For Cafés and Food
Online Setup for Cafés and Food Businesses
Cafés, takeaways, home bakers, cake makers and market stalls. People choose food on their phone, often while they are already out, and they want three things fast: what you sell, when you are open and where to find you.
What You Need Online on Day One
- Opening times people can trustThe same hours on Google, Facebook and Instagram, with changes for bank holidays and days off. Wrong hours send people away.
- What you sell, readable on a phoneYour menu, or what is on today, as photos and text with prices. Easier to read on a small screen than a PDF to download.
- Allergen informationA clear line telling customers how to ask about allergens. The government's allergen guidance explains what the law asks of food businesses. Allergen guidance for food businesses (GOV.UK)
- Where to find youYour address and a map link, or for a stall, where you will be this week.
- How to orderFor home bakers and cake makers: how to order, how much notice you need, and whether you deliver or offer collection.
- Photos of your own foodGood light, real plates, real cakes. Your own photos sell your food far better than stock pictures.
What to Set Up First
- Register your food business with your local council at least 28 days before you start trading (England, Wales and Northern Ireland). Food business registration (GOV.UK)
- Choose your name, and check the same @name is free on the platforms you want.
- Make your Google Business Profile with your address and real opening hours, if your business qualifies.
- Set up Instagram and Facebook with your best food photos and the same hours.
- Set up a business email on your own domain for orders, suppliers and the council.
Which Platforms Make Sense
Start with two or three you can keep up with. A page you look after does more for you than several that go quiet.
- InstagramFood is made for pictures, and many people look at a café's or baker's photos before they visit or order.
- FacebookGood for opening times, specials, events and local community groups.
- TikTokOptional. Behind-the-scenes baking and cooking videos suit some food businesses, if you enjoy making them.
- PinterestOptional, for cake makers: boards of your designs can help customers choose.
More help: Which Social Media Accounts Does a New Business Need?
Will You Get a Google Business Profile?
Our honest answerYes for premises; it depends for home bakers and stalls
A café or takeaway with premises customers visit usually qualifies, with the address shown. A home baker whose customers collect from the house has a place customers visit, so the address would normally show; one who delivers in person may qualify as a service-area business, with the address hidden. A business that only sells online and posts its food out doesn't qualify. Market stalls aren't covered directly in Google's rules, so we look at how and where you trade with you, and Google decides. If you aren't open yet, you can add an opening date up to 12 months ahead.
Google's own rules: Guidelines for representing your business on Google. More help: How to Get a Google Business Profile in the UK.
The Package That Usually Fits
Full Business Setup£895
Everything in Brand and Accounts Setup, plus a Starter Website. Ready in 2 to 3 weeks, plus Google's own checking time.
Food businesses often do well with a simple website that holds the menu, opening times and how to order, all in one place you control. Full Business Setup adds a Starter Website to the accounts, the logo and the brand sheet. If you only want the accounts for now, Accounts Setup covers those.
No VAT to add. Your domain, hosting and email are paid by you to the companies that provide them, in your own name. You make each account on your own phone, so it is yours from the start, and we never ask for a password.
See a made-up example: Larkloaf Bakes (home bakery). It is labelled as an example, not a real client.
Common Questions
Do I need to register before I go online?
You must register with your local council at least 28 days before you start trading (in England, Wales and Northern Ireland). You can set up your accounts and Google profile before you open, and Google lets you add an opening date up to 12 months ahead. Food business registration (GOV.UK)
I sell at a market. Can I have a Google profile?
Maybe. Google asks for a place customers can visit, or that you travel to your customers, and its rules don't mention market stalls directly. We look at how you trade with you, and Google decides. If you don't qualify, you can still have your social media, domain and email set up, and you pay £45 less.
I bake at home and post my cakes out. Do I qualify?
If you only sell online and post your orders, Google won't give you a profile. If customers collect from you, or you deliver in person in a local area, you may qualify. Our free Google Profile Check helps you find out before you pay anything.
Can people order through my social media?
You can take orders by message, and we add a contact or order button where the platform allows it. Online ordering and payment systems aren't part of our packages.
How much does it cost?
Our Full Business Setup is £895, fixed in writing before we start, with no VAT to add. You also pay IONOS for your domain and hosting, in your own name: £14.40 for the first year, then £10.80 a month and £12 a year for the domain, including VAT. A Google Business Profile is free.
Do you need my passwords?
No. You make each account on your own phone, in your own name, then add us as a manager or partner. We never ask for a password, and we remove our access when we finish.
Can you promise more customers or a top spot on Google?
No, and nobody can honestly promise that. Google decides who gets a profile and where it appears, and each platform runs its own accounts. We make sure everything is set up properly, complete and matching.
More answers on our Questions page.
Talk to Us
A first chat is free and there's no obligation. We'll get back to you within one working day.
Also see: Online Setup for Trades Starting Out · Online Setup for Mobile and Home Services · Online Setup for Beauty and Wellbeing