If you want to understand how to start a ghost kitchen in 2024, you’ve come to the right place.

👋 In this guide, we’ll walk you through the entire process of starting and maintaining a ghost kitchen, start to finish. 

We’ll cover the following:

• What a ghost kitchen is.
• The benefits of starting a ghost kitchen.
• How to start a ghost kitchen in 2024 – from market research to delivery methods.

Ghost kitchens are one of the fastest-rising restaurant trends, all thanks to the growth in online food ordering. They are very lucrative business ventures, and it’s no surprise that you’re thinking of starting your own. But, if you don’t know how to do it, we’ve got you covered. 

But first, let’s outline what a ghost kitchen is, before we explore how to start a ghost kitchen.

What is a ghost kitchen?

A ghost kitchen is a type of food business that solely focuses on preparing and delivering food to customers. Unlike traditional restaurants, it doesn’t have a physical storefront, a formal waitstaff, servers, or a dining room where customers can dine.

Instead, this restaurant operates in commercial kitchen spaces where meal orders are received online for preparation and packaging. The food is then dispatched for delivery. 

Simply put, a ghost kitchen is a type of food delivery service for customers looking to order food for delivery. Because of this, some restaurateurs refer to ghost kitchens as delivery-only restaurants. 

You can also refer to this kitchen as a cloud kitchen, dark kitchen, or virtual kitchen because they exist only digitally.

Starting this type of food business has several benefits that can set you off the ground successfully. Let’s have a look at a few.

The benefits of a ghost kitchen business model

As a  restaurateur, you stand to benefit a lot by choosing a ghost kitchen business model over a traditional restaurant. If you do, here are some of the benefits you’ll enjoy. 

Reduced startup costs

The initial cost of starting up a delivery-only business model is substantially lower compared to a traditional restaurant. 

This model only focuses on the kitchen. It eliminates expenses like extra rent for your premises, utilities, interior decor, maintaining front-of-house staff, and other operations. These are things mortar restaurants have to grapple with.

📈 To be precise, virtual brands can significantly reduce labor costs by up to 25%, cut rent expenses by 20-40%, and trim marketing costs by 10-20% compared to traditional restaurants. 

Instead of a hefty startup cost, you can get going for much less than a traditional restaurant. This makes ghost kitchens a feasible option for many restaurateurs who want something more affordable.

Increased efficiency

Because of reduced overhead costs, restaurant owners can shift gears and focus on delivering tasty food to happy customers.

You can invest the money you saved during startup to optimize your menu for deliveries and streamline your delivery operations and other back-of-house kitchen operations.

Since you’ll be running a delivery-only business, investing heavily in delivery will greatly reduce your turnaround time.

📈 Keep in mind that 38% of customers expect their food to be delivered within 30 minutes of placing an order.

If you can do this successfully, even your kitchen staff can take breaks between orders and then resume their work afresh.

Access to a wider customer base

With ghost kitchens, foot traffic is taken out of the equation. You no longer rely on your physical storefront to bring in hungry customers. Instead, you can reach a higher volume of customers searching for food online through your website.

Partnering with popular third-party delivery apps like Uber Eats, Grubhub, and Doordash also gives you access to their huge customer base.

📈 Such partnerships, for instance, can give you access to over 87% of Americans who use third-party food delivery services to make their lives easier. 

Ghost kitchens are highly adaptable and flexible

The online world is full of surprises, and consumer preferences and trends change by the day. Starting a ghost kitchen enables you to adapt to these changes quickly by adjusting your menu items or operational modifications based on market demands.

Such adaptability can easily increase your revenue streams and bolster your chances of being successful.

Additionally, ghost kitchens enjoy the liberty to set up in locations that might be more affordable or convenient. This flexibility ensures that while the restaurant can serve busy areas, it doesn’t necessarily have to be situated right in their midst. As a result, you can save a lot on rent. 

Faster setup

A ghost kitchen also eliminates many of the hassles required to open up a new restaurant location. 

