I really like this idea a lot, only I'm not sure how attractive it will be to restaurants. Many restaurants are far too rigid in terms of pricing (they HAVE to charge a certain amount, because of overhead), too busy, or just wouldn't care at all about participating in an online bidding war for just one meal. Frankly, they could make far more potential revenue spending that time putting fliers under windshield wipers.

Where this WOULD come in wonderfully handy, and what makes me so excited about it, is in terms of smaller catering companies. The people who DO depend on one or two meals a day. Not only would they be able to see a nice increase in sales via the website, but it would be a great advertising arena for them too. Especially if rating systems and comments by past customers were implemented.

So, in summary, I think restaurants aren't necessarily the market you want to target, but caterers are. Caterers, and, of course, hungry people who're too busy to cook. Which is sad. Because cooking is fun. Funner than being busy.

Great idea!

Thanks for your constructive comment hopeleslie and i take your point that caterers could be a bigger and better target market.

I do think, however, that the smaller restaurants would still be a sizeable market especially on days that they are not busy. Smaller restaurants are also i think less constricted to fixed overhead pricing, after all the food is already purchased, the rent is paid and the chef is not busy, so any business is more business even if the margin is not the full margin desired.

MEALS on DEALS would also provide an excellent opportunity for restaurants to introduce themselves to potential clients even if sometimes on a lost leader marketing basis.

But all in all you are right, caterers are a sizeable supplier market and MEALS on DEALS can cater to the hungry busy people thru both market opportunities:)

To mitigate against the lack of interest from restaurants you could just have your system act as a regular customer and make the order for you. That way the restaurant doesn't even know that it is participant necessarily. There are other things that can result in a winning bid in this exchange; restaurants don't necessarily have to compete on price. What about proximity and timeliness for starters?

Maybe you could explain a bit on how this site would make money? Would it be the caterers/restaurants that would pay to have their add in place?

Also...hmmm...not sure I personally would sit down at my computer, flip through a few 'bids' and then choose a place. I'd probably find a better use hitting up the old telephone book. Maybe because when I order food it's all spur of the moment. If I didn't all of a sudden feel like a pasta dinner one night, how would I change my order if it's already been bid on, cooked, and is on the way to my door? I guess I'd be stuck.

I do like the idea for caterers though. Specially for weddings, parties, and corporate events. A lot of companies don't know who to use for such things. Would be handy to find out in a single source what kind of meals are available, and have these caters bid on the business.

Neat idea! I like out of the box thinking with this one.

This could also be used for people that love to cook but don't own a restaurant. Individuals could setup a "cook" account and provide food and delivery the same way a restaurant would.

To make money the "cook" account could cost.

How does licensing work for cooking for someone?

I like the idea but I don't think it will work simply because A LOT of restaraunts don't deliver. Also, it wouldn't make money, a restaraunt isn't going to hire an extra person to man the internet. Kitchens are hectic places, this would just worsen the environment. Good idea, just too hard to implement and way to hard to make money.

I don't this will take off. What's the incentive for a restaurant to sign up? Any time or money spent in getting customers via this service would probably be better spent on more traditional forms of advertising and incentives to get feet through the door.

1)only licensed restaurants can participate.
2)Restaurants struggle with minor tweaks to meals already on the menu let alone completely new dishes they have never made before. Its majorly confusing and inefficient.
3)people aren't chefs, they order out because they don't know how to make stuff taste good.
4)what restaurant wants to waste time/money deciding to make a bid, when the user might just choose a different restaurant.
5)what user wants to spend time entering in their meal details when there is a good chance no restaurant wants to make it.
6)How many people are so picky they can't find something they like on a menu
7)Its insulting to the restaurant when you say nothing on their menu looks good.
8)IF this was such a good idea why don't restaurants just hand you a list of ingredients instead of a MENU.
9)Ever hear of a Mongolian Barbecue, a restaurant that does give you a list of ingredients. Peoploe go there for the experience and ambience, not because they are dying to make themselves some specific dish.

Plasticmat .. agree with you there should be nothing wrong with individuals bidding and supplying the meals .. nothing wrong with the 'like grandma used to make' model .. this would fit in with the small caterer description i think:)

I don't know about the state licensing laws in the U.S.A so i will leave that to someone else to answer:)

Agreed lou, price doesn't have to be the only criteria that succeeds in a choice being made and a 'why buy from me' comment column would be a nice idea to add to the bid:)

Jim Desroches, it is not critical that the restaurant delivers themselves they can always avail themselves of other delivery mechanisms which are prominent in their areas; whether that be taxi, motor bike courier etc. However, a LOT of restaurants do have delivery services too! It really depends on the specific geo area we are talking about.

Each region will have different flavours of supply and it is up to the participating entities to make their own decision on what they are most comfortable with and if they wish or if it is cost effective for them to be involved at all .. and bear in mind this service includes small caterers and individuals too not only restaurants.

