Why write a food trailer business plan? If you want to start a food trailer business, then a good food trailer business plan will be the foundation of your business.
The food trailer business plan should be completed before you buy the trailer. The business plan will solve many of your potential problems. It makes all the things you need to do more clear. All the information you need before starting a mobile food business is included in the business plan.
A business plan can also help you obtain funds from potential investors. Submit a business plan and it will be easier for you to apply for financial support.
In addition, the business plan will provide guidance for each stage of your food business and increase your chances of future success.
Food trailer business business plan template
1. Executive summary
This section will briefly introduce your company, products and services, and other information that readers need to know. Including the company's basic information, the company's business philosophy, your main products and services, but also basic management team information. If you plan to apply for financing or attract investors, then this section should also include financial information and financial expectations.
The following is the main information that needs to be included in the executive summary of the food trailer business:
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What is your company? Briefly introduce the company's name, brand, business location, and self-positioning in a few sentences.
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What are the strengths of your company? The main reasons why the company will succeed will be explained here.
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What is your mission statement? This is the reason why you started the food trailer business, and it is also the spirit and image of your company. This is your business and service philosophy, and also your dream.
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What kind of food are you selling? Briefly describe how your food will gain market share and fill the gap in the market. And briefly explain your main market.
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A profile of your management team. Briefly introduce the information, skills and experience of key management personnel.
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What is your financing amount? Briefly explain the amount and purpose of the financing funds you are seeking.
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What is the estimated turnover? Here will provide one-year forecasted revenue data, and simply forecast costs and profits.
The executive summary should preferably be no more than one page. The content of this part should be concise and clear to convey the core of the business to readers.
2. Company introduction
This part is a detailed introduction about the company's situation.
This section is more detailed than the content in the executive summary. You will explain the specific situation of your company in depth, and readers will understand the detailed information of your company, including the company's basic information, service scope, target groups, as well as the company's brand and history. In addition, a detailed description of competitive advantages can be of great help to financing applications.
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The basic situation of the company. It mainly includes detailed information such as the company's name, registered address, business scope, business philosophy and company culture.
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Brand introduction. Please introduce the origin and development process of your brand, as well as the brand's popularity, the degree of customer love, etc.
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Company's history. This part will describe why, when and how the company was created, company milestones and other important information.
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Competitive advantages. This is a very important part. Readers will understand why the company can be successful and how you will stand out in the food business.
3. Market analysis
You will investigate in depth the industry situation and target market of the mobile food business. Market analysis will give you a better understanding of current market trends, the supply and demand of mobile catering services, the degree of competition in the market, blank areas in the market, and the advantages of competitors. This information will affect your sales strategy and the type of food sold, which is very important to the success of the food business.
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Market trend. Investigate the trends in the food trailer market in your target city or state or nation in the last 5-10 years. The data in this section will show the future prospects of the concession food trailer business you will enter.
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Demand for food trailers. This part will explain the number of target customers, the classification of consumer groups in the city, and the supply and demand of food trailers. You will interview target customers to find out how satisfied they are with current street food. Whether there is a lack of food trailers in a certain area, they cannot enjoy a certain kind of food. Did they give up burgers and pizzas because of the long queue time? Want to eat donuts but have nowhere to buy? You also need to interview current food trailer owners to understand their views on the market. Are they participating in a food event and cannot go to another high-traffic location to provide food? How many gatherings and events are there every year in the city? This part will solve these problems.
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The number and distribution area of existing food trailers. Investigate and count the number of food trailers and trucks in your target city, and understand their number and location in each area. How many high-traffic intersections and locations are there? How many food trucks or trailers are serving food? Is there a lack of food trailers in a high-traffic area? You have to find the answers to all these questions and show them to the readers in this part.
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Competitors analysis. Explain the number and basic situation of your competitors. What are their advantages? What type of food do they sell and what is the price? This part will also detail how you will surpass your competitors.
4. City laws and policies
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Legal terms. You need to understand local laws regarding food trailer business. Is there a restricted business area? Do you need to apply for special business licenses and permits?
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Encouraging policies. Does the local government have corresponding support policies or financial subsidies for start-up entrepreneurs who start mobile food business? Are there any preferential tax policies?
5. Organization and Management
This part will introduce the company's organizational structure and management team information in detail.
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Company ownership information. Who are the shareholders of the company? What is the proportion of shares?
