How to Start a Packed Lunch Delivery Service

Monday, September 15, 2014

How to Start a Packed Lunch Delivery Service

A packed lunch (also called sack lunch or bag lunch in North America, or bagging in Lancashire, Merseyside and Yorkshire in the UK is a lunch prepared at home and carried to be eaten somewhere else, such as school, aworkplace, or at an outing. The food is usually wrapped in plastic, aluminum foil, or paper and can be carried ("packed") in a lunch box, paper bag (a "sack"), or plastic bag. While packed lunches are usually taken from home by the people who are going to eat them, in Mumbai, India, tiffin boxes are most often picked up from the home and brought to workplaces later in the day by so-called dabbawallas. It is also possible to buy packed lunches from stores in several countries. Lunch boxes made out of metal, plastic or vinyl are now popular with today's youth. Lunch boxes provide a way to take heavier lunches in a sturdier box or bag. It is also environmentally friendly.

A box lunch delivery service is a welcome treat for workers who have neither the time to pack snacks before they leave for the office, nor the budget to afford restaurant meals and take-out fare on a daily basis. This service also appeals to employees who typically work at their desks during lunch, or who don't have easy access to local eateries. Although start-up costs to open a box lunch delivery service are low, this small business venture does require reliable transportation, good organizational skills and a sufficient customer base, preferably in a high-density metropolitan area.

Lunch box catering companies typically serve businesses, community organizations, schools, event planners and other groups that must feed large groups of people. A successful business may be an offshoot of an existing restaurant or catering business, or an entity into itself. The size and scope of the business can vary based on your available space, budget and target demographic.

Pre-Start-up Responsibilities

Just as with any business, before launching your company you should obtain the appropriate licenses and permits required. Visit your secretary of state's office or local business licensing office to learn about the particulars you'll be required to have to legitimately operate your company. You’ll also be required to follow health department standards in terms of food preparation, storage and transportation. You may also be required to carry insurance coverage specific to the food service industry.

Find Vendors and Suppliers

Identify food industry vendors from which to purchase your supplies and materials. You'll need cost-effective packaging, such as individual containers, disposable silverware, food wrappers, napkins and condiments. Depending on whether you'll be preparing food or using prepackaged edibles, you may also need food preparation equipment and a means for safely transporting box lunches, like a refrigerator truck.

Determine Business Logistics

You may need to hire employees to help you market your business, fulfill orders, create meals and deliver them. Creating a business plan and a marketing plan can help you figure out these logistics as well as help you identify specific product offerings and price points. For example, consider a low-end deli sandwich lunch box with a cookie and bottled water as a base pricing structure and work your way up to offer gourmet box lunches that include offerings such as pasta dishes, flavored sparkling water, containers of fresh fruits and vegetables, and delectable desserts.

Market Your Business

Market services to your target demographic. This could include schools, universities, large business complexes, corporations and event planners. Price your lunch box meals competitively and look for ways to develop long-term contracts and build repeat business. For example, inking an agreement to provide box lunches to every local chamber of commerce luncheon or college registration day will net you greater profits and more referrals than catering something like a one-time elementary school class field trip.

A box lunch business can be the perfect business idea for someone who enjoys cooking food and doesn't mind working hard. People are always looking for new options for lunches brought right to the office. Even in today's recession, you can be successful running a box lunch business by following these tips:

Develop a business plan for managing and growing your new company. Identify your goals and lay out all the financial requirements. Figure out what kind of initial investment you will need, based on any equipment or other necessary purchases.
Determine where your delivery boundaries will be, and what you will charge. Consider the costs of transportation and the speed with which you can make deliveries.
Plan a simple yet tasty menu that will entice people to order. Keep your ingredients cheap enough to make a profit, but delicious enough to draw lots of business. Find food suppliers to lower your costs. Continually seek feedback from your clients about how to improve your menu.
Advertise yourself so you can find your first customers. Drop flyers in mailboxes around your delivery area. Put up posters around commercial centers and office buildings. Fax menus to other local businesses. Put an ad in the yellow pages, newspapers and on the Internet. You can offer coupons to attract new business. It's up to you to generate your own business.

Other Instruction:

Step 1

Identify your target market and the service area you can comfortably cover between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Research whether there are existing box lunch delivery services, what they offer and how much they charge. Distribute questionnaires to potential clientele to gauge their interest, identify their food, drink and snack preferences, determine how frequently they would use your service, and how much they are willing to pay.

Step 2

Write a business plan based on your research. This should include the estimated monthly cost of your lunch box ingredients and packaging, the cost of transportation and insurance, business license, catering license and permits, registering your business name with the state registrar, establishing a payment system, designing a website and promoting your box lunch service through business cards, mailers and menu brochures. Since you will be handling and preparing food, you will also need to notify your state health department and make your kitchen and food preparation area available for routine inspections.

