When to start your own delivery, and when to wait

A bike without enough orders eats fuel and wages. An aggregator is expensive — and sometimes cheaper than an idle driver.

Own delivery is a margin dream. The reality: a driver, fuel, wrong numbers, far tickets. Some shops open it early because “everyone else has it,” and close it after a losing month. Some wait too long, and keep paying commission on orders that could have come direct.

The decision is not bravery. It is arithmetic. These signals come before you buy the thermal bag.

1. Enough volume for the trip

Three delivery orders a day and the driver stands. Commission on three is cheaper than a wage.

Better: look at a week of delivery tickets (even from the app). If the count is stable and clustered, own delivery starts to make sense.

2. A small area you can serve

“All of Cairo” is a slogan, not an operation. A thirty-minute trip cools the food and kills the night.

Better: two or three neighbourhoods you know. A minimum protects the far ones. Expansion is a weekly decision, not a Facebook line.

3. The order channel is ready

A driver without a clear map address will keep calling. Then own delivery is slower than the aggregator.

Better: a catalog, visible fees, an address that opens in one tap. Then the helmet. Order matters.

4. Keep the app for new people

Killing Talabat the day the bike starts zeros discovery. Margin grows on people who already know you, not on disappearing.

Better: own delivery for people who have the link. The app for people still finding you. Measure the split every week.

5. Try one Friday

Do not sign a driver for six months on week one. A peak night exposes the maths faster than a spreadsheet.

Better: a driver for the night, one zone, a written minimum. In the morning add fuel + time against fees + margin you kept.

A one-week test

If after a week the driver is idle more than moving — too early. If tickets wait for a driver — you are late. The number is calmer than enthusiasm.

On menutables you set delivery, fees, and a minimum, and each order opens the map. Start free and switch own delivery on when the maths stands, not when the neighbour does.