Cloud kitchen is a business whose demand is increasing day by day in India. If you also want to start your cloud kitchen and you are thinking about how to start this business, then today we will tell you How to start a cloud kitchen from home in India.
What is a Cloud Kitchen & Benefits of Opening a Cloud Kitchen
Cloud kitchen is not located at any physical place but is established virtually i.e. online. Cloud kitchen is also known as ghost kitchen, virtual kitchen and dark kitchen. Those who run cloud kitchens have a website or that cloud kitchen is connected to a food delivery service. If you open a cloud kitchen, it will require very little investment. At the same time, if we open a restaurant, it will cost a lot. Cloud kitchens are going to grow very fast in the coming times.
Steps For Starting a Cloud Kitchen:-
1) Do Market Research
To open a cloud kitchen, first, you have to do market research. In market research, you have to decide who your target customers are going to be. Then you have to set the price of your products. If you do not set the price properly, you may incur huge losses and your business will also not be successful. You have to look at three objectives to set the price.
- Surviving in a Competitive Market
- Competitor’s price
- Quality of the Food
2) Set up your Online Food Ordering System
Now you need to set up your online food ordering system. For this, you can choose a food delivery platform or you can also create your own website. On that website, there should be features like a menu of your cloud kitchen, payment gateway, order tracking status etc. If you choose a delivery partner, then you should also know that for this the delivery partner will charge 18-30% of your revenue per order.
But food platforms also have the advantage that they have a large customer base so you do not need to spend much money on marketing. If you are starting a cloud kitchen at the initial level, then you can connect with food delivery platforms like Zomato, and Swiggy.
3) Apply For Required Licenses
To start a cloud kitchen, you need some necessary licenses. The most important thing in this is the license of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). You can apply to get an FSSAI license on their official website. Along with this, you also need GST registration.
4) Choose a Location For your Cloud Kitchen
You should not choose the location of a cloud kitchen in a place where there is no electricity and water supply. To set up a cloud kitchen, you do not need a place with high rent. If you buy a location in the market, you will get it at a higher rent, so you should set up your cloud kitchen at a place where the rent is less and the facilities are more. If your budget is low then you can start your cloud kitchen from your home also.
5) Purchase Raw Materials, utensils and packaging materials
Now you will need some necessary equipment to run your cloud kitchen such as packing material, utensils, refrigerator, griller, oven, etc.
You can also buy refrigerators and ovens second-hand. Along with this, you will have to buy packing material which is of good quality because if the quality is not good then your food can get damaged during delivery due to which you will incur a loss, so while buying the packing material, pay attention to its quality.
6) Hire staff and focus on their training
Now you have to hire expert staff for your cloud kitchen. If you do not have that much budget then you can also run your cloud kitchen as a Saif. But if you can invest a little more, then you should hire people who are experts in the food industry. At the same time, you also kept training them. Tell them about food preparation and also tell them some safety protocols which will reduce the chances of harm.
7) Create a blueprint for your marketing strategy
All successful businesses have been able to grow only with the help of marketing. Marketing is an important part of business. Many marketing tools are used so that you can grow your business such as rebates, discounts, social media marketing, combo offers, cashback, etc.
Therefore, you have to prepare a blueprint of your marketing strategy to scale up your business.
8) Take Feedback From your customers
It is very important to get feedback from your customers because if you are selling only what you can make, you will not last long. At the same time, if you sell what the customers like, then this will increase the satisfaction of your customers and your sales will also be higher. If customers give some suggestions then you should implement them.
9) Overseeing the Actual workforce and Scale Up your business
You must keep an eye on how your cloud kitchen is running. Make sure to always check what’s happening in the business world so you can be the first to take advantage of new opportunities. If your business is making more money, then you should think about growing it even more. You could add new things to the menu, open another location, hire more people, or get more equipment.
