It's Thursday evening. You've been on your feet since six. The kitchen is finally clean and you sit down for the first time all day. You open Instagram.
Forty-seven messages.
Some ask the same thing you answered on Tuesday: "Is it dairy-free?" Others ask whether you're around on Saturday. Three people want prices. One sent a three-minute voice note. Somewhere in there are one or two actual orders, and you have to dig through everything to find them.
This is the part of selling food nobody warns you about. It isn't the ingredients or the early mornings. It's the back-and-forth before a single sale happens.
The problem is the tool, not you
Social media is built to keep people scrolling. Its messages are fine for chatting and bad for taking twenty orders for Saturday morning and remembering who paid.
Most home cooks and bakers still run everything through it, because a restaurant or a shop was never the right fit for a few dozen orders a week. So cooks end up in DMs, customers end up in DMs, and everyone pretends it's normal.
What it costs you
Missed orders. Someone messages, you don't see it for four hours, and they've moved on.
No-shows. You made twelve jars for Saturday and confirmed six people over DMs. Three forget. There's no written pickup time and no record, so you absorb the loss.
Overcommitting. You told four people you "might be able to" do something this weekend, and on Friday night you realise it doesn't add up.
Undercharging. When every sale is an informal chat, it's hard to ask for a deposit or hold a price.
What a better way looks like
Buyers should see what you make, when you can hand it off, and what's left, then order without a single DM. That's how TrulyServd works:
- Your menu answers the questions. Every dish shows its price, photos, ingredients and allergens, and every option you offer.
- Your hours decide the pickup times. You set when you cook and when you hand off. Each dish has a lead time, and buyers only see pickup slots you can actually make.
- Your portions stop overbooking. Plan how many you'll make for today and the next few working days. Orders for planned days confirm themselves, and a sold-out day stops taking orders.
- Everything else is a pre-order you choose. You accept or decline it before a deadline, usually within the hour.
- You get an email for every new order. Each order has its own chat, so details stay with the order and out of your DMs.
- The pickup time is written down. If a buyer doesn't show, you mark it as a no-show.
- Payment stays yours. Buyers pay you directly with cash or Interac e-Transfer, and you mark it received. If you want a deposit, agree it in the order chat.
- A pause button. Stop new orders until a date you choose. Orders you've already accepted stay on your list.
Why TrulyServd exists
The people who cook the best food in a city are often the hardest to buy from, because the tools they have were never built for them. TrulyServd is one place where they can be found and ordered from, without a storefront. Read the full story.
If this sounds like your Thursday nights, see how selling on TrulyServd works.