How to start a street food business

Which licences, permits and paperwork do I need?

Set up as a sole trader or a limited company. Then you need to register a food business with your local authority. That’s the only licence you need, but you will need some other paperwork before you can serve the eager masses: Public liability insurance is a must, a gas safe certificate (if you’re using gas) and a PAT Test certificate if you’re using electricity. Get all of these scanned onto your computer and ready to attach to applications and all you need are some events to attend. Personally you need a food hygiene certificate. This proves you know what hand-washing is, for which we are all very grateful. 

What should I serve?

Good question. The food you serve needs to make you money, so while something rare and ambitious would be amazing, people won’t buy it. They just won’t. You know why? Because they’re having a dirty burger from the trader next door, which is just as hip and they already know tastes good. I’m not saying it can’t work. It absolutely can because there is a niche market for exciting street food, but it’s just that: A small gap.

You need to serve the thing you got into street food knowing you wanted to sell. The thing you’re all passionate and giggly about. You need to try that, but with an open mind and a business head that can identify the difference between the next big thing and the thing that just isn’t going to work, not in this life or any other.

Still not true. You need to be practical. It’s all about the passion, but if it takes you 45 minutes to make each portion you won’t make money. It’s also a lot about money. In the end, running a street food business is about picking a cuisine/foodstuff/dish rolling with it. I would recommend you pick one thing, and make it better than anyone else does. It’s not a hard and fast rule, but it will keep your costs down and make your brand clearer.

Should I serve burgers?

Is there already someone doing a killer burger near you? Do you make an amazing burger? Would you mind eating nothing but burgers for a whole weekend? If you answered no/yes/no: Do it. Any other combination of answers and I would at least consider something else first. The reason for this is because no one is going to book two burger stalls when they could have a burger stall and something else. It will also take a whole lot more to stand out, but if your burger is the best burger there is, then you will wipe the floor with all other food vendors.

What kind of setup should I use?

Street food isn’t just about the meal; the people who give you pitches won’t have tasted your food. They will be looking for quirky vendors to enhance their festival/fair/show. I’m biased towards a truck, but here are your options:

Gazebo

The gazebo has merits. It’s the cheapest to get started, requires no insurance (other than standard public liability), always starts and won’t fall apart on the motorway. Most catering pitches are standardized to your regular 3m x 3m marquee so you also won’t be paying over the odds.

Food Truck

Arrive, open hatch, serve. We can be the last people to arrive and still start trading first. In the winter we will be deliciously warm compared to the stalls, even if it can get a bit hot in summer (Pro tip: paint the roof a light colour). Food vans are also rarer, so you and your unit will stand out, especially if you have a ravishing paint job. Before you rush off to buy one a word of warning: Food vans, old ones especially, go wrong. Humorously, continuously wrong. You may also end up paying for dead space if your pitch is measured by length, as you won’t be serving from the cab. However, anecdotal evidence suggests they would be the superior choice in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

Trailer

In many ways this is the best of both worlds. Practical but compact, without the overheads of a van, although a well kitted out trailer will still set you back thousands. Even with an amazing paint job trailers don’t have any of the iconic vehicle status that you get from a classic VW or Citroen, and they can still break down. I’ve heard some things, man.

Do I cook on gas or electric?

This will be your first mayor decision once you have bought your unit. The short version: electric is cheap to set up but expensive to run. Gas is expensive to setup but much, much cheaper to run. So it depends on what sort of budget you have starting out, and what kind of costs you want to deal with later. For a closer look at the debate I would recommend this post right here.

Where should I trade?

Music Festivals

High up-front costs, but music festivals/fetes have the potential for huge takings over the weekend, especially as you have the rare opportunity to get to know your customers (albeit in their most least sober state) and can benefit from repeat custom. The customer/trader ratio is key here: too many traders and you will lose out. The festival might tell you this information up front, but ticket sales, recessions and the weather can screw all that up in a matter of weeks and your huge up front pitch payment might suddenly vanish. Having said that, music festivals are far less reliant on the weather than any other outdoor event you will visit. Personally, I love music festivals and the camaraderie amongst the traders is brilliant. Just be prepared for 18 hour days and not really sleeping.

