If you currently run a food truck business, there’s a good chance it’s not necessarily what you want for the rest of your career. But you might be thinking that making a progression from food truck owner to restaurateur is an impossible task. After all, it can be incredibly expensive, and it could be a bridge too far that ends up wrecking your business, not enhancing it.
However, it doesn’t have to be this way. In today’s guide, we’re going to go through how to pull off your progression from food truck to restaurant with perfection. Let’s take a look at everything you need to know.
Look before you leap
OK, so before you get started with anything, make sure you are positive it’s the right thing to do. Reassess your original goals and ask yourself if going for a bricks and mortar is really going to help you achieve them. Is it purely for prestige? If so, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but make sure you understand the risks. It could be that if a fixed premises doesn’t quite fit in with your plans, you will be better off looking at growing your fleet instead.
Can you get a suitable location?
There are many things you need when making the switch from food truck to a restaurant. You’ll need a permit and restaurant insurance, of course. You will need locally based staff to work with you too – perhaps as full-timers rather than the part-time or agency staff you have been using in the truck. But the most important aspect to get right is the location. You’ll need to do plenty of scoping out, making sure you are in an area that enjoys a lot of footfall. Stay away from areas with high crime rates, too – they might be cheap but it won’t be worth it.
Reevaluate your strategy
Don’t make the mistake of thinking running a restaurant will be the same as running a food truck. No matter how successful you have been in the past with your mobile, it’s a completely different environment in bricks and mortar premises. For example, you will probably need to expand your menu a little – although not too much to minimize food waste. Resource allocation will also be very different – you need multiple roles filled, including waiters, kitchen hands, sommeliers, and cleaners.
Don’t lose your soul
It’s fair to say that there will be dramatic changes to your business when you progress from your food truck to your restaurant. However, you should always try to keep these changes as practical and strategic as possible. There is no need to change your company values or personality, for example, that have served you so well up until now. A lot of food truck businesses can lose their soul when they make the switch, and it’s important to remember that this is a big part of what made you a success in the first place. The big question is – how do you apply that personality to a completely different setting? Good luck!
