It is no secret that the restaurant industry is a high failure business. Two of the biggest reasons are high rent to locate in a prime retail location and the high cost of labor. For a delivery only concept, you could  locate in a more affordable space since foot traffic and visibility are not required. You don’t need to be in the front of the building or on a main road, or even in retail quality space. Opting for commercial or industrial space can reap significant cost savings.

Not requiring cashiers and others to work the “front of the house” can significantly reduce labor overhead. Your staff would focus on back of the house operations and delivery. Reducing the business model can allow for process and cost efficiencies, more focused managers, and enable you to invest more in high quality ingredients and marketing – two things that are “customer facing” but often the first to be compromised in a restaurant budget.

Do you actually need your own delivery staff? Maybe not. These locations use existing mobile app service providers like UberEats, DoorDash, GrubHub, Caviar, Eat24, Postmates, Amazon Prime and Tapingo for food delivery services.

LEYE has four delivery-only concepts in the past year: Wow Boa, Lucky Dumpling, ASAP Poke and Seaside’s with  locations across Chicago and now expanding to Los Angeles.

This is a concept worth giving some serious thought. If your goal is to make money in the food business, this business model may offer a way to increase your chances of success.