Guides for people who run restaurants
India-specific, number-backed, honestly scoped. Written by the team building the restaurant OS, with the product’s own data where it proves the point.
The FSSAI licence, explained
Basic vs state vs central FSSAI: fees, documents, FoSCoS application steps, renewal rules and the penalties for serving without one.
Food cost percentage, mastered
The food-cost formula, the ideal 28–32% band by format, and the nine fixes that pull a runaway percentage back, with a free calculator.
GST on restaurants, explained
Which GST rate applies to your restaurant, CGST/SGST on bills, composition scheme, GSTR-1 filing and e-invoicing thresholds, in plain English.
Reduce Zomato & Swiggy commission
Nine ways that actually cut aggregator commission, renegotiation, direct WhatsApp ordering, ONDC and the math on what each move saves.
Zomato vs Swiggy, for owners
Fees, reach, payout cycles and support compared for owners, plus when listing on both makes sense and when it quietly costs you margin.
ONDC for restaurants
ONDC commission of 3–5% vs the 18–30% aggregators charge: how to register, what the network delivers today and the honest trade-offs.
WhatsApp ordering: the 0% channel
Set up direct WhatsApp ordering: the tools, costs and the 0% commission math, and when it beats building your own app or website.
The 11 restaurant scams, and how owners catch them
The 11 ways staff skim from Indian restaurants, voided bills, ghost KOTs, stock walking out, and the controls that catch every one.
How to increase restaurant sales
Seventeen sales moves ranked by ROI for Indian restaurants, menu engineering, table turns, WhatsApp win-backs, delivery and pricing plays.
Menu engineering, done properly
Stars, puzzles, plowhorses and dogs: classify your menu with real margin data and reprice with confidence, the India-specific playbook.
Every licence a restaurant needs in India
All 12 licences to run a restaurant legally, costs, timelines, issuing bodies and renewal traps, from FSSAI and GST to fire NOC and music.
The business plan that gets funded
A free restaurant business-plan template plus the numbers investors and banks actually check: unit economics, break-even and cash runway.
How to start a cloud kitchen
The ₹5–15 lakh step-by-step: licences, kitchen setup, aggregator onboarding, multi-brand strategy and the margins to expect in year one.
Restaurant staff salaries in India
City-wise salary benchmarks for cooks, waiters, cashiers and managers, plus service charge rules, attrition realities and retention plays.
Restaurant profit margins: the real numbers
Real margin numbers by format, dine-in, QSR, cloud kitchen, café, and the three levers that move a 5% margin to 12% without more covers.
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