How to Start a Ghost Kitchen (Step-By-Step Guide)

When creating your menu, make sure to focus on popularity and simplicity. Instead of creating a full-blown dark kitchen menu, offer customer favorites and some standard choices. Consider every item on the menu is suited for delivery.

Test your menu before launching

Check your menu and make changes when needed. Before opening your business and going live, make sure to check your menu with a small number of customers. This will help you know how well your menu is received and enable you to make necessary changes to improve its appeal and reach.

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Here are a few ways you can try out your menu items for better results:

• Ask your friends or family to check your menu and give honest feedback
• Offer free tests of your meals on social media groups or other platforms

This may sound like a daunting task and a waste of money. However, it’s always better to test your menu and be sure it’s good than to start a business that fails to impress customers and closes in its first year.

Scale up your menu testing with a soft launch. This will allow you to check your menu in a controlled way. You can offer a small portion of your new menu to limited customers on a specific day.

Step 4: Find a kitchen location

It is important to find a kitchen space that fits your business requirements, such as size, cost, equipment, and accessibility. Consider a kitchen space with enough room for food preparation, storage, and a delivery hub.

Since you don’t have a storefront, you won’t have to worry about footfall. Instead, your business success will depend more on serving and customers finding you online.

Listed below are the three best options to decide from:

Option 1: Shared commercial kitchens

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Shared kitchens are good for starting a food business as they are quite cost-effective and require minimal investment. You can easily rent a place in shared commercial-grade kitchens, saving enough money.

Moreover, the space will be licensed, saving you time and effort in acquiring relevant licenses and permits. However, you may have to purchase additional equipment based on your ghost kitchen needs. Also, these kitchen spaces fill quickly.

Here are a few sites where you can find shared kitchens:

• The Kitchen Door
• The Kitchen Terminal
• Use Kitch

Option 2: Rent commercial space

Commercial space can be a better option than renting a shared kitchen as it allows you to position your kitchen facility more strategically, attracting more customers and increasing brand visibility.

However, it may require long-term commitments and cost you more than shared commercial kitchen spaces.

Here are some sites where you can find ghost kitchens for rent:

• LoopNet
• Property Shark
• Commercial Search

Option 3: Set up your own facility

Creating your free-standing ghost kitchen facility allows you to customize details such as appliances, layout, and equipment per your business needs.

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This way, you don’t need to share storage or other spaces. However, setting up your own facility can be the most expensive option since it requires massive investment.

Step 5: Meet restaurant regulations and get licenses

Before you can launch your ghost kitchen and start selling your food online to customers, you need to meet all the food laws and regulations and obtain the necessary licenses like traditional restaurants to prevent disruptions.

The requirements in each state, county, and city vary so know which food and delivery laws and regulations are applicable in your area.

What permits do you need to start a Ghost Kitchen?

Preparing and serving meals to customers should be done safely and adequately with precautions that often require permits. But, unfortunately, most people ignore the legalities when starting a ghost kitchen business.

However, this is the most critical aspect of starting a delivery-only restaurant that lasts.

Here are a few permits you’ll need to open a ghost restaurant:

What license you need to obtain

Based on your dark kitchen offerings, licenses may vary by state and local jurisdiction. Nevertheless, you’ll need a business license and a food service license to operate legally in your location and the food industry.

How to get the necessary permits and licenses?

You can acquire the necessary licenses and permits for your ghost kitchen online or in person from the local government. These requirements are similar to those for a traditional restaurant, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble since the system is already in place.

Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Kitchens