By the time the app takes its cut, there is barely anything left on the order.

Sound familiar?

• The order looked like £30 on the screen. After commission it pays like £20.

  Why it hurtsMarketplace commission runs 13-30% depending on platform and model, and VAT charged on the commission itself can push a headline 30% to an effective 36%. Against a typical kebab shop's 7-12% net margin, the cut can be the entire profit.

• At half twelve the phone rings and rings, and the only person who can answer it is also cooking.

  Why it hurtsOne pair of hands cannot fry, wrap, take cash and answer a phone at once - and a ring that goes unanswered in the lunch hour is usually an order that goes somewhere quieter.

• The fryers never switch off, and every price rise gets taxed before it reaches you.

  Why it hurtsA typical fish and chip shop spends around £17,000 a year on energy, and the NFFF counts around 1,500 chip shops lost in three years. Fixed costs that size only get paid by orders you keep the whole margin on.

A day with VenueDeck

1. 12:15pm

   The lunch queue is at the counter, the grill is full, and the phone starts. Answering means stopping mid-wrap; not answering means the order goes elsewhere. Either way it costs you.

   What happens insteadThe QR on the counter and the link in your bio take the order instead: customers pick, pay and get a collection time without anyone touching the phone, and the order appears in the shop the moment it is paid.

   The product behind it: Online Ordering

   

2. Saturday, 7:30pm

   Three tablets buzz on the back counter, each with its own format and its own printer. While the fryers are up, an order sits unseen on the machine nobody had a second to check.

   What happens insteadEvery order source lands on one board, in one format, sequenced for the kitchen. One screen to glance at between baskets, and nothing buried under a tablet.

   The product behind it: Orders Hub

   

3. Month end

   The marketplace invoice lands and a chunk of the month's best nights has already gone before the money reached the bank. The maths is simple, and it stings the same every month.

   What happens insteadA real website of your own, with ordering built in, gives regulars a direct lane with no commission on it. Keep the marketplace for being found; keep the regulars for yourself.

   The product behind it: Venue Websites

   

The numbers

What it costs for a takeaway

Straight answers

My customers already order on the marketplace apps.

Keep them there for discovery - that is what the commission buys. The direct lane is for the regulars who already know you: the QR on the counter, the link in your bio, the card in the bag. Every regular who moves across keeps the commission on their order in your till instead.

I am not a computer person.

If you can run a marketplace tablet you can run this. It is one screen with orders on it, and the menu is set up once, from your phone or by CSV import. It is built to be simpler than the tablets you already juggle, not another one.

I cannot take on another monthly cost.

Fair - so do the maths first. At a 30% effective commission, one or two decent delivery-sized orders a week moved to your own site cover the £19 subscription on their own. The estimator shows the number for your shop before you commit to anything.