If you are planning to start a restaurant business or any business that involves selling cooked food, snacks, and drinks, you will have the option of choosing between operating as a mobile food business or a brick-and-mortar restaurant. In this article, we will help you have a good understanding of the food truck business and the brick-and-mortar restaurant business so that you will know which to go with.
Food Truck
A food truck which can also be referred to as a mobile restaurant – is a big vehicle that can cook, serve, and sell meals. These food trucks enjoy the freedom of moving to different places and serving different customers.
Some, like ice cream trucks, offer frozen or premade food; however, others have on-board kitchens and cook meals from scratch or reheat meals that have already been cooked in commercial kitchens. French fries, sandwiches, hamburgers, and other regional fast food are typical.
The Pros and Cons of the Food Truck Business
Pros
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Food Trucks Have the Options of Choosing a Perfect Location Per Time
Location is crucial for most brick-and-mortar restaurants. A brick-and-mortar restaurant may have problems drawing customers if it is not located in a desirable area. Food truck entrepreneurs don’t have to be restricted to a single spot, which is a major advantage they have over brick-and-mortar restaurants.
To determine where they receive the most business, food trucks might test out various sites at various times. They can go in search of consumers because they essentially have a business on wheels.
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Food Trucks Don’t Usually Spend Money on Advertising and Promotion
A business spends about 7 to 8 percent of its revenue on advertising and branding. Businesses that are stationary must invest more in advertising to build brand recognition. On the contrary, food trucks serve as moving billboards. They receive free publicity every time they move the food truck throughout town.
It is wonderful for the brand if a brick-and-mortar restaurant also operates a food truck because the truck promotes the restaurant’s location. More people will become familiar with your brand when they see your food truck driving around.
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Food Truck Can Be Used as a Tool for Experimentation
Customers typically have specific expectations for the menu when they visit a physical restaurant. A physical restaurant’s menu cannot be changed overnight that easily. Contrarily, food trucks can experiment with their menu because they can get away with changing their menu often.
The use of food trucks by brick-and-mortar restaurants allows them to test out new menu items before adding them to their standard menu.
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Food Trucks are Flexible and Can Easily Explore Catering Opportunities
A food truck can assist businesses in growing and testing out catering prospects. In essence, a food truck is a mobile kitchen that can go anywhere. Since it is much simpler for food trucks to move meals throughout town, it increases the likelihood that it will attract more customers.
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Food Trucks are Less Expensive to Start and Operate
Even though food trucks may require some significant initial investment, they are not quite as expensive as a brick-and-mortar restaurant. In terms of startup and food costs, food trucks are less expensive. In addition to that, food truck expansion costs are considerably lower.
A food truck is unquestionably a more affordable alternative to opening a second permanent site if you want to expand your business.
Cons
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No Documented Systems and Procedures
One major con of the food truck business is that they usually don’t have documented systems and procedures. Food production, marketing, sales, hiring, and customer service are examples of crucial tasks that are difficult for others to replicate and frequently.
Writing down your team’s daily procedures will help you save time and money, make training simpler, and guarantee that your customers are regularly satisfied.
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Seasonal Changes (Bad Weather)
Seasonal changes can affect a food truck business positively or negatively. Please note that the extent to which seasons can affect a food truck business will to a large extent depend on the country or state where the business operates. This is so because the winter season in city A might not be as harsh as the winter season in city B. So also, spring in city C might not be as hash as spring in city D.
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Too dependent on The Owner
Food trucks are usually too dependent on the owner. This can be attributed in part to a lack of defined policies and processes as well as a lack of delegation. Training and delegation are much simpler when systems and processes are documented, and you might even find that others perform these tasks at least as effectively as you do.
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Lack of Menu Options
Over time, the menus of all food trucks start to resemble one another. Convenience or quality, as well as your target market, customer service, operating hours, procedures, parking sites, menu variety, etc., are all simple ways to differentiate food trucks from other vendors.
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Difficult to Hire Dedicated Employees
One major challenge that food trucks usually face is the difficulty to hire dedicated employees that will share your vision, mission, and business culture. The truth is that most employees would usually want to work in a well-structured business where they will have a closing time and other perks that brick-and-mortar restaurants usually offer to their employees.
Brick and Mortar Restaurant
A brick-and-mortar restaurant is a restaurant that runs from a location as opposed to one that is mobile. Customers of a brick-and-mortar restaurant are served food and beverages within the business. Please be aware that the term “brick and mortar” refers to any establishments having a physical storefront, not simply those constructed of bricks and mortar.
The Pros and Cons of Brick and Mortar Restaurant
Pros
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The Surroundings Speak for Themselves
One of the biggest benefits of opening a restaurant in a real location as opposed to a mobile restaurant is this. The physical location of your restaurant acts as a marketing strategy in and of itself. In this case, location is crucial, and with the correct one, customers will automatically drive by or enter your business.
Having a wonderful location can help you establish your brand locally from the ground up thanks to locals’ inherent curiosity and personal recommendations and word of mouth.
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Brick and Mortar Restaurant Maximize Customer Experience
No matter how many people frequent food trucks, the customer experience offered by a mobile food truck cannot be compared to that of a brick and mortar restaurant. In this environment, business owners can actually create a distinctive experience and creatively convey their brand, turning potential clients into devoted brand champions.
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Brick and Mortar Restaurants Assume The Reliability And Durability Of Their Brands
Brick-and-mortar restaurants bring a sense of respectability to the table. Face-to-face interaction is a significant plus; it is beneficial to staff your physical restaurant with knowledgeable, welcoming individuals who will keep your consumers coming back.
Con
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Higher Risk, General Operating Costs, And High Start-up Costs
A higher initial outlay suggests a higher degree of risk from the outset. Starting a brick-and-mortar restaurant might be difficult because of expenses like rent, taxes, workers, and utilities. In fact, this is one of the reasons why business owners typically choose to operate a food truck or kiosk-style retail food establishment.
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Permanence in a Dynamic Environment
Locations are intended to work in your favor, but it doesn’t imply your neighbors will love your brick-and-mortar restaurant just because it is trendy and popular or cute and welcoming. You have no control over what happens in the neighborhood around your physical restaurant, and what might have been a promising thoroughfare five years ago could quickly become a dangerous wasteland.
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The Rigidity of the Schedule
Brick-and-mortar restaurant operators typically put in a ton of extra effort, at least in the beginning. Being present at the restaurant is important, as opposed to being “present” online while simultaneously buying a coffee, responding to emails, and performing other tasks in the backseat. Be prepared to put in some real effort to make your business a success.
Income Comparison of Food Truck Business and Brick and Mortar Restaurant Business
In the United States, an average brick-and-mortar restaurant earns almost $1350 each day. This is based on the fact that each consumer does about 47 transactions every day and spends about $27 per day. So, we may estimate that restaurants earn roughly $40,500 each month, or $486,000 per year, whereas food trucks earn an average of $250,000 to $500,000 per year or $20,000 to $42,000 per month.