200k local phone number

White River

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2018
Messages
244
Reaction score
50
Hey fellows,

would like to get your opinions on marketing/services approach to local residents

I have 200 000 phone number/whatsapp for local residents all within my city

wondering how to monetize the list.

I thought about vegetables & fruits distribution to their houses doors

first, i contact the list and ask them if they interested to get fresh vegetables & fruits delivered daily to their doors

i believe there r many obstacles with this business model

what can you suggest to me? is it a good idea to go with the fresh products type or better to find another service to offer

your advice is highly appreciated
 
We do this for a living as part of the main business.

Are you planning on delivering a set of specific fruit/veg? What happens if you can't get that item / or find a good supply?

We do a fixed fee for a "box" that will contain seasonal crops (mainly) it lets us pad out deliveries with more crops we have more of and share out others we have a smaller supply on. If you start to promise X Y Z crops or items and you can't get them you either lose customers, lose money or both not to mention the stress.

Should note we pack under 100 boxes a month. The time that takes with a production line is a pain in the ass!! Doing it for 100s or 1000s would not be my idea of fun, if your buying crop in as well to store all that and count / pack it out would require a fair bit of space
 
Last edited:
You can send them sweet offers , check the market what they are looking for and try to find something similar to that
 
I would personally go for something people care about.

Create a landing page for cheaper gas and electricity quotes. Join an affiliate programme and direct people there.
 
Do you have the ability to distribute fresh fruits and vegetables if ten thousand people decided to buy ?

ill stop once i get 30 - 50 repeatable clients ..as I'm not planning to hold any inventory, at least in the beginning
 
We do this for a living as part of the main business.

Are you planning on delivering a set of specific fruit/veg? What happens if you can't get that item / or find a good supply?

We do a fixed fee for a "box" that will contain seasonal crops (mainly) it lets us pad out deliveries with more crops we have more of and share out others we have a smaller supply on. If you start to promise X Y Z crops or items and you can't get them you either lose customers, lose money or both not to mention the stress.

Should note we pack under 100 boxes a month. The time that takes with a production line is a pain in the ass!! Doing it for 100s or 1000s would not be my idea of fun, if your buying crop in as well to store all that and count / pack it out would require a fair bit of space

nice technique you have.

I'm planning to offer the whole type of crops within my website, per KG ..if a customer chose one product that not available in the market we will apologize to them

for the set (package) delivery i think it will be difficult for me as I'm not holding any inventory for now.. and as you know people have different taste and inquires so making sets will be a huge direction turn

what do you think of payment way? cash on delivery or via website ? the problem is that im dealing with normal citizens so there are no contracts or commitment by them
 
You can send them sweet offers , check the market what they are looking for and try to find something similar to that

your comment seems interesting, can you elaborate more about the sweet offers what look like
 
I would personally go for something people care about.

Create a landing page for cheaper gas and electricity quotes. Join an affiliate programme and direct people there.

the problem is we don't have companies support dropship/affiliate programs in my country ..and there is only one way to work by yourself and your own service
 
The problem is some people will plan meals around the crops they can pick, if you can't supply it they might as well go back to the local shop! We been doing boxes now for 5 years we made loads of mistakes at the start and you will find customers will get stroppy over the simplest of things, we used to let them pick or give a list but it got in the way and like you said everyone has different tastes!

So we closed it and started again.

This time we offered seasonal crops or whatever we harvest (our veg is grown on site), we have a list of any potential allergies so to avoid packing something in but not everyone will like everything, some of our customers will tell us if they don't want courgette for example during the summer while others want nothing but courgettes!

We take a cash payment upfront for the month. It's paid in advance. If you don't pay you don't get a box and it's a rolling monthly fee we collect nexts month payment with the last delivery of the month.

Never tried it online as you compete with all the bigger companies. We market everything as fresh and grown organic (Although we are not organic cert so you have to tip toe around that)

We work with some local growers as well so if we have a bit of a short to make up a box value we will add some honey in, or dozen eggs etc.

For us the pick and choose business model just does not work.

Summer months boxes come with fruit OR you can pay an extra fee and you get weekly fresh fruit summer crops.

We got our customers with a simple leaflet drop for us it works, we charge a premium for what it is plus the closest supermarket is 18 miles away!

We keep our subs low, packing like I said is a pain we have a 9m packing table which everything goes into boxes (plenty of examples of this online) and we pick along a belt. During hight of the season, I get some students wanting low working hours (1-2hrs a day) to do the packing or id have given up long time ago.

Chiller is key for a longer cycle of crops (90% of it is picked that week / day though!) once you start to keep and process it (if any) you might want to check up on food hygiene courses and register with your local council as a food/crop supplier depending how the rules apply to where you live!



Hope that helps, any questions happy to try and answer. Although your business model is kind of different the product and market is similar!

Depending on where you are in the world IF you can keep it plastic free some people will pay a premium for it we have 2 customers who pay to have it all in brown bags (most of it is anyway!!)
 
