Imagine realizing that no other delivery platforms exist in your district and you have the opportunity to serve and deliver for your community in ways nobody else can. That’s where Lindsey Thomas was when she was at the crossroads of leaving her eight years in casino operations management to start her grocery delivery business, Belfair Bites.

“Once I decided I was going to leave the casino, I explored other options that were in the general area, Uber, Instacart, Shipt, but none of those were offered in my community,” says Lindsey, “Once I quit the casino, I registered with all of those, and learned how to personal shop and do restaurant delivery the way [Shipt was] doing it. But I decided I didn't want to drive 40 minutes to an hour to somebody else's community to serve them.”

After dialing in how Shipt worked, Lindsey figured out she needed credit card processing and a platform for her customers to place orders, which led to a chance scroll. Randomly clicking around Facebook, Lindsey saw someone mention Dumpling; that’s when the research started. “I was ready to hit the ground running as soon as I downloaded Dumpling and had an idea of how the process worked from start to finish for the shopper,” she says.

To get rolling, she propped up a Facebook page, joined tons of local groups, made about 50 connections with local businesses she could deliver from, and shared her trips. “I am that person in the grocery store, taking pictures of myself and other things trying to use pictures because people don't necessarily understand in this area what is it that I’m doing or offering so I'm trying to make a photo diary on my Facebook page,” explains Lindsey.

“I really want people to get a sense of who I am and feel like they know me and trust me,” she adds, “Just keeping my name and my face and my business name in the newsfeed, which I’ve done…I also stop into local businesses, tag them in my posts, and try to focus on the local ideas of, ‘Hey, what's your favorite thing to do here? Can I bring that to you?’”

The ability to market and run her own Dumpling business, Belfair Bites, in her own way rather than waiting for big platforms to rush into her rural area gave her the freedom to set her own rules, prices, schedule, flexibility, and delivery zones. With her “entrepreneurial mind” and Dumpling offering the type of platform and credit card processing she wanted, Lindsey was in gear to grow her grocery delivery business beginning in January 2022.

While Lindsey figured out the puzzle of her Dumpling business over the coming months, she followed the data toward her ideal customers: primarily moms and families.

“There's two [types of clients] who I really like and one is incredibly picky. They know exactly what they want, put all the details in, there's a right product and a not right product, and they're going to tell me exactly what that is, so super specific; I love that sort of customer and I love shopping for them,” explains Lindsey.

“And my other favorite customer is the complete opposite who does not care at all. They say a bag of potatoes and then whatever you get is fine, and they let me do the decision-making. Those are my two favorites, those extreme ends of the spectrum,” she adds.

Now that she had an idea of who to deliver to, Lindsey had to work out her pricing and it was back to Facebook groups to get feedback. Sifting through posts, she compared another in her local area “and I thought I could offer it at a little bit less so I checked with some other businesses in the area that do delivery, flowers and pizza, and within the $12 to $15 range is about where that was for local pricing,” Lindsey explains.

She felt like she could build volume over a higher price tag to sustain her business growth, and set her default tip around 25 percent to counterbalance the low $12 delivery fee. “I'm happy to shop for $12, but if you want me to drive 20 minutes one way to deliver your groceries, I'm going to make sure that it's worthwhile for me, and again, they can always change it and they do,” Lindsey says.

Especially when she has a huge delivery zone dictated by the North Mason School District, if she’s driving to her two grocery stores, QFC and Safeway, a 40-minute round trip, she wants to ensure her business profits survive. Plus, she lives on the fringes of town where it can be frustrating to continually be just outside delivery zones.

“If you're going to deliver rurally, why don't you deliver it to me? And I really wanted to include all of those people in my local delivery,” she says, “What I always tell people is I will go anywhere for a price. What I've been calling the greater area is based on county so we have our local North Mason, but if they want me to go to Kitsap, which is anywhere from an extra 10 to 30 miles, that's a little bit more expensive.” Right now, she’s shopping from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, 7 days a week, with about 5 order spots per 2-hour block.

As her business morphs and changes, her goals circle around servicing community needs that go unmet, and supporting herself financially 100 percent from her Dumpling business. Filling the local gap with quality delivery service also means high-touch communication, connecting with customers by building relationships, and ensuring consistent good feedback.

“As soon as the order comes through, I touch base with the customer. If I have any questions, I let them know, then give them an idea of what time I'll be at the store, and then of course updating as I get to the store, checking their preferences and seeing if they want a message for every replacement, and making sure that I stick to whatever their preference is, then letting them know I'm getting close to checkout,” explains Lindsey.

Her point-by-point communication is a valued part of Belfair Bites, and her drive to communicate client gratitude comes through in her friendly attitude and hope that her clients feel comfortable enough to reach out to her whenever they need anything. These personal touches also pay off financially and align with Lindsey’s business value that her customers don’t waste money on big corporate fees when they work with her Dumpling business.

Beyond hitting the $1,000 per week mark, Lindsey’s working toward a business future “where I can be more hands-off, and I really love doing this and love meeting customers, but there are other things I would like to do,” she explains, “I would really love to get to a place where I can hire people to do the shopping and delivery for me and I can have more of an oversight.”

In the meantime, Lindsey tracks her wins by getting new clients, learning how they heard about her, how much word-of-mouth she’s getting, and by using Dumpling’s Insights. “I spend a lot of time on the Insights tab on the Dumpling app, and if it's an especially far out distance-wise order, quickly calculating how much was that worth to me? Does it make sense for this to be in my local delivery zone?” Lindsey explains.

In addition to Insights, she loves Dumpling’s ultra-quick customer service and minimal tech glitches. The shopper support “has been really great so that's helpful when you're sitting in the car with somebody’s groceries and you can't get the receipt to invoice so I've really appreciated that,” she says, “I like that there is that layer of protection in between the customer and I where if I have issues, there’s support, if the customer has issues, they feel like they have somebody to take it up with as well.”

If you’ve been wondering about ramping up a grocery delivery business, remember that with Dumpling, you’re building your own business, says Lindsey. Put yourself out there, create opportunities and market yourself, “build your customers, show you're the best, and Dumpling helps to support all of those things,” she adds, “I found it to be a really great support tool, but if people are expecting Dumpling to do all the work, that's just not gonna happen.”

The last advice gem: step outside your comfort zone and remember that you’re the face of your business that your clients need to get to know. “I’m not normally a social media type person, but Belfair Bites is very much based on social media so my face is out there a lot, and I get recognized in the community quite a bit even if they haven't heard of Belfair Bites,” Lindsey says.

“And that opens the door for whatever I'm about to say about Belfair Bites so be visible and promote yourself, get out there, and get your face out there,” she adds, “Really try to build that sense of community and the idea of, ‘Hey, I'm part of your community, too, and this is what I can do for you.’”

Originally Published May 31, 2022