In today’s world, gig economy work is in high demand but selecting the right gig may determine a good day vs a bad day. We talked to long time DeliverThat Lead Driver, Charles “Doc” Obermyer on how he maximizes his day doing DeliverThat deliveries and other gig economy work. Doc has been driving with DeliverThat since St. Louis was launched back in 2017 and has helped make St. Louis one of DeliverThat’s strongest metros.
When asked how he makes gig work a successful form of income, Doc said “Preparation, organization, viewing yourself as your own personal business, and setting weekly and daily goals are the ways to kill it in gig economy work. You are an individual business. Use multiple apps to plan your day in the most efficient way. Deliverthat’s pre-scheduled catering orders are something to anchor your day around.”
Doc uses the phrase “anchor your day” to describe which gig will provide the most value and set up a driver for their next gig to earn more money.
“Anchoring your day using DeliverThat”
Typically, a pre-scheduled delivery for DeliverThat is between 11 A.M.-1 P.M. Doc usually picks one or two DeliverThat deliveries that will get him into an ideal location for the afternoon. Working different platform gig work during 8-10 A.M., which is the morning window before he switches over to DeliverThat where he earns on average $30-$60 during the lunch rush with DeliverThat depending on the day (in an hour or less). He then weighs his options on if he even needs to pick up other gig work for the afternoon.
When asked about working other gigs alongside DeliverThat, Doc responded with “In order to be successful as a gig worker, you have to broaden the horizon. Do not focus solely on one. You are your own personal business.” What other gig platforms fit in the best with DeliverThat?
“Silly as it sounds, any that I can do in the same clothes as I wear for DT. I have cut lawns as a gig and that’s a tough transition!”
Doc has received some very generous tips while delivering with DeliverThat, $1,000 was the largest, so we asked what are some hospitality strategies that he has adopted and implemented on his Deliveries. One of the most important proactive strategies that Doc uses is contacting the customer the night before a delivery. “Any info that would cause any sort of delay is accounted for in a 5 minute phone call prior to a delivery. The customer then knows your name, and feels comfortable with who is delivering their food. Any special instruction from the customer is taken care of before the food is even picked up. The driver feels comfortable and prepared. Preparation = no wasted time. Also, we deal with the same customers often, so this helps build and maintain a relationship, while also a familiarity with a specific delivery.”
Some quick tips that Doc passed along:
Familiarity with specific restaurants and customers go a long way.
Set Daily and Weekly income goals.
Performance and timeliness go a long way.
Study names/tipping patterns.
Always have a calculator and a coffee lol
Doc’s closing thoughts:
Always pick strategic routes. Use the driver hotline to your advantage to create the best route. If you pick up a bunch of orders that do not work with one another, then you will end up having an unsuccessful day.
Utilize DeliverThat’s pre-scheduled feature to fit in the most gig work in a day as you can. Pre-scheduled gig work should be used as an advantage.
Gig economy is not going away and is a great way to make money, if you do it the right way.