When you design your restaurant, you need to decide whether the business will be a traditional sit-down establishment or something untraditional. If you’re going down an unconventional path, consider a ghost restaurant. It doesn’t need dining space; in fact, it doesn’t need to house customers at all.

Choosing this route eliminates the need for a typical storefront, but there are a few necessities for starting a ghost restaurant that you must consider. You need to think about the type of kitchen, the flexibility of the menu, and the most important aspect: the delivery service.

The Kitchen Space

Your restaurant may occupy an online space, but finding a kitchen to rent out is your first priority. This is the focal point of the business, and you need a reliable kitchen space to create your dishes and get them ready for delivery. You’ll spend a good amount to rent a suitable space, but you’ll also save money because you don’t need to pay for a location for customers.

These savings will allow you to invest in specialized equipment, such as high-quality stoves,electric meat cutters, and sturdier pots and pans. These funds will also help you hire more experienced chefs.

If you can’t afford to rent a space, you will need to schedule time with a kitchen commissary. This will give you the basic tools and space necessary to get your kitchen started. However, you must remember that it’s a shared space. Other food businesses will use the commissary, and sometimes, your schedules will conflict.

You must plan accordingly and work out a relatively consistent schedule for your business. This is not an ideal circumstance, but it is a cheaper alternative that helps you get your new ghost restaurant up and running. It allows you to figure out where you want to make future improvements.

You also have to think about the kitchen’s location. This helps you determine a delivery radius you can reasonably manage.

Setting up shop in an area far from your customer base will result in longer delivery times. It will increase the chances of food getting cold before it reaches its destination. This can result in negative customer reviews. Selecting a convenient location can prevent that problem.

The Menu

When looking for a kitchen, you should have a good idea of what the menu will look like. Knowing what your kitchen’s specialty will be allows you to seek the proper equipment for the menu.

Knowing the menu will also aid in preparing food for delivery. This means you must look into the right types of packaging to keep your foods either hot or cold during delivery. Figure out problematic dishes in advance, so you can develop solutions. You don’t want food to spoil before delivery.

But if there is no viable solution, whether logistically or financially, you need to consider taking the dish off the menu.

For an experienced kitchen, having a ghost restaurant will allow you to be more flexible with your menu items. You can adjust them from day to day, based on the ingredients available.

Certain types of food become scarce during specific times of the year. When this happens, you can easily take that item off the menu or switch around the ingredients. Updating your menu items and the ingredients listed keeps your customer base informed.

However, you must be careful with doing this too often. Changing your core menu too regularly can result in your customers not being able to find the dishes that drew them to your kitchen in the first place. A flexible menu can easily morph into a confusing menu if it changes too often.

You may want to consider starting a second business out of the same kitchen. A separate food service can offer these different food options. This can cut down on confusion, give you more freedom for food options, and even increase revenue.

Advertising Your Restaurant

It can be tricky to know how to advertise your new business. Most traditional restaurants have a physical place to eat, serving as a type of advertising. People and cars passing by will see the restaurant. Physical places show potential customers that you can eat there, but an all-online kitchen doesn’t have that luxury.

To adapt to this new market, your restaurant needs a strong online presence and a virtual marketing campaign. This begins with having an easy-to-use website that houses all the necessary information.

This can include information such as a phone number, an order page, the menu, and delivery radius. Creating social media accounts will also help get the word out and result in people discovering your restaurant.

Having an online presence, or lacking an online presence, can mean success or failure for your kitchen. Your online identity is your restaurant’s brand, and if you do not have a strong or appealing brand, then people will not pay attention.

Interaction with your customer base is one of the biggest necessities for starting a ghost restaurant. Without this interaction, no one will know that you exist or care about what you are serving.

Method of Delivery

Finally, you must consider the method of delivery. You can handle this in a few ways; the first method is having an in-house delivery service.

Hiring people who specifically work for your kitchen and represent your business comes gives you more control over how deliveries are carried out. You can also select high-quality delivery drivers.

Alternatively, you can opt to outsource your delivery service to a third-party, such as DoorDash, Grubhub, or Uber Eats. This takes the stress of maintenance and management out of your hands, but you also lose some amount of quality control.

You have little to no authority over the delivery drivers, and they can act in ways that could be unprofessional and possibly result in customer dissatisfaction. This can result from longer delivery times or inappropriate interactions.

While establishing a ghost restaurant comes with a large amount of freedom, that freedom could involve many problems. It is up to you, as the owner of the business, to make these crucial decisions. Make the right choices for a thriving, successful restaurant.