“Top dasher” and “Successful dasher” are too different things. “Top dasher” usually is opposite to financial success and freedom.
As an Independent Contractor You are the one making decisions. Have a plan. “Go with a flow” will not work. Have an idea how much you want to make per month. Set up your weekly and daily goals. Decide how much it’s worth for you to move your car at all. You can not make good money by accepting $3 orders. Guaranteed.
Be ready to commit and work 10+ hours per day, if you want results. Learn your market. Decide how much you need to make per mile round way for the delivery to make sense for you. As a rule, it should be not less than $1-2 per mile with the minimum of $7 per delivery. Smaller markets can have different algorithm and different minimum.
Invest money in equipment. You must have more than 1 hot bag. Hot food should stay hot and cold items stay cold. That is what Clients expect from You.
You’re in service industry. Be polite. Be professional. Provide excellent service. Remember communication is the key. Ratings do matter. If something goes wrong, always send an update to the Client. Give estimated time of delivery and brief description of what is going on. Do not overload your text with unnecessary information, especially if you are dealing with high end Clients.
Be ready to make mistakes and learn from them. For example, at certain point I thought that to be “top dasher” is an advantage. That” peak pay” guarantee you more income and better orders and etc.
Do not be afraid to press “decline” button, as many times as needed. Be patient. Stay positive.
If you do not feel like driving. Please, do not drive. Do not put yourself and others in risk.
Ask questions. Educate yourself. Watch youtube channels, read forums, join doordash facebook communities. They are great resources of truthful information.
Being your own Boss is hard. Most dashers have uncertainty about their income.
If you tried everything and still not making enough. Just move forward and try something different. Not everybody can make good money dashing. Your market can be overloaded with drivers, or our economy got worth or who knows what else. No matter what, do not give up and believe in yourself. We are all in that together.
World of Deliveries