DCRS Solutions
Making The Switch From Food Truck To Restaurant
As a successful food truck owner, you may have been thinking about making the switch from mobile to brick-and-mortar. As you probably already know, making such a leap is risky and requires a lot of time, money, and dedication.
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Before you take the plunge from food truck to restaurant, be sure you are prepared to take on the responsibility of a larger operation.
Get Customer Feedback
Get feedback from your community and regulars about the move to a restaurant. Do you have enough loyal customers and brand awareness that set you apart from other restaurants and food trucks?
Ask customers their thoughts when they come to your food truck or even hand out customer comment cards they can fill out to get a better idea of what they like and don’t like.
Have A Thoroughly Developed Plan
Before you make the switch from food truck to restaurant, you will need to have a comprehensive business plan in place.
Ask yourself questions like:
- Will you be able to handle the increase in food costs?
- Do you want to incorporate delivery in the future?
- Will you offer online ordering and in-store pickup?
- How will you handle increased marketing?
- How will you reduce waste?
You will also need to set a budget and have enough capital built up to help you stay in the green.
If you do not have enough capital available, you will either need to wait longer to open up a brick-and-mortar store or secure investors.
Hire The Right People
Get the right people to help reduce employee turnover and make your restaurant one that customers will want to come back to again and again.
Have employees trained in excellent customer service, including how to interact with children.
Find The Right Location
The location of your restaurant is as important as anything when making the switch to a building from a food truck.
Find a spot that is near your customers and easy to access. Extensively research your desired areas, particularly your competition, demographics, and market.
Additionally, finding an existing restaurant space that is already equipped with the right equipment will save you time and money since you won’t have to convert a non-restaurant building.
Get The Right Permits & Licenses
You will need to have the right permits and licenses in order to operate a restaurant—especially if you plan to serve alcohol.
As a food truck operator, you already know the time and paperwork it takes to get license, so be sure to have all your paperwork in order before pushing ahead.
Find The Right Technology & Equipment
When you have a restaurant, you will need the right technology and equipment to help you efficiently run your business, including:
- Hot & cold storage
- POS systems
- Cooking equipment
- Food prep supplies
- Sinks
- Storage containers
Restaurant POS systems such as Toast and Mobilebytes come in many shapes and forms, including:
A Cloud-based POS system will be a critical part of your new restaurant since it can save you money by calculating food and labor costs, preventing theft, tracking employee schedules, and more.
Unlike traditional POS systems, Cloud POS systems do not have near the upfront costs and you automatically gain the latest updates to stay secure with less downtime thanks to remote assistance and live help.
Making the jump from food truck to restaurant is no simple task, but by planning ahead and getting the right tools, it is certainly possible to transform your business to a brick-and-mortar restaurant.