While many business owners are interested in starting their own restaurants, some might be on a tight budget and are looking for alternative methods to start a business.
If you are one of them, we’ve come up with an idea for you about starting your own online food delivery business. Yes, it’s possible to start a food delivery business with a tight budget and you don’t need to invest as much as you would need to start a restaurant.
In this article, we’ll show you the steps on how you can make this possible.
1. Define your niche and the foods you’ll serve
This is the most important step of all and if you want to be successful in this part, you’ll need to plan out what kind of foods you are going to deliver. Considering that you are offering only-delivery options, you’ll need to start preparing meals exclusively for delivery.
Focus on simple fast foods, vegan, keto, and even organic meals. You can separate each of your meals in different groups. For example, hamburgers in the fast food category, salads in the speciality category, sweets in the desert category, and drinks in their own category. Of course, at the end of the day, it’ll depend on what you are going to offer.
2. Come up with a good business name
Having an online delivery business is great, but what’s even greater is coming up with a good business name. You can do so by brainstorming and trying to get ideas from other online delivery businesses, or if you find it hard to waste time on this part, you can consider using an AI business name generator. This will help you generate many names in only a few minutes after you input your industry and business description.
It’s always important you have a good name in place that will describe your brand’s identity and will leave a powerful first impression on customers.
3. Build your online ordering space
Building an area where people can place orders is the key to starting an online delivery business. However, while some might build an app, it’s not always necessary to do so. You can simply consider this option by creating your own website and taking orders from there and even from your social media channels.
Many online delivery businesses will place their phone number in their social profile bio and wait for customers to call them, but it’s always important to offer customers two options, since you need to consider that some might not want to communicate via phone call.
Therefore, you can create a website and if you are in a hurry, and need a site up and running quickly, you can use an AI web builder to create your website in less than an hour.
After you create your website, you can link your social media handles or place an “Order Now” button to allow customers to place their orders. It’s always important to place these call-to-actions (CTAs) in a visible area such as in the middle and make them stand out from other elements on your website.
Other important key features that should be part of the ordering process include:
- Easy navigation
- Secure payment options
- Real-time order tracking
- Customer support chat
A good example is Wolt. Once you place an order, you can track your order and see its real-time location.
4. Partner with suppliers
Making food and delivering it will always come with its advantages and the key here is to make sure you build relationships with local restaurants, stores, and even producers. Suppliers can either be local, wholesalers, or speciality vendors.
You can search for suppliers from local directories, and check reviews and testimonials about their reputation to see if they ensure reliability or not. Testimonials will show if the supplier's product meets the quality expectations of customers or not. Therefore, you need to make sure each supplier can handle your order volume as your business continues to grow.
5. Decide how the food will be delivered
Delivery businesses will either deliver food on their own or do so through third-party services. You can hire your own delivery team, or consider using third-party services. If we make a comparison, going with third-party services is a much cheaper alternative. This is because you aren’t using your own vehicle, saving on fuel costs and improving efficiency.
However, if you do decide to use your own services (your own car), you can always use route optimization software to plan and save on fuel costs to improve efficiency.
6. Create a business plan
This means to outline your target market, business goals, and value proposition. Your business plan will serve as a roadmap to helping you plan out what steps you need to take and how you’ll approach them. To make it more understandable for you, it’s important that you separate your business plan into three parts:
- Your business goals, target market, and value proposition: What are you trying to achieve by the end of the year? What type of customers are you targeting? What makes your business and food unique from the rest?
- Include your marketing strategy and logistics planning: Where will you market your online delivery business? Also, as we mentioned before, it’s important to answer how you’ll get the food delivered to your customers. Will it be through third-parties or using your own personal cars?
- Set a budget: Calculate and estimate your startup costs like delivery vehicles, marketing, and technology.
Your business plan will make things much clearer for you and it’s always an advantage to have one.
7. Market your business
As of now, online delivery businesses have a huge advantage over the rest since they can use social media channels to expand their online presence. In this case, you can create multiple social media channels and be active on all of them to reach a wider audience. However, we need to be realistic about which social channels are effective for your online delivery business.
Channels we recommend you use are Instagram and Facebook. This is because these two social channels offer direct communication and different forms of communication and are more flexible in allowing customers to contact you when they want to order. You can also use TikTok for video marketing purposes to show how you make food and what kind of delicious specials you have to offer.
Otherwise, anyone can directly order from you simply by writing a message to you on Instagram or Facebook, and if the client leaves a good review, you can even share it on your social platforms.
8. Prioritize the customer experience
The customer experience is the cornerstone of any successful online delivery business. Positive experiences are what make a difference and let’s face it, they don’t only increase customer retention, but will help in generating word-of-mouth referrals, and build trust in your brand.
If you are using an app, you can make sure that customers have flexible payment methods and can track their orders in real-time.
Many small commitments matter, for instance, delivering orders on time or even faster than expected have a positive impact. Other than that, you can offer live chat support through email, or phone to address issues much quicker and resolve any complaints and concerns professionals and efficiently to retain trust.
Furthermore, prioritizing the customer experience also means to make sure that product quality meets certain standards. When new customers ask for suggestions, you can show them products or meals based on past orders that made other customers happy. As customers become more loyal, you can offer them loyalty rewards such as discounts or even a free lunch from time to time.
It’s always a good idea to send timely notifications about the customer’s order, such as when it’s confirmed, prepared and its delivery status. Don’t forget to clearly communicate return, refund, and delivery policies on your platform.
Above all, always request feedback from your customers after each order is placed to understand customer satisfaction. Use this feedback to improve your services, and let customers know when you make the changes from their feedback.
It’s now time to build your online food delivery business
Starting your own food delivery business is an exciting opportunity you can take into a growing market. By following these tips– defining your niche, building a strong online presence, creating reliable delivery services, and prioritizing customer satisfaction– you can easily set your business apart from the competitors.
Success in this industry means adaptability, consistent quality, and a customer-first approach. With careful planning, smart marketing, and dedication, you can create an outstanding food delivery business that not only meets customer demands but also stands out from the rest. Always remember that every successful journey starts with a single step.