Do you have a food or drink business or maybe you are planning to open one in the near future?

We have several tips for you if are thinking of managing your own delivery services, instead of relying on logistics companies from outside.

There is a lot that can be said or done when starting your own food delivery business….

Food comes first.

Making quality food obviously comes as the most important factor in play that leads your business to success. Whether you are a master baker, a virtuoso of making tasty seafood, or even just a very efficient man in a kitchen, you can always make a good profit by delivering quality food. We know from experience plenty of food businesses around Ireland scaling up in a very short space of time thanks to their delicious menu, and excellent food presentation. Once you have these in the bag, you can start to think about configuring the right delivery approach that will serve your purpose perfectly!

If you are thinking of having Your own delivery fleet…

You will be in conrol!

If you wish to be fully in control of your operations, then you are probably on the right track thinking about managing your delivery fleet from first hand. One thing you should know is that finding a perfect balance between high customer satisfaction from your delivery services and low shipping costs- might be a difficult one, to begin with.

You will need your own vehicles

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We’ve talked a lot about delivery vehicles and prioritizing efficiency over the affordability of your fleet. By managing your own food delivery service, you must be prepared to invest in your own cars or vans that will store your food items in the right conditions. The good thing with these delivery services is that space is not a limiting factor, as much as time. Starting off with a mid-sized car is always an option, provided that it gives you enough space to load and unload your deliveries easily and effectively.

You can deliver with less.

Delivering food by bikes or motorcycles are also great sustainable alternatives, which you then have to manage more closely, in order to ensure your items will reach in their best shape. Bikes and motorcycles are ideal for short trips from local suppliers to near recipients because only then you can be certain your food arrives warm and ready to eat!

Your target market is your main consideration.

Speaking of deliveries in the hereabouts, you ought to think about who is your target customers and how you can reach each one of them within the promised space of time. This is easier to calculate in your head if you have an existing customer base, but if you are only starting up your food business, you ought to give this some serious thought!

If you are based in a busier city like Dublin, you are likely to have exposure to a larger number of customers over different areas, not spaced close to each other, logistically speaking. Then, you need to think about bigger vehicles, average petrol consumption, and the general cost-effectiveness of your food delivery plan. The good thing is that busier cities allow you to deliver to more customers per hour, which could give you a better return on investment after you start operating different routes.

You can start by providing scheduled deliveries.

Delivering food on-demand takes a certain level of expertise in logistics planning and automation. A lot of food start-ups or smaller local businesses don’t have the resources to deliver to customers on-demand. If you are not running a restaurant, we would advise that you begin by scheduling your deliveries initially, until you see how much revenue you could generate from your services, and how well you cope. From there on, you can start to automate and plan your deliveries on the spot, if you have reliable drivers and delivery software for planning your routes.

You can make use of helpful delivery apps.

You really can’t go without smart technologies these days. Outsourcing delivery apps are a good tip for small and mid-sized food businesses that wish to manage their own deliveries, but still provide quality and timely service to customers. Zendfast has an innovative software solution that allows all businesses to control their deliveries online, by tracking their deliveries at all times and staying on top of their preparation schedule. Using a delivery application that tracks the status of your orders also increases customer satisfaction, promising you the returning clientele you strive for!

The perfect recipe to success.

Starting a successful food and drink business cannot go without making a high-quality product. Once you’re there, you can always begin to think about delivering and up-scaling your delivery operations to customers. There are helpful software applications that are there to help you manage your operations more effectively, without worrying about high costs, unhappy customers, and losing control over your business overall.