3+ Sample Food Truck Business Plan

What is a Food Truck Business Plan?

A food truck business plan is a written document about your plan of having a food truck. It is almost the same as any business plan, but it is simpler. It is because food truck is just a small business. Like other business plans, a food truck business plan or food cart business plan gives information for prospective investors. This organized plan gives answers to all possible questions. Having a business plan for food truck is a must before you would buy a food truck. Every mobile truck should have a business plan first before being bought. A taco truck business plan or BBQ food truck business plan are necessary in BBQ and taco food truck business, for example. This plan would lay out all the possible marketing strategies and operational plans that your business can have. Your financial plan will also be easier to analyze if you have a food truck business plan. The timeline that you will have in preparing your business can also be assessed with this. It is a good layout of all your plans for your food truck business. It serves as a blueprint for your simple business. Food truck plan can make a roadmap for you. Starting a food truck business was of course not easy at first. You will need something that will guide you through. With a food truck business plan, all your plans will be known to you and you will just have to implement it. It will keep you on track as you start your food truck business.

Tips on Food Truck Business Plan

Food trucks may be easier to have than a restaurant but it also needs effort to have success in it. Your food truck needs to stand out from the rest, you have to get new customers always, and you have to be sure of your profits. You have to rise above your competitors so use the following tips.

Do the best market research that you can put in your business plan. Have a good market research before you purchase a food truck. Know if there is a food trend in your location. If you will know about the certain food trend in your town, you can decide on what food are you going to sell in your food truck. You cannot miss the food trend. If that certain food is what the people are looking for, you must be apt to offer it to the public. If that food is a trend, you also will not be sorry on choosing it as your product. It will surely sell and your chance of profits will be sure also. You just have to walk around your town and see what is the common food that people usually buy. You can do a small survey about it if you want. It will give you the best result that you are sarching for. Also, have the strategic decision of putting your food truck in a particular location. Know what particular areas were good in having a food truck. Know the abundance of food truck there also. If a place was good for a food truck because it is along the road where many people pass by, then you can consider that place. If there are too many food trucks in a place on the other hand, you can choose another place with not so much competition.Select the best food truck that you can have. There are endless options when selecting a particular food truck business. You can choose to sell hamburgers, pizzas, tacos, sandwiches, BBQ, fruit drinks, and so many other food varieties. Pick a food that is not commonly sold on a specific place. It would not be good if you will choose a food truck that has so many competition in its location. The customers will just be divided between you and your competitors. In your market research, decide on a particular food that will be good to sell. Choose something that is affordable. Pick something that motivates your interest. If you are more fond of selling hamburgers than pizza, then choose a burger food truck. You will be more motivated to work if you have a positive interest on a product.List all the supplies that you need. There are supplies that are needed as your mobile food truck operates. These includes gloves, foil, food containers, kitchen utensils, dishwashers, and safety supplies. List them all down and find the best deals in town where you can get low prices and discounts. These supplies must be included in your food truck business plan so you can calculate your overall capital. These are the things that you are always have to keep in your food truck business.Purchase a good truck from a good truck dealer. In your business plan, put the right instructions in buying a food truck. Food trucks cost $50000 to $250000. You can buy a new one or you can buy a food truck that is already used. But still, a food truck is expensive. Used food trucks are cheaper but you will have the problem on having its maintenance. You can also lease a food truck. In this case, you can try your venture. You can test first if things will work fine before spending the whole money on food trucks. You can spend less every month. After being decided whether you will buy or lease a food truck, you can go to reputable dealers like Prestige Food Trucks or FoodTrucks.net. Choose from the available food trucks that they have. They have good array of food trucks that you can choose from. Decide how you will finance your purchase. You can pay in cash or have a food truck loan. Sometimes it is good to have a loan so you will not have to let go of a capital. You can pay every month as you also have a monthly profit from your food truck business.Incorporate your food truck business. You can have a sole proprietorship on your business and then incorporate it afterwards. But it is wiser to incorporate it even from the beginning. It can protect all your assets in case of any lawsuit. Pick a business name and register your food truck business in your town or city. Go to IRS (Internal Revenue Service) and get your Employer Identification Number (EIN). It is important that your business have this thing.Have a food truck financial plan. A firm budget is an essential part of every food cart plans. List down the money that you need to spend in all aspects of your business. These aspects includes equipment, money that are spend on staffs, money used in marketing, and amount of money that is alloted for vehicle maintenance. Be aware that your budget can change with unexpected reasons. So make your budget realistic and make it something that you will not have a debt. Provide a budget that can pay other unexpected things so that you will have the less chance of debt. There are financing options like business loans, financing for equipment, credit cards, business credit line, and SBA loans. You can have these options in keeping your finance in your food truck business.Be creative in marketing techniques. Marketing is a sure key to success so have tactics on marketing strategies. Apply strategies in digital marketing like Facebook ads or Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Make email newsletters letting the customers know where your food truck was located and introduce to them your menu. You can also put up with traditional things like having a direct mail to people. Do a trial and error in your marketing strategy. Know the things which work. Continually do it and improve it as the day goes by. If something does not work, then do not use that strategy anymore.Do not ignore the reviews on your food truck. Do you know what makes or breaks your business? It is the reviews. So monitor your food truck’s reviews in a regular manner. Whether it is a good review or a bad review, you should respond to these reviews. This way, customers will know that you value them and that you are doing everything to improve your service. If ever there is a bad review, you can offer those customers some discounts so you can keep them. They will know that your business is not bad after all and they might give a positive review afterwards.Post your food truck on social media. One of the ways that you can market your food truck business is by leveraging social media. It can do wonders to your business. Make captivating Facebook or Instagram pages. Update it regularly so that viewers and followers would not miss anything on your food truck. Make people excited about your hottest menu, deals and cart giveaways. Share to them where your food carts are located.

