We've interviewed thousands of successful founders at Starter Story and asked what advice they would give to entrepreneurs who are just getting started.

Here's the best advice we discovered for starting a food delivery business:

#1: Cameron Manesh, founder of Cameron's Seafood:

We chatted with with Cameron, founder of Cameron's Seafood ($300K/month). In our interview, Cameron says:

I called the gel pack manufacturer and screamed that their gel packs kept melting. They asked me how long I was freezing them for. I replied ‘In 48 hours they are rock hard’. He laughed at me and said ‘son, gel packs take 5 weeks to properly freeze’.

Additionally:

You don’t need to recreate the wheel. Find a direct or indirect competitor and learn from them. Order from them. Analyze their website and sign up for their newsletter and social media to see how they market. Immerse yourself in your market and copy what works while emphasizing your competitive advantages and customer service experience.

Further:

You should aim for <3% Fedex shipping issues and <1% internal fulfillment issues.

Also:

Pay attention to what your customers are buying, saying, and why they are buying a certain product. Your customers will tell you their needs.

Additionally:

Subject: A story of two cousins who founded Cameron’s Seafood, Maryland largest Maryland Blue Crab and Crab Cake provider now ships nationwide

Further:

I spend my nights and weekends working on the business growth and my goal is to create of system for each of our daily tasks so simple a monkey could do them.

Also:

No matter what our SEO or marketing says the bottom line is Amazon has taught people to read reviews

Additionally:

If your startup takes more than 3 years to be profitable consider it a hobby and move on.

Read the full interview ➜

#2: Tim Taylor, founder of Spork Bytes:

We chatted with with Tim, founder of Spork Bytes ($250K/month). In our interview, Tim says:

To date, we’ve spent less than $1,000 on advertising. Instead, we focus on cultivating an engaged community on social media

Additionally:

One of the most important things I’ve learned over the years is to manage expectations - yours and your team. Getting too hyped on your idea or business early on can lead to unrealistic expectations

Read the full interview ➜

#3: Chris Koerner, founder of Send Eats:

We chatted with with Chris, founder of Send Eats ($385K/month). In our interview, Chris says:

In the beginning, we really tested the local market by going to Whole Foods and making a note of all the products that were marked as made locally and just emailed them all.

Additionally:

Build something that you can start selling or giving away as soon as possible. Dive in and go for it.

Read the full interview ➜

#4: Marcia Wiggins, founder of Cape Whoopies, Maine's Gourmet Whoopie Pie LLC:

We chatted with with Marcia, founder of Cape Whoopies, Maine's Gourmet Whoopie Pie LLC ($80K/month). In our interview, Marcia says:

You need to understand that the amount of push and hustle that you will need to have to make this happen is far greater than you can even imagine, today.

Read the full interview ➜

#5: Lyla Wolfenstein, founder of Full Belly Fare:

We chatted with with Lyla, founder of Full Belly Fare ($14K/month). In our interview, Lyla says:

I did a crowdfunding campaign that offered gift cards for the service in exchange for “pre-investment”

Additionally:

Full Belly Fare was born from my desire for everyone to have access to flavorful, wholesome foods at a lower cost than restaurant food of the same quality

Further:

By far my greatest accomplishment is the forging of a fabulous team of employees who are loyal, dedicated, talented, and trustworthy

Also:

One of the most common mistakes made by food business start-ups is not understanding the real costs

Read the full interview ➜

#6: Lyla Wolfenstein, founder of Full Belly Fare:

We chatted with with Lyla, founder of Full Belly Fare ($14K/month). In our interview, Lyla says:

To operate a business with ethics and principles (critical to long term goals of a thriving business), a business owner must be willing to spend money and effort on what is important.

Read the full interview ➜

#7: Marcia Wiggins, founder of Cape Whoopies, Maine's Gourmet Whoopie Pie LLC:

We chatted with with Marcia, founder of Cape Whoopies, Maine's Gourmet Whoopie Pie LLC ($80K/month). In our interview, Marcia says:

Set up your company so that you are always working out ahead of everyone else...setting up new ideas and products and having time to be checking on how much you are spending to make what you make.

Read the full interview ➜

#8: Tim Taylor, founder of Spork Bytes:

We chatted with with Tim, founder of Spork Bytes ($250K/month). In our interview, Tim says:

If you believe in your business and are working hard at it but not seeing results, keep working! Your next sale or the big deal could be right around the corner. Keep moving.

Read the full interview ➜

Part of

Starting A Food Delivery Business: Everything You Need To Know

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