Should I consider a Virtual Restaurant?

Start-up restaurants have a notoriously low success rate. About 60% of all new start-ups fail within the first three to five years. So when or when not to, where to, and how to remains the question. 

Is the timing to open a restaurant right. Derek Miller quotes that for the first time in history in 2016 Americans spent more on prepared foods than groceries. So in America, the timing to open a new restaurant cannot be better. 

The high setup cost of a restaurant especially the front-of-house furniture and decor has become extremely costly. To rent space and have seating capacity covering 75% of your restaurant has to be thought through. The Covid pandemic has taught us a valuable lesson here that even when clientele cannot go out for a meal they would still like the convenience of ordering in a meal.

So when you have a neat and tidy well-spoken delivery agent delivering your meal is your client going to worry about what the decor and seating look and sit like? The likelihood is no!

It is exactly here where the terms were coined:

• Hole in the wall.
• Dark Kitchen.
• Virtual Kitchen.
• Virtual Restaurant.
• Ghost Kitchen.
• Digital Ordering.

All referring to something that is not from bricks and mortar exactly. Something that is not on the main strip of A1 tenant space. Now you can go shop for a non-traditional restaurant space that is close to your consumers. 

These virtual businesses all serve delivery only and digital or online ordering and utilize third-party delivery services. From viewing your menu, ordering and payment all take place online. Now the restaurant owner has more money to spend on the correct equipment to improve the preparation and the eventual quality of your meal. Marketing your virtual restaurant will be exceptionally important as you will not have your traditional high footfall. Take advice from a digital marketing specialist to assist you in formulating your new strategy. 

Once you become established and then you can start to use the data from your clientele using your services to improve your business directly to and for the liking of the people that support you. Investigate your potential delivery partners extensively and establish how their data harvesting can contribute to and improve your business.

Eating in is a new trend rather than going out for a meal. This trend has come to stay and has and will carry on changing restaurant dining into the future.