Happy Holdings & CloudKitchens
Wesley, the founder of Happy Holdings, saw a huge opportunity in the growing demand for fast, on-demand food. With his background in economics and math, he recognized that many people don’t have time to cook and want quality meals delivered to their door. For Wesley, it’s not just about food—it’s about delivering happiness.
Delivering Happiness at Scale
Inspired by the concept of ghost kitchens, Wesley dove into the delivery-first model and quickly scaled the business across multiple cities. At CloudKitchens, every part of the operation, from the kitchen setup to customer service, is designed for speed and efficiency, helping Happy Holdings stand out in a crowded market.
Check a little bit more about Wesley's and Happy Holdings story!
The Challenge
Without the right environment, Wesley’s vision for the delivery market wouldn’t be possible. But even in the right space, he still needed to learn what it takes to run a restaurant:
- The right place: A traditional restaurant would be too expensive to run a delivery-only operation. While other options would lack security and freedom.
- Restaurant Know-how: By having zero experience in the restaurant industry, Under intense pressure, Wesley dealt with a steep learning curve, one he had to navigate quickly.
- Scalability: His vision demanded a scalable approach—from operating multiple brands and diverse cuisines to expanding rapidly into new cities and states.
“I always envisioned serving that customer base and saw the delivery trend coming. It was hard to find an avenue or a place to start up a restaurant space to service customers without putting a ton of money in. Even a small place takes about $200,000 just to get started. We were able to launch for 1/10 of the cost with CloudKitchens.” – Wesley Li
The Solution
CloudKitchens provided Happy Holdings with the platform and support to focus on what they do best. Onboarding was smooth, with hands-on help for licensing, setup, and operations.
Their process is now streamlined:
- Focus on the food: By not having to deal with admin issues like garbage and structural damage, Wesley was able to focus on his strategy and the quality of his food, skyrocketing his objectives.
- Streamlined operation: CloudKitchens' “cookie-cutter” setup reduces overhead and enables faster ROI, while allowing them to improve kitchen efficiency by minimizing team movement during setup.
- Back-of-house efficiency: Without the need to worry about the front-end, Happy Holdings could invest in efficient equipment, streamline operations, and deliver great food with fewer team members.
“I remember the first order that came in. I had knots in my stomach, not knowing how to fulfill the order. It was tough. But CloudKitchen’s guidance helped us understand what we didn’t, and that consistent partnership allowed us to improve and move from proof-of-concept to scaling.” – Wesley Li
The Results
Happy Holdings brands had an amazing outcome, very quickly.
- Fast ROI: His first location broke even in only 4 months, the second recouped the investment in just 2 months, and the third location broke even in only 4 weeks.
- Multi-brand visibility: They successfully launched a multi-brand operation across multiple regions in two cities—and they’re just getting started.
- Clear sight of the future: With top-notch efficiency, Wesley can forecast and identify opportunities daily allowing him to expand and improve his efficiency even further.
“I would say it would be very, very hard for us to do what we do without partnering with CloudKitchens. Because sometimes we get 50 orders an hour at one location, and I can't imagine one of our team members looking at 50 phones and having zero mistakes. CloudKitchens thought about that, figured it out and established an efficient system where the right order goes to the right driver with minimal mistakes. That's great.” – Wesley Li
Looking Ahead
Wesley has always thought big. With locations in Chicago and Milwaukee and expansion plans in Texas, he believes his model can scale nationally—and even globally.
“CloudKitchens operates in other countries, too. Once you know how to make it work, you can replicate it. Our third location went from decision to opening in just five weeks.”
“If you learn how to make it work, you can grow quickly and profitably. Treat the early stage like R&D—the returns are real.” – Wesley Li, founder of Happy Holdings.
https://www.happyholdingsgroup.com/
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Questions?
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What is a ghost kitchen?
Ghost kitchens, also known as dark kitchens or virtual kitchens, are commercial kitchens built for food delivery. They’re located within the delivery radius of a high volume of online customers, rather than high foot traffic areas. With ghost kitchens, there’s no physical storefront or dining area, so you only need a few back-of-house staff members to fulfill online orders.
How does a ghost kitchen work?
In a ghost kitchen, your restaurant is focused on delivery rather than dine-in. When eaters order your food online, you’ll prepare it from your ghost kitchen, and hand it off to a fulfillment team to get the order over to the right delivery driver. This gives restaurateurs a low cost, high efficiency model to get the most out of delivery.
Are ghost kitchens profitable?
Yes. Ghost kitchens allow restaurateurs to increase profitability by maintaining the essential elements of a restaurant while cutting costs on labor, overhead, and wasted food while reaching a higher volume of customers ordering online. Plus, you can run multiple virtual brands out of a single ghost kitchen to increase revenue without the extra overhead.
Why are ghost kitchens so popular?
Ghost kitchens are rising in popularity because they’re a lower cost alternative to operating a traditional restaurant. They’re also focused on delivery, which has grown 300% faster than dine-in since 2014. That means restaurateurs are using ghost kitchens to future-proof their business and accelerate growth.
How does a ghost kitchen help your restaurant grow?
Ghost kitchens help restaurateurs grow their business by doing delivery right. The way we dine has changed, and ghost kitchens allow restaurant operators to capture food delivery demand without sacrificing their bottom line. They’re also a great way to expand to new markets without spending time and money on a traditional restaurant buildout. You can easily expand your restaurant brand to different cities across the country such as Los Angeles or New York.
How much do ghost kitchens cost?
The cost of ghost kitchens varies by market, space, and services. Compared to a traditional restaurant, they’re a much lower cost alternative on both upfront capital and ongoing operating costs. You can get started in a ghost kitchen with as little as $30K, instead of $1M+ for brick and mortar buildout.
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