How to Make a Food Truck Business Plan

It is absolutely necessary to write a food truck business plan first before buying a food truck. This way, nothing will go wrong because you will have a guide. Use these steps in making a food truck business plan.

Step 1: Have a food truck business plan executive summary.

What could be the first section of your food truck business plan? It is the executive summary. This will serve as your introduction to all that will going to read your business plan. You should make a good impression so make your executive summary interesting. Be concise and do not explain too many details. All the other points in your business plan can be detailed on the following sections. Highlight the good points of your company, what you are expecting from it, and how do you think your business will make it good in the market. These are the topics that you can include in your executive summary.

Step 2: Put all the description of your company.

In this section, explain the information about your company. Describe everything there is in your food truck business and tell its value to the existing market. Actually, this section expands every topic that you mentioned with your executive summary. Consider these questions when writing a company description:

Step 3: Have a good market analysis.

Here is the explanations on how you are going to fit the market. Do a thorough research before writing this section so all your findings can support your conclusions. These topics cover the market analysis part:

Step 4: State the things about management. 

Outline the food truck operational plan and management plan. Giving responsibilities will avoid all kinds of confusions as your business grows. Give a detailed information about the management, data about the proprietorship of the business, the salary that you can give to your workers, and the opportunities that people can have in your organization.

Step 5: State your product line and financial projections.

Use this section to describe your food menu items. Put whatever you are offering and how you can convert passersby into regular customers. Explain innovative ideas and tell everything about your product. You must also tell how you can allocate funds effectively. Make accurate financial goals. At the end of your food truck business plan, put appendices.

FAQs

What Can Make Me Stand Out With My Competitors in My Food Truck Business?

You can try making the preparation of your food better. If you can think of good ways on it, the customers will be amaze with it and they may be enticed to buy always. You can also have a nice business name with a good logo so people will remember your food truck better. Find better ways on how you can market your business.

How Can I Buy a Food Truck?

There are three ways on how you can buy a food truck. You can buy a new food truck, a food truck that is used, and a food truck that is for lease. Either way, you can start your food truck business.

Of course, all of us has come to buy on a food truck. It is so common that it is absolutely proven to be a good business. If you are planning to have this kind of business, be sure to make a food truck business plan first. It will direct you on your food truck business. As soon as you start your business, you will already know what to do.