How To Start Your Own Concession Stand

Entrepreneurs are the heart that beat America. You often hear in the political spectrum that small businesses are the growth engine of the country, and this is true. The beauty is that you can step out on a limb, take a risk, and perhaps make it big. Even if you don’t make it big, the fact that you are doing what you love is reason enough to take a shot. A recent trend for start ups is the food truck or mobile food business. There are a number of benefits to owning a mobile food truck as opposed to a brick and mortar location.

The fact that your mobile food business is mobile is an advantage to start with. While neighborhoods fall in and out of style, if you can take your restaurant on the go, you don’t have to worry about the location you choose for your business. The location can vary from day to day.

If you are running a more traditional, stationary food joint – you don’t have this ability. You are subject to the supply and demand in your local area. Do you know of a neighborhood that used to be sought after but is now run down? Unfortunately the businesses in these situations suffer as well, so if people move out, likely their business take a hit. In mobile food, you can still succeed.

Another reason being able to move a restaurant can be a great advantage over a stay-in-place restaurant is that, if business is bad in a certain area, a mobile kitchen can get up and move to a location that will provide more customers and therefore more cash flow. With a restaurant in a building in one location, if a restaurant is failing because of the location such as scarcely populated area, or food that does not go together with the area, the owner can not just get up and move his business. He must figure out another alternative to moving in order to save his business.

Start up costs are huge barrier of entry in the food industry. A restaurant start up can cost over $100,000 easily, after you have bought a building and then all the equipment you will need. In mobile food, you aren’t paying for tables and other items you would need to people to eat in at your location. This alone cuts down drastically on the cost. On the other hand, a concession trailer can be started for as little as a few thousand dollars. Depending on if you buy new or used, and if you plan to serve freshly prepared food or food that has been prepackaged.

As you can see, we are definitely fans of mobile food. We talked about the cost advantages, but it is even worth considering if you are already in a stationary location. Many restaurants have made the transition of being both stationary and mobile, with the purchase of a food truck.

Since concession trailers have much less start-up costs, this also means they are easier to exit. While you don’t want to plan to fail, it makes a big difference in being out $10,000 as opposed to $150,000. If you get into mobile food and like it, you may want to make the switch and set up a permanent space once you build up some brand loyalty.

If you are starting in the food truck business the first step is to find food kiosks for sale. Next, you need to prepare a food truck plan. Go ahead and make a plan.