Deliver on Your Business

Now the question here is NOT which is the best delivery app to deliver on.

It's which is the best to START with. Which is the best for being someone's FIRST delivery experience. Grubhub? Uber Eats? Doordash? Postmates?

Here's the thing about getting started with delivery: You might find out you hate it. You're wanting to get a feel for how you like delivery as a whole, without having to make too great a commitment or investment up front. Then, if you like it, you can dive in more fully.

We talk about all four major apps, Postmates, Grubhub, Uber Eats and Doordash, and their pro's and con's as first time delivery apps. None of them is perfect, but in my opinion there is one app that stands far apart from the others because it fits that criteria I just mentioned.

You can follow along with the associated blog post on the EntreCourier website here.

Some other articles and links relevant to today's discussion:

Six Things I Love about delivering for Uber Eats, Grubhub, Doordash, and Postmates (and why you might love it too).

Seven Reasons you may not want to be a delivery contractor

Delivery App Throwdown: Comparing Grubhub Uber Eats Doordash and Postmates

Understand the risks that you may not be insured while delivering

A Three Step Process to make sure you are insured

Here are my referral links for Uber Eats and Doordash. Depending on the need for drivers, delivery companies may add signup bonuses when you use a referral link. I may receive compensation if you sign on through my link and complete enough deliveries.
Deliver for Uber Eats
Deliver for Doordash

If you do get started and need an inexpensive delivery bag to get off the ground, you can purchase this one here.

If you want a professional looking polo or shirt for deliveries, check out the Independent Delivery Professional Gear Shop here.

More about the EntreCourier

You can get more tips and ideas at our website, Entrecourier.com
Our Podcast page is at DeliverOnYourBusiness.com
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I'm sure you've seen it - the clip from Jim Mora when he was a coach with the Colts:
Playoffs? You kidding me?

Taxes? You talking about taxes? Taxes? You kidding me???

That's how a lot of us feel. I had something I was thinking of that might be more fun to talk about, and I could have waited on this topic to be honest. Originally June 15 would have been the deadline for 2nd quarter quarterly estimated tax payments. So it made sense to bring this up.

Due to the pandemic the government saw fit to push that back to July 15, but if you haven't been thinking about it, maybe going ahead with this topic gets you thinking so you can start sending in those quarterly payments.

I try not to spend too much time on taxes themselves with this episode. You can find more about how taxes guide in the Tax Guide for Independent Contractors on our site: a series of articles on tax topics for contractors.

There are a couple of screenshots of some forms, if you want to view them you can check out the blog post associated with this episode.

A couple of times we reference the last article in the series on how to save for taxes.

When filing your quarterly tax estimate you will use IRS Form 1040-ES. It's actually quite simple. It's "tell us who you are and how much you are giving us." That's it. The instructions can be intimidating. You can view the form and its instructions here.

One resource I mention for figuring out estimated taxes is Quickbooks Self Employed. Note that this link is an affiliate link, I may receive compensation when items are purchased.

One last article that was published about making a fourth quarter payment.

More about the EntreCourier

You can get more tips and ideas at our website, Entrecourier.com
Our Podcast page is at DeliverOnYourBusiness.com
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Get a non-app branded Independent Delivery Professional delivery bag for less than $10, shipped.

Get a variety of shirt styles and colors (and hats) with the Independent Delivery Pro logo at https://entrecourier.com/gearshop

Let's talk a bit about hotspots. Those places the apps tell us are the best places to look for delivery offers? Are they where we should go?

If not, where SHOULD we go?

I'm not going to tell you where to go. I've been told where to go enough, but that's a different matter. Different markets and different personalities and different approaches mean different things work for you than might work for me or vice versa. Instead, I'll walk through how I got a feel for where to go deliver, and maybe that process can help you decide.

A couple of episodes in the beginning of this podcast help with some topics:

Episode 8 Talked about how to measure your performance (particularly profit per hour). Understanding what makes a good delivery is crucial in figuring out WHERE to deliver.

Episode 9 gets into the 40 cent rule. Evaluating what you do based on how at $24 per hour you are making 40 cents per minute. This is a good way to evaluate delivery offers. What area of town will give you the best chance at 40 cent (or whatever your rule is) per minute deliveries?

Episode 11 went into more traditional advice about where to deliver. In this episode I tried to walk through a process for you, but there might be some good tidbits in Episode 11.

And then there's Episode 74 (THIS episode - the associated blog post can be found here.

A couple of other good resources mentioned in the article:

Elijah from the App Lifestyle (once upon a time the Uber Eats Lifestyle) had a great video that helped me when I got started on creating Money Spots

The Master Dasher is a newer blog that's getting off the ground, giving advice on different practical aspects of delivering with Doordash. He had an article on creating your own hotspots that might be helpful for you.

