Ghost Kitchen Business Plan: Costs, Revenue & What to Expect

The advantage of launching from an existing kitchen is that your startup costs are dramatically lower than opening a new premises. You are not paying for a build-out, commercial ovens, or extraction systems. Most operators can get started for £500 to £5,000.

Here is a realistic breakdown of what you will need to spend:

• Food business registration — free in the UK. You must register with your local authority at least 28 days before you start trading. No fee, but do not skip this step.
• Initial packaging stock — £150-£400 for your first bulk order of containers, bags, labels, and cutlery packs. Buy enough for 2-3 weeks of projected orders.
• Branding and design — £0-£500 depending on whether you do it yourself or hire a designer. At minimum you need a logo, menu photos, and packaging stickers. Canva is free and sufficient for getting started.
• Online ordering system — £0-£50/month depending on the platform. Many services offer free tiers or pay-as-you-go pricing. Factor in payment processing fees of 1.5-2.5% per transaction.
• Small equipment — £100-£500 for items like a thermal receipt printer (£80-£150), label printer (£50-£100), additional shelving (£30-£80), and insulated delivery bags (£15-£30 each).
• Initial food stock — £200-£500 for your first ingredient order. Keep it lean — you can always reorder, but wasted stock from an over-ambitious launch hurts.
• Launch marketing — £100-£300 for leaflets, social media ads, and a launch offer. You do not need a large budget, but you do need something.

Total realistic range: £500-£2,500 for most operators launching from an existing kitchen. If you need additional equipment like a second fryer or extra fridge space, budget up to £5,000.

Your monthly overheads are the numbers that determine whether your ghost kitchen is sustainable. Because you are operating from an existing premises, many costs are shared — but you still need to allocate a fair portion to the ghost kitchen operation.

Here is a typical monthly cost breakdown for a ghost kitchen doing 300-500 orders per month (roughly 10-17 orders per day):

• Rent/space allocation — £200-£600/month. Allocate 15-25% of your total rent depending on how much kitchen time the ghost brand uses.
• Utilities — £50-£150/month as an incremental allocation. Gas and electricity usage increases with a second brand, but not dramatically.
• Packaging — £200-£600/month. At roughly £1 per order and 300-500 orders, this is a significant recurring cost. Negotiate bulk pricing with suppliers.
• Payment processing — £75-£200/month. At 1.5-2.5% per transaction on an average order of £18-£22, this adds up. It is still far cheaper than aggregator commission.
• Marketing — £100-£300/month. Social media ads, leaflets, and promotions. This is not optional for a ghost kitchen — it is your only way to be visible.
• Ordering platform — £0-£50/month depending on your provider and plan.
• Staff (incremental) — £0-£800/month. If your existing team can absorb the extra work during quiet periods, the additional labour cost is zero. If you need an extra pair of hands during delivery peaks, factor in 10-20 hours per week.

Typical total: £625-£2,700/month in fixed and semi-variable overheads, excluding food costs. Food cost is variable and scales with order volume — typically 28-35% of revenue.

Be realistic about the ramp-up. No ghost kitchen starts with 50 orders a day. Most take 2-4 months to build consistent volume. Here is what a realistic growth curve looks like:

• Month 1: 3-8 orders per day — you are building awareness. Friends, family, and early adopters from your marketing efforts. Revenue: £1,200-£4,000/month.
• Month 2-3: 8-15 orders per day — word of mouth kicks in, your Google listing gains traction, repeat customers start ordering. Revenue: £4,000-£8,000/month.
• Month 4-6: 15-25 orders per day — you are established in your area. Reviews are building, social media is working, repeat orders are consistent. Revenue: £7,500-£14,000/month.

Average order values vary by cuisine: pizza and burgers typically average £16-£20, Indian and Chinese cuisine £20-£28, poke bowls and salads £12-£16, and fried chicken £14-£18. These numbers include sides and drinks.

Seasonal patterns matter too. January and the first week of the month are typically strong for delivery (people stay in). Summer can be quieter as people eat out. Friday and Saturday evenings will be your biggest earners — expect 2-3x your weekday volume.

A realistic year-one revenue target for a ghost kitchen operating 6 days a week from an existing premises is £60,000-£120,000. That is not profit — it is gross revenue before food costs, packaging, and overheads.

You do not need a complex dashboard, but you do need to track a handful of numbers weekly. These metrics tell you whether the business is healthy or heading for trouble.

• Average order value (AOV) — the single most important number. Track it weekly. A healthy AOV for delivery is £18-£25. If it is dropping, review your menu structure and upselling. Every £1 increase in AOV adds £300-£500/month to your revenue at moderate volumes.
• Orders per day/hour — helps you understand your capacity and peak times. If you can handle 6 orders per hour and you are consistently hitting that, you need to either increase capacity or cap incoming orders.
• Food cost percentage — calculate this weekly. Take your total food purchases and divide by total revenue. Target 28-32%. If you are above 35%, either your portions are too generous, your prices are too low, or you have a waste problem.
• Customer acquisition cost (CAC) — divide your monthly marketing spend by the number of new customers. If you spend £200 on marketing and gain 40 new customers, your CAC is £5. That is healthy if those customers order again.
• Repeat order rate — what percentage of customers order a second time within 30 days? A good ghost kitchen sees 25-35% repeat rates. Below 20% means your food, experience, or marketing needs work. Above 40% and you are building a loyal base.
• Refund/complaint rate — track every refund and complaint. More than 2-3% of orders resulting in refunds signals a quality or packing issue. Investigate immediately.

Understanding your break-even point removes the guesswork. Here is how to calculate it:

Step 1: Calculate your contribution per order. Take your average order value (say £20), subtract food cost (30% = £6), packaging (£1), and payment processing (2% = £0.40). That leaves £12.60 contribution per order.

Step 2: Add up your monthly fixed costs. Rent allocation (£400), utilities (£100), marketing (£200), platform costs (£30), insurance allocation (£50). Total: £780/month.

Step 3: Divide fixed costs by contribution per order. £780 / £12.60 = 62 orders per month, or roughly 2-3 orders per day. That is your break-even point.

Most ghost kitchens operating from an existing premises reach break-even within the first 4-8 weeks. The low fixed cost base means you do not need high volumes to be profitable.

When to think about scaling:

• You are consistently above 20 orders/day — your systems are proven and your customer base is solid. Consider expanding hours, adding a second delivery zone, or launching a second brand.
• Your repeat rate is above 30% — this means customers love the product. Growth will be organic as word of mouth compounds.
• You are turning away orders at peak times — this is a good problem. It means demand exceeds capacity. Invest in kitchen speed or extend operating hours.

Warning signs to watch for:

• Declining repeat rates — your product or experience is slipping. Fix this before spending more on marketing.
• Rising food cost percentage — supplier prices increasing, portions creeping up, or waste getting out of control. Review weekly.
• The ghost kitchen is hurting your main business — if dine-in service quality drops because the kitchen is overwhelmed, you have a capacity problem, not a growth opportunity. Scale back delivery orders before you damage your core revenue.