Recently, Joeri Scheerhoorn completed the Startup Readiness Program. In other words, the Groningen entrepreneur is ready to take the first steps on the market with HomeChef. "To test your assumptions, you have to hold a mirror up to yourself every time.
Joeri Scheerhoorn formulates clearly and chooses his words thoughtfully. At the same time, his voice rings with enthusiasm, especially when he talks about entrepreneurship and HomeChef, his new company. After about three quarters of an hour, he says with determination, "We are doing a 100-day pilot in Groningen. If it works, and that chance is real, we'll go full throttle and roll out HomeChef throughout the Netherlands.'
In a nutshell, HomeChef is a platform that allows home cooks to sell their meals to people around them. 'We emphatically want to distinguish ourselves with what we call "homemade meals,"' says Joeri, 'Quality meals with lots of fresh ingredients that are made with care and craftsmanship. And which therefore also require a little more preparation time from home cooks.'
Pre-order model
Hence, HomeChef works on the basis of a so-called pre-order model. That is, you must order the food well in advance, before noon, so that the home chef has sufficient opportunity to do his shopping and prepare the meal fresh and at a good price. The meal can then be collected from the respective chef. 'We don't employ delivery people,' Joeri explains. 'That is, due to the complex logistics, a little too ambitious for our pilot. Of course, the chefs can always choose to organize the delivery themselves.'
By the way, there is no shortage of ambitious home cooks in the Netherlands. Especially since corona is spending more and more time behind the stove. Some are even already selling meals from home, without using a platform like HomeChef. Then there are the hundreds of thousands of hobby cooks who like to surprise family, neighbors and friends with their culinary creations. "We see both groups as potential customers," Joeri emphasizes.
Pleasant energy
But how do I actually connect those home cooks to HomeChef? How can I best approach them and convince them of the added value of the platform? In other words, how can I position the concept smartly and successfully? To answer these questions and be well prepared to enter the market, Joeri decided to sign up for the Startup Readiness Program, a ten-week part-time program in which participants test all assumptions about their customer. At the time, the platform was not yet live. However, a design had been created and Joeri had already initiated what is now called Home Chef with another company. More on that later.
'I went into the Startup Readiness Program very uninhibited,' he confesses. 'To be honest, I had hardly any idea what to expect and what the program could bring myself and the company. Of course, I knew I could learn something from the other entrepreneurs anyway. In places where startups come together, a pleasant energy usually flows. For that reason alone, I was really looking forward to it.
Choices and opportunities
Joeri grew up in Coevorden and moved to Groningen after graduating high school. To study, of course. At first Technical Business Administration, but that didn't work out. Small Business & Retail Management suited better, a study he eventually completed successfully.
That he would become an entrepreneur was clear early on. 'It's the standard entrepreneurial story,' Joeri smiles. 'At school I was already selling all sorts of things. Seeing if something caught on. If not, I'd move on to something else. I'm still like that. Over the years I have had several small businesses. Some more successful than others. For me, entrepreneurship is mainly about having the freedom to make your own choices and create your own opportunities. I like solving problems and preferably better than solutions that already exist.'
Lyric
About six years ago he started Octopus IT, a software development company dedicated to building scalable applications. First as a freelancer and later as an entrepreneur with staff. In 2022, Fahd Rayees also joined the Groningen-based IT company. Fahd, born in India and raised in Oman, had moved to Groningen in 2019 after completing his bachelor's degree in the United Kingdom to get his master's degree in Small Business & Entrepreneurship at the RUG.
'One day Fahd had made curry for the company, for lunch,' Joeri looks back. 'Everyone was lyrical. Me too, even though I wasn't exactly a fan of Indian cuisine. But what Fadh conjured up on the plate was truly amazing. He explained that in his college days he had a business, selling quite a bit of curry. Pre-order, he added. I didn't see that last part coming. I had the idea that people only order food when they are hungry. I thought: either that curry is so good that people step outside their routine to get it or Fahd just discovered a new business model.'
Curry Me
Soon after, they started Curry Me together, with Fadh as home-chef and Joeri building the platform. Curry Me was an instant success and still is. And yes, thought Joeri, if it works for one chef, it will probably work for several. Thus HomeChef was born. 'Basically, HomeChef is an upgraded version of Curry Me's platform,' he explains. 'I threw a layer on top of it, so to speak, so there's room for different home chefs.'
Back to the Startup Readiness Program. How did it go and, above all, what did the program ultimately bring HomeChef? Well, it was quite tough at times," says Joeri, "In order to test your assumptions, you have to hold a mirror up to yourself every time. What is the real need of your potential customer? Are they actually waiting for my solution?
Interim solution
Indeed, during the many customer talks, Joeri, like the other participants, had to go into firm depth. He knew that a number of home cooks were already selling their meals from home. But why, no, he had to remain guilty of answering. "The Startup Readiness Program gave me great insight," Joeri argues, "Many home cooks see it as a stepping stone to a career switch. They logically have a huge passion for cooking, but the step to start their own restaurant is still too big for most of them. So they seek an intermediate solution. A concept like HomeChef lends itself ideally to that. If you think you can cook well, how do you find out? On our platform, that is. That insight is now, of course, central to our marketing.'
Considerable run-up
Meanwhile, Home Chef is live and a number of chefs are already selling their meals through the platform on a regular basis. At the same time, there is a considerable run-up of potentially new chefs. 'Amazing,' thinks Joeri, 'as we are ungoogleable. After all, I can't compete with virtually anyone in terms of food, in any market. But we have a good alternative for that. Chefs get their own homepage on the platform. There they can tell everything about themselves and their menus. And then they put that on their socials. That way, people still end up on our website. Potential chefs, but also people who want to order a meal. In short, everything is going according to plan. How to proceed? The pilot in Groningen will show.