There is a thought (a widely considered one) that mobile vending constitutes unfair competition to their Brick and Mortar (B&M) peers. There are many reasons used to support this "unfair competition" claim, but they roughly break down into three categories: Cheaper Market to Enter, Lower Maintenance Overhead to Sustain and Unlimited Geographic Flexibility. And while each of these areas does constitute a substantial difference from B&M restaurants, it is important to define what specific practical effects each of these areas might have on both mobile vendors and B&M restaurants. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="500"]
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It is a fact that it is cheaper to enter the mobile vending business than open a B&M restaurant. As a consequence the resulting cost savings can (and should) be reflected in lower (relative to the quality of the food produced) cost food served by Street Food vendors. The logical next question to ask is: Do restaurants receive nothing in return for the capital investments associated with opening, and running, a B&M restaurant? Of course, they absolutely get something. B&M restaurants have an ability to scale on a level that mobile vendors can never compete with. They have the ability to create more
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This is part V (of a five part series) leading up to, "How to Start a Mobile Food Business (Legally!!!)," a La Cocina Incubator workshop. You can read part I on Business Planning here. You can read part II on "Defining your Market"here. You can read part III on "Setting Realistic Expectations" here. You can read part IV on "Know How to Use Technology (or Hire Someone Who Does)" here.
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In a perfect mobile vending world: the sun always shines, it stays light out for 18 hours a day, you can park or move wherever you want, you always make exactly the right amount of food, the health department understands that ice alone can keep things under 41 degrees just fine, and customers universally appreciate the care and love that you put into your products.
Here are ideas to help you get by until that perfect world comes along:
Take Time.
Don't rush into something that is going to demand large amounts of your time, money and patience. Take time to perfect your product, know where you are going to source it from, understand how much your product costs, understand where and how you are going to sell, and
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This is part IV (of a five part series) leading up to, "How to Start a Mobile Food Business (Legally!!!)," a La Cocina Incubator workshop. You can read part I on Business Planning here. You can read part II on "Defining your Market" here. You can read part III on "Setting Realistic Expectations" here.
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The recent popularity of street food has, in many ways, resulted from the convergence of three different trends: Social Media, Cheap Eats and the Local Food Movement. There are over 5000 legal, licensed, mobile food vendors in Los Angeles, but who are the ones that you hear about? These guys. This isn't to say that these "gourmet" food trucks are better than their 4950 peers who don't appear on Twitter, but simply to say that these trucks have expanded the local street food market by grasping 5 basic truths for modern street food success.
Be findable:
The past model for street food success was to place yourself (or your business) between a customer and the nearest possible restaurant and offer cheaper food, then move and repeat the process in the next
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This is part III (of a five part series) leading up to, "How to Start a Mobile Food Business (Legally!!!)," a La Cocina Incubator workshop. You can read part I on Business Planning here. You can read part II on "Defining your Market" here.
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Serving out of a mobile unit is a balancing act: You give up some conveniences (storage, more elaborate cooking techniques, no worries about weather) for the benefit of mobility (move if its slow, cheaper to open, lower overhead, easy to re-brand). Managing this balancing act requires first setting some reasonable expectations about what is, and isn't possible, out of a truck or cart. Here are ten things to keep in mind if you are plotting to take over the world with a food cart:
1. Commissaries are your friends (in California).
By California law you must prep, cook and store all your food at a commissary. This can be difficult when there aren't a lot of commissaries around, so be careful to make sure you know where your commissary is before you buy your cart. The commissary requirement also means that you are probably going to have to pay for storage of your cart,
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This is part I (of a five part series) leading up to, "How to Start a Mobile Food Business (Legally!!!)," a La Cocina Incubator workshop. You can read part II on "Defining Your Market," here. You can read part III on "Setting Realistic Expectations," here. You can read part IV "Know How to Use Technology (Or Hire Someone Who Does)," here. You can read part V, "Be Flexible With Your Vision," here
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If you decided to build a house, you'd have some architectural plans right? If you're going to cook a great recipe over and over again, makes sense to write down some ingredient measurements, no? Well, the same thing goes for starting a mobile food business. There are a lot of parts of this business that you are not going to be able to keep in your head and know at a moments notice: Startup costs, Insurance rates, Food Costs, Cart/Truck Maintanance, Marketing Costs, Division of Labor, and Company Philosophy (to name a few). So with that in mind here are the three biggest reasons (from my experience) most entrepreneurs use for failing to complete a business plan:
1) Intimidation
2) "We're not raising money for a loan, so
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