Category: Lifestyle

Virtual restaurants have increasingly become popular not only among consumers but also among traditional restaurant owners. Virtual restaurants are also known as ghost restaurants or cloud kitchen, and they are not the traditional brick and mortar restaurants. Ghost restaurants leverage on innovative digital applications to offer a delivery-only food service to their customers. Ordering food online rather than dining at a physical restaurant is a trend that has become the norm over the recent years. Advancement in digital technology in the food delivery ecosystem and digital payments coupled with the aforementioned change in consumer behavior makes it a perfect time to launch your own virtual restaurant. This is a guide on what you need to know about starting a virtual restaurant. Do check techguru for more!

How does a Virtual Restaurant work?

Firstly, cloud kitchens are located in a centralized and licensed facility, which does food production. You rent space in the facility where you prepare food for your consumers from the said licensed facility. It is more like a technological incubator but for restaurants where multiple brands and restaurants carry out their food production under one roof. The facility contains food processing and cooking essentials such as hood vents, stoves, stainless steel prep tables, sinks and ovens. The virtual restaurant provides a menu online, where customers are able to order and have the food delivered by third party Apps such as Uber Eats

Identify your Target Market

Even though the food delivery market has grown exponentially over the last five years, there is still stiff competition. Therefore, it is important to do a sort of market analysis and identify your niche market. Understand what consumers want and what other business are doing wrong. Additionally, understand what cuisines have the highest demand or an area that other restaurants have not fully exploited. Your target market could range from students, vegans, stay-at-home mothers and busy professionals. 

Find a Commercial Kitchen space

One cannot simply sell food to consumers without the necessary licenses from the local authority. This is why you need to find a legally licensed commercial kitchen space. Rent kitchen space by visiting Occupyd, to get either shared kitchens that rent by the hour or day. You are able to rent kitchen space by zip code or city, therefore, you get kitchen space that is closest to your location. As stated earlier, a commercial kitchen space has all the essentials you need for food preparation such as ovens and stoves before packing the food for delivery. Additionally, it is important for you to be aware of some of the requirements commercial kitchens will demand you meet. Firstly, the restaurants needs to be registered with the relevant authorities and has a business license. Secondly, you must be a certified food handler, a certificate gained from relevant authority within the country.

Liaise with service providers

The most important service providers for a virtual restaurant are the third party Apps, which provide food delivery services. You have to identify the Apps that are popular among consumers and operate within your city. Additionally, there is need to cooperate with a company that offers digital payment service solutions. Digital payment is important for a virtual restaurant as it through them that you will conduct the financial transactions for your restaurants. Additionally, leverage on data provided by these digital platforms to make an informed decision based on market analysis. Lastly, you will also need to find a supplier for your ingredients. 

Benefits of having a virtual restaurant

First, latest consumer trends indicate and paint a picture of increased consumer spending on online food delivery. Virtual restaurants provide you with the opportunity to benefit from this trend by having a share of this increased spending. Second, the virtual restaurant industry has very few barriers to entry, making it easier to launch business compared to traditional restaurant business. Third, you save costs, which you would have otherwise incurred with the traditional brick and mortar restaurants. Your rent costs are lower compared to those a physical restaurant. Fourth, virtual restaurants have lower overhead costs such as electricity bills and staff wages. Lastly, virtual restaurants give you the opportunity to have insights about the market based on data analysis.

Indoor plants have to be nurtured and you need to take care of them in a much different way than outdoor plants. This includes watering and so much more. People are used to watering their indoor plants just once per week and that is fine if you choose a plant that can work with this. If not, you will have to choose something else. 

One of the most important things is definitely watering. Fortunately, you can invest in a really good hydroponics system. Just look at Progrow and you can easily find everything that you need, including lights. 

When it comes to watering, most indoor plants just need your care one time per week. During winter and autumn, you can even reduce the frequency to around 2 to 3 times per 2 months. 

Obviously, you will also need to feed your plants. The best option is a quality controlled-release fertilizer under a granule form. Make sure that you pick off all the older leaves so that you can allow brand new ones to grow. A seaweed solution can also help to maintain optimum health. 

Dealing With Pests

When the plant is stressed (not fed or watered correctly), insect attacks can happen. With indoor plants, we have fewer pests to worry about but this does not mean they do not exist. Usually, the one that you have to worry about is the mealy bug. This is a hairy insect. It is white and around 3 mm long. When there are just a few of them present, you can just manually remove them. However, if the infestation is larger, you will need to use a natural pest control solution. 

