Pizza Delivery at the lake

[KevOLikesBoating]

So I got this crazy idea to deliver pizzas at my local lake this summer. I don't know how many times I've been starving and not wanting to go all the way back to the dock to eat at the marina restaurant.

Anyway, this presents a problem that I can't figure out a solution to..how the heck do I get their locations on the lake? I've considered using GPS or only delivering to specific known locations like party cove but that kind of defeats the purpose.

Even with GPS, I still have to know the customer's coordinates..

Ideas anyone?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

cool idea, but sounds like you are between a rock and hard place. how many on the lake have GPS's, and are going to stay there waiting for a pizza?

you could set up a roach coach, and cruise around the lake for them to flag you down.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

Yeah, just park it and wait for them..(bring a good book)
And have fun dealing with the health dept...most good ideas are shot down after having to deal with anything Gov the gets involved in also...

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

I think that a big cooler of cold beverages and candy snacks would be easier to deal with.

 

[JB]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

I almost did that when I lived on Lake Minnetonka.

I was going to get a big 'toon and set it up like a vendor's cart. Hot coffee, soft drinks, hot dogs, sandwiches, etc. Then I was going to cruise the lake like a Good Humor truck.

Never got beyond the idea stage, but I still think it was a great idea.

I say go for it!

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

Thats a great idea. I remember a business that was doing something like that on the trent-severn waterway in Ontario, only with groceries.
For finding the house or dock ask them to mark the end of their dock with maybe a paddle with a yellow flag or towel tied to it so you can spot it? After you get there you can always mark it with a GPS in case you get someone else helping you out later on.
If you can offer up more than just pizza.....pop, newspapers in the morning (They used to do this on the local lake)...and maybe some predictable groceries? (Bread, milk, hamburger/hot dog buns, etc)
When people get hunkered in at the cottage they hate going out for errands generally so
Great idea tho'....go for it.

BP

 

[Nandy]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

I think it is a marvelous idea. What you can do is set fliers and educate the lake dwellers at what time will you be doing your round at different locations on the lake. If there is a cellphone signal at most of the lake include a map of the lake in your flier and number the different location so it is easier for you customer to tell you "im at cove #3". That way you can deliver to them and it will be easier for you to find them. Limit your selection a bit so you can always have some pizza warm and ready to deliver or at least minimize the waiting time. Good luck, if I had the time I would be doing the same here.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

I think that it is a good idea too and there is precendent for such as service in the "land world." I once lived in New York and there were services that would pickup your takeout at whatever restauraant you ordered from. They were stand alone businesses that were separate from the restaurants involved.

You could do the same thing on your lake and I agree that you should open your spectrum to things other than pizza. Groceries, hardware items ... whatever. Just do some calculations to figure out what you need to charge for delivery services.

As for locations, unless your lake is huge, you might even invest some time and fuel in visiting cottage owners with a flyer and survey to determine interest. Where you find interest, take a GPS reading at the end of the dock and make a notation on a chart with the person's name, coordinates and telephone number. You could also keep a notebook with the same info.

For deliveries to people at anchor, I would require either a gps coordinate from them when they order, or an easily found location. I would also require them to provide the state registration number, along with the description of the boat.

The only pitfall that I see is in guaranteeing payment. I don't know if you want to go to the trouble of setting up a merchant account with Visa, Mastercard, etc. but, if you are comfortable with doing that, you would be protected because you would be able to charge the customer in advance of picking up (and paying for) the food at the restaurant. Same with any other goods that you would deliver.

Interesting idea and I hope that it works out for you.

 

[oops!]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

good idea bud.....

youll need to set up a roach coach type....and charge for delevery...dont know how big the lake is but gas will be more than the pie....

on the shuswaps in canada...there is two floating stores...everything from booze to potato chips.....a guy there uses a very light boat with a 350 in it do delever or do gas runs/tows/u name it.

one question....do you want to delever pizza on your season....or enjoy boating.......you could end up "married" to "the store"

 

[oops!]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

locations are done by gps.

if they dont have a gps...a radio...

if they dont have a radio...they must meet you at a set location in their general location....ie.... off the point.....or center of the bay......

most little problems like that will work them selves out......how do you meet a friend on the lake?..........you say ill meet you at turtle bay at 4 pm...im driving a.......

