Jayson Koss, known as ‘The Dude,’ founded Delivery Dudes
three years ago. The company has expanded across Palm Beach
County and into Broward. Libby Volgyes/The Coastal Star
By Libby Volgyes
On a recent Saturday night, Jayson Koss, 27, took to his skateboard to get the job done. With the Delray Beach boat parade keeping bridges in an upright position, he didn’t have too much of a choice. After all, his customers were counting on the Delivery Dudes to get their sushi, filet mignon and dessert crepes delivered right to their door — and fast — boat parade or not.
It’s not every company founder who jumps in via skateboard, but then again, Koss isn’t really one for titles — or stiff protocol. And he’s not above pitching in — whether that means skateboarding food to his drivers or manning the phones.
“No titles, not really dude-like,” he says, preferring just to be known as “The Dude.”
Koss grew up in Islamorada and moved to Deerfield Beach for middle school. He graduated from North Broward High School and attended the University of Central Florida for two semesters.
He spent several years working in his family’s business, which contracts with different manufacturers to produce tailored clothing to sell to large retailers.
Four years ago, he moved to Delray Beach. Delivery Dudes was born about one year later, when Koss wanted food delivered but found that no one delivered food that he was interested in eating.
“What we’ve found is that everyone wants delivery at one time or another,” Koss said. “The only choice you’ve been able to have is really cheap Chinese or pizza. But now … [you] can get prime beef.”
It wasn’t until last year that Koss devoted more of his time and energy to Delivery Dudes.
“One day I thought ‘Holy crap, the Delivery Dudes has survived three years of neglect and still somehow makes money. What would happen if I concentrated my efforts here?’” Koss said.
That’s when what started as a simple delivery service really started taking off. They’ve gone from one location (Delray Beach) to six (Lake Worth, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach and Wellington), from 300-400 deliveries a month to 2,000 a month — with that number increasing 20 to 30 percent each month, Koss said.
Their business has almost tripled in the last eight months and by next summer they plan to have 30 locations. A Palm Beach location is planned for mid-January. They currently have almost 100 restaurants signed up and about 25 employees.
Delivery Dudes started with delivering food but goes far beyond.
“We specialize in food … We got the best food in each town, the food that would normally never be delivered. We’ve got customers that are such good people that we’ll always want to figure out (how to help). We might say ‘no’ because we don’t want to move eight kayaks across the state but we’ll want to help. You need stuff moved around the house? Sure. You need to be dropped off at the airport tomorrow? Sure,” Koss said.
The Dudes provide a variety of other services, such as delivering spears and tanks for Dixie Divers in Deerfield Beach and milk for Heritage Hen Farm. Or you can have PeterMark Salon come to your house for a haircut and style and the Dudes will bring along champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries — for $450.
His drivers give advice on where to park on the Avenue in Delray Beach; buy, wrap and deliver Christmas presents; drop off cakes for parties. They deliver snacks from their own pantry. They help out however they can.
Their motto remains: “Do good, be good and have fun.”
“I can’t find anything wrong with those three things,” Koss said. “I’m not trying to build a house of cards, I’m trying to build a true foundation.”
Need a Dude?
The Delivery Dudes serve Boca Raton (450-5560), Deerfield Beach (954-671-0108), Delray Beach (900-7060), Fort Lauderdale (954-636-4343), Lake Worth (674-9114) and Wellington (800-4979).
Locations in Palm Beach will be opening in mid-January and in Boynton Beach in February.
See DeliveryDudes.com for more information.
Comments