Pros and Cons of Opening a Virtual Restaurant | Superorder

Why create a virtual restaurant? Pros and Con

So you're thinking of creating a virtual restaurant? Makes sense. After all, delivery-only restaurants have never seen more success than they are right now. But, just with anything in life, it's important to check the waters before you dive. We're going to walk you through some of the main pros and cons of starting a virtual restaurant.

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First, what even is a virtual kitchen?

A virtual restaurant is a type of delivery-only restaurant brand that has no physical space aside from its kitchen, which is more often than not that of a parent restaurant. When large restaurants desire to reach consumers in a new market, they'll often create smaller brands that operate out of their existing kitchens, but only exist online. You may have ordered from a virtual restaurant before without even realizing that it's run by a larger restaurant you've seen in your town. The basic idea is to diversify and reach more consumers without investing in a new space.

Pros

If you've made it this far, you're probably pretty serious about opening a virtual restaurant, and that's good! Despite the list of cons we've given you, there are some promising upsides to opening a virtual restaurant as well.

1. It's fairly low risk.

Opening a virtual restaurant doesn't require a massive investment, either monetary or time-wise. You're most likely not moving into a new physical space and paying additional rent, you're not hiring servers, and you're not buying more equipment; you're just using your existing capabilities to build a new brand. The whole process is fairly quick, so if you can't make it work, then it's a good learning experience with very little lost.

2. There's a large potential for profit.

If you do it right, you can make a lot of money. Why else would so many people be doing it? Like we said, the delivery industry is booming right now, so if you can find your niche and run with it, you're going to enjoy more success now than you ever would have if you'd tried to do this in past years.

3. We can do the heavy lifting for you.

You don't have to do it all yourself, because here at Superorder have got you covered. With the help of our team, you can use your existing operation, however big or small, to launch a virtual restaurant with multiple brands. This means you'll have even more chances to reach consumers, with even less investment.

We'll handle branding, website and menu design, and everything else needed to get you going. All you have to do is what you're best at: make great food (just for more people). If this sounds more like what you need, email us at signup@superorder.com or fill out this form to talk with a team expert!

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Cons

If you're anything like us, you always ask for the bad news first, so here it comes.

1. The market is extremely — and we mean extremely — competitive. 

This is true for the restaurant industry as a whole, but it's especially true for the delivery industry right now. Because of the massive boom in demand during the Coronavirus pandemic. many brands have taken steps to capitalize on delivery. Whether that means they're offering delivery for the first time or revamping their existing delivery systems, they're creating competition either way. This means it's a difficult market to break into right from the start.

2. Gaining name recognition is difficult.

It's extremely hard to become known in your community without a physical space and a storefront. Think about it: how do you normally discover new restaurants? Sure, sometimes it's by Googling "food near me," but even more often it's because you notice a new logo on a storefront while driving through town. So, when you're looking for a place to eat, you just might give it a go because seeing it every day made you curious.

You don't get that with a virtual restaurant. You have to make a name for yourself completely online, which is a tall order, especially if you're not an experienced marketer.

3. Your menu options are limited.

We've already covered a couple challenges, and we haven't even talked about the food, which presents some roadblocks as well. It's important to develop a menu that lends itself to delivery, meaning you're somewhat limited in what you can make. It can't be something that will melt, or something that needs to be eaten right out of the oven, and if you've never done it before, developing a menu like this can be difficult.

4. How are you going to get the food to your customer?

The final con we're going to discuss is the challenge of actually delivering the food. This means you either have to trust a third party delivery service, or develop one yourself. Of course, the first is probably easier and cheaper, but you then have to trust another company to handle your food with care and provide good customer service. Like it or not, their performance will reflect on you, even though it shouldn't. The second gives you more control, but presents a whole slew of challenges in itself, as you have to hire more workers, do more paperwork, and oversee that operation in addition to the cooking.

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