More about the EntreCourier

You can get more tips and ideas at our website, Entrecourier.com
Our Podcast page is at DeliverOnYourBusiness.com
Sign up for our weekly Courier Nation Motivation email
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Get a non-app branded Independent Delivery Professional delivery bag for less than $10, shipped.

Get a variety of shirt styles and colors (and hats) with the Independent Delivery Pro logo at https://entrecourier.com/gearshop

Doordash is cracking down.

But before we get into that...

*************** SPONSORED **************************
Check out the Independent Delivery Professional Gear!
We just launched the gear store. You can get the Independent Delivery Professional branded logo on a variety of shirts, hats etc at the EntreCourier Gear Store.
***********************************************************
(Is it really sponsored if I'm the sponsor? I don't know but it sounds cool to say it)

Anyway, where were we?

Frankly, Doordash is following Grubhub's lead and trying to bully their Dashers into submission. At least that's how it feels.

It's not that there aren't issues that need to be addressed. Doordash is having some real problems with their deliveries and that's why they're cracking down. They're ramping up their deactivations rhetoric and have made some changes to their deactivation policy.

You can see all the screenshots referenced by viewing the associated blog post here.

Doordash made two big changes to their deactivation policy. One they didn't even announce - it's funny they're cracking down on not meeting the terms of the agreement when they don't follow the terms of the agreement....

You can see the old version of the policy here.
You can see the current policy here
They also changed the minimum completion rate from 70% to 80%

The things they're cracking down on:

• Not delivering the food
• Being extremely late to the restaurant or to the customer
• Un-assigning too many deliveries.

So, let's talk about this. What's up with this? Why are they doing it? What can we do?

More about the EntreCourier

You can get more tips and ideas at our website, Entrecourier.com
Our Podcast page is at DeliverOnYourBusiness.com
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Check out our “sponsor.” The EntreCourier store. Right now it just has one product, but check it out all the same! Entrecourier.com/BasicBag

As we slowly crawl out into re-opening our society, I think we’re going to see a slow down in the delivery economy.

·        People may be tiring of delivery

·        People are running out of money

·        People are starting to go out more

·        We’re getting into summer now which is normally slow

·        There was such a glut of drivers who just signed on that we’re looking at a saturation of drivers to available orders

Whether it’s slower delivery business, or things like app crashes and glitches, the common denominator I see by people impacted most by these things seems to be they rely on only one app.

As things slow down, what can we do to prepare for the changes? 

Remember that you’re running a business. These apps are your customers. Don’t get so dependent on just one customer that if something changes with that relationship, you’re screwed. Keep your options open.

We talk about three stages of moving into working multiple applications. You may decide to stop at stage 1, stage 2 or go through all 3. I highly recommend at least going to stage 1.

We also talk about how well the different apps work in a multiple platform environment.

Links that might help you:

View the related post on EntreCourier.com

How to evaluate offers (individually or multi-apping)

Seven Questions to ask before accepting multiple deliveries

More about the EntreCourier

You can get more tips and ideas at our website, Entrecourier.com
Our Podcast page is at DeliverOnYourBusiness.com
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News broke recently that Uber Eats is in talks with Grubhub to take them over. An agreement could happen by the end of the month.

We don’t know any more than that at this point.

What would that mean? What will happen if that happens?

I discuss what I’ve seen happen when one tech company takes over another. Based on what I’ve seen, I don’t think we’ll see immediate changes the day the deal is finalized. This kind of thing takes time.

What are your thoughts? What do you think?

You can read a written version of my thoughts on the associated blog post here.

 Some other articles referenced in today's episode:

Business Insider article breaking the news of the talks between Uber and Grubhub.

CNBC report on increased stock prices after news of talks broke

Business Insider article about failed merger talks between Doordash and Uber

Four Week MBA discussion of the Grubhub business model

Article I wrote earlier on how delivery companies have handled the pandemic and the bad PR that Grubhub has been getting.

More about the EntreCourier

You can get more tips and ideas at our website, Entrecourier.com
Our Podcast page is at DeliverOnYourBusiness.com
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How have the main delivery companies responded to the Pandemic? Where did they improve? Where have they failed?

We talk about the responses by each company. 

For links to related articles, please see the related blog post.

More about the EntreCourier

You can get more tips and ideas at our website, Entrecourier.com
Our Podcast page is at DeliverOnYourBusiness.com
Sign up for our weekly Courier Nation Motivation email
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Thanks in part to COVID-19 a lot more new drivers are just starting deliveries for InstaCart, Doordash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Postmates etc. Many are looking for tips and tricks.

