A strong business plan is an essential part of your food truck journey.
It’ll force you to clarify vague ideas and commit to strong choices.
If you’re looking for any type of funding, your business plan is usually the deciding factor.
If you’ve never written one, a full business plan might seem like an overwhelming project – but it’s not.
Here’s how the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) suggests you structure your business plan:
Let’s step through each section and get you started.
The Executive Summary is sort of like your elevator pitch. It should hook your readers, get them interested in your concept, and stick in their minds once they’ve read the plan.
If you get it wrong, you’ll probably lose them. No pressure, right?! 🙂
The good news is that there is a reliable way to write strong executive summaries:
Write it last.
Once you’ve spent the time and energy writing out the rest of the plan, you should have a good handle on how you’d like to represent your concept in the best light possible.
You can also use some practice exercises to position your food truck against the existing trucks and other food businesses in your market.
“We serve ____ (food) for ___ (people). We’re different because ___ (feature)”
Remember, strong executive summaries are:
The Company Description is where you can actually introduce your food truck and yourself more thoroughly.
If the executive summary is the hook, the company description is the where you can explain why your concept is going to work.
It should include:
What’s the menu?
Some businesses have complex plans with a wide range of products and services.
But if you’re starting a food truck, this section should be pretty straightforward.
With your positioning statement, you’ll have already identified a food concept. That’s 90% of what you need for a Products and Services section.
You can build on that concept by offering some sample menu ideas that match the statement.
You can also dive a little deeper on who your customers are and why they’ll love your food.
You can get even more detailed and offer a full breakdown, from supplier info to POS system and everything in between.
If you have all that info, you should also be able to calculate some basic numbers like your estimated costs, sales prices, and a rough idea about your profit margins.
You don’t have to get into a full financial project (that’ll come later), but mentioning your profit margin will help clarify and qualify the business in investors’ or loaner eyes.
Planning on doing more than just selling food? If you want to offer catering services, cooking classes, etc, this is where to do it.
A good market analysis section will give your business context.
What does your market look like?
What do your ideal customers look like?
Which market segments are you targeting?
Who are your competitors?
How are other food trucks doing nationally? How about locally?
Here’s where you can back up your claims with some hard numbers about your local market.
This section could easily be titled “Sales and Marketing”, or “How the heck this is going to work”.
You’ve got to demonstrate a clear handle over every step of the business.
Since you’ve already summed up your pricing data in the Products and Services section, you can add a breakdown of your operation.
How are you choosing suppliers?
What does your prep look like? Are you cooking everything in the truck or doing some work at a kitchen?
How are you going to hire and manage people?
How do you plan to get the word out about your business?
You’ve already introduced yourself and possibly mentioned the names of everyone else involved in your food truck.
Here’s where you can add some extra context and explain how everyone works together. An organizational flow chart is a great way to visualize your structure and internal relationships.
For a food truck, this is usually a pretty simple process that’s limited to one or two owners with a handful of support staff.
You can also go a little deeper on each team member. Include a picture, bio, and what they bring to the table. Highlight why certain experiences make that person a valuable team member.
Remember, you’re writing to give yourself clarity and convince potential funders to support your business.
This is the section that tends to trip people up, but it’s actually pretty easy if you follow a template and fill in the blanks.
Just make sure you’re thorough – don’t skip the details.
You should cover:
You can also get these done online using free templates, but it’s worth it if you can get some expert input here. Many funders will read your Executive Summary and skip right to your Financial Plan.
