So, You Want to Open a Food Cart?

So, you want to open a food cart?

Great. Do it. But, you should know what you’re getting yourself into, because there’s quite a lot to it. First of all, are you planning to buy an already established business and run it as it is? Essentially, do you want to continue someone else’s thing? Most people don’t. They want to start their own unique brand, based off of their grandmother’s cooking, or a restaurant they worked at in college, or something delicious they feasted on in another country. They want to be known for their unique recipes and become the culinary extraordinaire of their town, and I fully support that.

So, you want to open a food cart. Do you want to build your own food cart, remodel an existing food cart, or buy a cart that is completely ready to go? This one is a tough choice, and I believe that there’s a different right answer for everyone. I chose to remodel an existing food cart, but I wish I would have spent a little more money and bought a cart that was completely ready to go. In hindsight, that would have saved me hundreds of hours of work and thousands of dollars in debt.

Unless you have experience with plumbing, propane, electrical, and general remodeling, I would not recommend building your own food cart or remodeling an existing food cart. Even a food cart that seems “mostly ready to go” will need some upgrades, and it can be easy for those upgrades to turn into a full remodel. Buying a fully equipped, presentable and functional food cart will save you all of the small costs associated with remodeling, and it will allow you to open for business much sooner.

My food cart, was called “Noodle Heaven.” I was 21 years old when I pitched the idea to my primary investor and business partner, my dad. We brainstormed the menu, thought through possible locations, and drew up a rough menu. After browsing food carts on Craigslist, we decided to buy a run-down Mexican taco trailer for only $2000. It was in terrible shape, but what a deal!

In the spring of that year, we started the remodel. At first, the list of things that needed replaced was small, but as we worked on it, that list grew. We realized that we would need to replace the counters, buy new linoleum for the floor, paint the interior, paint the exterior, replace the sinks, and buy and install a new fresh water tank.

When all of that was finished, along with many minor details, we were ready to open. All we needed was the health department permit and a business license from the city. The health inspector came, checked out our cart, asked what we would be serving, and then told me to get a new fresh water tank, because mine was too small. This was after months of work, and cleaning, and painting, and fixing.

If there is one early problem to avoid, it is your freshwater and grey water tanks. The rule states that your grey water tank (or tanks) MUST be at least 15% larger than your freshwater tank. There is no way around this rule. In fact, during our opening inspection it seemed to be the only thing our health inspector was concerned with. Water tanks are not cheap. They run about $500 each. Having to buy a new one, and install it, because you didn’t know the rule, is a real bummer, trust me.

We bought the trailer for $2000, but we borrowed $17,000 for the remodel, new paint job, and startup costs. Our $19,000 of total debt took us three years to pay off. When we sold the business last May, we sold it as an established, fully equipped, functional and presentable food cart, for $12,000. Essentially, the same food cart that cost us $19,000 and hundreds of hours of unpaid work to remodel, cost the new owners only $12,000 and they were able to open for business immediately, with an established customer base.

We paid ourselves a decent wage, and we were able to split a few bonuses over the three years that we ran the business, but all in all, we worked harder, and we worked more hours than we got paid for. Simple math would say that we spent $5000 to be our own bosses for three years.

That is the reality of running a food cart. It can be really fun, especially at the beginning, but it is a ton of work. Cooking food for your friends, staying open late and blasting music for the drunk crowd, killing a lunch rush and then counting the till, it can all be really fun. But in the end, you’ll work more hours than you get paid for. You’ll spend your Friday night cutting chicken to be ready for Saturday morning, and there won’t always be enough money in the business account to pay you for those hours.

Being your own boss is a priceless experience. I think everyone should do it at least once in their life. It’s such a thrill at the beginning, and such a chore near the end, but I know that I wouldn’t be who I am today without Noodle Heaven. All of those lunch rushes that I was in over my head, the times I thought the trailer would crash on the freeway, or caterings where we fed over 400 people in a single afternoon, all gave me a confidence and composure that translates to every new and intimidating situation. More than anything, it showed me that you can dream up an idea in your head, and then make it a reality. You can take something that you invented and turn it into a name that other people recognize and reference in conversation.

I’ll never forget when an acquaintance from high school first said to me, “Ya man. Everyone I work with loves Noodle Heaven.” It was the way he said it. He said it like it was Starbucks or McDonald’s or something, like it was this thing that everyone agreed existed. But I remembered making it up. I remembered doodling the logo and coming up with potential names. I remembered building the website, and making the Facebook page. I remembered practicing the recipes at home in our kitchen. I remembered people walking past without even looking up when we first opened. When he said that, the way he said it, I knew I’d succeeded in creating something completely original, and that feeling was priceless.