I have a lot of links today to other episodes and articles on EntreCourier.com, as an attempt to keep the tips brief but give you links you can look up for more information.

You can visit the associated blog post and click on the links directly, or you can follow links from these show notes.

You can also pick up a lot more information for getting started and developing a business owner attitude on our 31 Day Courier MBA series.

1. Embrace not being an employee (5:00)
Understand that you are not an employee but you are entering the relationship as a business owner. You are the boss.

2. Think in terms of profit, not what you get from these platforms. (7:55)
Episode 18 Understanding what your car really costs to operate.
Episode 30: The importance of giving yourself a paycheck.

3. Pay attention to taxes. (11:20)
You can go to our Tax Guide for more detail on taxes.
Go here to learn more about how much to save for taxes
This article helps you understand how to track miles on your car.

4. Accept and reject orders (16:50)
You have the right as an independent contractor to accept and reject offers at your discretion. Companies cannot legally control contractors.
Episode 8 talks about how to measure profit per hour.
Episode 12 discusses using the 40 cent rule to accept and reject offers.

5. Check your insurance (21:35)
Episode 19 goes into more detail on why insurance doesn't usually cover you.
This article details 3 steps you can take to make sure you are insured.
Here I talk about my own experience through the 3 step process for getting the right insurance. 
You can get directed to a commercial insurance through CommercialInsurance.net (affiliate link)

6. Don't rely on just one customer. (24:45)
You can sign up with Uber Eats here, and with Doordash here. These are referral links, meaning I may receive some compensation as a referral fee.
Episode 14 talks about using multiple apps at the same time.

Think like a business owner. (28:15)
Don't think like or act like an employee. Take control. Be the boss.

More about the EntreCourier

You can get more tips and ideas at our website, Entrecourier.com
Our Podcast page is at DeliverOnYourBusiness.com
Sign up for our weekly Courier Nation Motivation email
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Programming note: I've made the decision to move the podcast to earlier in the week rather than towards the end of the week. That falls in line with when we send out our weekly newsletter (see the link below if you want to sign up)

There are signs that we're on the downward side of this pandemic. The number of new cases are dropping, states and cities are preparing to relax stay at home standards.

What will this mean for us as delivery contractors?

One thing that has been good about this time has been it has offered an opportunity to reflect and examine where we want to go with our lives, our careers, and our business. Have you had the chance to start thinking about where you would like to go from here?

This week, I talk about what kind of questions come up as we start thinking about what things will be like as we come out of this pandemic. I don't try to answer the questions, but encourage you to think about those questions and how can you prepare for the possible answers?

I then shift to talk about how some of that reflection personally has had me thinking about where I want to go with the podcast and website. I would love to get your insights, feedback and thoughts on some of these ideas.

You can take the survey at the end of this post to give your feedback.

The associated articles for this post are as follows:
Going forward for delivery contractors (part 1)
Going forward for the EntreCourier and the podcast (part 2)

Other articles referenced in this article
Grubhub coming under fire for predatory "assistance" to restaurants
New York high court rules that Postmates courier is an employee
Article and Episode 7 on crafting an exit plan.

More about the EntreCourier

You can get more tips and ideas at our website, Entrecourier.com
Our Podcast page is at DeliverOnYourBusiness.com
Sign up for our weekly Courier Nation Motivation email
Get in touch with us
Follow us on Facebook
Folow us on Twitter
Connect with us on Linkedin
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Do we qualify for unemployment benefits as gig workers delivering for Grubhub, Doordash, Postmates, Uber Eats? If we have to stay home during this pandemic, or we choose to stay home for safety reasons, or we stay home because we can’t earn enough, how does that impact our ability to recover those benefits?

Normally we wouldn’t qualify, however the recent stimulus package included provisions to help self employed individuals. We talk about that in today’s episode.

Some articles that we reference in the episode.

The Department of Labor’s guidelines on unemployment eligibility. 

New York Times article on Uber being fined by the state of New Jersey 

My recent article on New York’s high court determining a Postmates Courier was an employee. 

New York Times article expressing concerns about eligibility of gig workers for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance 

Department of Labor guidelines on self employment and uninsurance. 

Associated Builders and Contractors document of the status of various states for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. 

https://bit.ly/2XvUtGO. 

More about the EntreCourier

You can get more tips and ideas at our website, Entrecourier.com
Our Podcast page is at DeliverOnYourBusiness.com
Sign up for our weekly Courier Nation Motivation email
Get in touch with us
Follow us on Facebook
Folow us on Twitter
Connect with us on Linkedin
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