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How Much Does It Cost to Rent a Food Truck for an Event?

Do you want to start a food truck on a budget and you want to rent a food truck? If YES, here is how much it will cost you to rent a food truck for an event.

Buying a food truck can be considered a very good investment when compared to starting a traditional brick and mortar restaurant; however, renting a food truck as opposed to buying one offers the entrepreneur more flexibility in being able to decide if the business should be a short or long term thing.

One other advantage to renting a food truck as opposed to buying one is that should you fail at the business, you can just return the truck, and should it succeed, you can go ahead in buying a new truck.

In renting a food truck, it is essential that you make a thorough research on what options are available as things like who will be responsible for insurance, truck maintenance, permits, cleaning and commissary utilities needs to be known and agreed on before renting a food truck.

Also, ensure that there is a purchasing or lease renewal option during negotiation so that the money that you have already invested will be put to good use especially if you have built a name for yourself.

How Much Does It Cost to Rent a Food Truck

The cost of renting a food truck will vary depending on the length of your intended lease. If you are looking to rent a food truck for 6 months or more, then you might be looking at shelling out between $2,000 and $3,000 every month; and so a shorter rental will likely cost you more.

It should however be noted that the cost of renting a food truck differs from the commissary costs that you will have to pay each month which might fall between $1,000 and $1,500 .

Other Costs Associated With Getting a Food Truck

Even though the food truck is going to gulp a significant amount of your start-up capital, there are other expenses that you will need to allocate funds for as well and they include;

i. Health Permits

In the united states generally, it is expected that any business that intends to serve food should possess a health permit. Therefore, depending on where you intend to operate your business from and any other specific requirements that you might have, you should budget an amount between $900 and $5,000.

ii. Commissary

Some food truck operators prepare their food in the truck while on-site, while others prepare theirs in commercial kitchens at commissaries that have been approved by the local health department. Depending on the commissary, secure parking spaces as well as other services can be provided.

Costs will therefore depend on the services being offered and the location of the commissary and can therefore range between $500 and $1,500.

iii. Staff

The food truck business is one that can be run by one person especially if the menu is not an extensive one. However, if you are going to be offering various meals, then you might need to employ one or two persons to help out and depending on the location, you might need to shell out at least $20 per hour.

iv. Website and Advertising

Nowadays, businesses understand the benefits of advertising their business and also getting a visible presence on the internet by creating a website. To keep costs down, you can get a free website on certain platforms or use your social media platforms to create the buzz about your business.

Ensure you study which advertising means will be most effective in reaching your target audience and allow you see results. You should budget between $100 and $50,000 for it.

v. Inventory

It is important that you stock certain food items that you will use in making your meals. Depending on what you intend to serve as well as where the products are coming from; your inventory costs could go up or down. You should budget from $1,500 upwards.

vi. Other running costs

There are other costs that you will need to factor in such as repairing your truck or filling it with gas. You should budget at least $1,500 monthly for these sorts of costs.