The ghost kitchen launch plan
Every step from deciding to opening, in the order it happens, shaped to your situation, with your own numbers beside it. About 50 steps in 8 phases, 23 of them specific to a ghost kitchen. Free to read; ticking steps off and putting in your own numbers come with membership.
The plan50 steps
- 01Not started0/6Fold
Decide with the numbersa week or two
Before a dollar is spent. Most expensive mistakes happen here, and this phase costs nothing.
A ghost kitchen makes money on delivery orders: orders per day times the .
Typical for one unit is $150,000 to $600,000 a year; the owner keeps 3 to 10% of it before paying themselves. If that band does not cover what you need, that is the signal to pause and look again.
~50% survive 5 years. Roughly half of all new U.S. employer businesses are still operating after five years, and restaurants land close to that average.
Twelve questions about your money, time, experience and temperament, scored. Then the 5 questions this business asks of its owner, about the hours and the work. Answer both before you spend a dollar.
Rule of thumb: because the is cheap, building is often the right call, unless you can buy an existing kitchen with genuinely strong, durable order volume and ratings at a fair price. Answer it in your situation above and the plan reshapes.
Customers, prices, rent, staff pay, what it costs to open. We filled in typical numbers; change what you know and everything on this page follows.
- 02Not started0/5Open
Plan the moneya week
What it costs to open, where the money comes from, and the cushion that keeps you alive until the business pays for itself.
A ghost kitchen skips the dining room, the sign, and most of the , so the opening budget is the cook line, the cold storage, and the launch.
The itemized cost to open9 lines
- Cook line (fryers, griddle, range, ovens, holding): $2,000 to $46,500A 40 to 50 lb gas fryer runs about $1,100 to $6,800; a 36 in griddle about $1,000 to $7,300
- Prep tables & refrigeration: $6,500 to $33,000
- Work tables & smallwares: $3,500 to $9,500
- Order tablets & printers: $1,500 to $5,000
- Opening food & packaging: $4,000 to $12,000
- Brands, photos, app sign-up & launch promotions: $1,000 to $15,500About $1,000 to $5,000 per virtual brand
- Kitchen space deposit: $3,000 to $16,000Usually first and last month on the station or unit
- Permits, fire system check, insurance & legal: $3,000 to $15,000
- Initial working capital: $15,000 to $45,000Rent, payroll, packaging, and promotions for the 3 to 6 months it takes order volume and ratings to build
Costs start on day one; customers take months. Map the first twelve months of cash so the business does not run out of money while it is getting going.
The business has to earn your pay like any other bill. Set it in your numbers and watch the month it move.
How deals in this business are financed4 lines
- SBA 7(a) loan (Up to 10 yr for equipment and working capital · up to $5M · 75-85% government-guaranteed)Funds equipment, the deposit, and working capital, or the purchase of an existing kitchen.
- SBA microloan (Up to $50,000)Small loans through nonprofit intermediary lenders, a fit for a commissary-station opening budget, often paired with business coaching.
- Equipment financing / lease (Secured by the equipment · 2-5 yr terms common)Finance the fryers, griddle, and refrigeration on their own, secured by the gear itself, so cash stays free for launch promotions and the first months.
- Seller financing (Often 10-30% of price · earn-out style terms common)When buying an existing kitchen or virtual brand, a seller note tied to order volume after the sale protects you if ratings or rankings slip in the handover.
Most new shops pair an with 10 to 20% of your own cash. Know the monthly payment before you look at a single space.
Before you shop. A lender tells you what they would fund, what they need from you (credit, your cash in, a plan with numbers), and a pre-qualification letter makes a landlord or a seller take you seriously.
- 03Not started0/4Open
Set up the companya day or two
A day of paperwork, and it has to come before the space: a lease, a loan application and every permit are in the company’s name.
Your state’s business name search, the trademark register, and the domain, before the name is on a sign, a van, or a lease.
A , an , and the S-corporation election each change what you keep and what you are exposed to. Compare them with the numbers, confirm with a CPA and an attorney, then file with your state.
After:The is free from the IRS in minutes once the company exists. The bank account needs both. Keep business money separate from day one.
After:Pick the accounting software and connect the bank account now, so every cost of opening is captured and the numbers you later are real.
