Topics >  Start-up > 

How to Open a (Successful) Food Truck

Want to break into sidewalk entrepreneurship? Here's your guide.

You're not exactly ahead of the curve if you think vending specialty food out of a van could be your big meal ticket. But that doesn't mean you can't make it big by betting on a banh mi bus or a churro cart.

Street food in New York and Los Angeles took a decidedly foodie turn in 2008, when gourmet trucks such as Rickshaw Dumpling Bar and The Dessert Truck, founded by a former Le Cirque pastry sous chef, started parking on the Manhattan streets. Formerly, lunch from a to-go cart might entail a greasy, mixed-meat kabob, a shriveled hot dog, or a stale pretzel. Today, the state of the cart is healthy, and increasingly high-end.

Call it a coast-to-coast surge of mobilized chefs, taking street eats to the next level.

The most successful are super-social-media savvy, with a loyal following that will meet them at any urban curb. Still, if you think you've got what it takes to serve meals on wheels, there are plenty of factors to consider first, the least of which should not be geography. While New York has no available vendor permits and Portland's food-truck market is already quite crowded (Multnomah County has nearly 400 food carts, according to the Portland Oregonian), other mid-sized cities look ripe for entrepreneurs.

When Scott Baitinger opened Streetza Pizza in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last year with Steve Mai, the pair was virtually alone as street vendors – so much so that a local insurance agent had to create a policy to cover their previously unheard-of business. This year, Milwaukeeans seem to expect a snack truck to be parked outside Water Street bars late nights. Things are going so well, in fact, that Streetza is expanding via a partnership to Cleveland, where at least six new pizza trucks are slated to be in working order by Memorial Day.

Does sliding hand-tossed pizza topped with veggies grown by friends into and out of a mobile pizza oven all day sound like a dream? Well, Baitinger still has a 60-hour-a week day job, and no plans to leave it. New vendors cite considerable start-up hurdles, such as getting proper licensing, funding a kitchen and truck, mastering social networking, and staying profitable through poor weather and off seasons.

Ready to confront those obstacles and give a culinary venture a go? We've compiled stories and advice from entrepreneurs who have pioneered successful food carts.

Dig Deeper: Food Trucks Hot Start-up Trend (Video)

Opening a Food Truck: Buy a Truck; Rent a Kitchen

So, you have a killer idea for a food truck. If you're thinking something fresh and hearty, something already sold on the streets of another country, or something sweet, it's likely you're on the right track.

As with almost any entrepreneurial endeavor, securing financing should be one of your first goals. Online forums and sales sites can help you determine your costs. If you want to start small, a standard, used hot dog style cart costs about $2,000 to buy, while refurbished trucks for driving and vending can run more than $40,000. That high price tag is usually due to local health department specifications, which any truck that serves food must comply with and be refurbished to meet.

Before you buy, though, assess your needs. The less you need your truck to do, and the smaller it can be, the cheaper it will be. Cody Fields, a former engineer who built wastewater treatment plants, launched his Austin empanada truck, Mmmpanadas, in early 2008. He started small by cooking his empanadas at home and selling a few dozen at a time to local bars and coffee shops. But he found serious expenses involved in expanding to a truck.

"You can spend $20,000 in buying your initial truck," he says. "I would recommend people think about going with a smaller cart – something that's not a full mobile truck, and not a full mobile kitchen."

In New York or Los Angeles, where food carts are most popular, it might be possible to purchase a truck previously used by a vendor. Used is advisable, especially because acquiring and retrofitting a new truck can cost $75,000 to $100,000, according to a food-truck analysis by New York Magazine. Vending windows, lined walls and floors, electricity, hot running water and a retail payment system are all necessary, so even if you find, say, an appropriate-sized old DHL step van for sale for $10,000, the retrofitting will be a significant expense. Food carts generally have the same health and safety requirements as restaurants, so you can expect regular inspections for fire and health issues.

Read more:

How to Start a Restaurant

Where in the World is Kogi Korean BBQ?

Start-Up Trends: Food Trucks

Using Social Networking for Business

The Truth About Who's Using Twitter

Christine Lagorio

Christine Lagorio is a writer and reporter whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Village Voice, and The Believer, among other publications. She is executive editor of Inc.com.

Sign-up for our Start-up Newsletter

Email Address: