About Us
In 2002 Susanna & TR Laughlin opened their 1st donut shop in Fayetteville Arkansas called The Royal Donut Company. Royal Donuts was located on a one way street in a college town of about 40,000 people and was less than 2 miles from the donut shop that TR started working in at the age of 14. Owning his own store was always a dream ever since he worked alongside his aunt and grandpa several years earlier. Being in the family business gave them the unique opportunity to start small and dream big. Those bigger dreams led to selling their first location and opening their second within the 5 years. In 2006 Hwy. 62 Daylight Donuts was established in Rogers, AR as a named licensed agreement from Daylight Donut flour of Tulsa OK. In 2017 the name was changed to Red Barn Donuts. This was to capture the local feel, build out a brand, and because the business is inside of a big red barn. It has been owner operated by TR and Susanna for the last 14 years.
During this time several systems were created to ensure quality at scale. Awards were received and as building expansions took place, it was not unusual for TR to get phone calls from other owner operated stores with unique problems that arise in the donut business. TR says " I always loved talking through problems with someone. Sometimes we have advice, and sometimes we come up with a solution together. There's just nothin like that lightbulb moment when you see that a taxed owner's life is about to become easier or more profitable. "
After several years of locally consulting and building a network of independent donut shop owners through Facebook, phone conversations from out of state started happening on a regular basis. “ I’ll never forget talking through my first out of state expansion question. This gentleman had a great handle on one store, but was looking to hire more of it out to expand to a second location. There's nothing like being a part of someone's success, even if it’s just a small part.” Not long after that TR had the opportunity to serve a lady out of state that had opened a store but had never been in the donut business before. “It was like we got to be a part of a brand new legacy”. Once they started getting calls from overseas they knew that there was definitely a need in this niche of donut shop owners. That's when Donut Coach started going online.
The donut business is hard, and as an owner operator I know first hand how just changing a few small things can mean a world of difference. Systems make for easier training, better hiring, more accountability, and more money. This is not the old school way of just seeing if it looks right, but it's not an impractical way that adds more time to the daily routine. All our processes were created to make things as consistent and duplicatable as possible. While maintaining the classic artistic way of creating a great donut. It is our hope that we can serve you by passing on our labor of love.
-TR Laughlin
Donut Coach
