Advice for my takeaway

[Banditos]

Hi everyone this is my first post, i opened a food delivery service in January, we currently use Just Eat and we open Fri - Sun 5-10 pm ( I have another job Mon - Thurs)
Our food is good we have 106 reviews on just eat that are pretty much perfect, there is myself cooking and i have 2 drivers that combined cost me £120 a night, it costs all in all about £550 a week to send my food out to peoples houses including paying the drivers and just Eats cut. I have worked my socks off every weekend since the end of December and i still cannot draw a wage, it just pays its way...just about, but there is no spare cash for emergency and no money to pay me. Is it normal to not earn a penny in 5 months of starting a business or is it time to walk away, i cant emphasis enough how good the online reviews are that the food is receiving but its really starting to get me down, every Friday morning the Just Eat money drops and by Saturday morning the bank account is back down to zero
Just eat take about £300 a week in fees but in reality without Just Eat there would be no orders
Thanks for reading

 

[Mark T Jones]

There are too many questions and angles to properly address on here

Is it normal? Depends.

What did your projections say?
What is the forward plan to change the situation?

(Yes, I know)

Essentially there are 3 angles you need to explore

1. Pricing
2. Costs
3. Marketing

Create a simple projection and play with all 3 to get an idea whether you have the bones of a business

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Why are you paying the drivers?

Put your prices up.

Add your menu into deliveries and offer 10% (or more) discount for direct orders.

Use the other delivery platforms.

Create you own website/ordering app.

 

[Newchodge]

Are you organising delivery (paying the drivers) or is Just Eat doing it?

I would recommend getting yourself a website and including with every order your menu with an 'order from our website and get 10% off' kind of offer.

 

[Banditos]

Why are you paying the drivers?

Put your prices up.

Add your menu into deliveries and offer 10% (or more) discount for direct orders.

Use the other delivery platforms.

Create you own website/ordering app.

Thanks tbh we are on another app (Donny Eats) its cheaper for the customer and we put a leaflet in each bag, people still use just eat,we have posted on our socials to call direct but hardly anyone does,it seem Just eat have got this market locked down
With regards paying drivers, we were using Just eats drivers and the cost was 35% plus vat on each order, we were getting to the point of Just Eat taking £700 a week in fees so we decided to have our own drivers but thats not working out either as if we get more than 4 orders on at once it delays delivery time.
Also i cant tell you the stress involved in using Just Eats drivers, for £700 a week i expect a good service, we spent more time on the phone to customer support trying to locate late drivers than cooking

 

[Newchodge]

Thanks tbh we are on another app (Donny Eats) its cheaper for the customer and we put a leaflet in each bag, people still use just eat,we have posted on our socials to call direct but hardly anyone does,it seem Just eat have got this market locked down
With regards paying drivers, we were using Just eats drivers and the cost was 35% plus vat on each order, we were getting to the point of Just Eat taking £700 a week in fees so we decided to have our own drivers but thats not working out either as if we get more than 4 orders on at once it delays delivery time.
Also i cant tell you the stress involved in using Just Eats drivers, for £700 a week i expect a good service, we spent more time on the phone to customer support trying to locate late drivers than cooking

It does not sound as if your business is fiancially viable.

 

[Banditos]

Are you organising delivery (paying the drivers) or is Just Eat doing it?

I would recommend getting yourself a website and including with every order your menu with an 'order from our website and get 10% off' kind of offer.

Yes we are paying the drivers as we were finding 35% plus vat a bit of a kick in the teeth every time the Just Eat invoice came through, and the service from them was substandard, but i do have a feeling we will have to go back to using them as at the minute when a few orders come through that dont fall right logistically two drivers isnt enough, and as an example if we have a bad night im still paying the drivers wage whereas with just eat its a case of fewer orders less commission, its all a learning curve but its hard

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Do you pay less commission if you use your own drivers?

Don't think of the Just Eat commission as a simple cost - it is their exposure, coverage and marketing you are paying for.

What other marketing are you doing (outside of SM)?

If you are dendant on JE, as @Newchodge says, you do not have a business (At your current pricing).

How many orders a week?

What about Uber Eats and the other?

 

[Banditos]

Do you pay less commission if you use your own drivers?

Don't think of the Just Eat commission as a simple cost - it is their exposure, coverage and marketing you are paying for.

