Pizza Takeaway

[jhunter]

Hi,

I am looking into setting up a pizza takeaway business but having some issues finding reliable info. I was hoping someone could answer the following questions:

1 - Once bulk buying, how much does each pizza normally cost to make
2 - Oven type: Electric vs Stone?
3 - In an average week how many pizzas would a takeaway sell each day
4 - % of sales from Internet, telephone and at the counter
5 - Other than rent, staff and electricity what sort of fixed costs have to be taken into account

Any info would be greatly appreciated...

 

[Rhodes100]

Why dont you buy a pizza takeaway? There are plenty for sale.

The seller should then train you in running the business, and would be able to answer all of these questions.

 

[Strontium Dog]

Best thing you could do is get a part time job in a pizza outlet to pick up some experience.

Alternatively if you have a brass neck you could just sit outside in your car all day and count the number of pizza sales on different shifts, staffing levels etc.

I actually think the ingredients in a pizza cost less than £1, then you have your energy costs

 

[jhunter]

Thanks, defintely something worth looking into.

My business plan does incorporate many features of a traditional takeawayobit I have a few ideas that I feel give me a competitive advantage and hence are easier to incorporate starting from scratch.

However the lack of available information is making reliable forecasting hard. Another question that would help my research is how many staff a typical takeaway has? Also the split of staff between different functions would be useful.

If anyone has experience in this industry I would love to hear from you

Thanks for your help

 

[Merchant UK]

2 - Oven type: Electric vs Stone?
3 - In an average week how many pizzas would a takeaway sell each day

Are you for real???

So we have an electric oven, well whats a stone oven???

if your dominios in new york you sell 15,000 a day, but if your using a stone oven the 3 ???

is this some sort of trick question??

If you have no experiance what so ever what makes you think you'll be successful?? best to start working at your local Pizza hut and find out yourself

 

[longleaf1]

My local kebab / pizza place - Staffwise on a weekend when busy has about 6 people on - about 3 up front and then about 3 out the back
Well it seems that way when you see them bringing the pizzas through / marinated meat for kebabs etc.

 

[Blagger]

Hi,

I am looking into setting up a pizza takeaway business but having some issues finding reliable info. I was hoping someone could answer the following questions:

1 - Once bulk buying, how much does each pizza normally cost to make
2 - Oven type: Electric vs Stone?
3 - In an average week how many pizzas would a takeaway sell each day
4 - % of sales from Internet, telephone and at the counter
5 - Other than rent, staff and electricity what sort of fixed costs have to be taken into account

Any info would be greatly appreciated...

1. I would have thought any decent Pizza takeaway would make there own dough and prepare their own toppings. Are you thinking of buying ready made?
2. Most places I have seen have electric
3. Depends on the population and competition in the area
4. At a guess, 2% internet, 68% telephone/delivery, 30% collection
5. No idea

 

[Blagger]

Why dont you buy a pizza takeaway? There are plenty for sale.

The seller should then train you in running the business, and would be able to answer all of these questions.

Would be a lot more costs involved doing that as the seller would want a premium for their business, however probably the best option for the OP.

 

[Vaheed Akhtar]

Are you for real???

So we have an electric oven, well whats a stone oven???

if your dominios in new york you sell 15,000 a day, but if your using a stone oven the 3 ???

is this some sort of trick question??

If you have no experiance what so ever what makes you think you'll be successful?? best to start working at your local Pizza hut and find out yourself

15,000 pizza's a day? I think you've just added about two too many zero's to the end of that.

 

[Pocket Money Designs]

I could do with a pizza right now....

I think in might be worth getting a job in a local pizza place even if only for just a fortnight. Otherwise you'll be well out of your depth! At a guess a pizza would cost about £3 to make. (Dough, Toppings and Cooking) Although if your spending a lot of time rolling dough then it might cost a tad more

 

[MASSEY]

Yeah i think im gonna get me a cheese pizza on its way.

If it was me i would get one of those stone type ones.

As for the rest its the old "location location location" waffle.

 

[longleaf1]

Are you for real???

So we have an electric oven, well whats a stone oven???

if your dominios in new york you sell 15,000 a day, but if your using a stone oven the 3 ???

is this some sort of trick question??

If you have no experiance what so ever what makes you think you'll be successful?? best to start working at your local Pizza hut and find out yourself

Give the guy a break, at least hes here asking for advice before hes goes ahead and spends all his money, what if he had have done it on a whim 2 months ago with no idea - then he'd be posting in about insolvency...

