§1What this business is
You build a website and mobile app with a technology partner, sign up restaurants and home cooks, and let customers compare menus, prices and reviews, pay online and get meals delivered to home, office or hostel. You do not cook. You earn a 10% commission on orders, a delivery charge, and fees for online and offline advertising and paid partnerships. The SIDBI profile plans four delivery two-wheelers with food boxes.
Capacity: Planned at orders worth ₹15,00,000 a month through partner restaurants and 3,500 deliveries a month.
§2Is it right for you?
Who it is for
A local founder in a smaller town or college area who knows the restaurants and can sell to them and to customers.
Who it is not for
Someone hoping to compete head-on with the national food-delivery apps in a metro.
Advantages
- Small investment — no kitchen and no land
- Several income streams: commission, delivery charge and advertising
- Restaurants and home cooks get customers they could not reach alone
- Fits towns and college areas that big apps serve poorly
Drawbacks
- National apps already dominate big cities
- Needs heavy, steady marketing to build order volume
- Late or cold deliveries hurt the brand, though you do not cook the food
- Most of the money sits in three months of salaries and rent
Skills you need
- Signing up and keeping restaurant partners
- Digital marketing and app promotion
- Running a delivery team and routes
- Handling online payments and customer complaints
Why difficulty 3/5: Cheap to start, but winning enough orders against big apps is hard.
§3Market
Who buys
- Working families with little time to cook
- Office staff
- Students living in hostels
- Restaurants and home cooks wanting more customers
How it sells
- Own app and website
- Social media and online advertising
- Paid partnerships with restaurants
Good to know
- The profile counts 20 restaurant partnerships at ₹1,500 a month and 100 online advertisements at ₹1,000 a month.
- Delivery charge in the profile is ₹10 an order.
§4Raw material & machinery
| Item | Qty | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Portal and mobile app (built by a technology partner) | 1 | ₹1,25,000 |
| Computer with Windows and MS Office | 2 | ₹27,000 each |
| Delivery vehicle with food box | 4 | ₹40,000 each |
| Network installation | 1 | ₹5,000 |
| Office furniture | 1 set | ₹50,000 |
From: SIDBI Stand-Up Mitra project profile — Online Catering Home Delivery Services (2018) — private guide — confirm locally
- Internet, portal maintenance (AMC), payment gateway and app-store charges₹12,000 a month in the profile
- Fuel for delivery vehiclespart of power and fuel, ₹8,000 a month
From: SIDBI Stand-Up Mitra project profile — Online Catering Home Delivery Services (2018) — private guide — confirm locally
§5Licences & registration
- Udyam registration
- GST registration (compulsory for e-commerce operators)
- Shops and establishments registration for the office
- FSSAI licence for an e-commerce food business operator
- Compliance with the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020
- Commercial registration and insurance for delivery vehicles
§6Schemes & subsidies
- PMEGPCentralActive15–35% subsidy
- MudraCentralActiveLoan up to ₹20 lakh, no collateral
- CGTMSECentralActiveNo collateral, up to ₹10 crore
PMEGP fits a service project of ₹7.71 L; MUDRA (Kishore/Tarun) covers the whole cost; CGTMSE for a loan without collateral.
§7Money
How the investment is worked out: Portal and mobile app ₹1,25,000 + equipment, vehicles and other fixed assets ₹2,69,000 (2 computers ₹54,000, 4 vehicles ₹1,60,000, network ₹5,000, office furniture ₹50,000) + working capital margin for 3 months ₹3,77,400 = ₹7,71,400. No land or building; office rented.
Working capital: Monthly running cost ₹1,25,800 (salaries ₹90,000, rent ₹15,000, utilities ₹9,300, portal and app charges ₹12,000, other ₹4,500); margin kept for 3 months = ₹3,77,400. Finance: owner 25% (₹1,92,850), bank 75% (₹5,78,550).
SIDBI Stand-Up Mitra profile, uploaded in 2018 (no year printed on it) — prices will be higher now; check current costs.
§8Export potential
A local service business; it has no goods to export.
§9Risks — where people fail
- Too few orders to cover fixed salaries
- Big apps entering your town with discounts
- Restaurant partners leaving after a dispute
- Rider accidents and vehicle downtime
§1030 / 60 / 90-day plan
A general plan that applies to any business. A plan for this business will be added after research.
- Days 1–30: Visit a working local online food ordering and delivery portal unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
- Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (Udyam registration, GST registration (compulsory for e-commerce operators)), a project report (DPR), and the scheme or loan file.
- Days 61–90: Space and machines, trial production, and first deliveries to 10 customers.
§11Who to connect with
Associations, clusters and training institutes — the directory is being built. Connect
§12Watch
There is no episode on this business yet. Shows are coming soon on the Podcast page.
Want to start Local Online Food Ordering and Delivery Portal?
DPR, loan file or registration — ask us on WhatsApp.
¶Sources
Data review: 6 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Report it. For information only — not legal or financial advice.