What other marketing are you doing (outside of SM)?

If you are dendant on JE, as @Newchodge says, you do not have a business (At your current pricing).

How many orders a week?

What about Uber Eats and the other?

Thanks I pay my drivers a flat rate of £12 per hr plus fuel (people wont do it for less)

It does not sound as if your business is fiancially viable.

I think thats why ive joined this page today, deep down i know i cant make it work, im putting in some serious graft to earn nothing other than a few good online reviews

 

[Banditos]

Do you pay less commission if you use your own drivers?

Don't think of the Just Eat commission as a simple cost - it is their exposure, coverage and marketing you are paying for.

What other marketing are you doing (outside of SM)?

If you are dendant on JE, as @Newchodge says, you do not have a business (At your current pricing).

How many orders a week?

What about Uber Eats and the other?

We are on Uber we get minimal orders i just dont think its that big in our town, Just Eat we get anything from 15 - 23 orders a night which at a glance might not look much but for 1 chef thats like cooking for 23 tables in a few hrs, its not easy i physically couldnt do much more myself without another cook and that wont be happening so yes i think im doomed to fail here

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

I am confused. I thought Just Eat organised the delivery and had the relationship with the driver i.e. pay them?

Any more answers?

 

[Banditos]

I am confused. I thought Just Eat organised the delivery and had the relationship with the driver i.e. pay them?

Any more answers?

They have two options
1: They send their couriers, they take 35% + Vat per order
2: You organise your own courier they take 14% plus VAT per order

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

OK.

Have you done the calculation as to which one is best?

Remember, as they are employees, you have to do the payroll admin, manage/pay PAYE, pensions etc. THEY ARE EMPLOYEES, AREN'T THEY?

 

[Banditos]

The issue for us with using the Just Eat couriers was timings, the customer places an order and it comes through to our machine, we accept the order and Just eat allocates a driver from their fleet, itll say driver arriving in 4 mins, then many a time it will change to 6 mins 20 mins and on a few occasions they didnt ever show up, as a business owner this was gutting to know it wasnt our fault, Just Eat on the otherhand could not give a monkeys, their drivers would rather sit and wait at mcdonalds for orders rather than come to smaller businesses

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

OK - have extensive experience in this having run a successful weekend operation (sundays only) in which we employed our own drivers and managed without Just Eat. Then an another business which was ultimately less successful (primarily due to lockdown) that opened 7 days a week and used both Uber and Deliveroo, using their drivers.

Need a lot more info here. What food are you serving? What are your costs like - food and otherwise? What are your busy periods? What are your prices? How many orders per shift and per hour? Average value per order?

You need to break all this down into exactly where your money is going and what everything is costing you. Firstly, where can you be more efficient, save costs, increase overall order value, increase quantity of orders, or simply charge more. As simple as that, but it needs the analysis. I've done it many times and multiple times I found an angle to improve one or more of the above. Until eventually, I couldn't find that angle and that's when I knew the business had had its day and we closed.

My gut feeling having done both would be to continue to use the courier platforms drivers and swallow the fees. People do generally expect, and accept, higher prices on these platforms. Don't get hung up on having your own app or offering 10% off for direct orders - it just doesn't work. It doesn't outweigh the convenience for people of jumping on Just Eat.

 

[Gecko001]

Have you had a look around to see what other small outlets are doing in your area? They must surely be making a profit. If there are none in your area, then perhaps go to other areas and find out what they are doing there. It should be easy to find out exactly how they operate, by being a customer or paying friends to be a customer.

 

[Shopclicks]

Just having a Google ... Is the Dine-in separate to your takeaway business? Are there walk-in pick-ups? Can people dine-in?

 

[Banditos]

OK.

Have you done the calculation as to which one is best?

Remember, as they are employees, you have to do the payroll admin, manage/pay PAYE, pensions etc. THEY ARE EMPLOYEES, AREN'T THEY?

Yes they are employed and i couldnt do it any other way even if i wanted to, there is no cash, all the customers pay just eat i dont see any paper money. We started with 1 driver which was ok for a few weeks,then we needed a 2nd driver and its now very close as to which one is more beneficial, but if we used Just Eat i dont need to answer to anyone, if i have a special occasion or a holiday i can just turn the Just Eat machine off and thats it, there is no holiday pay,sick pay there is nothing to pay employee wise

 

[Banditos]

Just having a Google ... Is the Dine-in separate to your takeaway business? Are there walk-in pick-ups? Can people dine-in?

