Part I · Stop the money leaks
Chapter 4: Delivery orders are coming in. Where’s the money?
Time45 minutes
You needLast month’s payout statements from each app
You leave withYour Delivery Profit Sheet and a decision for each app
The leak
The tablet keeps chirping, so delivery feels like growth. But the commission is only the first cut. Then come the promotions you fund, the packaging, the minutes someone spends bagging, and the refunds for “missing” items. Most owners have never added it all up for one order.
The commission alone is big. DoorDash charges 15%, 25% or 30% of the subtotal on delivery orders, depending on the plan (DoorDash). Uber Eats raised its Lite plan from 15% to 20% this year, and Plus orders from Uber One members now cost 30% (Restaurant Dive).
What it costs you
Worked example · Mirela is fictional
One $40 order at Mirela, on a 25% plan, compared with the same order through her own online ordering:
| Delivery app | Own online ordering | |
|---|---|---|
| Order subtotal | $40.00 | $40.00 |
| Commission or card fee | −$10.00 25% | −$1.46 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Promotion she funded | −$4.00 | $0 |
| Food 30% of menu price | −$12.00 | −$12.00 |
| Packaging | −$2.50 | −$2.50 |
| 5 minutes to pack, at $22/hour | −$1.83 | −$1.83 |
| Refunds and adjustments 2% average | −$0.80 | $0 |
| Left to pay rent, utilities and you | $8.87 | $22.21 |
Same food, same bag. One order leaves $8.87, the other $22.21. That doesn’t mean quit the apps; they bring guests you’d never reach. It means every app order should be priced, promoted and managed knowing it’s worth less.
The fix
- Download last month’s statements from each app’s merchant portal: orders, subtotals, commission, marketing or promotions, adjustments and net payout. Prompt 1 summarizes them.
- Fill in the Delivery Profit Sheet (in the kit below) for each app: your plan’s rate, average order, food cost %, packaging, minutes to pack, promotions and refund rate. It shows what an order really leaves, next to your own ordering.
- Price the app menu for the app. Many restaurants charge more on delivery apps than in the room. To keep exactly what a direct order earns, divide your price by (1 − commission): at 25%, a $20 dish becomes $26.67. You can choose to go part of the way; the sheet shows both. Check each platform’s terms first.
- Check your plan. DoorDash lets you switch plans any time with no contract or penalty (DoorDash). If most of your app orders come from people who already know you, a lower tier may cost you very little reach.
- Stop funding promotions that don’t bring new guests. If the same regulars use the discount every week, you’re paying them to order the way they already would.
- Contest wrong refunds. Each portal lets you dispute adjustments. Ten minutes a week adds up.
- Trim the app menu to dishes that travel well and earn well: your Stars and Workhorses from Chapter 2, not your Rethinks.
- Give regulars a better way to order. Pickup and your own ordering cost a fraction of delivery. DoorDash, for example, charges 6% on pickup orders and nothing on orders through its own restaurant online ordering tool (DoorDash).
In the kit · a working sheet
- Delivery Profit SheetWhat an order really leaves you on each app and on your own ordering, and the app price that covers the commission. Opens in Excel or Google Sheets.
The prompts
Prompt 1 · Read the statement
Here is my monthly payout statement from [app]: [paste or upload]. Make a summary table: number of orders, total subtotal, total commission, total promotions I paid for, total adjustments and refunds, total payout. Then work out the average per order for each line. Show your working and flag anything I should dispute.
Prompt 2 · Build the app menu
Here is my menu with price, plate cost and weekly sales: [paste]. My delivery commission is [25%]. Suggest which dishes to keep on the delivery app, based on contribution after commission and how well they travel (no fried items that go soggy, no dishes that need assembly). Then suggest an app price for each, showing the price that would fully cover the commission and a gentler option.
Prompt 3 · Invite regulars to order direct
Write a short, warm note for a card in delivery bags. It thanks the guest and tells them that ordering pickup directly from us at [link] means more of their money goes to the restaurant. No guilt, no discount required. Under 40 words, in our voice.
Three decisions this week
i.Your real number: write down what an average app order leaves you, for each app.
ii.One price change: set an app menu price for your top five delivery dishes.
iii.One promotion to stop, or one plan to review, based on what the statements show.
What you leave with
Everything from this chapter you can keep. No email needed.
- 04Delivery Profit SheetWhat an order really leaves you on each app and on your own ordering, and the app price that covers the commission. Opens in Excel or Google Sheets.
- This chapter’s 3 promptsReady to paste into your AI assistant. Fill in the [brackets] first.
- The prompt libraryEvery prompt in the guide, by chapter, as one PDF.