FOOD TRUCK BUSINESS PLAN OUTLINE

For the unacquainted, food trucks can give the impression of being a kind of “semi-business”—a good way to make a small profit without all of the investment of a larger business model. This is, of course, not true; food truck owners face multiple hurdles before rubber ever hits the road:

In some ways, food trucks can actually be a greater challenge than stationary restaurants; traveling between different locations means more audiences to understand and more paperwork to be filed. In addition, food trucks have the added expense of vehicle upkeep, which is essential for their business model.

Creating a food truck business plan outline is critical to addressing these challenges. Our article shows you how and offers a few extra tips for things to watch out for. This includes:

• • Company overview
  • Market analysis
  • Implementation

 

Start with a company overview

First things first—you need an overview. Your company overview details who you are, your company’s goals and how you plan to achieve them. Any good overview should include:

• • Company background
  • Management team information
  • Required funds
  • What are you offering? (Menu)
  • Where are you getting it from? (Sourcing)

Ideally, your company overview should detail all of your business plan information in a single page, and there are some essential elements you must have. Each of these sections should be detailed as possible, outlining individual dishes and key ingredients to make those dishes. Additionally, the sourcing section should also outline potential vendors you already have lined up. Finally, backup plans in case those vendors fall through.

 

Next, complete a market analysis

Understanding your market is critically important to the health of your food truck. This section should include information on:

• • Market overview and target market information
  • Competition analysis
  • Marketing strategy (promotion, distribution, ect.)

One of the smartest footholds is to look at the health of existing food trucks already in your desired market. If they are doing well, this is a good sign that your truck will have exposure to a wide audience. Another option would be offering a different type of food to better suit the needs of that market.

 

Finally, implementation

Implementation is all about getting into the nuts and bolts of how your food truck is actually going to function. Any good implementation section needs information on:

• • Personnel
  • SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
  • Timeline
  • Key assumptions
  • Sales forecast
  • Budget overview

It’s important to remember that prior to the implementation itself, your company is only losing money. You can’t break in any profits if your truck is not out and doing business. One thing we highly recommend when drawing your business plan is to keep your financial expectations as low as possible.

 

Taking care of the not-so-little things

Having a complete business plan is essential, but what about the loose ends after it’s ready? Even after the food truck is greenlit, potential business owners need to consider the specifics of implementation—for example, how are you producing menus? How are you taking payments? Maybe most important of all, how are you going to put all of these features into a mobile truck?

It’s here that an advanced point of sale (POS) system is your best friend. Combining a mobile POS allows your to put several features into just a tablet:

• • Online order capabilities
  • Online menus customers can access using just a QR code
  • Mobile payments (Card, chip, tap and digital wallets)
  • Integrated services (accounting, labor management and even KDS screens)
  • Comprehensive data analytics that provide insights about your business

The best thing about these features is the mobility; because modern POS systems are cloud-based, these features can be accessed with just a tablet. That portability is ideal for a food truck, as it frees up valuable space for ingredients, cookware and employees.

 

A food truck business plan, outlined

As far as money management goes, we recommend investing in a POS option offering expansive features with mobile capabilities. POS solutions like talech specialize in mobile capabilities, offering scalable solutions to match the size of your goals. Best of all, we integrate with business management tools to create a comprehensive all-in-one POS solution for your company. Reach out today for a free demo and to see how we can become your trusted partner.