So you want to own aCloud kitchen
The reels say a cloud kitchen starts under ₹10,000 and pays ₹1 lakh a month. J tries it with one biryani brand on Zomato and Swiggy and follows a single ₹450 order through commission, GST, payment fees, ads and a coupon he pays for. He ends up with about ₹63, before rent, cooks, gas and electricity.
₹1 lakh a month
Start under ₹10,000 and make ₹1 lakh a month from one small room.
The flaw
Commission, GST on the commission, payment fees, ads and a coupon J pays for: about 47% of every order is gone before the food.
Run J's numbers
The defaults are the exact worked example from the episode. Move any slider to your own quote.
24 out of 70
Seven questions, ten points each — higher is better on every one. The red tick is the season average so far.
Two years, run two ways
The good version
A brand people search for by name, fewer coupons, own orders: break-even of about 85 orders a day beaten.
The realistic version
37 orders a day at about ₹63 each: about ₹70,000 a month, against rent and salaries of about ₹1.6 lakh.
J's checklist
- Read the commission % on the actual contract screen, then add 18% GST on it.
- Budget ads at 5–8% of sales from day one.
- Decide who pays for each coupon before you switch it on.
- Work out your break-even orders a day before you sign the rent.
- Keep a second, direct way for regulars to order.
Jump in
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Cloud kitchen — Calculator
Editable spreadsheet with the episode's numbers already in. Change any yellow cell.
DownloadCloud kitchen — Playbook PDF
The real bill, the scorecard, two years run two ways, a checklist and every source.
DownloadJ's Wall poster
The season leaderboard so far, A4. Pin it up and play along.
DownloadScore any business /70
J's seven questions as a blank scorecard. Score your own idea before you spend.
DownloadWhere the numbers come from
Copied from the episode's description. Claims in posts and videos are their authors' claims.
Company filings and results
• Swiggy Annual Report FY25 (food AOV ₹458; ad tool used by 65%+ of transacting restaurant partners)
• Swiggy Q2 FY26 shareholder letter (food ads more than 4% of GOV; delivery cost 12–13% of AOV vs 5–6% paid by users)
• Swiggy Q1 FY27 shareholder letter (LPG supply disruption led to restaurant cancellations)
• Swiggy Q2 FY27 shareholder letter, 22 Oct 2026 (take rate 26.1% of GOV; adjusted EBITDA 3.4% of GOV; 2.66 lakh average monthly transacting restaurant partners)
• Eternal (Zomato) Q1 FY27 and Q2 FY27 shareholder letters (food NOV FY26 ₹37,993 crore; adjusted EBITDA 5.5% of NOV)
• Entrackr: Rebel Foods FY26 (revenue ₹1,951.6 cr, loss ₹281.8 cr, commissions ₹317.7 cr, advertising ₹193.9 cr); Curefoods FY26 (revenue ₹916.2 cr, loss ₹192.2 cr; 281 cloud kitchens; IPO approved, on hold); Rebel Foods Series G, Dec 2024 (450+ kitchens); Swiggy sells Access Kitchens to Kitchens@, Mar 2023; newer apps 1–2% of restaurants' delivery demand, Apr 2026
Rules, taxes, costs
• GST Council, 45th meeting (5% GST on restaurant services paid by e-commerce operators under section 9(5) from 1 Jan 2022)
• ClearTax, FSSAI registration and licence thresholds and fees
• IOCL price page and Business Standard, 1 Oct 2026 (19 kg commercial LPG, Delhi ₹2,810)
• Business Standard, 2026 (LPG shortage after the West Asia war)
• Business Standard, 30 Jul 2026 (commission 15–30%; marketing 5–8%; food cost 30–35%; packaging ₹15–35; Bengaluru restaurants' demands)
• Business Standard/PTI, 9 Aug 2026 (boycott deadline moved; OTP opt-in for promotions, per NRAI Bengaluru head Ananth Narayan)
• Business Standard, 14–15 Jul 2026 (CCI investigation since 2022; no final order)
Videos (titles exactly as published)
• Rohit Singh Vlog, "How to Start a Cloud Kitchen in 2026 Under ₹10,000 | Full Guide #cloudkitchen #businessideas"
• Shubham Kathuria, "90% Cloud Kitchens FAIL | Here’s Why (And How To Survive)"
• StartUp With Sid, "Start A Cloud Kitchen Business From Home | Earn 1 Lakh/Month | Swiggy & Zomato Delivery"
• Foodiee Home, "Cloud Kitchen Setup Cost — Asli Numbers Jo Koi Nahi Batata #cloudkitchen #foodieehome" and "Zomato vs Swiggy Cloud Kitchen – Real Truth & Full Comparison (With Proof) #cloudkitchen"
• Good 2 Great By Rahul Jain, "Zomato & Swiggy से Cloud Kitchen में कितना Profit होता हैं? | Biggest Mistakes & Reality | G2G"
• Flight Information, "Swiggy Restaurant Registration | Swiggy Cloud Kitchen Registration | Swiggy Partner Registration" (contract screen: 24%, ₹1,769)
• MyOnlineCA, "Zomato Restaurant Registration | Zomato Cloud or Home Kitchen Registration | Zomato Partner" (14–23% + 1.84%)
• Nikhil Kamath Clips, "Are Swiggy/Zomato Commissions Killing Restaurants?"
• CNN-News18, "Bengaluru Restaurants Warn of Swiggy, Zomato Boycott from August 15 Over High Commissions | News18"
• CNBC-TV18, "Bengaluru Restaurants Warn Swiggy, Zomato Of 'Boycott' From August 15"
• Boss Wallah (English), "Why Most Cloud Kitchens Fail & How You Can Succeed | Cloud Kitchen Secrets ft. Karthikeyan Selvaraj"
• Founder Thesis with Akshay Datt, "How to Scale Food Like Software - And Still Make Money | Jaydeep Barman (Rebel Foods)"
• ISN Originals, "Ankit Nagori on Building Curefoods, EatFit & India’s Food Business | ISN Originals"
• IPO Review by Groww, "Curefoods IPO Review | Curefoods IPO business, strengths, risks and more | Curefoods IPO Analysis"
• About 260 recent YouTube videos reviewed (Oct 2026)
Posts shown on screen (quoted exactly)
• r/swiggy, u/Electrical-Farm-9121, 12 Mar 2026
• r/Zomato, u/Odd_Vacation3815, 7 Jul 2026
• r/LegalAdviceIndia, u/mr_trendyy, 8 Mar 2026
• r/IndiaBusiness, u/dangerdx, 31 Dec 2025 and 2 Jan 2026
• r/Zomato, u/KrK99, 11 Aug 2025
• r/pune, u/AreaExpert692, 22 Feb 2026
MUSIC
Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Tracks: Rollin at 5 · Bossa Antigua · Inspired · Lobby Time · Hidden Agenda · Deliberate Thought · Sneaky Snitch · Thinking Music · Investigations · Hitman · Daily Beetle · Wallpaper · Local Forecast - Elevator · Gymnopedie No 1
J is a made-up character. Every price, rule, quote and post shown is real. Worked examples and the two-year scenarios are illustrations built from the numbers in the video. Education only — not financial, legal or tax advice. Rules and fees change; check the current terms before you act.