 

[Millerman]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

I often thought I could do well with a floating Tim Hortons drive thru in the middle of our bay. Good luck with the deliveries

 

[i386]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

I checked your lake out on the map. From what I can see it seems most of the residences are concentrated on a peninsula. I think with a map, some pre-recorded gps readings, and a cell phone/radio you can manage it. With a little practice you'll know where everything is. Record names, addresses, and coordinates each time you deliver. Save them in your gps for for the next time. I like the idea of flyers too.

Delivery foods are extremely popular when it's raining and when major sporting events are on. Any condition that makes people want to stay indoors. If you're delivering at night be extra careful.

It sounds like fun. Fuel is expensive. I hope you can make it profitable.

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

You'd need a partner to do it this way, but you could set up a floating restaurant docked in a specific location, then also offer delivery including some other things like goceries, then you can deliver to anyone with a cell phone and GPS that's out on the water, or anyone with a dock, you can do some research and get all the dock owners' names with locations entered into a database so when they call, you'll know right where they are. You may also be able to deliver to a few popular and well known spots and you can just advertize those on whatever advertizing medium you choose.

You can start out just doing it on weekends and holidays which will be the busiest times anyway, plus, considering the huge investment required for restaurants, you'll probably also want to stay open to keeping a regular job as well until things really take off. I like the idea though, and I think if you commit to it, you'll be very successful with it.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

On the lake near me they had a houseboat which had a little store on it. You just go up like a drive through and tell the guy what you wanted.Dont think he sold beer but he did have hot dogs and sodas.Im sure pizza would have been a good item to have. Most likely the govco brains have made it illegal now.

 

[thurps]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

"Jack In The Bouy"

 

[millwood]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

We spent a week last summer on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia. There was an ice cream boat that went around the lake each night during the summer. It was the same concept as the ice cream truck, but with a pontoon and a little 25 hp outboard. It was great and the kids loved it. Every night they would sit out on the dock and wait for the boat to come by. They played the ice cream truck jingle too so that you knew when they were coming by. I asked why they didn't have a cooler with beer in it, and the response was "gov't regulatons". Pizza and snacks would be great too.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

A friend of mine started something similar on my local lake.He started out as a fuel stop.Had one gas pump put on his dock.The gas sales were not very good so he started selling hot dogs,burgers and ice cream.Some live bait too.
He stays so busy in the summer he said it does not matter if he sells gas or not.He has parking for about 10 boats and its usually a line waiting to park.Always tons of bikinis hanging around there too...
I think the mobile food Toon is a great idea!

 

[qaztwo]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

I wanted to use and old barge with floating docks attach to the sides and anchored out in the middle of the lake. People could dock then walk up to the top for food and a drink.

THe gps sounds best. All they would have to do is give you there fix, enter it into your way points and track to.

 

[j442w30]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

On one of the bigger lakes by us there is a restaurant in town that delivers pizza, hot dogs, burgers, etc to the local municipal pier where you can pick them up. You just call in your order and they tell you when to meet them at the pier, we tried it once and it worked out great. Now they have set up a cart by one of the bigger gas docks and they get more business that way but they will still deliver to the municipal pier as far as I know.

 

[arboldt]

Re: Pizza Delivery at the lake

You may want to partner with an existing pizzeria / restaurant.

Don't know about Texas, but local health departments around here can be very stringent about license requirements. But if what you're doing is essentially a delivery service (vs actually preparing or processing food) I don't see where that would be an issue. As part of your consideration, you might want to talk to the local health department. If your is a nice lake that's big enough to support it, this could be really great -- but better to find out about licensing requirements before you invest a lot rather than after.