Its just sat there doing nothing, i forgot to mention ive got a 30 seater restaurant as well that i dont use, i havent properly opened it yet as i cant take the plunge into employing 3 or 4 staff as i dont have the funds and i cant borrow money to loose it as Doncaster town centre is not the best and i dont know if id get the custom to dine in. If i were in Leeds or Sheffield with my venue i would not be in the same situation

 

[BubbaWY]

Well, going by your reviews, the food sounds amazing. Given your location, I am guessing your overheads are high especially given you arent actually using the restaurant part of the premises. You either need to take the plunge, and open the restaurant part, or move into more suitable premises for takeaway/delivery.

 

[Banditos]

Its just sat there doing nothing, i forgot to mention ive got a 30 seater restaurant as well that i dont use, i havent properly opened it yet as i cant take the plunge into employing 3 or 4 staff as i dont have the funds and i cant borrow money to loose it as Doncaster town centre is not the best and i dont know if id get the custom to dine in. If i were in Leeds or Sheffield with my venue i would not be in the same situation

Just to add i am a tenant, I know the landlord well and he has done me a very good deal on the rent, so although it looks a a big place i would have paid the same for a dingy little takeaway from anyone else

 

[Shopclicks]

Its just sat there doing nothing, i forgot to mention ive got a 30 seater restaurant as well that i dont use,

Do you run the takeaway from the same premises?

 

[IanSuth]

Can you open the restaurant for special occasions or would that not work ?

Parties or work do's. Just employ a couple of staff on a casual basis when needed. If you could do that on top of the delivery might bring in the extra £, particularly if marketed to the delivery customers "you love our food and gave us a 5* review, why not have your birthday/anniversary/retirement party here"

Alternatively add 50p to all your prices and see if anyone notices, if you keep the same order numbers you just added 4 or 5% to your takings

 

[Banditos]

Do you run the takeaway from the same premises?

Yes my kitchen is downstairs (i built it from scratch) my restaurant is upstairs its just not used, ive also got another space half renovated into a party suit with its own bar and dancefloor. But its just me and my other half who also dosnt get paid in the building.. my new saying is money makes money, and i havent got any

 

[Mark T Jones]

my new saying is money makes money, and i havent got any

Occasionally true, but mostly flawed.

Businesses with lots of money can go longer before they fail.

You've done a chunk of the hard work, but really need to get to grips with the business of business.

To rephrase my last post:

- What is your gross margin?
- What is your break-even point?

Those are arguably the 2 most basic numbers any food business should have at their finger tips.


- How did you arrive at your price-point?
- what are the opportunities to up-sell.

 

[Shopclicks]

Can people order and pick-up? Or are you purely delivery only?

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Not sure why he isn't answering some basic questions - it will allow us to help him more!

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

Agreed, nobody on here is going to deliver a magic solution plucked out of thin air. The work is in the detail here.

 

[Gecko001]

Are you cooking the food in the kitchens of the closed restaurant? If you are, then you could be suffering from lack of customer confidence. The fact that you have good reviews, does not really mean much as most people regard those with great suspicion.

 

[MikeJ]

Just to add i am a tenant, I know the landlord well and he has done me a very good deal on the rent, so although it looks a a big place i would have paid the same for a dingy little takeaway from anyone else

Before you decide anything, what's the deal you have with your landlord? Long lease? Personal guarantee or lease in your name? If you wanted to, could you just walk away?

 

[RandyMarsh]

I believe Just Eat's commission rate is flexible. Pick up the phone, tell them that you are struggling to make money and considering closing your business but point out the excellent reviews you have. If they drop their rate by a few percent then that's a few percent of profit you will make.


Do you have vegetarian and vegan main course options? I can't see any on your menu if I am looking in the right place. 16% of the UK population follows a meat free diet, plus many more are reducing meat consumption, plus there are people who won't eat meat that isn't halal/kosher etc. If a group of people is ordering food and one person is veggie, they won't order from somewhere without veggie food so you are probably excluding easily 25% of your customers if you don't have decent veggie and vegan dishes.

