Insight Into Opening And Running A Food Truck

There’s no denying it – food trucks are hot. They solve many problems with one truck dishing out food when and where people need it. If you take a culinary arts program online you are one step closer to having the fundamental food knowledge to build a great menu. And a food truck might be the way you get your feet off the ground, because it has drastically low startup costs compared to restaurants, bakeries and catering companies. If you’re interested in creating your own mobile food business, here is some insight into the world of food trucks and how to start your own:

Food truck facts
Food trucks go by many different names depending on the neck of the woods where you reside. According to a Mashable infographic, they’ve been known as mobile kitchens, mobile canteens, grease trucks, catering trucks and roach coaches. However, that last one is not a recommended moniker. In a way, hot dog carts paved the way for food trucks. The startup cost for a used cart is about $2,000. However, refurbished trucks can be up to $40,000, while new ones are more than $75,000.

Getting started
According to Entrepreneur magazine, there are a few components you need to consider before you purchase anything for your food truck business. Make a list of the startup funds you have, how much of a time commitment you can dedicate (part- or full-time), your experience level and your ideal demographic.

Considerations
It’s important to know that you may not be able to pull up wherever you want and start selling people food. In addition to getting a business permit and passing the health department’s test there may be limitations to where you can operate. Some municipalities prefer that their food trucks set up shop in predestined lots or office parks, while some cities allow you to operate in free parking spaces. Just know what the rules are before you start to serve your first meal.

Basic versus gourmet
If you are a food aficionado you probably want to set up a gourmet food truck, but if you aren’t there is nothing wrong with dishing out basic but tasty burgers or similar fare. A gourmet food truck business can require higher startup expenses because the ingredients are often pricer. So you may want to scale back your menu until you have a proven customer base if you go that route. Be sure to dock in places where members of your target demographic, such as foodies and twenty- to thirty-somethings​, live and work. These are the people who may enjoy the food trucks the most, but conduct some research to make sure that is the case in your town.