Your First 30 Minutes: Getting Live

This guide takes you from a fresh OrderFriendly account to receiving real orders. Block out half an hour, put on the kettle, and follow each step.

Checklist

• [ ] Confirm your restaurant details
• [ ] Build (or import) your menu
• [ ] Set your business hours
• [ ] Turn on a payment method
• [ ] Choose pickup, delivery, or both
• [ ] Print a test order
• [ ] Share your ordering link

1. Confirm your restaurant details (3 minutes)

Open Settings → Business Info. Read every field. Pay close attention to your time zone — if it is wrong, your hours and reports will be off by hours. Save.

2. Build or import your menu (10 minutes)

Open Menu. You will see categories on the left, items in the middle. Either:

• Click Import from Clover to pull your existing menu, or
• Click + New Category, then + New Item for each dish.

For a fast launch, three categories and ten items are enough. You can add the rest later.

Each item needs:

• A clear name ("BBQ Bacon Burger", not "Item 47")
• A price
• A short description (one or two sentences)
• A photo (square, well-lit, 1080×1080 is a sweet spot)

See Setting Up Your Menu and Adding Item Modifiers and Photos for the full guide.

3. Set your business hours (3 minutes)

Open Settings → Hours. Set the days you are open and the times you take online orders. If you stop taking orders 30 minutes before closing, set the close time accordingly.

Add any planned holiday closures now. See Setting Your Hours and Holiday Schedule.

4. Turn on a payment method (5 minutes)

Open Settings → Payments. Pick one method to start. If you signed up through Clover, Clover is the default and is already connected. If you signed up stand-alone, pick a gateway (Stripe, Square, PayPal, and others are supported).

Make one test purchase from your own ordering page. Use a real card and refund it immediately. This proves the full flow works before a real customer tries.

5. Choose pickup, delivery, or both (2 minutes)

Open Settings → Service Options.

• Pickup — customers come to you. Set how long it takes to prepare an order.
• Delivery — set a radius or list of zip codes, a minimum order, and a delivery fee.
• Dine-in — for QR-code table ordering. Skip if you only do takeaway.

Start with whichever you already do off-platform. You can add the other later.

6. Print a test order (5 minutes)

Open Orders → Test Order. Pick any item, click Send to Kitchen. Your kitchen printer (or KDS screen) should fire within five seconds. If nothing happens, read Routing Orders to Your Kitchen Printer and KDS.

7. Share your ordering link (2 minutes)

Your ordering page is at orderfriendly.com/yourshop (your shop slug shows on the dashboard). Click Copy Link.

Three places to put it today:

• Your Google Business Profile, as the Order Online link
• Your Instagram bio
• A small QR code on your menus and tables

That is it. You are live.

What to do next

• Watch the Orders screen for the first hour you are open. Confirm orders arrive fast.
• Read Handling Your First Online Order so the first one does not catch you off guard.
• Skim Troubleshooting Common Issues so you know where to look if anything misbehaves.