Please Steal This Idea pt 2

[goldenangeleyes23]

Last week I posted about a business idea for cleaning solar panels, which got a ton of great feedback. figured I'd continue to share some ideas with this awesome sub.

Background:

Delivery fees are really high for customers and restaurants. Delivery drivers aren't getting paid enough.

Business Idea:

I discovered a guy (Tony (no affiliation)) that launched his own delivery service. No apps, no high fees, and no car?? (he has a bike) I fell in love with this because it addresses an issue that many of us have. This can also be tested and launched in a weekend!

• Tony sets ~1.5mile radius boundary for the restaurants he serves and delivery area.
• Tony only charges $5/order
• Tony is his own boss
• Tony is my man crush

https://preview.redd.it/2pkz450hazj...bp&s=e14d79f3f4ca6f3785ef2c1bdd8918fd5ffb6906

The MVP​

STEP 1: Go to your Facebook Neighborhood Group and post exactly this. “I’ll deliver anywhere on this map (screenshot), from these restaurants (provide list, assuming they take online paid pickup orders) for $5 flat."

STEP 2: You will get orders. I’d give someone $5 RIGHT NOW to get a burrito for me)

STEP 3: Go get the order (that's already paid for) and deliver it to the buyer

STEP 4: Accept your $5

STEP 5: Don’t mess the previous 4 steps up. Repeat

So how much could you actually bring in being the taco transporter?​

Tony operates in a 1.5 mile radius. Let’s break down his possible earnings per day:

3 deliveries a day: $15

• 10 deliveries a day: $50
• 20 deliveries a day: $100
• 30 deliveries a day: $150

Let’s say the average delivery is 2 miles round trip let’s say that takes ~20 min. If every restaurant and customer were at opposite ends of the delivery map, he could pump out 3 orders per hour. I think Tony is a great biker and finds efficiencies, he can probably do 5 deliveries/hour = $25/hour on bike.

Not bad, counting he can start/stop whenever, probably receives tips and can probably do more deliveries if he used a car/expanded his area.

He’s easily clearing $100/day on bike with very little upfront cash and technical skills. This is fantastic if you just need to get some cash going (and possibly love biking)

If you (or Tony) wanted to scale this into something bigger:

• You could also be making referral dollars for adding restaurants to your service area.
• You could expand your area/add more delivery drivers
• You can run sms ad campaigns with all of the phone numbers you have stored
• You could add local shops for “last mile deliveries”.
• You could turn this into a full fledged enterprise (like B-Line) in Portland, OR that specializes in reduced carbon (last mile) deliveries, have warehouses and run ads on their bike carriers.

If you do decide to test/run with this, please let me know! I would love to learn how it goes (I'll also order a burrito)

 

[rebekah_h]

@goldenangeleyes23 The problem with food delivery idea is variation of routes. I think a better idea is to have a pre-selected food, e.g., if the delivery guy knows there are 5 close-by food options: taco, chinese takeout, pizza, burger and sushi. Then, pitch these 5 food options are the best in the area and there are only 2 delivery time during lunch (12.30PM to 1.30PM) and during dinner (6PM to 7PM) - all orders must be submitted latest by 1 hour before delivery time. By doing this, the deliver route can be optimised beforehand and the food order can be consolidated into 5 sources only.

 

[goldenangeleyes23]

@rebekah_h This is an awesome idea. I just chatted with him and it turns out he does exactly this! Lunch and dinner time.

Would also help with “batching” pickups. Not sure how much he can carry on his bike

Going to release an interview with him here sometime.

 

[michaeltox]

@goldenangeleyes23 if you like this I have, had an idea delivering convenience store items, and then buying the stock yourself to make profit on product plus delivery. I live next to a large college too. I couldn't get the math to work on a large scale though

 

[goldenangeleyes23]

@michaeltox Were you able to test it out?

 

[michaeltox]

@goldenangeleyes23 dm me, getting an error message

 

[poppa51]

@michaeltox This exists in various forms. GoPuff is a popular one.

 

[michaeltox]

@poppa51 thank you, someone told me that when I was exploring it, and it was 1 of the 2 main reasons I didn't go further

 

[caroline01]

@goldenangeleyes23 Makes you wonder what percent Uber eats and doordash are charging just to exist. For a city hustle this would be fantastic

 

[goldenangeleyes23]

@caroline01 This is perfect for cities, probably won’t work in the country

 

[boringfish]

@goldenangeleyes23 Depends, I would think. If you're out in the boonies but it's a tourist hotspot, you could probably make some good money during the peak season.

 

[janice64]

@goldenangeleyes23 Depends - in developing countries , this won’t work in cities as startups already there to fulfill these needs with free or subscription based prices . But this would work in countryside

 

[mellanna]

@goldenangeleyes23 Re STEP 2. So why aren’t you just using Uber eats?

 

[goldenangeleyes23]

@mellanna They can charge ~$20 for fees and also can increase the charge per item on the menu

 

[jesmo]

@goldenangeleyes23 So how will orders be prepaid when I(Tony?) picks it up?

 

[dmssr]

@jesmo They order for pickup

 

[mellanna]

@goldenangeleyes23 -$20 for delivery fee??! Jeez, it's about $3 in London

 

[ecco3k]

@mellanna They don’t add $20 for fees, but then you gotta tip, and they also make the menu items more expensive on their app. So it’s easily $20 more expensive

 

[mellanna]

@ecco3k If this picks up, why wouldn’t the restaurants just increase their collection prices?

 

[ecco3k]

@mellanna I think the only reason they raise the prices on the apps is because it’s because expensive for the restaurants also. UberEats and DoorDash and all those companies come to the restaurant and try to sign them up and take a hefty commission of all the sales that come through the platform. The restaurants put up with it because it’s additional sales that they presumably wouldn’t have otherwise. They make up for the fees by raising the prices. They don’t care about some bicycle delivery guy charging clients $5.