- 04Not started0/5Open
Find and secure the spaceone to three months
A ghost kitchen has no storefront and no walk-in traffic, so the usual location logic flips: you’re not buying visibility, you’re buying cheap, functional kitchen space inside the delivery radius that covers the most...
What decides it for this business: inside a dense delivery radius, genuinely cheap kitchen rent, right kitchen build & hood capacity, easy driver pickup & staging, strong local delivery demand.
One call to the planning desk with the address: is this use allowed there, and what will it take (, permits, health department plan review, fire sign-off)? A space that needs a change of use can add months.
Rent, free months for the , who pays for what, the and the renewals, subject to financing and permits. The lender needs this letter or a draft lease to take your application.
After: ,, renewal options, increase caps, what the landlord adds on top of rent, and what happens if you have to leave. For a location business the lease is part of the purchase price.
After:at minimum; property, workers’ compensation and the rest as the business needs. The landlord asks for a certificate at signing and the lender at closing.
- 05Not started0/2Open
Get the loanfour to eight weeks
Four to eight weeks with an SBA lender, longer if the file is incomplete. Everything else waits on this, so send a complete file.
Your plan with numbers (download it as a PDF from this page), the company’s papers, the or draft lease, the and equipment quotes, your personal financial statement, and proof of the cash you put in.
After:The lender approves against the ; you sign the lease once approved; the loan closes against the signed lease and the insurance certificate. Ask for the to match the or longer.
After:
- 06Not started0/12Open
Permits and the build-outone to three months
A ghost kitchen is a food service establishment like any other, even without a storefront.
Bind the policies you had quoted before a contractor, a vehicle or a customer is in play. Keep the certificates; the landlord, the lender and the city will ask.
After:The health department reviews the layout, the sinks, the refrigeration and the finishes before you build. Building first and fixing later is the most expensive mistake in food.
After:Only if you lease and build your own delivery kitchen: building, mechanical, plumbing, and hood permits, closed out by inspection.
After:Most cities approve exterior signs separately; signs take weeks to make. Order early.
Register your or corporation and obtain a city or county business license at the kitchen’s address.
In many states the delivery apps collect and remit tax on orders they process, but you still owe it on direct, phone, and pickup orders.
A signed agreement that names your station, hours, storage, and cleaning duties; the health department may ask to see it.
Some cities and states regulate takeout packaging (foam bans, utensils on request) and allergen notices on menus; check local rules before buying packaging in bulk.
Your fryers and griddle must sit under a hood whose suppression system covers them, tested and tagged.
After:The city’s sign-off that the space is approved for this use. You cannot open the doors without it.
After:Food-safety certification (e.g., ) for a certified manager and, in many states, food handler cards for every cook and packer.
After the build, with the refrigeration cold, the facility clean, a certified manager on site and the final menu in hand. The permit comes after the inspection; post it where customers see it.
After:
- 07Not started0/11Open
Set up to runduring the build
During the build, so the business runs from day one: the systems, the prices, the people and the routine.
An order aggregator pulls every delivery app into one tablet and one printer, so two brands do not mean six screens.
App payouts arrive net of commission and refunds, often weekly from each platform.
Book each app’s gross , commission, promotions, and refunds as separate lines, not just the net payout.
Cooks and packers mean from the first week.
, property cover for your equipment, and workers’ comp at minimum.
See the price the the business needs implies, then check it against what the market pays.
Federal plus state employer, withholding, and workers’-comp registrations once you hire.
After:Wages are the start: , insurance, training time and the hours you stop billing. Owners usually post the jobs a month out and hire two to four weeks before opening so training happens before the doors open.
Daily: Prep, take from the app tablets, cook and package for... Weekly: Order food, review each brand’s order volume and ratings, adjust... Monthly: Reconcile commission and as a percent of , test or...
Opening, closing, the sale, the complaint, the cash. One page each. This is the manual a franchise would have sold you.
Free, and it is how most people will find you. Address, hours, photos and the menu or price list, live before opening day; then the sign, the soft opening and the first regulars.
- 08Not started0/5Open
Open and measurethe first ninety days
You own it. Now run it on the numbers.
Friends, neighbors and a short menu or list. Find the problems while the room is forgiving.
Enter the real numbers and see every cost line against the for this business.
App commission; & waste; without leverage.
Growth consumes cash before it produces it. Find the rate your own cash funds before you push.
Ghost kitchens are a young category, and few sell as standalone businesses.