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TECH SPOTLIGHT: Deepti Sharma of FoodtoEat
TECH SPOTLIGHT
This week’s featured tech entrepreneur is @ foodtoeat co-founder and CEO Deepti Sharma (@deeptinyc). Together with her team at FoodtoEat, Deepti helps immigrant, women, and minority food vendors secure catering gigs at corporate events throughout the city.
Could you tell us a little bit about FoodtoEat, and how you got your start?
The idea for FoodtoEat started when I was waiting for too long in a food truck line, and I asked myself, why don’t food trucks have technology they can receive orders with?
Fast forward a few years, and we had set up shop as an online ordering platform for food trucks, food carts, and restaurants. Later, we decided to pivot from a consumer model to a B2B model, helping these small businesses by facilitating partnerships with corporations who need event catering.
How have you been working to support your local community during these challenging times?
When COVID hit, our offices shut down and things turned south for a while, and we immediately realized that the most crucial thing we could do at that moment was to help our community. We decided to use our networks to raise money to feed those experiencing food insecurity through a crowdfunding campaign and grant applications.
I’m proud to say that we helped feed over 150,000 New Yorkers in eight months, with all meals coming from local restaurants.
We were able to help both small businesses affected by COVID and communities that were experiencing food insecurity because we took action and thought strategically about the areas where we could fit in where local governments weren’t able to.
Why are you excited about the future of tech in Queens?
I say this all the time: Queens really is the world’s borough. We are the most diverse place on Earth, with literally hundreds of languages spoken here. And the most exciting thing about all this is that diversity is becoming more and more welcome, and it’s leading to a more collaborative atmosphere for us all.
Everyday, I see leaders on all levels coming together to work with one another. It’s so important that we’re not just staying in our own lanes. This new paradigm shift will only lead to more innovation and new opportunities.
EXPERT ADVICE THE VALUE OF A EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAM
If you are a small business owner, you may debate whether implementing an employee benefits program is worth the cost. For most small companies, however, there are multiple significant advantages to offering benefits to employees, solidly justifying the cost.
The reality that exists in the business world is that benefits do matter. A solid benefits program allows a business to attract and retain key employees, leading to a more content and productive workforce.
Here are the reasons why every small business should consider implementing an employee benefits program:
• Attracting the Best Employ-
ees. The reason here is two-fold. First, companies desiring to hire the best position candidates need an employee benefits program simply because most of their corporate peers offer one. In order to be competitive, an employee benefit program is imperative since the typical employment applicant values benefits and salary as two of the key motivators when they consider a position. Secondly, offering a strong benefits package represents that a company cares about its employees, has a strong financial infrastructure and is willing to invest in the well-being of its employees.
• Retention of Valued Employ-
ees. For the same reasons that a solid benefits program provides an edge to companies in the hiring process, a good benefits program is needed to keep those valued employees from seeking employment elsewhere.
And less turnover also means the company saves on costs associated with hiring and training new employees. The clients with a company exhibiting high turnover can also be in jeopardy, as they often become aware of the problem and view it as a corporate weakness.
• Maintain Employee Wellbe-
ing. A healthy workforce is a productive workforce, and productive employees build solid companies. Employees with a comprehensive benefits package will be encouraged to facilitate the care of minor medical issues by receiving treatment before they mushroom into more serious health problems since they won’t fear high levels of outof-pocket costs when visiting providers.
• Improve Employee Morale.
Employers who treat their employees right are most likely to enjoy a loyal and satisfied workforce. The mood in the office will be a positive one when employees think the business owner genuinely cares about their health and well-being, boosting morale and enabling workers to feel good about the company. And clients can usually sense this!
• Enhance Employee Produc-
tivity. The result of everything mentioned to this point - attracting the best job candidates, retaining those same employees over time, maintaining their well-being and keeping their morale high - means that a company will be more likely to enjoy a productive workforce. This in turn is a positive reflection on the company ownership and lead to greater overall success.
