Our Favourite Apps: EatNow

Don’t feel like cooking tonight? But fancy something different to your usual local takeaway?

Eatnow is an award winning mobile app (also available on Android) that has made ordering takeaway even easier. Users enter their chosen suburb, and are offered a variety of cuisines available for pick up or delivery in their area.

What’s more, EatNow allows you to browse the menus, order the meal and pay for it all from the app!

We caught up with Matt Dyer, founder of Eatnow.com.au to find out more:

EatNow is an aggregator of takeaway restaurants. We sign up local restaurants, put their menu’s online and allow customers to quickly and efficiently order their takeaway for pickup or delivery through our platform.

How long have you been working in the industry?

I have been working on developing websites for 14 years but started eatnow.com.au 4 1/2 years ago.

What training/qualifications, do you have?

Computer Science and Business Management double degree from University of South Australia.

What is it that you like about the industry?

I have always enjoyed software and building applications. It’s great to be able to create something from nothing. I get the same satisfaction from seeing EatNow grow.

When you were 5, what did you think you’d become?

I honestly can’t remember. I was never the type of person that had a set path of what I wanted to do.

What is your favourite career highlight so far?

When Catchoftheday approached me saying they wanted to get into the food delivery market and made a deal with EatNow.

What strengths do you have that have drawn you to your profession?

I’m quite focussed and single minded. This definitely helps in starting a business. I’m not sure if these traits drew me to my profession but definitely helped me succeed once I started.

What is the best advice you ever received?

The best career advice I have had was when I finished University, someone who had been in software for a long time said make sure you get involved in writing websites and software for the internet. I followed this advice and this led me to many exciting jobs creating websites for large companies and eventually starting my own online business.

To succeed and develop, do you suggest formal training or work experience?

Definitely work experience. Formal training is helpful but there’s nothing like hands on experience and achieving real outcomes.

What is a typical day for you?

A typical workday for me involves meeting my colleague at the train station with our bikes and taking the train out to the office. On the other end we have a 4km bike ride. After having a coffee and checking emails most days look different. There’s a lot happening at EatNow with sales, marketing, customer service and developing the website.

What type of other industries/groups do you interact with?

EatNow has over 3600 local restaurants listed on the site so it is heavily aligned with the hospitality industry. Initially I signed a lot of restaurants onto the service myself, although I haven’t done that for a while there are plenty of restaurant owners that call me directly still for a chat or if they have an issue.

If you could start all over again, what would you do differently?

I generally don’t ponder that much over what I would have done differently. I’m reasonably content with my career path and have had many jobs that I have enjoyed.

Do you have any hobbies that have had a positive influence on your career?

I like running and this has had a very positive influence on my life and career.

How do you juggle career and personal life?

For the last few years career has definitely taken precedence over my personal life but I guess that’s the trade off in starting a business. It’s not easy and requires an enormous effort, something has to give.