For instance, it eliminates the need to find a dine-in space and a suitable location, renovate the space, hire staff, etc. Traditional restaurants, on the other hand, have to go through all these steps, which can take several months, if not years, to be fully operational.

Ghost kitchens remove these steps, accelerating the time it takes to start selling your food. The market is already there, just waiting for you.

The benefits of a ghost kitchen are endless. Let’s see how to start a ghost kitchen this year and enjoy all these benefits.

How to start a ghost kitchen this year

Starting a business requires careful planning, making important financial decisions, and completing various legal activities. A ghost kitchen is no different. In this section, we’ll walk you through all the steps you need to learn how to start a ghost kitchen this year.

Step 1: Conduct market research

Before you do anything else, you need to decide what type of ghost kitchen you want to operate. Start by thinking about the food you want to cook and sell. It should be something that can easily be packaged and transported without getting ruined. 

After this, you can conduct a simple market research to determine:

• If the type of food you chose is something people in your area typically order or like.
• If your new concept is welcomed and popular within your locality.
• If there are existing restaurants near you that offer similar options to you, If there is one, analyze their menu, pricing, and customer reviews to find areas where you can differentiate.

Why market research is crucial

Doing this type of market research will enable you to tell if your restaurant business idea is feasible. It will also give you a good sense of your target market. You can also use market research to identify new customers for your food. 

For this, you can go directly to your customers, close friends, neighbors, and community. Find out if they’re interested in your idea through social media, focus groups, etc.

Even better, you can use existing sources to study your target demographic. Study their preferences, spending habits, ordering patterns, restaurant industry trends, etc.

You’ll also want to keep up with your locality’s latest small business trends. The information you gather can help you understand your target audience better and reduce risks.

Once you have a general idea of what type of food you plan to offer and its feasibility, the next step is to write up a business plan.

Step 2: Write your business plan

This is where you write down all the details about how your business works. It doesn’t have to be long or formal, but it helps you organize your thoughts. A good business plan can also help you convince investors or get outside funding to start your business. So, make it convincing!

Here are a few things you can outline in your plan and make it convincing:

• Define your restaurant brand and identity.
• Give an overview of your ghost kitchen concept and target market. Include budgeting for kitchen equipment, staffing, technology, marketing, and operational costs.
• Share a sample menu with a list of all the food item(s) you’ll sell, any promotions you’ll offer, etc.
• Demonstrate demand for your food concept. You’ll get this information from your market research findings.
• Introduce a few staff members. 
• Outline your marketing plan and strategy.
• Calculate how much money you’ll need to invest, how you’ll use it, and other financial projections, etc.

This list is endless. Generally, you need to be creative with your business plan to get the most out of it.

Step 3: Pick the right business location

While you may think you don’t need a clever location for your ghost kitchen, considering you’ll primarily handle online orders and not foot traffic, it’s still important to think it through. This is because your business will be making deliveries.

Therefore, think about renting a kitchen space that is located close to your target audience. You’ll want to be able to deliver your food within a reasonable amount of time for a small delivery fee. 

If you want to, you can partner with existing restaurants near your customers and use their kitchens to prep your food and do deliveries. Usually, these shared kitchen spaces provide a lower-cost alternative to opening up a new kitchen on your own.

You’ll be able to rent the real estate without the financial setback or commitment. Additionally, you’ll get access to an already-established customer base and minimize further operational costs.

If you want to open a personal kitchen in your residence, for example, take a moment to think about your neighborhood. Is there a demand for your food? Is your home big enough? Are there any restrictions that will stop you from operating your business?

Step 4: Apply for relevant licenses and permits

Whether you’ll be operating out of your home or another space, if you’re dealing with food, it’s important to make sure that you are fully compliant with all health and food safety regulations.

Apply for all the necessary food business licenses, health department certifications, and any other permits required to operate a delivery-only restaurant in your area. Some include a food service license, employee health permit, seller’s permit, zoning permit, etc.

