How to Start a Food Truck
Starting a food truck is a great way to make your dream of owning a restaurant come to life — or to take your existing menu to new locations like festivals, food markets, and sporting events.
A food truck may be smaller than a restaurant, but buying a truck, getting the necessary permits, and running the business profitably requires careful planning. This article looks at how to start a food truck today, focusing on how a great Point of Sale system can help you shift your mobile food business into a higher gear.
Planning the Business
Structure: If this is your first attempt at running your own business, you need to decide what type of business you are. If you’re running the truck solo, you might classify yourself as a sole proprietor, but you might otherwise run the business as a partnership, LLC, or corporation. This decision will affect how you file your taxes.
Finances: To secure the money you need to get started, you might have to explore various funding options like personal savings, loans, or investors. You can manage your finances more easily with an all-in-one business bank account that simplifies invoicing, transfers, and statements.
Business Plan: Don’t get a van without a plan. Who is your target market? Have you used a food cost formula to determine menu prices? (Most businesses aim to keep food costs at 20–40% of menu prices.) What are your financial projections? Remember that you can use the truck in different ways: some truck owners combine public selling with catering to boost their revenue.
Licensing and Permits: Like a brick-and-mortar restaurant, you’ll need to meet safety and sanitation standards. But you’ll also need permission to park and sell food on the street, so do your research on local, state, and federal permits, including food handling licenses, health permits, and business licenses.
Building the Brand
Brand Identity: Your food truck doubles up as four-sided billboard, so you’ll want a powerful brand identity with a memorable name, striking logo, and smart tagline. Hiring a professional to help with branding is often worth the investment.
Social Media: Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook are a great place to promote your food truck for free. See what other successful food truck businesses are doing on their channels for content inspiration, and try to drive engagement with interactive elements like polls and tagging.
Partnerships: Think about how your food truck fits into the local culture and how you can build relationships with other businesses. You’ll probably want to work with event venues, markets, and other potential selling locations, but try to think outside the box too: could you make branded merchandise with a local clothing company, sponsor a local sports team, or even work with a nonprofit?
Trucks and Trailers
Finding a Truck: You can find plenty of pre-owned food trucks online, ranging from a few thousand to over a hundred thousand dollars. Motorized food trucks have an engine and four wheels, while trailer trucks — typically less expensive — need to be pulled by a separate vehicle. Some trucks come pre-equipped with kitchen equipment.
Customization: The type of food (or drink) you serve determines how you’ll need to kit out your truck. Coffee or ice cream needs just a few bits of equipment, whereas fresh hot food might require the installation of a fryer, hood, and other major systems.
Insurance: You’ll need to insure your food truck with general liability and commercial auto insurance in case of damage or theft.
The Launch
Staff, Hours, and Locations: You’ve got a food truck, now what are you going to do with it? Plan when and where you’re going to drive the truck and make a rota for any staff you’ve hired.
Soft Opening: It’s okay to start small. Make sure to put your truck, cooking equipment, and cash register through its paces before taking it to a major event. This means you’ll know its capabilities (and limitations) before you have a line of 50 people waiting for their lunch.
Build Loyalty: One way to make a first-time customer a loyal customer is to serve them an unforgettable dish. But sometimes it takes more than that. Building a customer database through your Point of Sale system can help you tempt customers back with marketing and promotions.
How a Great POS Can Drive Food Truck Success
When you’re setting up your food truck for the day, you want to focus on making great food and making customers happy. To make each interaction smooth and seamless, a food truck needs a powerful and reliable POS system, simplifying transactions and helping you grow your business with automated rewards and marketing. Check out our SumUp POS System if you’re ready to get started!
