Out of work or looking for a change, perhaps a business in food delivery might be an option worth considering. Changes in the economy, the weather and lifestyles to name just a few can affect everyone in their lives but we all have to eat! You don’t necessarily require a huge outlay of cash to get started just some transport, some initiative and a plan for how you want to proceed.

So this is one business option you have available to you, a food delivery service. In today’s environment many people are over worked and loaded with stress and many people choose the fast food option, but that does not limit you to fast food businesses alone. As everyone requires food and many are often too tired or too lazy or it is just too wet out for them to get their own take away food. Or they don’t have the time or energy to cook for themselves so perhaps therefore starting a food delivery business could be just the ticket.

You don’t even have to make the food yourself. You can approach local restaurants in your area, fast food and otherwise, and offer to deliver their food products to set regions throughout your local area. Almost all restaurants have customers that are hungry and tired and would rather be able to get their favorite dish delivered to them at home. Perhaps the restaurants themselves wish they could offer the service but do not have the manpower to do this themselves. You may find that you are soon running a business with staff of your own.

Most restaurants don’t offer a delivery option, generally the only food delivery on offer is fast foods and often from big fast food chains so therefore there is a requirement for food delivery and when the only options you have are the fast food choices then that is what people will take. The restaurants may already receive enquiries for customers to take the food away however their customers must come to the restaurant and collect the food themselves. If you can show to a restaurant how you can perhaps increase their turnover then they can in turn offer you a percentage or a flat fee per delivery.

You do of course need to do some research. You need to find out for yourself what the areas are that you will cover and what time you will start your deliveries to those areas. You need to factor in the costs of the vehicle you will use as well as costs such as telephone and even perhaps parking charges for collection and delivery of the food. You also need to have a good time table of the time it will take you to get from location to location. If possible a good idea would be to start with a friend as you are able to cover a larger area in a shorter time. There is likely to be a rush on food deliveries during a certain time of the day and you need to do some research as to when those times are likely to be.

You also need to think about the vehicle you will be using yourself for the food business. You perhaps may want to us a motorcycle, however you need to factor in the weather yourself with this option, and however you are much more likely to not suffer the traffic issues if you are using a motorcycle. A lot of your planning comes down to your actual location. For example you don’t want to be delivering food using a subway system.

Everything you deliver needs to still be in the required condition when it arrives with your customers as well. So temperature is an important factor. Not all of your food will be hot but generally it will be so you need some sort of storage container that will ensure hot food retains it heat as much as possible. We have all seen the pizza delivery thermal bags and there are many similar items that will be suitable for other foods as well. Remember not to put the salad in a hot bag!

It is important to ensure that you are delivering the food timely and still warm, if it was hot to start with, as dissatisfaction from the customers you deliver to will lead back to dissatisfaction for the restaurant you are supplying from. If they are dissatisfied then you are more than likely not going to continue with deliveries from that restaurant.

You need to plan which restaurants you will approach so take a note of the more popular ones as it is more likely that once word gets out that they deliver their food they will be even busier and so will you. So make a plan to get started, research the costs and potential delivery issues and give it a go. You never know you might just succeed in the food business!