there may be a source of payment for these services that transfers the burden of payment from the beneficiary. If these vendors stand to benefit from a healthy industry, they may choose to sponsor the initiative. The miracle of this situation is how the industry turned on a dime. While this has caused untold hardship, it also provides leverage in effecting a solution, as so many people find themselves in the same boat. Maybe it will work... perhaps it won't. I'm hoping there will be a bunch of people who will be glad we tried. Please feel free to email me if you would like to arrange a conversation to discuss how you might play a role in the solution. I'd really appreciate your help if its available. david@triarcassociates.com David

Anonymous people say the stupidest things. I am tired of granting compassion and understanding to... what did Spiro call them? "Nattering nabobs of negativism". Let alone cowardly, anonymous ones. Maybe it's just late and I'll have room in my craw for you tomorrow Mr. Guest. David Bowles

A legal pyramid Scheme is what the Meal Assembly Prep franchisor business is ........ No one has concrete numbers to show that the Meal Assembly "model" can even actually work and be profitable LONG TERM. Most franchisors started to franchise with just one store under their belts with less than one year of experience. No track record to speak of except they all saw dollar signs and a ticket to easy sreet. There has been a loss of upwards to 50% due to closures since 2005. The fun and frivolity started like this: 2003.....They started telling everyone that it was a minimal work week- Some told franchisee that 10-12 hours a week is all you needed to invest in time. Give me your franchise fee, use the color scheme I have for you and here is a list of things you need, good luck, we're here for support, you go get rich in 3-6 months......... Present: Now they tell you it's hard long work, to spend lots of money on marketing and do lots WOMM(word of mouth marketing. You have to work your business not let your business work you..... TO which I say WHAT???????? Statistics & ancedotal evidence would point to some conclusions: It is not possible for several Meal Assembly Kitchens to co-exist in one geopgraphical area. One bleeds customers from the other and there is not enough customer base to go around. No amount of "it's the education of the public stupid" is going to help. There is just too much wrong with the royalty, advertising fee franchise system. You cannot sell a franchise based on an unproven model. I read somewhere else Meal Assembly is a "dandy idea" but a dandy idea doesn't make it franchise-able OR profitable. Earning numbers available are bogus. Growth numbers are bogus. The whole industry is smoke and mirrors and those still standing in front of the mirrors chanting "we still beleive in this industry" are kidding themselves and practicing mass denial. Ask any one of 95% of the stores independent or franchised owners(who are still in business) if they are 'Profitable" and that means you are paying yourself a fair & equitable salary on a regular basis and the answer will be no, qualified by some lengthy explanation(rationalization) as to why. Such as My royalties are killing me My mandatory advertising fee is not helping My food costs & packaging are going up My rent is too high, I've been in business for less than 5 years,it takes 5 years for a business to become profitable (to which I again ask are you evn able to PAY YOURSELF) and if the answer is that "no, will work for food, then you are STILL in hot water..and in denial) The public needs to be educated about the concept. To which I say Bull Hockey. I would venture an educated guess to say that most Meal Assembly stores are not even breaking even. Was it so a few years ago? The answer to that from veterans is that they started losing money and closing when competitors came into their markets and in the same breath tell you it was necessary for competition to exist for public education purposes, then tell you it will just take time for that education of the public to take place. That there is a need for this service-so where are the hoards that are supposed to stampede your store when you open your doors???? I'm confused by all the double speak and rationalizations. Here is the bottom line. There is just too many food companies competing for the " a piece of the tummy pie" and Meal Assembly Kitchens are the most inefficient of the bunch. You went from a ticket ching of $200+ per customer to less than $30. Super Suppers founder Bill Byrd said ti would take 500-700 customers A MONTH to run a profitable(?) store at the $200 level based on the original model of a customer assembling 12 meals per visit. That is just not happening ANYWHERE in the industry on a regular basis. Dream Dinners lawsuit is just the beginning of a long an painful demise of this industry. There is just NO need for it in our society any longer. Big chain casual restaurants are posting losses and closing stores, who has seen the least impact on their business? Is it Meal Assembly kitchen? NO it's McDonalds, Wendy' and the the like. The food supplied by a meal assembly kitchen can be easily had at your local grocers for much less both in cost to produce and end cost for the consumer with no clean-up or extra prep at home; and for those who want fast & organic, Trader Joes, Whole paycheck Foods is there to supply it for you. All of the things Dinner by Design is touting has been tried and found wanting in the meal assembly industry. You need large numbers of people through your doors on a REGULAR weekly basis and the numbers are not there, will not be there EVER. People in the industry can wax poetic about being pioneers in a new industry and they will be the power brokers when the concept catches ad nauseum.....blather and more blather. The story of the Meal Assembly industry is in the lack of real verifiable numbers, the store closures and the lack of real interest by the masses for this "dandy idea". It is a boondoggle and the only ones to make it rich were the people like the former owner of Dinners by Design who sold before all hell broke loose. The Bert Vermuelens of the Meal Assembly business who helped to sell the inexperienced entrepenuers of our time a faulty dream and pump out numbers and statistics and projections that goodness knows where they came from. This man singlhandedly perpetrated statistical fraud on a whole lot of people. He also has NEVER owned or operated an meal assembly kitchen or been anywhere in the culinary world. The current franchisors will be hounded by franchisees, lawyers and dwindling sales until one by one, they quietly lay off corporate employees and finally close their doors and file for bankruptcy like so many of their victims have.