Hotplate

Hotplate help

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Customer portal

It’s our mission to make the food industry more accessible to anyone with the talent and skills to cook something delicious. With that in mind, we try to take as little money as possible from our chefs so someone from any socioeconomic background or business stage can operate and grow. 

There’s no monthly subscription or membership fee to use Hotplate which means it’s free to create an account.

 We only start charging when you process transactions, and even then you will only cover payment processing fees!

Whenever customers check out, we charge you a 

 payment processing fee which goes directly to our payment processor Stripe. This is the standard fee to process a credit card online, and it’s lower than some other processors 😎.

 When customers check out and we charge them a 

 fee per transaction on the subtotal. So on a $20 order, the customer would pay $21.55 (not including tip and tax).

Most customers are so used to paying fees on 3rd party platforms like DoorDash that they don’t even notice it. The benefit of this is that 

 don’t have to pay anything to use Hotplate.

You can choose to cover a portion of the fees yourself, but 70% of chefs keep the default split and have no problem selling out. 

At checkout, any customer can see the fees we charge before they enter their card info, under a line item called 

.  See the below screenshot for an example:

I don’t want my customers to pay a fee. Can I pay the Hotplate fee for them?

Some businesses prefer to pay some or all of the Hotplate fee on behalf of their customers. You can easily adjust what portion of the fee you pass onto your customers in your settings. You can also choose to have your customer pay the payment processing fee. This is what to look for in your 

Do you take any additional fees when I payout?

Nope! All our fees are accounted for on a per order basis.

Understanding Hotplate's Pricing

It's easy to customize your storefront colors. Open up the 

 page in your Hotplate portal and navigate to the 

 tab. You'll see something like the following:

On a desktop view, you can see a preview of your storefront side by side with the customization controls, making it easy to instantly preview changes. On mobile, you'll just navigate to the bottom of the page and select "Preview Storefront" to see a preview of your latest storefront changes. 

We provide some default colors for you to choose from as well as the ability to set your own custom colors. Here is an example with a dark green theme color and a black header background color:

Hotplate lets you set your own custom colors using 

. Hex codes are essentially just numbers that websites use to represent colors. If you have already done some digital or branding work, you may already know your hex codes. 

Hex codes always start with a # and are usually 6 characters long.

You can see in the example above a hex code being used for a custom header backgrond color. 

Figuring out your brand’s hex colors from your logo

If you have a logo or an image that you want to use as the palette for your storefront. You can use 

 to extract the hex colors from the image and paste them in!

Here is what it looks like when I upload the Hotplate logo:

click on the hex colors to copy and paste them into my settings

Now my storefront’s colors match my logo!

You have two images you can add to your storefront: your 

. Your header image will replace the text in the storefront header (in this case, it will replace “Ben’s Bakery”) and your profile photo will appear at the top of your storefront.

Here is what it looks like after I upload Hotplate’s logos:

In another section of your settings, “Content”, 

you can add even more to your Hotplate storefront

! This can include an about section, FAQ’s, additional links, and social media links.

Make sure to click the "Save Changes" button on the bottom of the page to apply your latest storefront settings to your live storefront.

You’ve now made your storefront your own!

Feel free to reach out to us at support@hotplate.com or text us at (214)833-9248, and we'll gladly help answer your questions!

How to customize your store

Let our co-founder Rishi walk you through setting up your first event!

📺 How to create your first Event [video walkthrough]

Every time you publish a menu that your customers can pre-order, that’s called an 

 - A name, description, and cover photo (optional) 
2. 

 - you decide when customers can order and where/when they can pick up their order 
3. 

 - a list of items you’re offering for pre-order 

📺 *Don’t feel like reading? Rishi will walk you through the steps in 

This will open up a new Draft. An Event won’t be visible on your Hotplate Storefront until you hit publish. That means you can spend the time drafting and perfecting your 

Information for your first pre-order event

 - Define when customers can start ordering and when the last order can be accepted. Reminder that when pre-orders open, we'll send customers who subscribe to your storefront an automated text with a link to order!

 - This will allow customer to order from you in person. More on that 

- turning this on means customers won't see *exactly* when pre-orders open (it'll just say 'orders opening soon'!). They’ll have to be ready when they get a drop text!