The problem is some people will plan meals around the crops they can pick, if you can't supply it they might as well go back to the local shop! We been doing boxes now for 5 years we made loads of mistakes at the start and you will find customers will get stroppy over the simplest of things, we used to let them pick or give a list but it got in the way and like you said everyone has different tastes!

So we closed it and started again.

This time we offered seasonal crops or whatever we harvest (our veg is grown on site), we have a list of any potential allergies so to avoid packing something in but not everyone will like everything, some of our customers will tell us if they don't want courgette for example during the summer while others want nothing but courgettes!

We take a cash payment upfront for the month. It's paid in advance. If you don't pay you don't get a box and it's a rolling monthly fee we collect nexts month payment with the last delivery of the month.

Never tried it online as you compete with all the bigger companies. We market everything as fresh and grown organic (Although we are not organic cert so you have to tip toe around that)

We work with some local growers as well so if we have a bit of a short to make up a box value we will add some honey in, or dozen eggs etc.

For us the pick and choose business model just does not work.

Summer months boxes come with fruit OR you can pay an extra fee and you get weekly fresh fruit summer crops.

We got our customers with a simple leaflet drop for us it works, we charge a premium for what it is plus the closest supermarket is 18 miles away!

We keep our subs low, packing like I said is a pain we have a 9m packing table which everything goes into boxes (plenty of examples of this online) and we pick along a belt. During hight of the season, I get some students wanting low working hours (1-2hrs a day) to do the packing or id have given up long time ago.

Chiller is key for a longer cycle of crops (90% of it is picked that week / day though!) once you start to keep and process it (if any) you might want to check up on food hygiene courses and register with your local council as a food/crop supplier depending how the rules apply to where you live!



Hope that helps, any questions happy to try and answer. Although your business model is kind of different the product and market is similar!

Depending on where you are in the world IF you can keep it plastic free some people will pay a premium for it we have 2 customers who pay to have it all in brown bags (most of it is anyway!!)


really appreciate your time t2van

we have a huge wholesale market for each city in our country that specialized to sell crops by truck & auction

the auction contains more than 400-600 types of crops between fruits&vege from around the world been harvested

i can buy by truck or from the guy who bought the truck and could offer me less quantity at higher cost but still will be lower 50-60% from the retail prices

ill pick the customers offline using Brochures & phone and the online will be for showing off what will they get / Prices / Categories & payment gateaway

i doubt they pay us in advance as there is no trust yet and here is the risky part where we will buy the crops depending on their demands / orders

my main issue is how to fulfill the orders once submitted with the lowest risk might appear

the good part is there are no companies to compete with online offering the same service in my region
 
Are you planning on selling on by weight? Think you mentioned earlier? As if your buying off a back of the van you need to trust the weight your getting is what the person is telling you vs in the market everything will be scaled for you.

Yes, trust is an issue the advantage we had is when delivering out in the van the first few orders where product and cash exchanged on the spot. After a few most will set up a standing order now, some prefer to just pay cash which is good for the mattress ;)

If you are delivering in a city you want to break that down to sections then once you get an order, that customer is assigned to a section and you state all deliveries will be made to the west side on Monday, north on Tuesday or however you want to work it. You need to leave 1 or 2 days free to pack or you will be quickly running around like a headless chicken.

Doing it that way would keep your fuel costs down as you could plan routes for that day.

That's the only way I can think you might do it with keeping overheads low. If you are going to be posting the stuff out using a courier I would start looking at how some other companies do it and pinch ideas on branding and packaging - id even go as far as saying buy a cheap screen press and have a go at printing your own boxes!

Some other idea if you have people or restaurants that require a specific crop IF you can source that you can clean up. So in our area Indian takeaways and restaurants like to get fresh mustard leafs which is very hard to come by, most will travel 180 miles once a week to go and get them I now grow and provide these locally - If I done it sooner or had that idea I could have paid the mortgage off LOL - as that sort of crop gets around the internal community and your set for life!

Again can't comment on packing laws / health and hygiene and all that. But I would look at buying some brown paper bags from China use Ali Express first to get a few samples it's cheaper and quicker AND you get a more honest product. Once your happy ask to do a deal with them on bulk supply OR find them listed in Alibaba the reason I say to do it this way as we ordered 500,000 paper bags that were only good for blowing our nose with!!

You want to make sure you get two sizes one to hold up to 750g and another for 2kg (again depending on your product its larger than ours so you may need a better range)

Blue elastic bands then for holding beets, spring onions, green leaves together, and a few other bits.

You can't beat a plastic tub for holding mixed salads we double these up and use them for soft fruit as well although recently soft fruit we switched over to a cardboard type box / basket. People do complain about the plastic but it does stop the leaves from wilting, again could use a plastic bag and a bag tie to hold it all together.

I think that's about it, when you get your crops when picking make sure you use some vented / boxes or mesh type plastic carry boxes anything that's sold will make the crop sweat and start go soft, carrots, spuds and most root crops are prone to this and salad crops will wilt quicker.

