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Filling the streets and pavements of every corner with cheap and tasty food, food trucks, once thought to be just a passing fad, have silenced the critics and proven that they are here to stay. In recent years, the multi-million dollar food truck industry has become increasingly popular as food truck chefs reinvent street food, giving rise to so-called "gourmet food trucks".


These food businesses on wheels have consumers scouring the city in search of delicious cuisine, from Can Sibarita's veal melt sandwich to the incredible crepes at Crepería School Bus. So, if you're thinking about starting your own profitable food truck business and wondering how to start from scratch step by step, it looks like you've come to the right place at the right time.


In fact, from 2018 to 2020, the industry experienced a growth rate of 8.4%, according to several market research firms, and it doesn't look like it's going to slow down anytime soon.


Although the actual number of these businesses is difficult to determine, as it includes food trucks, food carts and kiosks that are set up in shopping centres, airports and stadiums, the irrefutable proof is in the lines of hungry people waiting in front of carts and trucks in cities, all over Spain and Europe.


So, if you're thinking about starting a food truck, you'll probably want to know what you need to know to get off to on the right foot, without making beginner's mistakes and staying one step ahead of hundreds of entrepreneurs with the same idea as you.


We're here to help. In this guide, we'll show you, step-by-step, how to start up your own gourmet restaurant. Plus, we'll include tips and tricks from food truck owners all over Spain.



How to start a food truck business


As you will probably realise, starting a food truck trailer business is not as simple as buying a truck and cooking some food. With any new business venture, and particularly with food businesses, a lot of planning and preparation is required before even getting into the details of the actual operation.


That said, before we break down our steps on how to start a food truck business specifically, let's briefly look at some of the actions you'll want to take first, once you start your mobile food truck business:


Write a business plan: although you may want to get your food truck business up and running as soon as possible, a well thought out business plan will certainly help you in the long run. If you think ahead with a long-term plan, you will have a roadmap to follow as you go through the process of starting up your mobile food truck.


Choose the legal structure of your business: Before you start thinking about trucks, cooking and where to park, you'll need to decide how your business will be legally structured. Will you operate as a sole owner, a partnership? A business lawyer or online legal service can be useful in helping you make this decision.


Register your business: Once you have determined your legal structure, you will need to register your business name. To do this, we are going to detail all the steps you need to follow in order to register your food truck in Spain:




This step is essential because depending on the goods or services that we are going to sell, we will choose one legal form or another, either as an individual or as a company. It can be a public limited company (SA) or a private limited company (SL). It is essential to know the legal regulations under which we are going to develop our activity, as on many occasions this can determine the legal form in which we should create the company. It is also important to know the number of partners that will participate in the start-up, as this will lead us to a trading company, a community of goods or a civil society.


To register a name we must apply for it at the commercial register to make sure that it is not already taken. One tip we can give you is that when submitting the names, you should include a short list of between 5 and 7 names for your company, so that you have more variety in case one of them is no longer available. The cost of the procedure is around 30 euros.




Depending on the legal form chosen when setting up our company, we will need different types of paperwork in order to apply for the administrative procedures that can set our company in motion.




This document certifies that the capital necessary to found the company has been deposited in the financial institution. It can also include the valuation of the company's assets, such as computer equipment. - Notary public Once we have the name, the bank certificate, the articles of association that regulate the operation of the company and the obligations of the partners, we can go to the notary public to sign the public deed of incorporation. This procedure will take at least a week.




Our next step is to register the company with the tax authorities (Hacienda). To do so, we must go with the deed of incorporation of the company and fill in form 036, which declares the census registration that allows us to regulate our relationship with them, thus determining the taxes that they require of us.




Becoming an entrepreneur in turn means that the individuals who own the company must register in the Special Register of Self-Employed Workers (RETA). To do this, we must go to the Tax Agency with our ID card and fill in a form in which we state the activity we will carry out. This is essential as it will define our tax cost.


These are the steps to follow when registering a company in Spain, it is a long and tedious process so try not to despair as in a not too long period of time you will finally have your company ready to operate and offer goods or services legally. At this point, you will be in good shape to get your business off the ground. So, let's discuss how to start a food truck:




1. Plan your costs and find a truck or trailer


How much does it cost to start up a food truck? Unfortunately, it is difficult to give an accurate estimate of start-up costs because there are so many possibilities in what you will need to get started. First, you will need to find the right truck for your business and you will probably have to have it custom-made to meet your needs.










However, as you can imagine, the food truck or food truck trailer will be the biggest and most pressing expense you will have to pay for. That said, before deciding on one or the other, you should have some options and design ideas in mind, keeping in mind, of course, what you will need specifically for your business in both short and long term.


As a recommendation, we advise you to consult Food Truck Passion ( link here) to get a clear idea of what the different designs look like and which one might work best for you. It is also important to bear in mind that things tend to break a lot more in a truck, so make sure you consider this in your planning process and have some capital in reserve in case the inevitable happens.


With this in mind, you can also think about the various food truck financing options, such as different loans and business credit cards, to cover some of the upfront costs.




2. Follow health regulations to the letter.


Next, to figure out how to start a food truck, you'll need to review the rules and regulations you'll need to follow. As a food-based business, there will definitely be more considerations to take in this regard.


It's probably not surprising to learn that just as health department inspectors check restaurants, the same goes for food trucks. Most inspections are done to check at least the following:











3. Obtain the permissions and licenses required


After determining your health requirements, the next step involved in starting a food truck is obtaining the necessary business permissions and licenses. Again, as starting a food truck business means handling food and serving it to customers, there are a variety of regulations and permission requirements to sort through. In addition, the specific licenses and permissions you need will depend largely on each town.