Remember that license and permit requirements in each city, county, and state are different. So familiarize yourself with the laws in your area regarding food service and delivery.

Step 5: Set up your ghost kitchen 

This is the step where you buy all the commercial kitchen equipment you need to cook your food. 

The equipment you’ll buy will depend on the type of food items on your menu. So, stock all the ingredients you need to prepare your meals. Find a refrigeration unit where you can store all your food. Get high-powered burners, ovens, cutlery, etc. 

💡 Tip: If you don’t want to go through all this trouble, consider renting space in a shared commercial kitchen to reduce the initial costs required to set up a kitchen.

Step 6: Choose your delivery method

This step is important if you want to deliver hot, fresh, and delicious food quickly to your customers. If you can’t, you’ll often find yourself with dissatisfied customers, bad reviews, and probably few repeat orders – which is bad for business.

Therefore, before taking your first order, decide whether to use third-party delivery services like Uber Eats, DoorDash, or Grubhub. The advantage of partnering with popular delivery platforms is the access to a wide customer base. 

However, you’ll have to pay a commission and some fees for every delivery order. If you want to avoid paying such fees altogether, consider setting up your own in-house delivery system. Especially if you’re new in the ghost kitchen market and every single cent in your pocket counts.

This involves hiring delivery drivers, investing in transportation (like bikes or vehicles), and managing logistics.

Step 7: Establish an online presence

A virtual kitchen exists only digitally. So, if you want to be discovered online, you require a neat and effective restaurant website where customers can learn more about you, browse your menu, and place an order.

📈 Include things like restaurant details, a mouthwatering menu, reviews, and testimonials (if any), among other things. 77% of the diners check out such things before they can order from an establishment.

Most importantly, your website should be user-friendly, modern, inviting, and engaging. If this is the first impression an online customer gets from you, they’re more likely to place an order and confirm their order. 

Anything other than that will drive them away – and this is a lost opportunity!

📈 Additionally, ensure it is mobile-friendly because 89% of dining research is done over a smartphone.

Now, an inviting restaurant website will only bring online customers to your kitchen and browse your menu. Since you’re running a delivery-only restaurant, the website must be able to accept online orders, update your customers on the order progress, and get paid.

For this, we have the right tool to help you.

Set up an online ordering system with the plugin Orderable

Orderable is an all-in-one WooCommerce plugin that enables you to streamline all the primary operations of a ghost restaurant.

Orderable enables you to receive online orders through your WordPress restaurant website, accept payment, print receipts, and charge sales tax (if you want to). 

The back-of-house staff can prepare and package your food on time and effortlessly keep track of all orders from start to finish. When the order is ready for dispatch, you can notify your customers when to expect it and ensure timely deliveries. You can also offer takeout or local pickup services with Orderable if you want to.

Why Orderable is ideal for your ghost kitchen

Here’s why Orderable stands out as the ideal solution for virtual restaurant brands:

• Fully customizable and easy to set up: With Orderable, you can set up a robust ordering system with WooCommerce in minutes. This process is fully customizable every step of the way. You’ll have full control over your website, ordering process, promotions, and prices. On top of this, the Orderable plugin installs WooCommerce for you if you haven’t already done so.
• Ability to set your own delivery schedule: Orderable lets you set exactly when you’re available to deliver and accept orders. Then, refine it with maximum orders, holidays, ASAP delivery, lead time, and more. So, your kitchen staff aren’t left out. If you want them to blow off some steam in between orders, this is the part you give them a breather.
• Customer-centric features: Orderable prioritizes the customer experience. Its app-like design is optimized for mobile users, and features like order notifications, nutritional information, and product labels keep customers informed and engaged. This will keep customers coming back for more.
• An effective order management system: The Live Order View feature lets you see when an order comes in, the order status, and when the customer expects their order. It updates in real-time, enabling you to keep the back-of-house running smoothly and track all new and old orders.
• Streamlined location management: We know that ghost kitchens are flexible, so with Orderable, you can open up as many kitchen locations as possible. You can manage multiple kitchen locations on one website, ensuring timely deliveries and consistent service.
• Maximize your profits: Every cent counts, and Orderable considers that. Unlike many delivery platforms that take a commission on sales, Orderable adopts a commission-free model. Instead, it focuses on features that boost sales, such as checkout tipping, order bumps, and product add-ons.