If your doing a range I think either have a premium mark up for picking and mixing or offer 4-6 choices that are at a preset price. Just thinking if your on your own you will want to cut down on admin and picking time, but you will soon learn this after 10 orders ;)

Think that covers you. As always you need anything else just ask
 
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=fresh+vegetables+delivery&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiorIK4247hAhVUuHEKHeGXCvEQ_AUIDygC&biw=1335&bih=762

See some of the loose boxes there, look sexy and all that. But having a few of them in the back of the van going around the corner is not fun!!!

You can get some ideas buy searching for 'fresh vegetable boxes' or 'farm fresh boxes' in google uk if you need some ideas on structure on pricing etc
 
Google image link

See some of the loose boxes there, look sexy and all that. But having a few of them in the back of the van going around the corner is not fun!!!

You can get some ideas buy searching for 'fresh vegetable boxes' or 'farm fresh boxes' in google uk if you need some ideas on structure on pricing etc

Man, you have covered every aspect that I'm not aware of especially with the difference of crops types that are prohibited to be mixed in one bag!

(But having a few of them in the back of the van going around the corner is not fun!!!) this part made me laughed out loud hhhh

i think I'm about to face a huge learning curve along the way

appreciate all the time and effort you have spent commenting to make a better vision for me

thank you and wish you all the success t2van
 
No worries! The packing stuff keeping stuff separate you don't need to do (some might require it by health law) we bunch most of the stuff together using elastic bands and bag loose products. Just makes it a bit nicer to present than everything in a big box plus transport is easier. Had some disasters in my time!!

If you get stuck, need help or advice just drop me a PM or post it on this thread happy to help where I can and answer any questions.

Yes it will be a learning curve, it's steep but it's a good one, come back in 6 months and tell me if packing what customers want to just giving it to them as a set pack is better or not ;) HAHA

Thanks for all the well-wishing. This side of the business for us is using up crop that is "waste" it's a by-product of our main product line that's why I got into it and why we box on season.

Good luck in the venture - farmers can be cold/blunt/rude when they don't know you so take it with a pinch of salt after a few sales they will warm up to you.
 
No worries! The packing stuff keeping stuff separate you don't need to do (some might require it by health law) we bunch most of the stuff together using elastic bands and bag loose products. Just makes it a bit nicer to present than everything in a big box plus transport is easier. Had some disasters in my time!!

If you get stuck, need help or advice just drop me a PM or post it on this thread happy to help where I can and answer any questions.

Yes it will be a learning curve, it's steep but it's a good one, come back in 6 months and tell me if packing what customers want to just giving it to them as a set pack is better or not ;) HAHA

Thanks for all the well-wishing. This side of the business for us is using up crop that is "waste" it's a by-product of our main product line that's why I got into it and why we box on season.

Good luck in the venture - farmers can be cold/blunt/rude when they don't know you so take it with a pinch of salt after a few sales they will warm up to you.

I'm pretty sure customers would prefer to get a set pack better than by weight and I'm going to reconsider the business model

i agree building relationships with farmers and other business owners will take time to gain trust and respect so there is no emotion have to take a place
 
Yeah I was just having a joke, like I said your business idea might work for you - for me it never did :) And the farmer comment was just a heads up!

If you go down the road of selling organic produce, get some good photos, sell the romantic idea of it, people like to know your back story and the product and that's even more important if it's local! Go meet the farmer, get some photos get a branded polo shirt and get some picture of that life style here in the UK it has a big impact on how things sell.

The same applies to meat if it's organic and "happy" you can get a premium for it. Turkeys, for example, I sow the turkey pen / field with grass every year so it's lush and green we get our turkeys in around August and get loads of photos the first few days of them looking happy in a clean grass field, few weeks they have eaten all the grass and crapped everywhere! No one wants to see that so you sell the dream of it. Because our birds are happy and are alive the day before Christmas we get a premium for them £60-90 a bird ($80-120) all because it's "happy" it's selling that dream the romantic version of it people can't have them selfs.

That's the biggest thing you can do if you can sell the dream of fresh, from the field to your plate produce you will do well.

Good luck!!
 
Yeah I was just having a joke, like I said your business idea might work for you - for me it never did :) And the farmer comment was just a heads up!

If you go down the road of selling organic produce, get some good photos, sell the romantic idea of it, people like to know your back story and the product and that's even more important if it's local! Go meet the farmer, get some photos get a branded polo shirt and get some picture of that life style here in the UK it has a big impact on how things sell.

The same applies to meat if it's organic and "happy" you can get a premium for it. Turkeys, for example, I sow the turkey pen / field with grass every year so it's lush and green we get our turkeys in around August and get loads of photos the first few days of them looking happy in a clean grass field, few weeks they have eaten all the grass and crapped everywhere! No one wants to see that so you sell the dream of it. Because our birds are happy and are alive the day before Christmas we get a premium for them £60-90 a bird ($80-120) all because it's "happy" it's selling that dream the romantic version of it people can't have them selfs.

That's the biggest thing you can do if you can sell the dream of fresh, from the field to your plate produce you will do well.

Good luck!!


you keep enlighten me my firiend i cant thank you enough ..well said
 
Back
Top