To survive in the food industry in this modern age, getting a food truck business plan has become almost imperative. While traditionally considered a marketing vehicle, customized food trucks have become monumental in breaking away from the constraints of permanent structures and extending your business’ reach.
We’ve come to see more established businesses leveraging food truck fleets to open new locations while spending only a fraction of their typical capital. Food trucks have proven especially effective for testing new products before introducing them to their restaurant menus.
Why You Need a Business Plan For Your Food Truck
Besides low operational cost, many other benefits make the food truck the ideal model in the food industry. Let’s take a look at some of them.
The Gift of Mobility
The primary advantage of the food truck is its unique ability to shift location. This allows you to present your otherwise risky unchartered territories without major consequences.
The good thing is that these trucks come in different formats, including food trailers, kiosks, carts, and vans, which you can choose and customize according to your needs. This way, you can fit all the kitchen equipment you need, prepare and serve nearly all the items on your brick-and-mortar restaurant’s menu.
Low Initial Costs
The cost of starting up a food truck is incredibly low. In fact, it can be up to 10 times less than starting a permanent restaurant business. Likewise, the cost of installing the equipment is relatively lower when compared to brick-and-mortar restaurants. In this case, you get to design and optimize your layout so it serves you best.
As you may expect, the costs of operations are low as well. Perhaps the only incurred costs would be maintaining the vehicle, fuel cost, commissary fees, and getting the required truck permits.
Access to More Revenue Streams
Another advantage you gain with a mobile food truck is it allows you to tap into all the food-related ventures whose models require flexibility. This includes everything from takeout and catering to delivery services. Essentially, you have a kitchen you can position where you want according to the demand or need.
Since you are closer to the customer, the overall quality of your food tends to be better. You can optimize your pricing based on each unique demographic, neighborhood, or event type.
Business Models to Consider in Your Business Plan
It is important to note that food trucks are not replacements for your business but rather extensions. As each business is unique, you have to efficiently integrate it into your business in a way that supplements your restaurant. Here are two of the most effective distribution models you can consider.
Hub and Spoke Model
The Hub and spoke is one of the most cost-effective distribution models out there. In this model, your main restaurant will act as the central hub for the food truck network. There is where you will receive and store supplies and make preparations for meals. The mobile trucks will then be used to distribute the pre-prepared meals throughout the city to locations where your customers are concentrated.
The Real Estate Expansion Model
In this model, each food truck operates as an independent entity. They will have in place all the equipment needed to prepare the foods on your restaurant’s main menu. The model works best when you want to explore markets that are further away from your main restaurant.
Using the food truck, you can experiment and acquire data on the best spots and even establish a customer base before setting up a more permanent building structure.
Expand Your Brand
Restaurant owners everywhere today are finding food trucks an easy and inexpensive way of expanding their brands. Besides having low operating costs, food trucks attract a wider array of customers due to their pocket-friendly prices and overall hygiene compared to street food.
However, we can’t emphasize enough the need to establish a comprehensive business plan. Hopefully, by considering the models above, you should be well on your way to running a successful food truck venture. For any inquiries on how to build a customized truck for your business, feel free to contact us today and let us do the rest.