With an online ordering system in place, we can now think about our menu. 

Step 8: Design the best online menu possible

An online menu is undeniably the highlight of a restaurant website, especially for a delivery-only restaurant like yours. So, develop a menu that is optimized for delivery.

For that, Orderable has got you covered! It isn’t just another online ordering system. This plugin is also designed to enhance your menu displays in the following ways:

• Ready-made menu layouts: Nothing will make a customer quickly confirm an order than a menu carefully crafted to capture all aspects of your food items, describe your food, and show transparent pricing. That’s what you get with Orderable. The menu layouts are aesthetically designed to let you showcase high-quality images of every dish you sell. Ensure these images are mouthwatering and authentic.
• Nutritional information & product labels: Orderable allows you to spruce up your menus with product labels and important nutritional information. You can give your customers the information they need to buy with nutritional information. For instance, allergen info, customer religious preferences like kosher or halal, etc. Make this even easier with dietary and promotional product labels.
• Update your menu in real-time: If you wish to make updates or changes to your menu, you can do so with Orderable. You can change prices, show which dishes are sold out, indicate the chef’s special and popular dishes, limited-time offers, etc.

Step 9: Integrate delivery into your restaurant operations

Overall, all your restaurant operations and the delivery services you offer should work harmoniously. This will provide a smooth experience for both the restaurant staff and customers. 

So, add a dedicated space for food packaging and handing off orders to the delivery personnel. It will make all this work seamlessly and ensure timely deliveries.

Use Orderable to manage delivery orders efficiently at this stage for increased efficiency and improved productivity.

This plugin lets you keep track of food preparation times, delivery status, and customer feedback in the following ways:

• The Live Order View feature in Orderable: allows you to see who made an order, at what time they made the order, the order status, and when the customer expects their order. This page updates in real-time, enabling you to keep track of food prep time and think of ways to shorten it.
• Offer delivery slots: This is one of the standout features of Orderable. It lets customers choose a delivery time that best suits them and improves their order experience.
• Send real-time notifications through WhatsApp & SMS: Customers appreciate being in the loop. Orderable notifies your customers when their orders are on the way with customizable order statuses and notifications.
• Orderable allows you to receive customer feedback via emails.

👋 Want some more tips for managing your online restaurant? Check out our restaurant management tips guide.

Step 10: Implement a marketing strategy

You can market your restaurant online and find new customers in several ways. These include food delivery apps, local advertising, food influencers, social media platforms like Instagram, and other digital marketing platforms like emails. 

So, choose one within your marketing budget and start from there. 

If your dishes are a feast for the eyes and you’ve got good food photography skills, use Instagram. If you want to target Gen Z, for instance, sign up for a TikTok account and reach out to them. 

Try different marketing strategies and see what works best for you. Good marketing strategies are dynamic.

👋 Want a more in-depth guide to restaurant marketing? Read our digital marketing for restaurants guide.

Get your ghost kitchen up and running in 2024

A ghost kitchen is a very lucrative business venture for restaurateurs. If you’re thinking of starting your own, you’ll need proper planning, a good online presence, and reliable delivery services. 

You can run a profitable ghost kitchen with the help of the Orderable. This WooCommerce plugin allows you to add an efficient ordering system and well-designed menus to your restaurant website. 

These two are at the heart of a great ghost kitchen. They allow you to attract potential customers and provide them with a great experience that keeps them coming back. 

Get your ghost kitchen up and running today with Orderable and enjoy the benefits of having a delivery-only restaurant.