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Organizational structure information. The company's organizational chart and introduction of functional departments.
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Operation management staff. Introduction of key management personnel, including background, skills, experience and position.
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Team member information. How many members does the team have? What are their roles?
If your team has only you or two people, then this part seems unnecessary. But listing all the functions will help you clearly understand what one or both of you need to do, and how the two will allocate tasks.
6. Services and products
Describe your products and services in as much detail as possible. How does your product attract customers and keep them in line in front of your food trailer? How will you provide your services? If your product or service has intellectual property rights, please specify the information.
Here are the questions you need to consider in this section:
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Menu. What food will you provide? What are their special features and why can they attract customers? Will the menu be adjusted? In this section, you must list your menu in detail and mark your main dishes.
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Service. In what style will you provide services? What is your service attitude towards gourmets? Do you only sell breakfast, lunch or dinner?
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New food development. What is your new product development plan? How long is the life cycle of food?
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Intellectual property. Are there any trade secrets and patents in your gourmet recipes or services? How will you protect them?
7. Marketing
Marketing and promotion are vital to the success of the food trailer business. In this part you have to explain your promotion methods, marketing strategies, brand positioning and value concepts.
Marketing strategy. Your marketing strategy starts from the exterior design of the trailer and extends to the brand, value concept and various promotion methods. Traditional advertising. Do you want to promote food business and branding in traditional advertising media? Sponsorship and charity events. If you have plans to sponsor the community or donate food for charitable events, please describe in this section. Social media marketing. Will you use social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or Tiktok, to interact with customers online and promote your business? Email marketing. If you plan to use e-mail to reach communities within the scope of your business. And to send promotions, discounts and other information to target customers, please describe your plan in detail. Sales strategy. Explain your sales strategy in detail. How will you attract customers? Free tasting event? Family group purchase rewards? Or are you going to set low prices to attract customers? What are your business hours? How many days do you have to rest each month? If you have a ceremony at the opening, please describe in detail how you will make the opening event more effective. Will you participate in local events? In this section, please describe in detail all your promotional and marketing activities to make your food trailer business a success. Sales target. In the food trailer business plan, you also need to explain your sales goals. You need to specify the minimum sales required to maintain the food trailer business operation, the minimum number of sales to achieve profitability goals, your sales costs and profits. These data will be counted on a monthly or even weekly basis.
8. Funding request
Not every entrepreneur needs to list this item in the food trailer business plan. But the description of the use of funds in this part will help you a lot, and you will know more clearly the bills you will pay in the future.
In the food trailer business plan, the funding request part mainly explains:
Funding requirements. How much do you need to start your food trailer business?
Use of funds. Describe in detail that you will buy equipment or pay bills such as salary in the future. It is best to use graphs and figures for detailed statistics in this part.
Repayment of loans. Explain how you will repay the loan and how many years you plan to pay off the loan.
If you plan to ask for funds or attract investors, please list the investors' returns and benefits in this section.
9. Financial projections
Financial projections are a key part of the entire business plan. It is not only a great help for funding requests, but also a great guide for your future business results.
If you need to attract investors, then financial projections will allow investors to see the benefits they can get in the future.
In the future food trailer business operations, if there is a result that fails to meet the financial projections goals, then you need to monitor all aspects of the food trailer business, and find out the reasons for the deviation of the results, and then seek solutions.
If your company has been in operation for several years, then you need to provide historical financial data such as income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement for the past few years.
If your company has just been established, then you need to use data such as market research and analysis and sales forecasts to hypothesize the revenue that your business may bring in the next five years. This part includes a 5-year annual profit and loss statement, a 5-year annual balance sheet, a 5-year annual cash flow statement, and an asset expenditure budget statement. This part should be as clear as possible and use projections data close to reality, and ensure that the projections matches the data in the funding application.
10. Appendix
The appendix is a good part. You can describe what is not suitable for inclusion in any other part.
For the food trailer business, the items you can describe here are:
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Credit history
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Resume of key management personnel
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Picture of the food
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Food recipes or menus you design
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Various permits, licenses, patents and documents, etc.
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Letter of recommendation
Starting your own food trailer business is not difficult, but it is not that simple to successfully achieve your goals. You need to do a lot of work in advance to improve your chances of success. Writing your food trailer business plan is the first step. It can provide guidance for your future actions and make you more clear about every detail.
