What Is A Shared Kitchen?

What is a shared/incubator kitchen?

I get this question constantly – no one seems to know exactly what United Kitchen is, although shared kitchens are popping up all around the Chicago area.

A shared kitchen, or incubator kitchen, is a commercial kitchen space that is available for rent. This allows small food start-ups to use an “official” kitchen without all of the overhead. It is a great solution for new businesses and it allows for more efficient use of the kitchen because it decreases the amount of time that the equipment is sitting around unused.

How does it work?

Vendors pay by the hour to use the kitchen space. Vendors must have their own sanitation certifications, insurance, corporation, and Resale ID. Depending on the kitchen, vendors may be guaranteed exclusive use of the kitchen or they may be working at the same time as another vendor. United Kitchen is available for rent 24/7, and vendors are guaranteed use of the equipment they need. To schedule their kitchen time vendors view the calendar online, choose what time works for them, and email me(the manager) to be added to the schedule for their desired date/time.

The kitchen is inspected by our local health inspector, and the equipment is maintained by the kitchen manager. Vendors are required to clean up after themselves, cleaning supplies are provided but vendors must bring their own towels as well as their ingredients and any special equipment that is not provided.

Social Media: The Basics

I have found there is a wide range of social media knowledge among my United Kitchen entrepreneurs - but no matter what age you are there is always more to learn!

Social media should be your best friend as a new small business, think of it as free advertising!

The main thing to remember is that, like anything else, it takes time to get used to posting on social media so be patient as you figure out what works for you.

With that being said, get ready for a crash course in social media for your food start-up :)

Instagram - the Big Kahuna

Posting:

How often?  Weekly, at a minimum

What to post? Good pictures of product, behind the scenes photos, new products, promotions, be creative

HASHTAGS: USE THEM

-especially Chicago-specific (#312food #infatuationchi #chicagoeats #chicagofoodauthority #likefoodchicago #EatingGoodChicago) or location specific if you aren't located in Chicago

-use a variety of hashtags (some very popular ie. #chocolate #sweet, some less popular #eattheburbs #shopsmall #local)

-use your brand, #gravy #unitedkitchen

Followers:

Don’t sweat it if you don’t have many at first

Follow and like people who are using the same hashtags as you

Pro Tip: Follow the followers of another similar or nearby business

Check out United Kitchen on Instagram for inspiration :)

Facebook - Still necessary but catering to an older crowd

Don’t use too many hashtags – see note about editing posts

Try to engage, ask questions, offer promotions/prizes to incentivize engagement

Engagement increases your visibility to new potential customers(Friends of current customers will see your post if their friend likes/comments/shares it)

Create a business page separate from your personal account – share some posts on your personal page but try to keep it separate

Linking Accounts-

Link your Instagram to your Facebook, Twitter etc. so you don’t have to manually post on each account – but still post some “exclusive” content on each platform so that people have a reason to follow you on both Facebook & Instagram

Pro tip: “edit” your Instagram posts on Facebook to delete some of the hashtags and tag any applicable people

Other Platforms:

Pinterest – particularly if you can make your product an “ingredient” (blog)

Twitter – dying out, just link to your Facebook

LinkedIn – not super necessary but you should make a profile for yourself and list your title at your company, can be good for networking

Paperwork

That pesky paperwork... Don't let it get in the way of starting your business!

Here's the basics (for Illinois food start-ups using a shared commercial kitchen)

Step 1:  Set up a corporation in Illinois. (Filing Articles of Incorporation Online (Illinois)

Step 2: Get Food Liability Insurance(Food Liability Insurance)

Step 3: Get your IL Sanitation Certificate - take an approved course (Food Sanitation Certification Courses) and then send in this form to get your official certificate.

Step 4: Register your business as a reseller/wholesaler by filling out the Reg-1 Form, you need your FEIN (federal Tax ID from the IRS, you get this after you set up the corporation) and your Illinois file number which you also get when you set up your corporation.(Business Registration, Resale ID, and Sales Tax)

Step 5: Check if you need any other licenses/certifications, this may vary based on where you are located (for example, La Grange requires that you get a La Grange Business License when you are using a shared kitchen but Evanston does not) And make sure you have the necessary paperwork for your shared kitchen squared away!

Starting Up

In the almost 6 months that I have owned United Kitchen I have interacted with at least 100 potential food entrepreneurs. Of these, about 30 completed the paperwork to be able to start working out of my shared kitchen. And of those 30, maybe 10 have become regular users of the kitchen. So what happened to those other 90 concepts? Maybe a few decided to rent at another kitchen, but for the vast majority I can only assume that they either found the paperwork too overwhelming, lost motivation, and decided against opening their business.


Now I understand, life gets in the way and sometimes the timing just isn't right. I am not judging those 90 people, I'm sure they are great people.

What I really want to focus on is those 10 people.
I'm applauding those 10 that stuck with it.
The 10 that made it work. That didn't let whatever obstacles they might have been facing stop them from following their dream.
Those 10 people are the people that I want to work with. I will do anything and everything in my power to help those 10 people.

Those cheesy motivational quotes have some truth to them -
You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
Half of success is showing up.
People of accomplishment rarely sit back and let things happen to them, they go out and happen to things.

Half the battle is getting started - I can help you with the rest :)