 - You can disable event reminders on the event if you'd like to. Keep in mind this event will still show up on your storefront.

This is where you’ll define where and when customers can get the goodies they pre-ordered. After you’ve added a location’s details once, you’ll be able to easily select it as a pickup location next time. 

You can offer multiple pickup days and times, if you’d like.

Click “Add Item” to select from the list of menu items you’ve previously made or to create a new one. You can also click Add Section to add some categories to your menu. 

Set limits: Click into each menu item to set your inventory or limits on how many customers can order.  

Time to hit the big green button! Give all the other tabs a quick look over and then hit 

. Once you publish, a few things will happen: 
        1. The Event will be visible on your Hotplate storefront 
        2. When your pre-orders open (based on the time and day you set in the Info tab), your customers will receive a text with a link to the Event and they can start ordering!

Definitely! Many of our chefs will publish a few Events at a time to allow their customers to pre-order early. We most often see this when there are multiple holidays coming up. 

How to set up your first event on Hotplate

What are Events and how do I set them up?

The orders section of the Hotplate portal is where chefs often spend most of their time. It’s divided into the 

This tab consolidates all of the orders you’ve gotten from an Event and and calculates how much of each item you have left to prep.

If you’ve offered multiple pickup dates, the prep amounts for each item will be grouped by pickup date. This will help you only prep whats going to be picked up that day.

As you prep each item, you can click the green plus sign or the red minus sign to keep track of how many you’ve prepped. 

Chefs love the ability to print out their prep list and display it in the kitchen. To do that, click the three dots in the top right of the screen. From the menu, select 

In this tab, you’ll see each of your customer’s orders displayed as packing tickets. This makes it easy for you to see each order at a glance, including the chosen pickup window and location.

As you build each order, you can click the checkbox next to each item to mark it as packed. When the order is completely packed and picked up, you can click 

Chefs also love the ability to print out their individual packing tickets so they can easily stick or staple them to order bags. To do that, click the three dots on the top right corner of your 

The default way to print tickets arranges them on a standard 8.5” x 11” piece of printer paper. 

If you want to get fancy with it, you can print to a label / thermal printer 😎 Save yourself all that time you spent handwriting on bags or tickets and simply print, then pack! 

How to get the most out of Orders, Prep, and Pack

The Insights section of your Hotplate portal gives you a valuable look into how your business is doing. It’s important to us to give chefs the data and tools to keep growing their business, and we’re constantly making improvements to this section.

Insights is organized into the three tabs, which you can move between by clicking the titles at the top.

The first tab is a big picture look at the financials and sales volume of your business. This dashboard is especially helpful for seeing trends over time.

Are you getting more orders? Seeing a higher number of returning customers? Are tips going up or down? Even a quick look at this screen will give you a sense of how business is going. A deeper dive can help you find areas for growth and improvements.

You can see specific numbers and data points by hovering over the curves of each graph.

Can I see data for a specific time period?

By default, you will see insights for the last 4 weeks. You can easily change this filter to see data from a specific date range. Start by clicking where it says “Last 4 Weeks” at the top, then pick from our pre-defined ranges or create your own by selecting a start and end date on the calendar.  You can also choose to break down the data by Month, Day, or Week.

The Events tab uses all the same data from Overview, but breaks it down by Event. Each bar in the graph represents a published event. You can hover over each bar in the graph to reveal the Event name and some more detailed info.

This view is especially useful for understanding the difference in demand based on the Event’s characteristics. Maybe you switched up a menu item and got higher tips…Maybe you tested out a Friday drop instead of Sunday and saw fewer returning customers…Maybe you offered a second pickup location and it doubled your orders…As you test new ideas or introduce some changes, you can track how they effect your business.

Note: whatever date range filter you’ve applied to the Overview tab, will apply here as well.

the ability for chefs to recommend other Hotplate businesses

 on their storefronts. This is a great way to spread the love and support your fellow chefs!

The Recommendations tab in Insights will show you how you’ve helped other chefs grow by recommending them, and how they’ve helped you grow. We get this data by tracking orders that occur 

 a customer has clicked your recommendation.

We’ve learned that successful chefs make it a regular habit to review their Hotplate Insights and spend a few minutes thinking through some learnings and ideas. Doing even a 10 minute review - maybe over your morning cup of coffee - can help you understand your business better and empower you to confidently make changes to see improvements.

