Deciding to take your food business online and launching a delivery model is a bold decision, especially in the world of Just Eat and Deliveroo, but that doesn’t mean you can’t excel at delivering the food that you have passion for. If you are thinking about taking the plunge to start your own food delivery service, make sure you know how you are going to operate.
Delivery Logistics and More
Firstly, you need to decide how you are going to deliver your food. Will you need to organize drivers yourself? Or will you instead opt to use a delivery partner and work in tandem with some of the bigger names? If you are launching a whole service, you will need to have the logistics down flawlessly – what will you do about customer service? Will you be able to offer and implement discounts easily? How will you handle reports of food poisoning? You need to make sure that you have thought of ways to deal with every problem that you might face. You also need to consider your prices – will you be able to sort out the logistics at a price point that customers will pay for while still being profitable for you? What will happen if you have a sudden need for money due to a hidden cost or emergency?
How Your Service Works on the Front-End
Once you’ve nailed the back-end operational problems that you might encounter, you need to work out how you will be able to actually offer your service to consumers. If you are looking to compete with a delivery agent like Just Eat, you should seriously consider creating an app. Even if you are just looking to offer a delivery service for your own restaurant, an app can help to solidify customer loyalty, according to MobiRoller, and is highly recommended. The problem with apps, however, is that they can be expensive – you might need to speak to a loan provider like CashLady if you need to take out small amounts of debt to afford the upfront costs.
Menu/Theme
If you’re offering your own food, you need to have a takeaway menu that is profitable and possibly reduced, favouring the orders that won’t be ruined in transit. More basic dishes will be necessary, too – you need to anticipate a fussy eater with every order. A good menu relies on a small selection of good ingredients that you can use for different dishes, so you can keep everything fresh, delicious, and straightforward.
If you are looking to offer other people’s food, you need to work out what makes you unique, what your niche might be. This could be as simple as providing the very best local food specific to your area, or it could be offering the best discounts or a specific type of food. You must have a well-defined niche, so customers understand why they would choose you instead of one of the big players. If you are an individual restaurant, think about pricing lower on your app than you do on other apps or even in-store. You might also want to look for funding from Innovate UK if you think your niche is innovative enough (like this delivery service)