You may also want to deal with scales, which are smaller insects. PestOil is enough for the affected leaves. 

Keep Indoor Plants Alive With These Simple Tips:

• When it is time to re-pot, make sure that the potting mix you use is of the best possible quality. 
• When you clean the leaves, just create a solution of 50:50 water and milk. This keeps your leaves free of dust, healthy, and glossy. 
• Consider fiberglass pots because they are very easy to move whenever you decide to decorate. 
• Be careful with the plants that are close to windows, especially during summer. This is because stronger sun can easily burn indoor plant leaves. 
• If you notice brown tips on the leaves, it is usually because of watering problems. Sometimes there is too little water and in other cases, there is too much water. 
• Make sure that plants are not left near the heaters during the winter. They will end up being too hot and leaves can burn. 
• If the saucer of the pot is full of water, remove it as soon as possible. Such a water-filled environment makes the plant rot. 
• The number of plants that can deal with air conditioning is limited. Be particularly careful when you have such an indoor condition. 
• Water crystals can be added to your potting mix in order to help the plants deal with longer periods without exposure to water. 

Working from home sounds like the ideal situation, right? Comfy clothes on, laptop propped on your knee on the sofa, and Netflix playing in the background. What’s not to love?

Except if all of us who actually do work from home did that, we’d get nothing done. In fact, most self-employed people will tell you that they actually don’t want to work in the same place that they spend their down time, because it becomes more difficult to separate the two.

This is why it’s always a good idea to have a home office if you work from home, and today we’re going to be sharing our top tips on how to create the perfect working space.

Decipher Exactly What You Need

It’s always a good idea to start with a plan, and this one should begin with deciphering exactly what you need in your office. Furthermore did you know that a home office could actually positively impact how much your house is worth in 2020? With that in mind, it’s worth taking the time to furnish it well.

Chances are you’ll already have a laptop or computer. On top of that, do you need a printer? A photocopier? Do you need filing cabinets? All of this will depend upon what sort of field you’re actually in. For example, an accountant would be likely to need a filing system in order to store all important numerical information, whereas a graphic designer would need a large desk and drawing equipment.

It’s all about knowing exactly what you need in the space, in order to help you do your job to the best of your ability, and as at ease as if you were in a work place with everything provided for you.

Dedicate One Area Entirely to Your Office

Choosing one designated space for your home office is integral in making it a separate affair from the rest of the house.

Epic Office Furniture advise that you need to ensure there are boundaries between personal and working time if you work from home, as it is absolutely crucial for your productivity.. Not only is this likely to make you more productive in your working life, but it’s so important to establish boundaries so that you can truly relax in your home, and leave your work “at work”.

In an ideal world, we’d all have a spare room in which to put our home office – that’s a given. But if you’re a family with no spare rooms, or even just a single person living in a single bedroom house, then it’s unlikely you’ll have an entire room that can be dedicated to this cause. This, however, should never stop you from working from home – you just have to improvise a little!

Even if you can’t spare a room in its’ entirety, you can dedicate a section of a room entirely to your office space. This means that this is a “working only” space, and that you should somehow make it separate to the rest of the space, whether that be in furnishings or the way that you use it. Whatever you do, it’s about keeping it separate.

Light Up the Space!

There’s nothing less motivating than a dark space – it’ll either send you to sleep, or make you feel agitated in a long sitting – so ensure you light up the space you choose as your home office.

If you can, it’s always a good idea to have your home office near a window. People who work from home don’t have to go out as much as people who commute to work, and therefore it’s always a good idea that they have some sort of access to the outside world. Looking over the garden, for example, is a great way to connect with nature from your office. Painting the walls light, neutral colours and incorporating mirrors into your décor are other great ways of lighting up any space.

If you are near a window, do ensure that your computer is facing away from the light, otherwise you’ll have issues with glare on the screen.

Make it Your Own

Last of all, but by no means least, one of the beautiful things about designing your own home office, is that you can do it entirely to your taste.

Whereas working in a generic office feels completely impersonal, you can accessorise however you like in your home office! Think about whatever motivates you, whether it be quotes on the wall or pictures of the family, and think about what you find aesthetically pleasing. House plants are always a great addition, particularly if you don’t have access to a window overlooking the garden!