Ghost kitchens (also called cloud kitchens or virtual restaurants) operate delivery-only food businesses without a traditional storefront. By eliminating front-of-house costs—no dining room, no servers, no parking lot—you can focus entirely on food quality and efficient delivery. This model lets you test concepts, run multiple brands from one kitchen, and pivot quickly based on demand.
Consider these related business ideas and specializations:
Ghost kitchens (also called cloud kitchens or virtual restaurants) operate delivery-only food businesses without a traditional storefront. By eliminating front-of-house costs—no dining room, no servers, no parking lot—you can focus entirely on food quality and efficient delivery. This model lets you test concepts, run multiple brands from one kitchen, and pivot quickly based on demand.
Consider these related business ideas and specializations:
San Juan Islands-specific considerations for this business:
Test this idea before investing heavily:
Partner with a local restaurant or commercial kitchen to run delivery-only service one or two nights per week. Use a simple menu and local delivery (you driving or pickup).
Is there delivery demand on the islands? What's realistic for delivery radius? Do orders justify the effort? What menu items travel best?
Regular orders, repeat customers, and demand exceeding your test capacity.
Expected startup and operating expenses:
Areas where quality investment pays off:
Food that arrives soggy, cold, or spilled destroys your reputation—packaging is customer experience
Good enough: Quality insulated containers appropriate for your food type; not necessarily branded custom packaging
Your photos ARE your storefront—blurry, poorly lit photos mean no orders
Good enough: Learn basic food photography or pay for one good photo session for your menu items
If your shared kitchen falls through or equipment breaks, you have no backup—plan for contingencies
Good enough: Established shared kitchen with good track record; understand your backup options
Areas where cost-cutting makes sense:
Financial timing and planning notes:
Strategies to reduce risk and increase odds of success:
Join shomby today and start selling to your local community. We provide the platform—you bring the passion.
We build shomby around your business—not the other way around. If there's a feature, integration, or tool that would help your ghost kitchen business succeed, we want to hear about it.
Turn your kitchen into a bakery selling breads, pastries, cookies, and cakes. Cottage food laws in most states allow home-based baking without a commercial kitchen for many products.
Harvest and sell honey from local hives along with beeswax products. Local honey is prized for its flavor, quality, and perceived health benefits related to local pollen.
Prepare ready-to-eat or ready-to-cook meals for busy families. This requires more licensing than cottage food but fills a huge market need for convenient, home-cooked quality meals.
San Juan Islands-specific considerations for this business:
Test this idea before investing heavily:
Partner with a local restaurant or commercial kitchen to run delivery-only service one or two nights per week. Use a simple menu and local delivery (you driving or pickup).
Is there delivery demand on the islands? What's realistic for delivery radius? Do orders justify the effort? What menu items travel best?
Regular orders, repeat customers, and demand exceeding your test capacity.
Expected startup and operating expenses:
Areas where quality investment pays off:
Food that arrives soggy, cold, or spilled destroys your reputation—packaging is customer experience
Good enough: Quality insulated containers appropriate for your food type; not necessarily branded custom packaging
Your photos ARE your storefront—blurry, poorly lit photos mean no orders
Good enough: Learn basic food photography or pay for one good photo session for your menu items
If your shared kitchen falls through or equipment breaks, you have no backup—plan for contingencies
Good enough: Established shared kitchen with good track record; understand your backup options
Areas where cost-cutting makes sense:
Financial timing and planning notes:
Strategies to reduce risk and increase odds of success:
Join shomby today and start selling to your local community. We provide the platform—you bring the passion.
We build shomby around your business—not the other way around. If there's a feature, integration, or tool that would help your ghost kitchen business succeed, we want to hear about it.
Turn your kitchen into a bakery selling breads, pastries, cookies, and cakes. Cottage food laws in most states allow home-based baking without a commercial kitchen for many products.
Harvest and sell honey from local hives along with beeswax products. Local honey is prized for its flavor, quality, and perceived health benefits related to local pollen.
Prepare ready-to-eat or ready-to-cook meals for busy families. This requires more licensing than cottage food but fills a huge market need for convenient, home-cooked quality meals.