Where It All Began…
Reflecting back to where it all began, it’s crazy to think about how far we’ve come in the twelve years since 2DineIn first launched. In the year 2007, my brother, Matthew, and four of his co-workers had the idea of a company that would allow you the convenience of eating your favorite meal from your favorite restaurant without ever having to leave the comfort of your home.
I was studying business at USM and before I could graduate I needed to do an internship. I figured if I could intern for my brother’s business, I could convince him to give me a good grade. In Spring of 2008 as my internship was wrapping up, my brother and his business partners were realizing that while running 2DineIn was a fun hobby, it was distracting them from their careers. They decided that they were either going to fold or sell the company.
I had just graduated from college. It was May 2008, the market had crashed, and the majority of my friends didn’t have any leads of a job and were moving back in with their parents. I thought it would be a brilliant idea to scrounge up all the money I could in order to buy 2DineIn. When I bought it from them, we delivered for three restaurants, had two drivers, and were doing about 5 orders a day. Some people may have thought I was crazy, but I’m so glad I made that decision.
In order to make ends meet and devote the time and energy that 2DineIn needed, my brother was gracious enough to allow me to live with him rent-free–meals included–for about three or four years. (Thank you, Matthew!) Keeping my nose to the grind, I was able to add more restaurants, customers, and drivers. When I wasn’t going in to restaurants asking them to sign on with 2DineIn, I was either dispatching orders to my drivers, or out delivering myself. It was a slow process, but after a while the business was profitable enough where I was finally able to start paying rent!
Flash forward to 2013, the pastor of my church set me up to go to a Bible Study in New Hampshire so I could meet a certain girl. It took a lot of work to rearrange the schedule in order for me to be free that night! As we got to know each other, the only time that I had where I wasn’t working was Saturday mornings before we opened at 5pm. In order to spend more time together, Sarah would drive up to Portland, then ride around in my car with the computer on her lap dispatching and taking phone calls while I was driving around delivering. (Thank God for portable hotspots!) You get to know someone very well very quickly when you’re stuck inside of a car for hours at a time. We got married 10 months later, and I finally moved out of my brother’s condo.
We love what we’ve been able to do in the city of Portland, especially as Portland has become more known for delicious food! Today we have over eighty drivers, ten office staff members helping to dispatch and make sure menus are correct or work as customer service representatives to handle any issues. We now have the privilege of partnering with over 100 local restaurants and deliver between 250-500 orders per day. We’re so thankful that we’ve been able to service Portland for these last 12 years and we’re so excited for what the future holds!