Step 3

Locate grocery wholesalers like Smart & Final, Sam's Club and Costco that can give you the lowest prices on bulk meats and cheeses, chips, cookies, soft drinks, fruit cups and cold salads like potato, macaroni and Cole slaw, napkins and plastic utensils. Purchase inexpensive packaging, like lunch sacks and take-out boxes that can hold an entire lunch. If you are only going to deliver handmade sandwiches, plastic wrap or clear sandwich bags will suffice.

Step 4

Design a website that lists the box lunch items you offer, and the prices for each. Make it easy for your customers to place their orders online as well as to let you know whether they have any allergies or dietary restrictions. Consider providing discounts for large groups, regular customers or introductory referrals.

Things Needed

Transportation
Insulated coolers
Food assembly area
Packaging materials

Tip

Distinguish yourself by filling a niche your competition is missing. Examples include vegetarian box lunches, ethnic cuisine and signature salads.

Reference

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Easy Tips and Ideas to Start Business

Although anyone can start a business, many people fail because of a bad product or improper research. If you want to start your own business, you can improve your chances for success before you even begin. In order to make your business successful, start strong and make sure that your idea will hold out for the long haul.

Have a Good Product

Ensure that you plan to sell something useful. Although you may think that your product is important or special, that doesn't mean the general public will agree. Ask friends, family and strangers what they think of your product. If they don't seem that interested, ask them why. With their suggestions, you can either improve the product or scrap the idea completely. According to Brad Sugars of Entrepreneur magazine, most small businesses fail because they sold a product that didn't have an adequate market. This also applies to small businesses that provide a service. A lawn-care business might be useful for part of the year in a northern state, but it is in-demand year-round in the south. Consider whether people will actually want to use your service and get constructive advice from those not afraid to give their opinion.

Research Local Businesses

Research local companies before starting up your own business. This will not only give you an idea of the amount of competition you will have, but it will also help you price your product or service. If you're looking to start a wedding photography business, you may find during your research that the market is over-saturated in your area. If not over-saturated, you should contact each business and ask them for a price list. Alter your prices so you can stay competitive with the competition in town. Researching similar local businesses will also help you decide where to locate your business location. Try not to start up a store or office close to another business of your type. If your small business is located away from similar business types, this will cause locals to choose you over businesses that are farther away from where they live.

Get Professional Advice

You may know someone who has started their own successful business. Ask him for advice and listen to his stories of how he started his company. You may gain useful advice on the good and bad ways to start a business. Local entrepreneurs can also introduce you to local product providers or advertisers that you may not have met without their help. Accept any advice with open arms, especially if the advice is coming from someone successful in the area.

How to Calculate Business Start Up Costs

Starting a business in no easy endeavor. It takes a great deal of research, perseverance and hard work. While sweat equity will make your small business more successful, you will most likely need real capital to get the business started. Before you start raising capital and/or investing your own funds, the first thing you need to do is determine the total start-up costs.

Step 1

Determine your costs of sales. For most small businesses this means inventory, the cost of raw materials, manufacturing equipment, shipping, packaging, and warehousing. However, not all businesses sell products. In this case, the cost of sales is primarily the direct labor involved in making the sale. For example, to open a small shoe business entails purchasing enough inventory ($10,000) to stock the store.

Step 2

Determine professional fees. Planning your business structure, i.e., limited liability corporation or general partnership, means hiring an attorney. There may also be the need to pay an attorney for help with establishing trademarks, copyrights, and patents. In this scenario, that puts total professional fees at an estimated $20,000.

Step 3

Determine technology costs. Technology can greatly reduce the cost of labor for small business if used effectively. Most small businesses require computers, printers, cell phones, website development, Internet access, software applications, information security, data storage, and outsourced information technology (IT) consulting. If the cost of technology is $10,000 to start, add an additional $5,000 a year for maintenance (hint: maintenance is not included in start-up costs).

Step 4

Determine administrative costs. This varies with business types and may include items such as business insurance, office supplies, product packaging, parking, rent, express shipping, desks, chairs, fax machines, phones, or anything else necessary to operate the business daily. A good estimate for start-up administrative costs would be $5,000 for the first six months.

Step 5

Determine initial sales and marketing costs. Now that you have your product, you need to let folks know about it. Sales and marketing costs generally include marketing materials for presentations, printing stationery, business cards, advertising, trade show events, and public relations. These initial sales and marketing costs can add up to $3,000.

Step 6

Determine the wages and benefits needed to secure a staff. This includes employee salaries, benefits, workers compensation, and payroll taxes. Let's put the cost of wages and benefits estimated at $20,000 for the first three months of business.

Step 7

Add all costs associated with starting the business for a total. Be sure to only include business start-up costs that will be incurred in the first three to six months of operations. For this example, the calculation is: $10,000 + $20,000 + $10,000 + $5,000 + $3,000 + $20,000 = $68,000.

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Monday, September 15, 2014