4 Things to Consider Before Your First Delivery

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By: Rain City Dreamer

You're ready. You got your phone, your car, and are eager to make some money. But before you hit the road, here are 4 things I wish I had considered to save me time and stress down the road.

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1) Use A Business Email

Whether you use DoorDash, Postmates, Uber, ��UberEats, Instacart, Roadie, I don't care, ��I recommend you make a separate email for your gigs. When you start mixing your personal emails with your business emails, things can get very messy, very quickly. So keep things like payment receipts and legal documents for all your different apps under one email. ��You also want to make sure you're securing your e-mail(s) to ensure it doesn't get breached. Apps like Postmates have very easy systems to reset your password which may lock you out if your e-mail was given out or compromised.

2) Restart Your App Each Time Before Driving

Updates happen, systems change, and if you're a multi-apper it's good to exit out of all unused tabs to keep your money making apps lightening fast and responsive. It's a small thing, but I've made it a part of my routine. I also try to force updates on the apps I'll be using before driving such as updating Doordash if they have it available.

3) Consider Creating An LLC

There are some advantages and disadvantages for doing this, as there is a fee. If you operate under an LLC instead of a sole proprietorship, you're separating yourself from the business, and that LLC would directly protect you in the case of lawsuit. However, since this is something that I myself haven't done (I found out about it too late), you should do your own legal and financial research and figure out what's best for you. Consider this a jumping off point for further exploration. If you're not going to the LLC route than at least use #1 & #4 to help separate your incomes.

4) Create Separate Expense and Income Bank Accounts

My first year behind the wheel ��I had everything funneled into one account. But let's just say things got very annoying come tax season. The same fate may befall you, especially if you're doing other side hustles besides delivery (like how I was also dabbling in reselling).

To keep things neat, I opened up several online bank accounts, all with no minimal or monthly maintenance fees, making separate accounts for all my delivery income, reselling income, my W2 income, etc. It felt good seeing everything separated and well organized, and it was made even ��easier since I use the Quick Books Self-Employed app to track all my side hustle revenue and expenses. Check out my video on Quick Books Self-Employed and how to use their mileage tracker to learn more.

Some bank accounts I can recommend that have either no fees or are online only are Ally Bank, SoFi, and Wealthfront. Make sure to do your own research before joining.

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