“Whatever you find yourself doing while procrastinating at your current job is what you should really be doing for a living.” Today’s Notable Young Entrepreneur, Logan Prong, took his own advice and launched 7Servings.com to get healthy meal planning and meal ideas to the masses; find out more about his inspiring story in today’s profile…
Elevator Pitch: Describe your business in a nutshell.
7Servings.com is an online meal planning service that combines meal planning with supermarket sale checking. Each week, meal plans are matched to sales found in major supermarkets across Canada. The plan is then broken down into an organized shopping list. Plans include simple dishes and preparations that can be done in 30 minutes.
Why did you start your business, what was the inspiration?
Friends were always asking me for recipes and meal plans so they could eat healthier on their own. If I was going to do it for them, I might as well do it for the masses. The idea was to save Canadians time and money by comparing weekly store sales and reducing the number of trips to the supermarket and take-out restaurants, which allows them to spend more time and money where it counts – with the family. I grew up in a low-income home, where there wasn’t a lot of money to spend on meals. We also didn’t have a lot of time to prepare meals, as my parents were working two jobs, or taking us to dance classes and piano lessons. So meals were a lot of frozen, high carb/high sodium foods.
7Servings.com is way to get healthy meal planning and meal ideas to the masses in a way that is affordable and doesn’t take a lot of time.
What is the best part of what you do on a day-to-day basis? The most challenging part?
7Servings.com allows me to have a creative outlet where I can create dishes and share them with the public. I get to help families eat better food, while allowing them to save money. I also get to help educate people on how to eat better without sacrificing flavour. Healthy doesn’t have to taste bad.
Where do you see your business going in 5 years?
I see 7Servings.com with thousands of Canadian families signed up all across the country; thousands of families as part of a community that is eating better because they have the tools and funds to do so.
What does success look like to you?
Success is being able to do the projects I want to do while making a difference to the lives of Canadians and others around the world, and of course being able to live comfortably while doing so.
What is the most memorable milestone in your career?
October 9th, 2012. I quit my job working for a restaurant group and finally decided to work the long hours with minimal pay for myself. I started making my own decisions, and my own mistakes. I haven’t looked back since. The decisions I make now are my own and if I fail, those mistakes are my own. I no longer spend days and nights wasting time wondering what would have happened if I did get to do what I thought was best. I just do it.
Do you have any advice for other young professionals?
Whatever you find yourself doing while procrastinating at your current job is what you should really be doing for a living.
Do you support any charities? If so, which one(s) and why is that important to you? I’m actually proud to announce to you that 7Servings.com has just partnered with the Breakfast Clubs of Canada (an official page and logo will be appearing on 7Servings.com in the coming weeks). We will be donating a portion of our sales to the Breakfast Clubs of Canada to support their efforts nationwide. I always knew that if I did something that made money, that there would be some sort of give back to the community. I couldn’t think of any group whose ideals could possibly align better with ours. The Breakfast Clubs of Canada feed thousands of children across the country every day. They provide breakfast to children who might not be able to afford a proper meal at home. But it’s not just food that they bring to the table; it’s a safe place for children to come to no matter what their home life is like. The children get to interact with teachers and other classmates while learning about wholesome food choices. The volunteers at the program gain valuable experience, some serving and planning meals for up to 1300 students a day. Breakfast Clubs of Canada understands the value of starting the day off with a good meal and they want others to know this too.
What is Notable to you?
Notable is doing something because you have the drive to make peoples lives better by providing a service that is currently lacking in our society. If that service is already there, it’s about making that service available to everybody no matter their social status or income level.
Blackberry, iPhone, Android, or Other?
Recently I’ve actually made the switch to Android, but don’t tell my Mac…
How do you keep active, energetic, and vibrant?
Water, coffee, plenty of naps and chocolate chip cookies. Have you ever tried to make a proper chocolate chip cookie without some kind of electric mixer? Forget triceps dips, mix a batch of cookie dough with a wooden spoon.