Some food carts focus on selling ice cream.
Food carts and trucks are popular all across the country, in cities large and small. The type of cuisine sold via food carts runs the gamut from hot dogs and burgers to sushi and gourmet ice cream. If you're looking to start a food business, but don't have the money to invest in a traditional restaurant, a food cart can be the ideal way to test out your culinary creations on the public. In order to run a successful food cart business, there are several things you can do.
Instructions
1. Target a specific niche, or type of food to sell. Try to focus on selling food that is not already abundantly sold in your area. For instance, if there are three Mexican restaurants near where you want to station your cart, you would be subjecting yourself to a great deal of competition if your niche was selling tacos.
2. Obtain the licenses and permits required in your area to start a food business -- contact your state's department of health to find out what is needed. Depending on where you live, you may need a temporary food vending permit, food enterprise license, sales and use tax permit and fictitious name certificate.
3. Rent a space for your food cart, ideally near a shopping center, supermarket or high-traffic area. In addition, you can also become a vendor at city festivals, car shows, carnivals, bazaars, flea markets and farmers markets to bring in extra revenue throughout the year.
4. Secure a place to park your food cart or truck when it's not in use, if you do not have space where you live. You can rent a parking space by negotiating a rate at a nearby business or commercial parking lot.
5. Use local ingredients whenever possible to save money on transportation and shipping costs. Contact local farmers markets and grocers associations to find potential suppliers.
6. Attract customers to your food cart with large, colorful signage. If you have space in front of your cart, post a blackboard or whiteboard, and use vibrant chalk or markers to write your menu.
7. Promote your food cart business. Use social networks to let customers know what you'll be serving and where, launch a promotional blog or hand out samples to people walking by your cart.
Tags: food cart, your food, your food cart, your cart, farmers markets