Understanding your insights

Whether you’ve made the decision to fully switch over to Hotplate or you’re adding us as another sales channel for your business, we’re here to help make that transition smooth for you and your customers.

The switch to Hotplate shouldn’t take long, and you can think about it in a few steps:

One of the things chefs love most about Hotplate is our automated text marketing whenever you publish a new preorder Event. Your customers will also love that they get first dibs on your menu! If you have your customer’s phone numbers, we can help you import them into Hotplate and subscribe them to your SMS list. Start by creating a spreadsheet of your customer phone numbers, and sending them to us at 

If your customers are used to getting updates from you over email or text, you’ll want to let them know that you’re switching over to a new ordering system. This is also a great time to invite them to subscribe to your SMS list so that they never miss a sale.

We recommend that you start by sending a message through your current system, then send a custom text blast through Hotplate. Here are some example texts you can send:

Example text (through your current system)

“Hey, [first name] here from [business name]! Thank you for all your support so far. Just wanted to let you know that we’ll be switching over to a new, easier ordering system called Hotplate. You’ll get a text shortly from my new number, and you’ll also get a text every time I have new goods for sale. As a fan, you’ll have first dibs on my goods and be able to purchase immediately before I sell out!”

“Hey, [first name] here from [business name]! Thank you for all your support so far. Just wanted to let you know that we’ll be switching over to a new, easier ordering system called Hotplate. One of the best parts of this new system is that you can sign up to get a text whenever we open up orders. When you subscribe to this list, you’ll have first dibs on my goods and be able to purchase immediately before I sell out! Add your phone number here [INSERT SMS SIGN UP LINK].”

You can find your storefront’s unique SMS sign up link at the top of your Settings page. More on that 

If you’re coming from another system, you likely have logos, cover photos, and theme colors already picked out. Take a few minutes to customize your storefront settings to make your store feel like your own. Here’s a 

Just like when you make any change to your business, you’ll want to create a post or story to let customers know you’ve switched to a new ordering system. You’ll also want to add your Hotplate storefront link to your bios.

Key step here is to explain to customers 

 they should subscribe to your SMS notifications. This might be a little different from everyone, but typical reasons are:

This is the best way to make sure they grab your inventory before you sell out / it’s guaranteed they’ll be able to get an order

They’ll be the first notified about your sales 😎

 Here are some examples of posts that our Chefs have put out to let their customers know about the switch: 

If you use an existing system with a menu, you’ll want to recreate items in your Hotplate portal so that you can easily add them to preorder Events. 

 on how to create items, and if you want some help, feel free to send your existing menu link to 

 and we’ll help you migrate them all over.

Switching to Hotplate from another system

So, you signed up for Hotplate…Welcome, chef! Maybe you’re thinking “what’s next?”

We’ve helped thousands of chefs get started and grow their businesses, so we know a thing or two about what it takes. At a glance, these are the usual next steps after signing up - we get into detail for each of these below:

Decide how the Hotplate pre-order model fits into your business

Get familiar with the Hotplate portal and features

Blast your SMS sign up link to existing customers and on socials

Many businesses using Hotplate operate on pre-order only model and use us exclusively for all their sales. Other chefs offer pre-orders in addition to selling at markets or physical stores. Your first step is to think about how often you want to offer pre-orders and what kind of quantities you will be able to offer. This could be a good time to look at a calendar and plan when you’ll do your first few drops. Our most successful chefs have a consistent weekly pick up day, usually on the weekends.

We’ve seen thousands of chefs build extremely successful food businesses by operating a pre-order only model, so we’ve focused on building features to help you make your drops as efficient as possible. We sometimes get requests for other features to support other aspects of your food business, and we hope to be able to bring those to you soon. If you’re looking for one of these features, we don’t have them yet:

A menu thats always available (not tied to a specific event)

Now that you’ve thought about when you’ll offer pre-orders, it’s time to get familiar with your Hotplate portal. You’ll likely spend most of your time in the 

 - this is where you’ll create menu items, Events and discounts.

 - once customers place orders, this is where you’ll see your prep list of items and packings tickets for each individual order.