You suggest a restaurant hires an extra person to man the Internet .. i don't, that is totally overkill and is not required .. an individual entity be that a restaurant or a small caterer or an individual can make their own cutoff times in regard to whether they bid on a meal(s) or not. A manager, for example, could decide to check the Meals on Deals website before lunch, after lunch before the dinner rush etc. A small caterer might do it the day before only. They know their busy periods, they would make their own decisions. They can decide, based on the delivery time request on the order, whether it would fit in with their busy schedule or not .. some nights it would other nights they would not bid for orders .. thats the beauty of this service it is there for those that want it when they want it.

Also, no restaurant is obliged to participate in this service .. really busy ones may not but it is there for those that WANT or need to increase their business .. this service provides an opportunity for those that need it.

I see revenues that would flow from an agreed percentage of the billing of the winning bids, advertising and standard menu services.

C2, to answer your question on revenues i think they would flow in addition to the advertising by taking a service percentage from all the winning bids.

The actual percentage would be for the accountants to work out but i know of delivery meal franchises that take menu bookings over the phone from standard menus and they take 10% of the meal price plus a delivery charge.

Yes C2, some people order at the last minute but some like to plan their meals, especially if they are working parents and have families to cook for.

However, i see no reason why we should not include a standard menu order service from participating food vendors as an addition to the bid service for those that want to order off standard menus or at the last minute .. this could then provide additional revenues either by advertising and menu ordering web pages:)

Wait, several issues are obviously already solved on other sites.
Restaurants would pre-bid, selecting meals and prices and delivery availablility when they sign up or edit those details. Then when the customer submits for bids, he selects from pre-noted meals etc... recieving competing bids including meal details, deliver time and cost. Where's the time lost for restaurants? loosly translate 1/2 of the menu onto the site, add profit margin, wait for e-mail confirmation. not so hard.
And Catering is an Awesome addition to this idea. Brides-to-be love to read and leave comments, and the business is cut-throat pricing-wise.
Money would be made on each transaction. Catering transactions are sometimes 5-digits! hello! Good idea.

Lets be clear about this.... a resteraunt cooks food for people based on the recipieso of others... When you choose a resteraunt you are choosing the recipies. It isn't simply, a sandwitch, or or souffle.. it is jacks sandwitch, and jill's souffle, verses ben's and herb's... You can't bid for teh same item, because each one is unique to the resteraunt. Only major chains have regional similarities, and they still vary them to taste of the locals and avaliability of product as well as quality of staff. Maby YOU can't tell a difference between three different cheese cakes. But others can tell the difference between three cheesecakes from teh same cook. your idea represents a missunderstanding of the value of resteraunts, and probably why the prices vary between them.. it isn't merely what one resteraunt wants to charge vs. another, it is because of variations quality of ingredients, quality of workers, quality of environment, and possibly other additional services, perks, or high level of finnese. Few resteraunts merely charge for reputation, although there is that in your ticket as well. If joes excellent burger shop could sell his burger at teh same price as the big mac and still profit, he would, but he can't.. but his burger is different, and to most people, better.. just too expensive to eat as often.

Get your head on straight.... and pay more attention to your food! youw ill live longer and healthier that way....

Ronald_William_Buie :) i have it on straight but i think you lost the plot here. This idea is more about the convenience of having good food prepared by quality vendors at a good price delivered to your home or office with a bit of personal taste thrown in for good measure. It is not about restaurant warz supplying food at the keenest price which sounds like your interpretation.

The restaurant or caterer can see what is listed, see the price indicated elsewhere and decide if their Jack's Burger is competitive or not. They can still be more expensive and win the bid if their sales pitch is strong enough or their reputation preceeds them! Also consumer ratings can often sway a purchase decision even if more expensive than other offerings.

I am also not suggesting that cooking recipes are the consumer requests but lets say i fancy lobster and mashed potatoes tomorrow night .. why not? If i am the restauranter and i have got lobsters and i can make mashed potatoes who i am to worry about the combination.

This service presents convenience, quality, variety, personal choice, reputation and price comparison all rolled into one. Consumers make choices based on these criteria all the time why would a website service change that?

This service is not designed to seek out the cheapest meal .. but it could provide the best value for money and the most convenient way of satisfying that experience:)

I think this idea rocks! I do not think tublius, aidan and Ronald_William_Buie quite understood your idea. Its an all encompassing service that restaurants, caterers, home cooks can benefit from and provides a very meaningful service to busy people who are not into junk food take aways. Suggestion, allow meal bids to include delivery charge or not as i might want to pick up the meal on the way home, see the restaurant and save a couple of dollars if it is convenient for me. I would definitely use it.

Sounds like an awesome idea.. So whats your idea of setting this up? make deals with the biggest foodchains?

Thanks Rizal, i haven't had my focus on this idea for some time but i still think it has merit, the only issue i am still trying to get my head around is the locality marketing that it will need.

If you have any ideas or interest in exploring this idea please PM me.