Click here to see all the general and mandatory food truck permissions and licenses in Spain.





4. Decide how you are going to prepare your food


Once you've figured out the behind-the-scenes details ( permissions, licenses, regulations, costs...) and, of course, you've decided on your truck, it's time to think about your product.


After all, a crucial part of learning how to start a food truck business is deciding what kind of food you will prepare and sell, how that process will work, what you will need and what your menu will look like. As you think about these points and begin to make decisions, remember that, unlike starting a restaurant with a physical location, a food truck has limited space, so it can be difficult to prepare food inside. Therefore, you will need to decide whether it is better for your business to prepare the food in advance before leaving for the day's work or whether it is feasible to prepare everything on site. In addition, when perfecting your recipes, you will need to ensure that the food on your menu is repeatable in large quantities, tastes good, is easy to serve, easy to eat and can be stored properly.





5. Hire employees and build a team


With a food plan in mind, the next thing to do when starting a food truck is thinking about hiring staff. In a small environment like a food truck, you obviously won't be able to have too many employees, but depending on your food, process and the demand you may face, you may want to consider hiring help.


When starting out, you may be able to work with friends, family or a partner, but if your food truck grows quickly, it is likely that some part-time or full-time employees will come in handy. Also, when it comes to food truck employees, you'll need to go beyond the typical process of hiring and onboarding a team member.


If you want to make your business a success and avoid long-term problems, you need to hire professionals who meet a number of requirements: experienced and able to work in small spaces, flexible, with initiative, who have great courtesy and patience, and above all, human qualities. This last point may seem obvious, but it is curious how we sometimes find people with little or no social skills in customer-facing positions, who are more of a customer-scarer than someone attentive and helpful who we would like to buy from.





6. Find out where to park


One of the benefits (and challenges) of starting a food truck business is the mobile element. Your business is mobile, which means it has the ability to go (to some extent) to where your customers are, unlike a traditional restaurant that is limited to a specific location. However, to be successful as a mobile business, you will also need to find out where the best places are to attract customers and, perhaps more importantly, where you can and cannot park your food truck trailer.


As with licensing and permissions, restrictions on parking your food truck vary from city to city, and so you should consult local regulations to determine what your options are.


That said, it is likely that if you are in a larger location, such as the city of Madrid or Barcelona, this process will be a little more difficult. Once you understand where you can and cannot park your fast food truck, you can begin to think more strategically about where the best parking spots will be to attract and serve customers.





7. Start commercialising and promoting your food truck


With regulations and operational tasks crossed off the list, the next important part of learning how to start a profitable food truck business is commercialising and advertising (add marketing article link). First, you will need to plan and execute some food truck marketing strategies to inform the local community about the existence of your food truck. You can plan a "grand opening" or see if you can take part in a local event to draw attention and customers. You will also want to consider starting a website and social media presence, as well as advertising in town.


In addition, as a mobile business, whose location can change daily, it's important that your customers are aware of where you'll be. Whether this means making a weekly schedule or simply keeping your customers updated on your website or social media accounts.





8. Consider using a point-of-sale (POS) system.


While you can most likely run your mobile food truck with a paper ordering system and cash drawer, you might consider investing in a point-of-sale system to automate the process. With your food truck POS system, you'll be able to manage orders, accept payments (including credit cards), as well as track inventory, create loyalty programmes and more.


In fact, there are a variety of POS systems on the market designed specifically for food truck trailers.


By using one of these systems, you'll be able to manage everything in one place, speed up and simplify your processes, and therefore better serve your customers. This is especially important for food trucks, which often experience a rush of customers for a few hours a day, meaning that customers can end up waiting in long lines.


In this case, you might consider using a pre-ordering system to help your van handle these kinds of situations that not only become inconvenient, but give a very bad image to customers and a high percentage will probably not want to come back.





9. Perfect your day-to-day plan


Once you've completed all these steps, you've learned how to set up a food trailer, and now that you've got things in motion, you'll want to start perfecting your daily plan.


What exactly does this mean?


Well, according to several food truck owners we have asked, running a food truck business is a lot harder than people think, because most people only see that food trucks only operate for a few hours a day.


What people don't realise is that, in order to get our place, we arrive at 6 a.m., they explain. "That means we get to the kitchen at 4 a.m. to get ready and drive to the site. After lunch we go back to our kitchen and have to clean the truck and the dishes. So, for a few hours of service, we work 10 to 12 hours a day".


So if you plan ahead, even at the beginning of each week, you can maximise your time and hopefully your business as well. In this regard, you may also want to think about whether your strategy will be to simply park in town or whether you will consider participating in local food truck events, or even starting a catering service.




Conclusion


Ultimately, learning how to start up a fast food trailer will require a lot of time, effort and investment.


That said, however, if you start the process with a solid plan, consider how much it will cost you to get it off the ground, and stay positive and resilient along the way, chances are you can achieve success.


And while the competition is getting tougher by the day (with the rise in popularity of food truck trailers), it's relatively easy to carve out a niche and fight it head-to-head. If cooking is your passion, this is the perfect opportunity to own your own business, be your own boss and succeed in the industry, without the high costs and headaches of opening a typical restaurant.


Food trucks allow you to explore different locations to find out who your target customers are and what kind of food they like to eat. So, in a way, it allows you to test your food creations before you have to commit to a costly lease and other high overheads.


???Moreover, once you have opened your fast food truck and you have it under control, you can always consider expanding your business, whether it is investing in different trucks in your city, offering catering services, organising public and private events... the possibilities are endless.