 

[Vaheed Akhtar]

Hi,

I am looking into setting up a pizza takeaway business but having some issues finding reliable info. I was hoping someone could answer the following questions:

1 - Once bulk buying, how much does each pizza normally cost to make
2 - Oven type: Electric vs Stone?
3 - In an average week how many pizzas would a takeaway sell each day
4 - % of sales from Internet, telephone and at the counter
5 - Other than rent, staff and electricity what sort of fixed costs have to be taken into account

Any info would be greatly appreciated...

my two bobs worth:

1. I wouldn't have thought an independent pizza shop will ever sell enough pizza's to be able to warrant a significant amount of discount from wholesalers.
2. It depends on how you want to market your pizza's. If you want to revolve them around the whole 'authentic Italian' type of marketing, then a Clay/stove is a must - because a) it gives it a unique taste and b) quick.
3.Always comes down to two things - price and quality. Get both right and you're on a winner. Make sure you do your research properly - check all competition and base prices around your findings.
4.I'd imagine 'passing customers' will generate the least amount of sales for a pizza shop. Leaflet drops will probably generate most of the business. As for the internet, middle men like 'just eat' are growing considerably now and one would imagine them to take the majority share of the market, when it comes to attracting new customers/viewing menus.
5. You will need to consider your rates, your waste disposal, Gas, telephone, property maintenance.

Good luck to you mate.

 

[Vaheed Akhtar]

I could do with a pizza right now....

I think in might be worth getting a job in a local pizza place even if only for just a fortnight. Otherwise you'll be well out of your depth! At a guess a pizza would cost about £3 to make. (Dough, Toppings and Cooking) Although if your spending a lot of time rolling dough then it might cost a tad more

The average pizza doesn't cost more than £1 to make. Not sure where you've got £3 from??

 

[MASSEY]

The average pizza doesn't cost more than £1 to make. Not sure where you've got £3 from??

With all that cheese less than 1 pound?

 

[Vaheed Akhtar]

With all that cheese less than 1 pound?

yup. Mozzarella cost around £3.50 per KG for me, but I buy very little for my sandwich shops. I can imagine that price dropping to around £2.90-£3.10 per KG for big buyers.

 

[jhunter]

Thanks all, had meant electric vs gas ovens, prices seem to vary drastically for ovens. Due to lack of experience in this field Im not quite sure if the higher value ovens are worth it.

On initial projections it seems that each pizza should cost between £1-£2 but if anyone has experience to suggest different let me know...

 

[Vaheed Akhtar]

Thanks all, had meant electric vs gas ovens, prices seem to vary drastically for ovens. Due to lack of experience in this field Im not quite sure if the higher value ovens are worth it.

On initial projections it seems that each pizza should cost between £1-£2 but if anyone has experience to suggest different let me know...

There's advantages and disadvantages of having gas or electric. The advantages of electric are you can switch ovens on/off when you please - a gas oven you cant, as they take longer to heat (normally clay) but as i stated before, the clay oven will give you a better pizza. In my opinion, of course.

 

[Merchant UK]

I could do with a pizza right now....

I think in might be worth getting a job in a local pizza place even if only for just a fortnight. Otherwise you'll be well out of your depth! At a guess a pizza would cost about £3 to make. (Dough, Toppings and Cooking) Although if your spending a lot of time rolling dough then it might cost a tad more

Create your own pizza in asda cost only £2.48, I guess you could order via asda and collect 10 minutes later

 

[Merchant UK]

yup. Mozzarella cost around £3.50 per KG for me, but I buy very little for my sandwich shops. I can imagine that price dropping to around £2.90-£3.10 per KG for big buyers.

Unless you buy it from asda....

 

[Spapro]

Our best local pizza shop (by miles) has an electric oven which is a large version of those bread toasting machines you see in hotels - they put the prepared pizza in one end and it works its way through on a wire mesh conveyor grill and the perfect pizza appears out the other side (takes 6-8 pizzas at any one time I think).

Why don't you find a good independent pizza shop far enough from where you are that you won't be competition and then ask if you can spend time with the owner for a fee to learn the ropes/serve in the shop etc.

There must be pizza shop owners out there who would spend some time with you, share some knowledge/contacts and have you working supervised in their shop if you paid them £250 for a weeks 'work experience' and business advice. Could be the best way to learn from someone who is doing it and to find out if it suits you - you may find you hate it after spending 1 week doing it. Could be the best £250 you ever spend !

