Business plan Food Truck: from the idea to success

Food trailers and sales trailers continue to be trendy. Many are excited about the “slow food on fast wheels” idea. With almost unlimited possibilities of a mobile business, it is therefore even more important that you draw up a sophisticated business plan for your food truck. This way you can ensure that your idea will be successful. In our blog article you can read how to best proceed with a business plan for your food truck.

Why a food truck business plan is so important

A business plan serves as a roadmap for your mobile business and forms the basis for your start-up. Here you list aspects such as your business idea, company goals, strategy or market conditions in detail. This way you can see whether your business idea for your food truck business has any chance of success. In addition, a well thought-out plan enables you to recognise potential obstacles and opportunities at an early stage and to take appropriate measures.

By the way: A business plan also plays an important role in your financial planning. If you want to finance your mobile business with a loan, for example, you usually have to submit a business plan for your food truck.

How to draw up a food truck business plan

The preparation of a business plan is therefore essential and provides security for the start of your mobile business. Therefore, it requires thorough consideration, research and analysis. It is important to consider several aspects to ensure the success of your business. Below we list all the key factors.

The foundation of your food truck business: Your business idea

Your business idea forms the basis for your project: What makes you unique? Will your fellow men and women be inspired by your business idea in the long term? What are your short and long-term business goals? What is your mission and vision? If you can answer these questions with confidence, you are already one step further.

Conduct a market and location analysis

The next step is to conduct a detailed market and location analysis to find the perfect market for you. What is your ideal target group? Which country or region could be the most lucrative for you? Do you prefer to be permanently on the road or is a permanent pitch the right thing for you? These are all questions you should consider when planning your food truck business.

In our free guide, we show you highly frequented and immediately available stand locations in Germany. We also give you tips on how you can increase the visibility of your mobile gastronomy.

Logistics, procurement and employees as part of your food truck business plan

Other key factors in your food truck business plan are logistics, procurement and staff.

This includes the right storage space for your food. Is the sales trailer enough or do you need external storage space? If you have an external storage space, you are no longer as flexible and location-independent as you might want to be. On the other hand, you will have more space for any non-food items.

Procuring food is also important. Do you do this on your own or do you hire a part-time/mini-job logistician to do it for you? Alternatively, you can have everything delivered to you. As you can see, there are numerous possibilities and you have to find your ideal way. Always keep your business idea and goals in mind.

Employees also play an important role, so you need to consider them in your food truck business plan. Depending on your business idea, you may even be able to manage your project alone. However, it can make sense to hire employees to split the shifts. At the same time, you will have more time to invest in planning or accounting activities – these are of course also part of your self-employment.

Business Plan Food Truck Costs and Financing

At this point it becomes very analytical, because it is about the figures of your project: the financing form of your food truck business, your available budget as well as your future planning with a turnover forecast.

At the beginning of your mobile business, the investment costs for your food truck are especially important. This is because your chapter requirements are the basis for financing. You should plan the following food truck costs for your investment:

• Start-up costs for the necessary permits, licences and certifications.
• Acquisition costs for your food truck as well as all necessary utensils, such as equipment, cash register system or decoration. You should also ask yourself whether it makes more sense to invest in a new or used sales trailer.
• Marketing costs for the creation of your corporate design as well as advertising and promotional materials to draw attention to yourself (for example, your own website, flyers and posters or social media).

In addition to the investment costs, you also have to consider the running costs of your food truck in your business plan. These include your fixed and variable food truck costs:

• Costs for your offer, such as food and beverages
• Consumables, such as packaging
• Fees for a pitch
• Insurance
• Electricity and gas
• Wage costs for your staff
• Unforeseen costs for necessary repairs

To plan for the future, you should draw up a 3-, 5- and 10-year plan. In this plan, you should record in detail what your financial goals are and how you will achieve them. You also need to think about the price of your products. Many factors play a role in pricing: Among other things, you have to take into account the purchasing power of your target group. For example, if you are setting up a mobile restaurant in the vicinity of a university, expensive products are probably not affordable for many students.

Here are a few key figures that are important for your business and a food truck business plan and that you should constantly keep in mind:

• Sales forecast: The sales forecast is based on the expected demand for your dishes. Think about an expected average price of your products and the expected number of units sold per day/week.
• Break-even point: Break-even analysis is an important metric to determine at what point your business becomes profitable. It calculates how many units need to be sold in order to cover all costs and break even.
• Profit and loss account: A profit and loss account shows the expected income and expenses for a certain period of time, usually a year. It helps to identify potential profits or losses and analyse your financial performance.
• Profitability: Profitability measures the profit in relation to the capital invested. This can be expressed as a percentage or return on investment (ROI). Profitability tells you how effectively your business is using capital and making a profit.

Legal aspects as part of your food truck business plan

Marketing your food truck

The initial planning should now be complete. Your business idea has been comprehensively developed, demand and financing have been considered and the legal aspects have been clarified. What is still missing is your marketing strategy: How do you get your product to your target group? It is important to work out a suitable strategy for marketing your food truck business. Of course, everyone knows the classic methods such as distributing flyers or using social media channels. It is important to find out which is the right mix for you and your company. Visit trade fairs to make a name for yourself in the industry or, especially in the beginning, do pro bono work for portfolio references.

Find advocates and ambassadors

People usually trust other people’s experiences and reviews. Therefore, ideally you should find like-minded people who want to follow and support your mission. Be it employees who want to help you succeed, investors who want to support you financially or loyal customers who think your idea is cool and recommend you to others. In this step it is important to present yourself as a founder and to be convinced of your food truck business. Show what you are passionate about and what makes your idea unique. It also helps you to move your project forward and stay motivated.

If Plan A doesn’t work, have Plan B ready

The most difficult step to take is to have a plan B ready. Because no matter how well thought out your business is, unexpected events can unfortunately always mean that your business doesn’t take off the way you want it to. So what do you do if it doesn’t work out? Do you have enough reserves for the first time? However, this should not stop you from realising your dream of a food truck business. If anything, your Plan B serves as an additional safeguard.

Conclusion – Food Truck Business Plan for Security and Success

Starting your own business is not easy. It is littered with possible setbacks and risks. Therefore, it is all the more important to draw up a detailed plan for your project. A well thought-out plan will also reduce your risk of failure. Of particular importance are the financial and legal aspects. These are probably the less fun part of your dream, but without them, unfortunately, there is no business. A business plan with a stable foundation is therefore the be-all and end-all for your food truck success.