Era after era, the restaurant trade has stayed with us. But for anyone short of capital, without the money to open a restaurant with a shopfront, or looking to sell food as a second income around a full-time job, running a food business from home is the right answer. In an age where people order through delivery apps as a matter of course, the chance of a handsome profit is greater than ever. So how do you make this kind of business work? Let us unpick the secret together in this article.
What a home-based food business — a ghost kitchen — actually is
A ghost kitchen, sometimes called a cloud kitchen, is a way of selling food in which the seller cooks in a private kitchen, whether that is the kitchen at home or the one in a condominium. The premises are the kitchen and nothing more: there is nowhere for customers to sit and eat, and everything is sold online or by delivery. It is one of the most popular business models of the moment. During the COVID-19 outbreak, when people avoided travelling and eating out, sales at these kitchens went through the roof. A good number of people who started cooking from home turned out to be very good at it, held on to their customers for years, and some even built up enough capital to open a shopfront of their own.
The advantages of running a food business from home
Now that you know what a ghost kitchen is, let us look at what else this model offers, beyond simply being able to sell food and earn an income from your own house or condominium.
1. It keeps costs down
Running a restaurant means a long queue of expenses: rent, fitting out the room, staff, crockery and all the other equipment. Running a food business from home means using the equipment you already have and expanding gradually, step by step. There is no rent to pay and no shop to invest in, which saves you a great deal.
2. Your opening hours are flexible
Open a restaurant and you are tied to fixed hours, because customers want to come and sit down. Cooking from your own home carries no such obligation. If you want to close, you simply switch yourself off in the app and post a note on your page — and off you go, to run errands or to rest.
3. You can change the menu as you please
Often the ingredients you have to hand will not stretch to every dish on the menu. Cooking from home makes it far easier to change the menu to suit what you have than being locked into a fixed one. Telling customers in advance on social media which dishes you are rotating in each day is rather appealing in its own right, too.
4. You can sell through several channels
If you run a restaurant with a shopfront, the most you can realistically add is delivery-app customers; you cannot slip away to deliver yourself, because someone has to mind the shop. Sell on the ghost kitchen model and you can sell through the apps and earn through other channels besides: delivering on your rounds yourself, having customers collect from the house, or cooking food ready to sell and paying someone to run a market stall with it.
Four keys to a successful home-based food business
For anyone who wants to start a food business at home but has no idea where to begin, do not worry: we have gathered the things that matter most in making this kind of business work. Here they are.
1. Choose dishes you are good at that do not take long to cook
The first key is choosing dishes you are genuinely confident taste good, that are quick to make, and that hold their flavour even after a long journey. Once everything has settled, you can add dishes gradually to widen your customer base.
2. Packaging that looks good and suits the food
Food that tastes good deserves packaging that looks good. We would suggest designing a sticker for your food boxes, both to make the brand memorable and to advertise how to reach you, in case a customer would rather ring the kitchen directly. You also need packaging that suits the food itself, so that nothing spills or leaks in transit.
3. Keep the quality of your ingredients and the taste consistent
Whether you cook at home or anywhere else, nothing matters more than consistency of flavour and quality: the tenth order has to be as good as the first. Do not drop the quality of your ingredients simply to save money. Consistency is what impresses customers and builds a base of regulars.
4. Market and promote the kitchen consistently
The last key is putting media to work for you. When you cook from home you have no sign above a door, so reaching customers is harder. Use online channels to promote the kitchen, run ads targeted at the neighbourhood around you, and keep putting out promotions when the occasion allows, so customers take to you and come back again.
Even a very small business has a real chance of success. Make your home-based food business that bit more professional with a compact restaurant till from Qashier: check your takings easily, see which dishes sell best at a glance, and build your food business on steady ground. If you would like to know more, contact us on LINE Official: @qashier.th or call 02-544-0267
Reference:
How to open a ghost kitchen and sell food without a shopfront. Retrieved 28 March 2024 from https://www.torpenguin.com/ghostkitchen/