Using a shared commercial kitchen to launch a food service business focused on takeout and delivery is a smart way to get up and running.
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updated September 1, 2023 · 3min read
The best types of startup businesses are those with low upfront costs and consistent, high customer demand. Depending on the area, traditional restaurants often have great potential—since we all have to eat—but can also have costs that prevent average business people from taking the entrepreneurial leap.
Until recently, running a sit-down restaurant seemed to offer the greatest profit potential in the foodservice domain. Now, however, as customers are staying in more and regularly relying on takeout and delivery services, ghost kitchens are becoming a popular way for entrepreneurs to get into the foodservice business.
A ghost kitchen is known by a number of other names, including shared kitchen, delivery kitchen, virtual kitchen, and kitchen as a service (KaaS), among others.
"A ghost kitchen is a commercial kitchen designed for delivery only, or delivery and takeout," explains Tim Spiegelglass, owner of Spiegelglass Construction Company, who has built such spaces.
Spiegelglass likens ghost kitchens to full-service restaurants, minus the dining room. They contain all of the food storage, preparation, serving spaces, and equipment, but without room for customers to sit down and eat.
Ghost kitchens are excellent starting points for new food service entrepreneurs, says Spiegelglass, because renting such space allows you to test out a potential concept. "The startup costs are affordable, the commitment is minimal, and if you need to change course, you can do so easily," he says.
If you're considering establishing a new food service business using a ghost kitchen, here are some tips to improve your odds of success:
Now may be a good time to enter the food service business since many consumers are reluctant to dine inside restaurants during a pandemic but still want to enjoy having someone else cook for them. If you can combine great food with speedy delivery, your odds of success may be high.
by Marcia Layton Turner
Marcia Layton Turner writes regularly about small business and real estate. Her work has appeared in Entrepreneur, B...
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