Second
Shift

Every restaurant kitchen in town stands empty for about sixteen hours a day. We rent out the dark ones.

Pitch and launch plan by Pencil of Nature. All figures illustrative.

Two people, one problem

Amara makes hot sauce

She has a real business and a growing waitlist. She cannot legally sell food made at home, and a commercial kitchen of her own would cost more than she earns.

Marco runs a trattoria

He pays rent, insurance and rates around the clock on a kitchen that is cold from midnight till ten. He would rent it, if renting it were not a nightmare.

The problem2

A kitchen by the hour, booked like a hotel room

List

A restaurant sets its dark hours, house rules and equipment. We check hygiene rating, insurance and extraction.

Book

A verified food maker books a shift. Their licence and allergen plan are checked once, then carried with them.

Cook

A smart lock opens at the start of the shift. A before and after photo log settles any dispute over a dirty pan.

The solution3
Illustrative figures

Why the numbers can work

£22

typical shift rate per hour

18%

our share of each booking

6

bookings a month to repay a host's set-up

A restaurant earning from six extra shifts a month covers its insurance. For a maker, the same shifts cost a fraction of a lease.

Unit economics4

Go to market: one city, one street, one sauce at a time

Seed

Sign twenty kitchens in one Bristol postcode, by hand. Being on foot beats being on social.

Prove

Recruit makers from local markets and trade groups. Target: a hundred booked shifts a month.

Repeat

Copy the playbook to Leeds and Glasgow, and only then spend on brand. Density beats coverage.

Go-to-market. Targets are illustrative5

The first year

QuarterProductSupplyDemandMust be true
Q1Booking, ID and insurance checks20 kitchens in BS630 makers from waitlistEnvironmental health signs off the model
Q2Smart lock and photo log40 kitchens100 shifts a monthFewer than one dispute in fifty shifts
Q3Repeat booking, packs and labelsLeeds launch300 shifts a monthHalf of shifts are repeat bookings
Q4Host payouts and dashboardsGlasgow launch700 shifts a monthContribution positive in Bristol
Product launch plan. All targets illustrative6

Amara's first shift

Customer journey7

Business model

Key partnersRestaurants with dark hours. Food-licensing officers. An insurer. A smart lock maker.
Key activitiesVetting. Scheduling. Keeping disputes rare.
Value propositionMakers get a legal kitchen by the hour. Hosts get paid for a room that was doing nothing.
RelationshipsLocal market manager in each city. A human on the phone at 5 a.m.
CustomersMicro food brands, supper clubs, caterers and bakers. Independent restaurants and pubs.
Key resourcesTrust data on every kitchen and maker.
ChannelsFarmers' markets, trade bodies, kerbside sign-ups.
CostsLocal teams, insurance cover, payments, compliance.
Revenue18% of each booking, plus optional packaging and labelling services.
8

What we would do next

Prove Bristol, then ask for a seed round to open three more cities. Sixteen hours a day is a lot of kitchen to waste.

£1.2m

illustrative raise, for eighteen months and three cities

All figures illustrative.9