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

So you have a 30-seater in the heart of the town?

Can you rent this out? Maybe do a BYOB type of thing and get a bunch of people in? Or market it to local rugby clubs, business groups etc... for meetings. And then if they want food, they can bring it in?

You can get 50% upfront and hire the staff with that.

As an idea, would something like this work?

 

[Ozzy]

Is it normal to not earn a penny in 5 months of starting a business

You've got some great advice here already, and some good questions that if covered may help you further too.

Answering this question, it was over a year before I could draw a wage in my first and my second business...and then in my current business it was 15 months before I could draw a wage. It's not unusual for a business founder to not be able to pay themselves for a long time. It all depends on your financial projections.

Also, don't be afraid to put your prices up but do the research first as mentioned above.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

What's 'drawing a wage'?

 

[fantheflames]

As others have mentioned, it's tough starting a business, and it's common not to earn a penny in the first few months.

You should consider raising your prices slightly to increase revenue without significantly affecting demand. Many restaurants and takeaways do this, and incorporate promotions so the price is around the same level.

Also, leverage your excellent reviews by offering promotions for direct orders, perhaps through your own website or app. Leaving marketing in your customers orders is not enough. What about leaflets in the community? If there's an excellent deal, I often use my takeaway deals that come through the door...

Additionally, expanding your menu to include vegetarian and vegan options can attract a broader customer base. As a vegan myself, I always search for 'vegan' in the search area on Just Eat or Deliveroo.

Getting your own website and focusing on marketing efforts will be much better than relying solely on Just Eat and other apps, as you have identified something has to change to make your business viable.

 

[Gecko001]

Is there anyway you can have a bricks and mortar take-away without having to open the restuarant? Can you put up temporary counter for example in the restaurant? A shop front with your online brand name will greatly increase customer awareness, both online and in general. It will also mean that you will have some passing trade with none of the costs of delivery.

 

[MOIC]

1. Raise prices, this is a no brainer, if your dishes are not the normal fare. (change the names of dishes, if needed)

2. Use more delivery companies that service your area and add a portion of the costs to the prices for delivery. Customers will pay more for convenience, as they should.

3. Reading between the lines, you need some capital to make your business work, that's what you should look at raising, as long as point 1 is viable.

4. Use the unused space of the restaurant, with ideas that you can increase your food sales (Parties, meetings etc), as others have said.

The combination of ALL 4, will hopefully kick-start the business.

 

[Ryan Paul]

I think you should consider other options.

#1 food truck. Catering at events, busy locations at the weekend.

#2 use a bar kitchen. Offer takeaway and a dining experience at a premises that already attracts the right clientele

Pivot away from a convenience of justeat and move into the experience / place to go eaterie.

This may mean going all in and giving up your 9-5 weekday.

All the best and huge credit for doing what you're doing.

 

[MrRic]

Hi everyone this is my first post, i opened a food delivery service in January, we currently use Just Eat and we open Fri - Sun 5-10 pm ( I have another job Mon - Thurs)
Our food is good we have 106 reviews on just eat that are pretty much perfect, there is myself cooking and i have 2 drivers that combined cost me £120 a night, it costs all in all about £550 a week to send my food out to peoples houses including paying the drivers and just Eats cut. I have worked my socks off every weekend since the end of December and i still cannot draw a wage, it just pays its way...just about, but there is no spare cash for emergency and no money to pay me. Is it normal to not earn a penny in 5 months of starting a business or is it time to walk away, i cant emphasis enough how good the online reviews are that the food is receiving but its really starting to get me down, every Friday morning the Just Eat money drops and by Saturday morning the bank account is back down to zero
Just eat take about £300 a week in fees but in reality without Just Eat there would be no orders
Thanks for reading

I would do everything you can to get businesses away from JE and Deliveroo. As others have said, get your own website and driver traffic through that and to your phone line. Also, are you paying rent on the premises because only opening for 3 days is not really going to cover that. Lots of people get mid-week takeaways, so you are missing out there. The other thing is that if people driver past and see it shut in the week they may well think you have closed down and dont even think about using you.

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

Thread is over a year old and the business is now marked permanently closed on Google. Few of the last reviews criticising them for irregular opening hours and cancelling orders. And a particularly hilarious (but entirely unprofessional) response to one of them