Plan opening hours, lead time and pickup capacity
Turn the time your kitchen has into an ordering plan you can reliably fulfill.
Opening hours, lead time and capacity answer different questions. Work through all three when you plan customer availability.
Begin with the hours you can keep
Write down the days and times you intend to offer service. Include the preparation, packaging and cleanup time that surrounds each handoff. Your customer-facing window may be shorter than the time you spend working.
Keep your regular weekly plan distinct from holidays and one-off changes. A temporary closure should be handled as an exception to that plan.
Allow enough lead time
Lead time gives the kitchen room to prepare after an order is placed. Base the plan on the food and work involved, rather than the quickest order you have ever managed.
A cutoff can help make a particular offering manageable. Check the supported ordering choices for your setup and verify what the customer sees after changing them.
Choose a useful capacity limit
Consider the limiting step: oven space, preparation time, packaging, available people or handoff time. Your plan should reflect the amount you can fulfill during the relevant window.
More available ingredients do not necessarily mean more available kitchen time. Think about stock and production capacity separately.
Review the customer experience
- Confirm the business timezone behind your schedule.
- Check regular hours and any date-specific exception.
- Consider the lead time and capacity together.
- Review a representative customer's available choices.
If availability does not match the plan, record the product, date, time and expected result before asking for help. Avoid including unnecessary customer details.