Opening a delivery only outfit - no prior experience

Hi everyone,

I’m new to these forums, so be gentle with me :slight_smile:

I live in Hong Kong in an area with only one place that does pizza, and they only offer 6 pizzas on their menu, one size and one choice of crust. The only option around my neighbourhood is to call up one of 4-5 places that will deliver here, but they all take at least 45 minutes to get the food here.

The area I’m in is less than 1km x 0.5km in area, yet all the buildings are highrise apartments ranging from 15 floors to over 50 with 6 to 8 apartments per floor, I estimate there are over 10,000 apartments just in this small area.

I’ve been thinking of opening a pizza place doing delivery and possibly carry out. Thing is aside from a brief stint as an assistant manager in a restaurant once up on a time, I have no knowledge about pizza making (eating yes, making no).

Pizza is very popular here, I know I have a captive market in this area… I even have the money. So I’m writing my business plan and thought I’d come here and ask for your advice. What should I be aware of that I might not have considered ?

I figure I can deliver within 20 minutes, which will be a huge improvement over the currently available choice. Of course I also plan to offer a better product at a competitive price… then again I’msure everyone says that :slight_smile: Incidentally a 14" authentic (their words) New York style cheese and Pepperoni pizza is US$15.50 Typical price range for 14" Pizzas is US$14 to $18 - Additional toppings run US$1.30 to $1.95

Looking forward to hearing what you guys think and asking probably a lot more questions !!

Thanks

Sean

make sure you get to know the ins and outs of this business before you commit to anything. Its harder then you think.

Thanks RobT,

I realise this might be a hard question to answer, but what was it that you found most problematic when starting out ?

Thanks

Sean

Some of the major operating issues discussed here are linked in one placed. It really is a good place to start reading and see what people here have said about dough, financing, cheese, driver insurance, square footage and probably even things you’ve never thought of. You’ll get a good overview of the sorts of things to start learning about and asking questions about. By no means exhaustive, but very helpful in getting started thinking pizza. It is the PMQ Frequently Asked Questions about pizza (also a link on the main page of Think Tank).

http://www.pmq.com/tt/viewtopic.php?t=3374

where about in hk ? i’m currently operating 2 delcos here in shenzhen, china. right next to you. i’m doing New york style pizza . if i can offer u any help, feel free to ask. good luck

Hi,

I’ve been reading as much as I can, this site and the associated resources have been amazingly useful. Its the little extras that I’m hoping to pickup, those things that you don’t realise you needed to know… until you realise you don’t know them :slight_smile:

Financing isn’t something I need, nor will I need driver insurance. What we consider enough square footage you guys in the US would probably laugh at, because you have so much space available to you… I’m looking at a space of 600 sq/ft (which will cost me almost US$4000 a month just for the rent).

The bits that are still an unknown are how many chefs do I need to make my target of 50+ pizzas a day, and how many delivery guys with their mopeds do I need to deliver that quantity of pizzas…

Depends on how many of those 50+ pies get made in peak hours. I can make that many in a 5 hour shift without much issue at all. If that turns into 2 hours, then I will not keep up by myself. It also depends on how much topping prep and portioning is done ahead of time . . . before starting to make the pizzas. I hf I have to chop vegetables and make dough at the same time, my pie making efficiency drops also. 2 cooks knowing what they are doing should be able to manage that sort of kitchen quite well at 50 pies per day. The second guy would work prep and help manage the ovens/cut table, dough handling, etc.

search google for ENCYCLOPIZZA it is a very good site to get educated about how to make pizza for professional

Hi seanchk;

Yes 600 sq ft is tight but we have layed out shops of that size;

You will be short on storage and need frequint deliveries.

If you would like I will have a professional blueprint- floorplan done for you, no charge

contact Joe6391@aol.com

Tell him George Mills directed you to him

Joe did a great job on ours, George. Thanks.

Cheers, thats very useful to know.

Hi George, I may end up with more space, it all depends on which venue has the best location and rent. Rent is very expensive in Hong Kong, so I need to make sure I don’t end up with too much unproductive space, although I appreciate the need for adequate storage.

That 600sq/ft I had hoped would also give me room for a small take-out area with room for a window front counter where people can sit whilst waiting for their pizza to be ready.