How much do you think hungover university students would pay for a Gatorade to be delivered right to them the morning after a wild bender? Five dollars and eighty-nine cents is what Johnathan Cannon in Halifax is currently charging with his business Room Service.
Room Service is a mobile convenience store where users can place orders online and have Cannon or someone from his team deliver the order right to their door within 45 minutes. The company delivers common necessities like chips, soda, toilet paper, tampons and Gatorade, but Cannon said there is little profit from the sports drinks.
“We sell it pretty much at cost because there are people who are like, ‘I really need Gatorade more than anything in the world right now’. Our market is young adults, university age, those who are still somewhat in their partying phase and need electrolytes from time to time,” said Cannon, the company's President and Co-Founder.
The company's services are not exclusively for students but are only available within the Halifax Regional Municipality.
Room Service is also one of 10 companies enrolled in LaunchDal’s accelerator program. Cannon received $10,000 as part of the program to keep the business, which he currently runs out of his home, growing.
“We’ve got big ambitions,” said Cannon. “Part of the LaunchDal program is figuring out what those ambitions are and what they mean, but broadly I’d like to expand across Canada, if we can do it.”
Room Service got its start during Christmas of 2016. It is a family-run business involving Cannon, his girlfriend Beth Norton, his two brothers Jeremy and Craig and their father, Urban.
“It’s amazing working with my family,” said Cannon. "We’re not the type of family that really texts but now that we’re working together we’ll text each other things like, ‘Drive safe, love you bro’ at the start of the night.
“It’s gotten us a lot closer and my mom is super happy about it.”
Room Service buys its products wholesale and keeps a stockpile at Cannon’s home in Bedford. Services are available every day of the week from noon to 3 a.m with Cannon, his girlfriend and family making the deliveries.
“I guess we all work two full-time jobs,” said Cannon, who works 9 to 5 as a Chartered Professional Accountant with PricewaterhouseCooper in Halifax. “It’s a lot but it’s worth it.”
Cannon has over 900 users across the Halifax peninsula and has filled over 3,000 orders to date. A few months ago, the company expanded its range to include customers in Fairview and Clayton Park.
In terms of profit, the business is breaking even with its current model that charges a maximum $5 dollar delivery charge. The delivery charge depends on the quantity of the order.
“And we’ve got two other people coming on to help with the load because it’s starting to be a lot,” said Cannon. “So hopefully that will help us through this expansion.”