Our features are designed to be easy to use without any experience, so we won’t get into too much detail here. If you get stuck at any point, you can find quick guides for every feature in the portal in our 

. These are some articles we recommend you read first:

 (if you’re coming from Square, Shopify, or Toast)

An unbranded storefront is like an unfrosted cupcake: still sweet, but pretty boring. The most successful Hotplate businesses start their journey by designing their storefronts to match their brand. You can do this in the 

 There’s a full guide on how to brand your store 

Just look at the difference a few colors, cover image, and a logo makes. Which would your customer rather see?

One of the reasons you probably joined Hotplate is our 

, so it’s time to start building your customer list! Here’s what most successful chefs do:

Copy your direct SMS sign up link - find this under 

Add your SMS sign up link to your social media bios

Create a post that includes this link. Tell customers that Hotplate will be your new ordering system, and that adding their phone number means they get to be first in line whenever you have food for sale.

If you have an existing email or text list, send a message to let your customers know that you’re using Hotplate and to subscribe their phone number!

Here’s a few examples of announcement posts our chefs have posted. You can keep it simple with a quick Instagram story or get creative with a detailed graphic. Sometimes even just a quick one sentence text or email will do as well!

Now that you have some customers waiting to be notified, it’s time to set up and publish your first pre-order Event! We’d love to show you how to do it. Pick one of these:

Once your Event is posted, we’ll automatically send a text to everyone on your SMS list letting them know it’s time to order.

As orders start to come in, you’ll see your Prep and Pack sheets (under 

 fill up. We automatically tally up the orders for each item so you know exactly how much you need to make on pickup day. When it comes time to pack up orders, you can easily view or print each customer’s order ticket so there’s no confusion when packing or picking up.

Many chefs wait until all pick ups for an Event are done before they withdraw their earnings, but you can do so at any time. You’ll just need to 

 the first time you payout, then you’ll transfer money in just a click!

Made it this far? Congrats! You’re on your way to becoming a Hotplate super chef! If you need any help along the way, feel free to reach out to our team at 

Your first week on Hotplate

Hotplate is the all in one ordering platform for chefs and bakers. We give you the tools to accept and manage orders while automating things like marketing and communicating with customers. We built our product specifically for new and growing businesses to help you stay organized and efficient so you can focus on what actually matters: the food!

We’ve worked with thousands of chefs that have built successful food businesses centered around pre-orders. What this means is that they pick a few days a month - sometimes even a few times a week - where people can actually get their food. Customers place pre-orders days ahead of time and have a scheduled pick up time and place to get their order. With this model, chefs are able to focus their time and effort into prepping food a few times a month, and only prepare orders that have been paid for. That means much no wasted ingredients, inventory, or time.

This model also makes it possible to start a food biz without a brick and mortar or high operating costs. Many Hotplate chefs operate out of their homes, commissary kitchens, mobile carts, and pop up events. We’ve even found that customers get excited about foods that are available only at exclusive times or in limited quantities and are picked up from unconventional locations. “The cookies with a waitlist” taste so much better when you finally get your hands on them!

Huge, locally famous businesses like Pop Up Bagels (East Coast) and A to Z Creamery (Minnesota) have built their cult following by offering their food by pre-order only and to this day they sell out of every menu within minutes.

Thousands of chefs use Hotplate to manage and grow their businesses. Most of them fall into these categories:

Micro bakeries selling at markets or porch pickups

Chefs experimenting with selling food from their home kitchen

Bakers working out of commissary kitchens

Brick and mortars with a devoted fan base

Ice cream churners with seasonal small batches

🏠 A Hotplate storefront so you can accept orders from customers in a seamless, professional looking way (no more taking orders by DM or email!)

🙏 Inventory and order management built for pre-orders (lose the hacky Square or Shopify set up)

📋 Printable prep lists and order packing tickets (generated from your orders, so you don’t have to tally items by hand!)

📲 Automated text messages sent to your customers as marketing or reminders (basically guaranteeing immediate sales)

👫 An experienced team ready to help with any issues, give you guidance to grow, and celebrate your wins (no more solo fist pumping in the kitchen!)

There’s no subscription or membership fee to use Hotplate! Instead, your customer pays a small  fee on their order to help cover the cost of our service. If you accept payments through your Hotplate storefront, you’ll also pay a standard card processing fee. 

We built our product to be easy to understand and implement. Whether you’re 

Getting Started