Having been a deliver driver throughout Duluth, I can say that this probably would not work very well, even if you were located smack-dab in between both UMD and CSS.
The problem is that even with the colleges around the area, the population density is likely not enough to sustain a business like this for the long haul. Outside of UMD and CSS, there is a lot of empty space in the area.
Plus, Delivering to dorms is neigh impossible as the buildings are often secure and large enough that once you arrive you are waiting 5+ minutes for the student to show up which slows down delivery times.
What MAY work is if you were to associate with one of the local pizza shops like VIP and consolidate your resources. But even then it would be iffy. We can deliver hot, delicious cookies where I used to work and we rarely received orders for them.
Check out Cookies with Sarah, someone I used to work with helps run it.
I don't know if they deliver, but I know they are a small, local business looking to get more exposure.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cookies-with-Sarah/268858253174094
1. What would a college student pay for a cookie, delivered?
2. Subtract all overhead -- ingredients, licensing, commercial kitchen rental fees, insurance, gas, employee wages, etc.
3. Multiply that number by how many cookies you expect to sell per month.
4. Can you live on that?
Let's say you make $1 profit per cookie. Do you think you can sell 1,000 cookies every month? Congratulations, you make $12,000 a year.
Oh my god you people are boring!
Appropriate response:
"OOOO Yummy! Delivered warm cookies!"
(at $16 a dozen, you're making a whole lot more than $1 a cookie)
At $16/dozen, even if someone donated all of the ingredients to you, and you got everything else involved in making and delivering cookies for free, the maximum you could possibly make would be $1.33 per cookie.
Perhaps the problem of nothing besides bars or Luce being open past nine should be solved before we worry about late night availability of obesity encouraging treats.
My friends and I ordered brownies and cookies for delivery from Caffrey's (http://caffreysmenu.info/) when I lived in Minneapolis. I doubt they were getting rich off of us.
Hey, it would be awesome if this was something that was feasible. And it is a good thing that you come and throw these ideas out there.
But we would be remiss to just jump and say "This is a great idea, someone should do this" without considering the possibilities.
I think we are witnessing a corollary of the so-called "Minnesota Nice." Not only are we a passive-aggressive lot, we also are extremely helpful. Like when somebody obviously doesn't know how to drive and I roll down the window and explain (aka, YELL) what they are doing wrong. I'm super helpful that way. Plus, I like cookies.
I'm inclined to believe him for some unknown reason, but how did Chase come up with such a set-in-stone number?
Did he really do the math on the exact amounts of flour, sugar, baking soda, butter, eggs, chocolate, various flavorings and food colorings required per cookie and their correlated costs and profit margin; per-mile wear-and-tear costs; depreciation on the baking equipment; energy costs per cookie or batch; cost of packaging and postage; labor cost per cookie; loss due to bowl-licking, etc?
First of all, I'm sorry if I've come across as a passive-agressive, rude naysayer. That was not at all my intention in any way whatsoever. When it comes to cookies, one should be a yeasayer. I just meant to explain why I don't think this is a "viable business idea." Feel free to prove me wrong.
Vicarious, $1.33 per cookie is the amount you'd make at $16/dozen before the expenses you mentioned.
$16 ÷ 12 = $1.33
In my above comment, I said this is the most you could possibly make at that price, assuming you had no expenses at all. Of course in the real world, you would definitely have an overhead, so your net profit would be less than $1.33/cookie.
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Dorkus
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