From Menu Photo to Live Website in 7 Days: How Takely's Process Actually Works

Why Speed Matters More Than You Think

Most takeaway owners get quoted 4–8 weeks for a website. By week three, the agency wants a third call, a brand questionnaire, and sign-off on a mood board. Meanwhile you're still paying Just Eat 14% on every collection order.

That gap is the reason we built Takely the way we did. A professional site that gets you found on Google and takes collection orders shouldn't take longer to build than a kitchen refit. Seven days is enough — if the process is right.

Here's exactly what happens from day one to launch, what we need from you, and why Bespoke takes longer.

What We Need From You (About 30 Minutes Total)

Before day one starts, we ask for a few things. No long questionnaires, no brand workshops. Just the essentials:

• Your menu — a photo of the laminated menu on the wall is fine. A PDF works too. A WhatsApp message listing your dishes works. Anything you have.
• A few photos — your shop front, your food, your team if you want. Phone photos are genuinely fine. You don't need a photographer.
• Your ordering links — if you use Flipdish, Slerp, storekit, or a delivery app link, paste them into a message. If you don't have an ordering system yet, we'll note that and discuss options.
• Your Google Business Profile login — or access to it so we can link and optimise it. If you haven't claimed it yet, we'll walk you through that on day one.
• Your trading name, address, and phone number — sounds obvious but you'd be surprised how often this lives in someone's head and nowhere else.

That's it. Most owners pull this together in one WhatsApp session between the lunch and dinner rush. We don't need your life story. We need your menu and your photos.

Day by Day: The 7-Day Build

Here's how the week actually runs for a Starter or Growth site.

The one review round is deliberate. It keeps the process moving. If you need a complete redesign after seeing the preview, that's a different conversation — but in practice, owners rarely do. The build is based on your content, your photos, and your existing brand. There's not much to be surprised by.

What 'Live in 7 Days' Actually Includes

Live doesn't mean a placeholder page with 'coming soon' on it. It means:

• A fully published site on your domain with SSL (the padlock in the browser).
• Your menu as real, Google-readable text — not a JPEG or embedded PDF that search engines ignore.
• Schema markup so Google understands what you sell, where you are, and when you're open.
• Your Google Business Profile linked and consistent with your site.
• Your ordering system wired in — whether that's Flipdish, Slerp, storekit, or a direct app link. (Growth plan only; Starter links out to your existing system.)
• On Growth: locally-targeted landing pages for your area, built to attract searches like 'Chinese takeaway in [town]'.
• On Growth: a review engine that makes it easy to ask happy customers for honest Google reviews — fully compliant with the DMCC rules that ban fake or incentivised reviews.

The anatomy of a takeaway website that converts covers exactly why each of these elements matters if you want to dig into the detail.

What Happens After Launch

Going live is not the end of the job. Your monthly fee (£49/mo on Starter, £79/mo on Growth) covers ongoing hosting, SSL, and updates. But there's more to it than keeping the lights on.

On the Growth plan, you get a monthly analytics report. We check what's sending traffic, which pages are ranking, and whether there are easy wins to pick up — a missing dish on the menu, a location page that needs updating, a review that's gone unanswered. It's a short report, not a 40-page deck.

If your menu changes, send us an update. If you add a new location, that's a conversation about moving to Bespoke. If you want to add Takely Ordering when it launches — collection orders at 4% flat plus card fees, no middleman — you can join the waitlist now.

Everything is 30-day rolling. No 12-month lock-in, no exit fees. You own your domain and your data. If you leave, you take both with you. We've written about why long contracts are a red flag if you want to know what to avoid elsewhere.

Why Bespoke Takes 4–6 Weeks

The 7-day promise applies to Starter (£499 + £49/mo) and Growth (£999 + £79/mo). Bespoke starts at £1,999 + £129/mo and takes 4–6 weeks. Here's why the timeline is different.

• Multi-location builds need consistent NAP data, separate location pages, and sometimes separate GBP listings for each site. Getting that right takes time.
• Franchise or business-opportunity pages involve legal wording, application forms, and sometimes integration with a CRM. That's not a 7-day job.
• Up to 10 pages means more content, more review rounds, and a more complex information architecture.
• Custom integrations — bespoke ordering flows, loyalty programmes, multi-language menus — each adds scope.

The Bespoke build still follows a clear process with a defined timeline. It's just a bigger build. Most single-shop takeaways don't need it. If you're not sure which plan fits, the website cost breakdown covers the difference in plain terms.

What Slows a Build Down (And How to Avoid It)

Seven days is achievable every time — as long as the inputs arrive on day one. The things that push a launch back are almost always on the client side, not ours. The most common:

• Menu sent late. If we don't have it by day one, day seven moves. Simple as that.
• Photos stuck on a different phone. Send them from whatever device you have. We'll work with what we've got.
• Domain access issues. If your domain is registered under an old email address you can't access, sorting that takes time. Tell us early if that's the case.
• Review feedback that arrives on day eight. We do one round of revisions on day seven. Send your changes the same day and we go live the same day.
• Scope creep mid-build. 'Actually, can we also add a catering page and a booking system?' That's a Bespoke conversation. Adding pages mid-build after day three pushes the launch.

None of this is a criticism — running a takeaway is relentless and admin gets pushed to the bottom of the pile. It's just honest about what drives the timeline. You give us 30 minutes upfront, we deliver in 7 days.

Starter vs Growth: Which Is Right for Your Shop?

Both go live in 7 days. The difference is what you get.

Most shops with an existing ordering system and a delivery-heavy model start on Starter. Shops that want to shift more orders to their own channels — and save on commission — go Growth. On a £30 collection order, Just Eat charges £4.20 in commission at 14%. Through your own site, the same order costs roughly £1.91 all-in (4% Takely Ordering fee = £1.20, plus approximately 2% card fees = £0.71). That gap adds up fast.

If you're ready to get started or just want to ask a few questions first, contact us and we'll tell you straight which plan makes sense for your shop.