How to Start a Food Truck: Inspiration From Some of the Best in America

smiling food truck workers serve drinks to a group of young people

If you’ve been thinking of opening a food truck for some time, good for you! Taking the dive into the food truck industry can be a very rewarding experience. As with all investments, you need to have a plan before you charge in headfirst.

Let’s take a look at how to start a food truck, with advice from some of the best in the business. By the end of this post, you should have some tangible advice and tools that you can implement for your business.

How To Start A Food Truck

There are three things that you need to do to get your food truck started. First, you need to get the proper documentation for your business. Second, you need to have a plan for how you’re going to succeed in your business. Last but not least, you need to be hands-on in your food truck.

1. Establish Yourself as a Business

It can be frightening to put yourself into the position of starting a business. It makes it all real. But you will never get anywhere unless you take the first step!

There are a few very important things you’ll need to do as you get started. You want to make sure that you’ve registered your business and that you have all the permits you’ll need to operate. Different cities have different rules and laws, so be sure to do some research on your own city’s rules about food trucks.

2. Have a Plan of Attack

If you want to be profitable and have a sustainable business, you need to have a plan ready. Whether that’s your food truck’s theme, where you’re parking for the day, or contingency plans in case something breaks, you need to have a plan.

To kick things off, write a good business plan for your food truck. You need to know what type of numbers you should be hitting once you’ve started working. You should also understand how much you’ll need to invest in the early stages.

3. Be Hands-On

Ask anyone who’s worked on a food truck: it’s not an easy job. As the owner of a food truck, you need to be a hands-on owner for your food truck.

Vacation days are going to be rare. Most days, you’re going to get up early to prep your ingredients and you’ll close late to clean up your stations. A food truck is tough and requires a lot of time and energy. But aside from all that, it can also be incredibly rewarding and enjoyable.

No Time Like The Present

If you’re interested or you’ve been planning to start your very own food truck, there’s no better time to start than the present. It might be time to find a food truck for yourself. Get a menu set up, do some taste tests, and hit the road.

If you’re looking for some resources on how to start a food truck, or how to supplement your current restaurant with a pop-up location, we have some great blog articles that may help you out. We look forward to seeing your food truck out on the road!