A Greater Chatham Initiative program
Soul Delivered, a community delivery service to South Side neighborhoods 51st to 95th, Western Ave to the Lake. Locally owned, social enterprise teaching businesses financial analysis to increase revenue and profits. Helping to develop their staffs for a higher productivity operation and output. Guiding the business’s digital presence with website development, online ordering, social media marketing, and patron database development.
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Incorporating a smarter system architecture and a cutting-edge AI-driven route optimization and dispatching platform, will result in more affordable online ordering and delivery service options for businesses (more in About). Soul Delivered services can increase a restaurant’s sales footprint by eight times (8x). This also means an eight times larger area has access to local food offerings. This higher productivity model will also result in providing better-paying driver gig jobs with flexible hours in the neighborhood.
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L3C low-profit limited liability social enterprise, with the charitable and educational purpose of economic development and community revitalization. Try us out, either for convenience, wanting to try new local cuisine, being a home-bound senior, or just don’t want to go out after dark. Soul Delivered is locally owned, and the drivers are from the neighborhood, so the money stays in the community, not sent to Silicon Valley.
In 2020 COVID-19 restrictions reduced restaurants’ sales by <65% and had a big negative ripple effect on our local economy (45% of southside businesses are food enterprises). To survive, restauranteurs pivoted to online ordering/delivery using cost-prohibitive third-party apps (Grubhub, Uber Eats, DoorDash, …). To make online ordering/delivery costs affordable, the Greater Chatham Initiative is implementing its new Soul Delivered community delivery service.
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Typical third-party platforms take 30-40% of the order revenue. You have $1.00 worth of goods you sell for $1.10. Then the 3rd parties take 40% off the top, leaving the restaurant $0.70 to pay for the $1.00 of goods. How long can the business keep losing on every sale? It is a financial disaster for restaurants. Southside restaurants are currently using these services out of desperation, but it is hardly a sustainable business model for them.
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One restaurant owner, “I feel like I am working for Grubhub!“
Soul Delivered is a limited-profit social enterprise (L3C). Soul Delivered will reinvest profits to provide much-needed technical assistance to the restaurants. Improving their operations, online presence, and staff training will help to rebuild the commercial corridor and surrounding community. Many South Side restaurants need strong technical assistance to improve their overall operations and digital presence.
High productivity delivery model resulting in lower costs to the restaurant and more income to the driver
Typical 3rd parties accomplish two or three deliveries per hour. Soul Delivered is aiming for three or four deliveries per hour, 40% more productive. Soul Delivered accomplishes this by 1) limiting the service area, 2) geodensity of the businesses served and 3) utilizing a cutting-edge AI (artificial intelligence) driven route optimization and dispatching platform. This model generates significant cost savings (40%) because the driver can handle multiple pick-ups and deliveries on a single run.
Maintains superior “chain of custody” control of the food being delivered. Third-party delivery options are expensive, but also, break the “chain of custody” of sanitation: Without controlling the delivery operation, a restaurant cannot ensure proper sanitation is practiced all the way to the customer’s door. Each driver will be taught through live presentations and video training best practices for sustaining the highest levels of sanitation from the moment they pick up their delivery all through presenting the delivery to the customer. Per a US Food Corporation study in 2019, 28% of delivery drivers taste your food. See link, https://www.newsweek.com/delivery-drivers-taste-food-1451624
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3rd party customers or restaurant customers?
Unlike 3rd party app platforms, customer data (names, email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses), and other patron data will be available to the restaurant. Even worse, 3rd parties will promote your customers to your competitors! It is critical restaurants develop their own proprietary patron communities they can communicate and engage.
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Great Gig Jobs for Southsiders
If you have a car and have some time, what a great opportunity to earn some money. Deliveries are in the community, so little wasted travel time nor having to go into unfamiliar areas. Flexible scheduling to be able to work when you are available is much appreciated on the Southside.
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Accessing local cuisine
Soul Delivered services can increase a restaurant’s sales footprint by eight times. This also means an eight times larger area has access to local food offerings. Either for convenience, wanting to try new local cuisine, being a home-bound senior, or just don’t want to go out after dark. Soul Delivered is locally owned, the drivers are from the neighborhood, so the money stays in the community, not sent to Silicon Valley.
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Hyper-local Ecosystem
Soul Delivered, community delivery services would provide a key foundation for building a hyper-local ecosystem. Restaurants would be the so to say, “anchor tenant”, supporting the operation and development. This service would be available to any local business in the area. We see Soul Delivered, community delivery services as a key component for the South Side small business’ answer to combating Amazon Prime.
Current area covered: Hyde Park, Chatham, Auburn Gresham, South Shore, Greater Grand Crossing, Grand Boulevard, West Englewood, Englewood, Washington Park, Douglas, Woodlawn, Avalon Park, Kenwood.
