Food Truck industry is more popular than ever before. But, is this a profitable business?

That depends on your ability to do it well. There are many motivations to reinvent the typical restaurant, in favour of the flexibility of the fast food trucks.

You can experiment with new recipes and ideas.

You can reach your audience instead of waiting for them to come to you. 

And yet many people still wonder how to achieve the dream of running your own food truck business. Follow our 9 steps to start up your mobile kitchen.

1. Know your goal market 

You need to know your goal market. If you are selling tacos in your food truck to people who don't like tacos, it won't last long. 

Do your homework before launching your business. Of course, you can reach your clients instead of waiting for them to approach you. 

But that also means that you have to figure out where your clients can be. If they have frequent places, then your clients will know where to find you, won't they?

2. Develop your Food Truck brand

You probably already know what kind of food you are going to sell. You must build your brand around the same theme.

Do you offer organic and vegan dishes? Are you a gourmet pizza truck? Your unique selling point is your incredibly delicious food.

You must choose a name that is totally original. You don't want to find out that another food truck trailer has the same name.

Next, have a logo designed that is consistent with your brand image. This can be anything, but make sure it's memorable and eye-catching.

3- Prepare a business plan

What makes you different? You need a business plan to face all the possible challenges.

You may have a lot of ideas. But you have to write them down to make them true!

You can begin describing your business.

This includes your mission statement, your business concept and your goal market. 

You should do a market analysis: know the business trends, information about your competitors and your clients base. 

After that, you should pay attention to your organization issues. Who is responsible of what? If you are in charge of everything, then this part is simple. 

You should also consider creating a marketing and financial information plan. It's important that you keep organized. Running a business is not cooking!

4- Obtain registrers and licences

You should know that you just can't buy a food truck and star selling right away. You must jump over some hurdles before that!

You should obtain a food license and a commercial license to work legally. There may be some other permissions depending on your location, like a health permission or a food security certificate. 

Remember, as it's a food truck, you could go across some frontiers, but your will need to obtain some certifications to work in your new location. Although this is not a traditional restaurant, food trucks follow many of their rules and regulations. 

5- Get the money

If you still don't have your funding, you should secure it from somewhere. You could start saving, but depending on your income, that could take long.

Of course, you can ask for a personal or commercial loan. Or you could consider other options to get the money you need, like finding investors. 

Having a good business plan will be crucial at this point, as most of the banks and investors won't support a project that hasn't been planned and doesn't show profitability. 

6-Design your menu

Your food menu is one of the first things that will attract your clients to your food truck. 

Many trucks use a sign or a blackboard to show the dishes of the day. This is perfect if you change your meny frequently. 

Make sure that everything is clearly written together with the price. The most efficient food truck usually have simple menus, which means that they can focus on perfecting only some key dishes. 

7- Your food truck layout 

Your food truck builder will work with you to make sure you will have everything you need on your food truck. 

Think about the kind of food you want to serve and how this will affect the electrical appliance you will need. If you are planning to serve ice cream, you will need a "caja de inmersión". If you are opening a café, you will need an espresso machine on board. 

You will also have to insure your food truck. There are many different kinds of insurances to consider. Check all the boxes to make sure that everything is legal at your fast food truck business.  

8- Advertise your food truck.

Of course your food truck is the main advertising. You can advertise your business with an attractive screen on the side of your truck. 

However, you can also consider different ways of advertising. This include social networks. Make sure you are an active promoter on social networks.

You can tweet about your last menu and publish on Instagram your delicious dishes. You may also invest on some flyers to deliver around your town. 

9- Start to sell food and earn some money 

Now that you are working on your food truck business, nothing can stop you.

Continue making delicious sandwiches and dishes. Clients will be eager to try something new.