 

[Mike W]

Hi,

I am looking into setting up a pizza takeaway business but having some issues finding reliable info. I was hoping someone could answer the following questions:

1 - Once bulk buying, how much does each pizza normally cost to make
2 - Oven type: Electric vs Stone?
3 - In an average week how many pizzas would a takeaway sell each day
4 - % of sales from Internet, telephone and at the counter
5 - Other than rent, staff and electricity what sort of fixed costs have to be taken into account

Any info would be greatly appreciated...

You can't be serious ....?

How can you possibly even be thinking of going into a business like this if you have to ask these sort of questions? Those alone indicate that you've never (or hardly ever) been involved in the business.

Mad....

 

[jhunter]

You can't be serious ....?

How can you possibly even be thinking of going into a business like this if you have to ask these sort of questions? Those alone indicate that you've never (or hardly ever) been involved in the business.

Mad....

I am no way saying that I am in the position to start something now hence me being on here asking questions.

I am interested in starting something on my own and this seems like a tried and tested business plan with good margins hence me researching further.

Seeing as you are obviously a seasoned entrepreneur you tell me how you would research an idea when you have limited knowledge of the industry?!

If you arent interested in helping why reply, surely you have better things to do

Thanks to all who have replied with constructive points

 

[Mike W]

If you arent interested in helping why reply, surely you have better things to do

You've got a lot to learn. Believe it or not, negative views can be equally as helpful as positive ones ....usually moreso.

There are pros and cons to everything. If you just wanted 'yes men', maybe you've come to the wrong place.

I actually think it was a helpful comment as I genuinely think that it is a massive mistake, and a costly one, to go into something you have no true idea of.

 

[Flying Hippy]

Hi,

I have been in the food industry a long time. You need to know if you want quality or quantity ? are you going to be restaurant as well.

The best is a stone oven for quality but cooks slow for takeway not so good unless you will be using them for thin based pizza for speed.

depends on you clients and area.

Pizza is cheap Gas, Rates ect are expensive.

As for cheese you have to make sure its pure mozzarella and not the crap that says its mozzarella and mixed with other cheese.

 

[Paragon]

Most pizza takeaway places are franchises, Dominos, Ginos etc
Pretty busy market unless you have found a unique selling point or an area that doesn't already have 2-3 pizza joints. Unless your thinking of setting up shop on one of the moors (I would advise against it).

 

[longleaf1]

Most pizza takeaway places are franchises, Dominos, Ginos etc
Pretty busy market unless you have found a unique selling point or an area that doesn't already have 2-3 pizza joints. Unless your thinking of setting up shop on one of the moors (I would advise against it).

Not round by me they are not!

My local will beat any of the big chains any day and i honestly think if dominos or whoever set up next door, they would be closed before the local.

 

[Paragon]

Beat them for what?? Price? I doubt it, quality probably

 

[longleaf1]

Beat them for what?? Price? I doubt it, quality probably

You reckon?
Price would be one of the first things before even thinking about quality, banter with the staff, free can of coke every now and then.

 

[Paragon]

Just the same with any franchised pizza shop...

 

[longleaf1]

Just the same with any franchised pizza shop...

Sorry I disagree completely.

 

[jhunter]

You've got a lot to learn. Believe it or not, negative views can be equally as helpful as positive ones ....usually moreso.

I completely agree but simply saying "mad" is in no way constructive. The whole point of me asking the questions is to get a picture of the reality of running a pizza takeaway, that includes positive and negative.

I also dont agree that you cant go into an industry with no experience of it, by that logic no one would ever start something new or diversify, just requires a lot more time and effort at the planning stage.

I have found an area that has very few genuine pizza takeways. There are a few kebab shops offering pizzas but no Dominos/Pizza Hut type takeways. Also has good links to a range of other areas. I think if marketed correctly could do well.

 

[Paragon]

If you have the area then it may be worth considering the franchise approach, gives you access to lots of info, help with supply and marketing, established brand name etc

 

[longleaf1]

I have found an area that has very few genuine pizza takeways. There are a few kebab shops offering pizzas but no Dominos/Pizza Hut type takeways. Also has good links to a range of other areas. I think if marketed correctly could do well.

Do a bit of research with the locals to see where is there preferred place and if they would try a new shop.
What you think is a small kebab shop offering a few pizzas may be a firm favourite in the town and you may struggle to compete.

 

[Mike W]

I completely agree but simply saying "mad" is in no way constructive.

Had I simply said 'mad', I'd agree with you. But I didn't.

 

[PhoneTrader1221]

I would suggest making a website so people could order from there and you should also accept paypal. I know a lot of people want to be able to pay with paypal. Just search on google.

 

[patientlady]

It might be an idea to get some shifts in a pizza takeaway in the local area. You could then answer all your questions in 'one shift'!