Personal Branding Delivery Driver

Meet a personal branding delivery driver extraordinaire. 

In Seattle, WA a delivery driver has completed to his estimate upwards of 10,000 deliveries for UberEats and DoorDash style apps, and has gone into business for himself. 

Tony Illles created Tony Delivers, a simple landing page-based business that brings hungry customers right to his cell phone. 

You see, in Seattle the start of the new year came with a hike in the state minimum wage to $16.28, the highest in the nation outside of the District of Colombia. 

Now this pay increase was meant to directly support those gig economy workers who rely on the wages they earn through freelancing and delivery-type gigs, plus the tips they earn from those jobs. 

Unfortunately for those same gig economy employees, the mighty platforms they work for saw a decrease in customer activity as the apps passed on the increase in operating costs to the customers via additional delivery fees. 

How personal branding is working for tony

Delivering 11am – 2pm and 5pm – 8pm daily, Tony allows hungry customers to text him their name, address, and a restaurant. 

He then replies with a wait time text, and will proceed to deliver their food or other items to their building lobby or meet the customer outside of their location. 

The most spectacular thing here is how an individual, who knew the ins and outs of delivery driving, and noticed himself the decline in gig availability after the major delivery dasher platforms increased their delivery fees decided he could stand tall and fill the market gap himself. 

How Reliable is one driver?

According to Tony of Tony Delivers, when he was a delivery driver for the big apps he made a whopping 9,197 successful deliveries on the Uber Eats app, with a 98% satisfaction rate. 

This leads me to believe that many more experienced delivery drivers will continue to create opportunities for themselves in their local communities. 

One novel way to shop local, and keep dollars circulating in your local economy. 

And people like Tony with stellar satisfaction rates, coupled with some personal branding that will allow them to be seen and valued in their communities could usher in a new paradigm that brings more familiarity and community closeness as the delivery drivers take responsibility for their local neighborhoods. 

The implications for safety seem like an added boon as local businesses and individuals will become more aware of who is delivering, and who should be a recognizable face coming and going from their buildings. 

The urge to deny eye contact, and reach an arm out the door or hide behind a peephole until your pho is securely on your porch and the dashers back is turned will instead become a warm smile and quick exchange of friendly words as you appreciate your local delivery driver knows your preferences and makes your experience seemless and considered. 

How far can personal branding go?

According to Business of Apps, Uber Eats generated $10.9 billion revenue in 2022, and has over 88 million international users making it the most popular food delivery service. 

That’s a lot of room for inventive entrepreneurs like Tony to carve a lane for themselves making deliveries to their local communities. 

And it may make good business sense too as Uber Eats who takes a 20-30% cut of all orders has yet to turn a profit. 

Uber Eats currently has over 825,000 partner drivers across 6,000 cities worldwide. 

Plenty of space for a delivery driver, or maybe even you and your friends to cut a slice of the local pie. 

Consumers prefer a face they recognize

Forbes magazine recently published a piece stating that some 77% of consumers prefer to purchase from a brand they recognize. 

Is the importance of personal branding for your growth beginning to set in?

Shop local may soon mean shop recognizable. 

San Antonio Branding Agency

Pineapple House Platforms is a branding agency San Antonio can trust to help you craft a presence both online and off that will propel you in 2024 and beyond. 

When looking for a San Antonio branding firm be sure to give us a call.