Are you planning on starting a food truck business? Here’s a step-by-step guide covering everything you need.

Having an entrepreneurial mindset is important for starting any business so as your permits, licenses, business plan, marketing, and everything else you need to accomplish before reaping the fruits of your labor.

Step 1: Choosing your Cuisine

Having a passion for food and the food industry will help you in choosing which cuisine should you be offering to your patrons. In the food truck business, your food is the star of the show. However, the amount of preparation that goes with it is massive. Along with the preparation is building a menu that complements your resources and your target market.

Planning is key to making your food truck business success. When you have a food truck business, a mobile business, word of mouth will be the major source of information or form of marketing your business. Each story from a customer will affect your business greatly because through word of mouth you’ll be able to reach their friends, families, colleagues, and neighbors. It may help you to have a few signature dishes, quirky names of the food or your food truck, or maybe follow a theme to design your truck to be eye-catching. Always think of ways to help improve your business to set yourself apart from the rest and become successful in the industry.

Step 2: Get all the boring stuff done

One of the biggest parts of starting a business is accomplishing all of the paperwork, get permits and to comply with regulations. Let’s face it we tend to put it off because nobody likes paperwork really. Often times when we’re in the process sometimes it feels like it’s nearly impossible to get permits, licenses, etc. Are you sure you still want to do this?

Kiddin aside. We’re here to help. Know that each state has its own set of rules and regulations. Meaning, if you have an operational food truck business in North Carolina, you can’t simply drive to a different state and start selling food to a new set of customers. Different states have different sets of laws and requirements for a food truck business. You’ll have to do a ton of research, check the city government’s website, or visit the city hall to know what you need to accomplish to operate a food truck business.

Just to give you a heads up, here’s a list of requirements that are common for getting food truck licenses and permits:

● Business License
● Employer Identification Number
● Vehicle License
● Seller’s Permit
● Food Handlers Permit
● Health Department Permit
● Fire Certificates

Step 3: Develop a Comprehensive Business Plan

A lot of people get intimidated when creating a business plan. It’s not easy but it’s not impossible as well. Having a great idea is not enough, you need to have the ability to write it down and develop a detailed plan. This may take you hours or even days to accomplish but what’s important is that you can put your ideas into writing.

Part of your business plan should be your finances. Whether you have money saved up for capital or taking out a loan, you need to secure funding. Your food truck business may not be a big fancy restaurant in a prime spot in New York but you still need to secure money to purchase the following:

● Your truck (well of course!)
○ Add in the cost of designing, renovating, and repainting.
● Cooking Equipment
● Ingredients
● Hiring the right staff
● Insurance (We’re not kidding about getting insurance for your business. Please do not skip this, ever.)

Step 4: Use a cloud-based POS System

Last but not least, your business needs a cloud-based POS System. Some people think that cloud-based POS systems are only for big retail stores and restaurant chains. In fact, a food truck business like any other QSR business has a lot going on. It may seem like a small business but your food truck involves manpower, inventory monitoring, sales tracking, reporting, etc. A reliable POS System lets you do all that without the hassle of setting up multiple types of equipment and taking space in your counter.

Now that you know the basics of starting a food truck business, you can start your own or if you’re already in the process of setting up share with us your experience to help out others just like you.