How to write a food truck business plan
While seeking for funding for a food truck business, you need a compelling business plan to entice your potential investor or lender to qualify for financing. The business plan enables you to cover your bases and provide relevant information to your investors. An important aspect in the plan is to mention how you will raise funds in the initial stage of the business, and the revenue generation that will enable you pay back the loan to the lender or return to the investor. Investors usually look out for specific vital sections in any business plan. It is, therefore, important to have all these sections covered in your plan. This post gives you a guideline for each section of your business plan.
Overview of a Business Plan
A winning business plan must describe the company’s or proposed project with accuracy, appeal and precision. It explains in details the company’s current state and needs, and the expected future. Among the important aspects to be covered are the company’s goals and objectives and how to achieve. A good well packaged and compelling business plan should include the following sections:
- An executive summary
- Introduction
- Business industry and overview
- Marketing strategy and analysis
- Risks and significant opportunities
- Location and assets
- Operations
- Management and human resource
- Financial plan and budget
Let’s get into describing each of the listed sections above in detail when writing your food truck business plan.
Executive summary
An executive summary briefly describes each section that has been covered in the business plan. It should be accurate, precise and interesting enough to create a first good impression to a potential investor. It should cover the key points for each section enabling an investor or lender to understand what your business is all about and encourage them to read the entire plan. You therefore, have to bring out the important aspect of each section clearly in the executive summary.
Your food truck business plan should describe the objectives of your business plan, the business environment in which you will be operating, your food menu, products and other services you will be offering i.e catering, a summary of your financial requirements, and the management team. Also, mention your exact target market, competition, your unique selling proposition, a brief description of your marketing strategically, and your brand story.
Introduction
Here you introduce your company by outlining your company profile, mission, vision, core values, organizational structure, and the strategic objectives of your food truck business. The profile gives a brief history of your the company, the foods and drinks you will be offering, and the locations where your food truck will be operating. Under vision, you will state your long term and short term goals. In addition, state your goals and objectives as a business and how you intend to achieve them, and mentioning the values that govern your operational strategy. Also, include the organizational structure explaining how your day-to-day activities are directed in order to achieve your goals.
Business industry and overview
This section covers the industry trends and other factors that affecting the food truck business. Talk about how each factor that can impact your business and your mitigation strategy. These factors can be demographic, political, social, economic, and environmental. State the major players in the food truck business nationally, and narrow down to your direct local competitors. When concluding this section, list the menu items and services your food truck business will be offering. Under services, you may want to mention whether you will offer delivery services.
Also, mention if you will offer catering services for occasions and events. You can include a snapshot of your menu to catch the attention of your audience. Finally, state the government regulations and policies that you will comply with.
Market strategy and analysis
Market analysis enables potential investor or lender to understand your target market, the competition, and your unique selling proposition. Ensure to mention both your direct and indirect competitors stating their strength and weaknesses. Include the marketing strategy you will implement to attract and maintain your customers. A pricing strategy should not be missed in this section.
SWOT analysis
In your SWOT analysis explain how you will maximize on your strengths and take advantage of the opportunities, in addition, indicate how you will minimize your weaknesses and threats. These points can touch on your target market, the location of the food truck, the foods items you will be offering, and food industry trends.
Location and assets
Given it is a food truck business, you need to state the locations of your truck. If you are planning to expand in the future, you can also mention the intended locations of expansion. To start a food truck business, you will definitely need a truck and kitchen equipment, mention where you plan to source your food truck, equipment and any technology you plan to use. Also, state the number of trucks you plan to purchase.
Operations
List down the suppliers for your ingredients, how you plan to run your kitchen i.e food preparation process, customer ordering process, operating hours, and your pricing system.
Management and human resources
The organizational structure includes the management and staff you plan to hire. Include an estimate of the wages and salaries, human resource management plan, benefits etc. Include resumes of the people that will be responsible for running and managing of the food truck business; the founders and the employees.
Financial plan and budget
This is the most important section of your business plan. The investor or lender will want to know how your business is going to perform financially. Include your startup expenses and financial projections; income statement, balance sheet, and cashflow statement. If your food truck business has been in operation for a while, include the historical financial data which will help you do the projections. If it is a startup business, you will need to calculate what your business will potentially generate in the next five years using plausible assumptions.
Conclusion
Aside from helping you define and achieve your business objectives, a good food truck business plan can facilitate getting a business loans or investor funding. We are a team of professional business plan writers who are ready to assist you with in creating a comprehensive, customized, and funding ready business plan for your food truck business. Schedule an appointment with us to speak to one of our business plan consultants today!
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