Markets (weekly)

Town markets are a good regular source of income, and provide weekend trade as well as a coveted regular pitch, first amongst the street food trophies. Note that customer-spend will be significantly lower here as people are not there to sup on your delicious food, but to nab a bargain.

Markets (specialty)

Farmers markets/Up markets/Green markets or specialty markets are probably more suited to street food, because they attract foodies over bargain hunters and have a higher spend per head. Unfortunately these markets are usually a single day at the weekend, meaning you will spend more time looking for them, and the potential takings are low compared to even a small festival.

Food Festivals (Paid)

I would approach paid food festivals with a healthy dose of common sense. Asking people to pay to go and pay for more food is a cunning business plan, and there are people out there who do pay. People will usually buy tickets for these events on the day, meaning that if it rains the place will be dead. On the other had a well established food festival can attract a fantastic crowd of food lovers keen to try something new, but again be careful of a bad ratio of traders to customers and be fearful of free food being handed out right next to your pitch.

Food Festivals (Free)

These guys have to make all their money from the traders, so expect a lot of competition, along with all the free samples. Visitor numbers will usually be much higher, because passing trade will get involved, but as with the paid for food festival, the moment it rains you’re done for the day. Additionally you will watch as everyone flocks to the hog roast. You will hate them for having it so easy.

Street Food Collectives

If you are within spitting distance of a major city then they will usually have at least one collective. Meet other traders, people who are keen to experience street food and share stories with like-minded folks. Getting on board with one of these groups is a whole bunch of good. These intrepid food lovers will be much more open to trying something new and experimental, although you will still watch the burger queue with envy sometimes. Unless you’re selling burgers.

Should I serve hot drinks?

Yes. You will need to have hot water to comply with health and safety regs, so get a tea urn. Not only is health and safety now happy, you also have tea. Apart from keeping you sane, as tea always does, it’s also a tidy little earner and nice and warm in the winter. As an added bonus it’s the perfect way to keep your trading neighbours sweet if they don’t have tea facilities. Make sure you mention it on trade applications. Otherwise the organisers might pop you next to a dedicated tea/coffee stall, and no one will be delighted.

Do I need to provide seating?

This depends on where you trade. At large music festivals and food festivals seating will often be available, but at markets and small festivals, especially quiet ones, seating can make a huge difference for two reasons: 1. People make their choice about food based on several factors, and one of them is sitting and eating. Especially at a festival where seating is scarce, your chairs will be prime real estate. 2. It makes you look busier, because it keeps customers outside your unit for longer. A busy food vendor, the thought train goes, tastes better than a quiet one. More in depth info can be found here.

Establishing Your Business

How do I stop people ripping off my idea?

This is a tough one. You cannot prevent people from cooking the same food as you. You cannot stop them doing it the same way you do unless the method you use is a patented invention of your own. In most cases you will even find that some other idiot has already thought of your brilliant brand name and has registered the domain, twitter and facebook, then isn’t even using it. So you need to be the first (in your area) the best, and the most nicest. Do register the facebook, twitter and webdomain as soon as you can, because these days that is pretty much all the guarantee you need.  Once you’re all clear on that front, you can decide later if you would like it to be a registered trademark or not. For the time being, just get yourself out there. This is your dream, do it your way.

Do I need a website and social media?

Yes. I mean have you looked out the window recently? No neither has anyone else – we’re all online watching it streamed live. So yes, everyone needs a website these days. But not urgently. While you probably won’t lose a pitch you have applied for as long as the application is up to scratch, you won’t be getting any extra business from other sources. That being said, not many street food businesses have websites, so you won’t be alone. Social Media, on the other hand, is free to set up, takes only minimal web knowledge and at least gives you something to point potential events at. Make a Facebook page, put some pictures up, fill in the about section and ask your mates to like it. Then set up twitter, follow some of the big voices in street food and you have all the resources you need for asking questions. (I’d recommend your local street food collective, local events that you would like to join, local food producers, other street food folks in your area)