The starting point
A new store inside a known franchise.
The owner opened a new location of an established fast-casual franchise in New Jersey and brought us in to manage this one store on the delivery apps. It went live on August 12, 2026, with a five-month engagement and a clear target: reach $40,000 a month by month four or five.
A franchise name helps, but on the apps a new location still starts with no ratings, no reviews and no order history. For the first full month we set a sales goal of $15,000 and a payout-ratio floor of 50%.
Decision 01
Win first orders with offers aimed only at new customers.
We coordinated the launch with DoorDash and planned campaigns to start on September 1. On Uber Eats we ran a first-order BOGO, and on DoorDash a new-customer BOGO. Both were limited to people who had never ordered from the store, so regulars weren't getting a discount they didn't need.
In September, the Uber Eats first-order offer brought in 189 new customers and $8,858 in sales on $3,465 of offer cost. The DoorDash BOGO drove 91 first orders. Uber Eats store views rose 168.1%.
Decision 02
Scale ads only once the offers were working.
With the offers converting, we scaled Uber Eats ads. Uber reported $25.96 in sales for every $1 of ad spend in September. That figure is Uber's attribution and overlaps with offer sales, so we use it as a signal that the ads were reaching the right people, not as extra revenue. The store's first DoorDash sponsored listing went live on October 4.
Decision 03
Protect the store's record from day one.
We replied to reviews and checked every error charge. In September we disputed four charges that weren't the kitchen's fault and won all four. Early on, a clean record matters as much as the sales line, because ratings and accuracy shape how much the apps show a new store.
The result
Ahead of plan, and profitable from the start.
September 2026 sales were $19,592 across all three apps from 507 orders, 30.6% over the $15,000 goal. The payout ratio was 63.2%, well above the 50% floor, so the growth didn't come at the cost of margin.
The next step is building toward the $40,000 monthly target: adding DoorDash sponsored listings, keeping offers focused on new customers, and turning first-time customers into repeat ones.