Favor

I wanted to chat today about a side hustle that I tried out in my free time recently- driving for Favor! 

To start working for Favor you, of course, have to apply. It only took a few minutes and they asked me to pick a time to come in for orientation. I don’t know why but when I received that request it was rather unexpected- but I’m glad I pushed forward as the orientation was actually really informative and I went into driving for them with open eyes and feeling prepared.

For me, orientation was on the other side of town and wasn’t until the next day so I couldn’t apply and start driving on the same day (something to keep in mind) but I was able to get started fairly quickly in the scheme of things. I was doing my first delivery within 48 hours and had my first paycheck within the next 48.

Here’s what I learned in orientation and over the course of the few weekends I ran errands for Favor:

• Favor isn’t just for food delivery, though 80-90% of their deliveries are food.
  • I would say this is accurate as most of my deliveries have been food but I’ve also done someone’s grocery shopping for his sick girlfriend (what a nice guy!).
  • They also deliver: pet supplies, groceries, pharmacy orders (not all), dry cleaning, and will do general errands as well.
  • Alcohol is only available for delivery in some locations and does require an ID upon delivery. Cigarettes, whipped cream chargers and some medications, such as Sudafed, also can be delivered but with ID and only in limited quantities.
  • They will never deliver weapons, fireworks, or live animals. Further, we don’t offer rides.
• Once you’ve been assigned a Favor you will communicate with the client through text. This means you can send gifs or bitmojis or be funny in your replies if you'd like rather than just standard notifications and you can clarify questions about the request quickly if they come up. For instance, I had a customer who ordered wings but she didn’t say what sauces she wanted so I simple sent over a text and was done with placing the order in less than a minute- saving me time but also making sure she was as happy as possible- which can mean bigger tips.
  • Make sure the order is correct and that there are straws/napkins/sauces/etc. in the bag before you leave the store to also increase that happiness level and therefore tips!
• You are an independent contractor which means you can deduct for mileage (and the app that tracks it), gear, parking, tolls, cellphone data plans, etc.  on your taxes.
• You don’t have to set your schedule ahead of time- a must for me on some weeks- but there is a schedule if you want to get on for a specific time frame and ‘neighborhood.’
• Favor will tell you where to head within your ‘neighborhood’ for higher chances of getting a Favor assigned. These are indicated with a flame on the app.
• You can set pre-made text messages to send to your customers to save time… and call in 90% of the orders you receive so they are ready before you arrive for pick up. This is a must!
• If you are traveling you can run Favors in that area too. You aren’t limited to the area you signed up in… I moved and didn’t have to do a thing.
• They have a suggested tip of 20% for customers and if the customer doesn’t update that tip amount by the next morning you will get all 20% on your next direct deposit. On the money front- those tips are important as you get 35% of the delivery fee (minimum you will get is $2.10 per delivery for this) so most of your money comes from those tips.
• You can purchase a shirt/delivery bag combo for fairly cheap. I spent around $10 for a shirt and pizza bag. Check online for people reselling them or you can purchase at orientation.

• You are given a credit card to use when running Favors so you are not ever using any of your own money (a must for me 100%!)

• There are perks attached to joining Favor as a Runner:
  • 6 months free access to Everlance (I’ll be reviewing this in a few months once I’ve gotten into it more and really tried it out for a sustained amount of time).
  • Get Stride for free
  • Bonuses for weekend or holiday shifts
    • Typically structured in tiers according to number of Favored delivered during the specified time frame
  • Referral bonuses (so I hope you will use my referral link if you don’t mind, I’d be super grateful!)
    
  • ​Free food bonuses for deliveries

So, on to the main question… how much did I make? I tried out several different areas of the metroplex and times of day and found the best times of day were during meal times (duh, haha) and especially during dinnertime. The average amount I made for hour in the DFW area was about $11 if you include wait time and $14.30 if you only count time I was actively on a Favor.
​
While I wouldn’t make Favor my full time job it’s definitely great if you have an unexpected bill or want to make some quick cash for a night out with friends, especially as they pay out in about 48 hours. If you want to give Favor a try too click over to apply at https://apply.favordelivery.com and enter my code HEATH171. 

Until next time,