Do you love food trucks? Who doesn’t? From the most refined dishes, finger-licking street food and Insta-good desserts, there is always a food truck that offers exactly what you are in the mood for.
So why not take some time off and think about your favorite food truck today, because it’s National Food Truck Day. And whether you are looking for a quick bite for lunch or a full-blown dinner experience, we all have that one food truck that offers both.
A food truck is practical and gives you, a customer, the freedom to decide if you want something on the go, or stay back and savor food on the spot.
Food trucks are a trend, they are becoming a popular choice for a restaurant business. First-time restaurateurs prefer food trucks to their brick-and-mortar rivals.
There is a common confusion, regarding which one is better, a food truck or a regular restaurant, so we have narrowed down five reasons why you should open a food truck business instead of a regular restaurant.
1. Get low on investments and high on profit
The food trucking business is considered to be a high-profit one. Why? It requires lower investment against a sit-down restaurant.
This alone proves to be a bigger competitive advantage of running a food truck instead of a regular restaurant. The money you save in setting up can be used for marketing or menu engineering.
Initially, your cost solely lies in buying your truck and the right equipment like exhausts, grillers, heat lamps and other specialty equipment your particular food needs.
2. Operations don’t cost you a lot
The initial costs of owning a restaurant are high and so are the operational costs. You’ll need to invest in expensive utilities, hire staff including cooks, cashiers, servers, kitchen managers, cleaners, etc., property tax can be a liability if you are the owner of your real estate. You might have to pay your monthly rentals if the property is on rent.
Food trucks, on the other hand, have operational costs limited to food, supplies and gas on a monthly basis. You don’t need to have a full staff; a small team will suffice.
Repairs and fixes in a restaurant can cost a bunch. Food trucks do well with just a little maintenance and repairs here and there over time.
3. Attracts more customers (more the merrier)
We can all agree that food trucks offer better quality food as compared to the street vendors at a marginally lesser price. Almost all food truck menus are pocket-friendly and even a safer and healthier alternative to street food.
4. Not a one-stop biz
Food trucks are restaurants on wheels and can experiment with different locations while restaurants rise and die with their location. Fortunately, if you’re a food truck owner, you can choose the location. If your services don’t go well at one location, you can move to some other location and see if your business is capable of thriving there.
5. Start small then expand
Food trucks allow you to build/expand your brand
With a mobile food van, you can build your brand at a smaller level before you expand into something more significant, like multiple franchises or even a sit-down restaurant in the long run—if you’re making ample profits.
The dynamics of a food truck are completely different from that of a sit-down restaurant. So before you make that transition, analyze the best location, try out new recipes and modify your menus. Since the nature of a regular restaurant can be different, the operations model will need tweaking.
