This article looks fairly accurate (for what I understand of the SF market) Things are a fair bit cheaper/easier in Portland. I do actually own a food truck in Portland (as well as a software company).
We made a profit on about three different days last year. The other 300 were not profitable :( It would have helped a lot if we had family members working for chips and hugs; paying staff is a huge cost particularly if you want quality gourmet-style food and hard-working employees (we have mostly 5-star yelp reviews)
Before our pod landlord decided to shut down abruptly, combined with our chef/my girlfriend getting diagnosed with brain tumors, it was costing about $3k/month (net loss) however that's the awful wet northwest winters driving people away from outdoor pods. Once the warmer weather starts back up again and we find a new pod, we should be in the black, but the business model I'm working on involves a lot of carts with a central kitchen, in clusters in a few cities. If anyone wants to chat about investing, let me know :)
We got started for about $20k total including the 'truck' which is actually a trailer that is stationary.
obligatory link, http://theheartcart.com
We made a profit on about three different days last year. The other 300 were not profitable :( It would have helped a lot if we had family members working for chips and hugs; paying staff is a huge cost particularly if you want quality gourmet-style food and hard-working employees (we have mostly 5-star yelp reviews)
Before our pod landlord decided to shut down abruptly, combined with our chef/my girlfriend getting diagnosed with brain tumors, it was costing about $3k/month (net loss) however that's the awful wet northwest winters driving people away from outdoor pods. Once the warmer weather starts back up again and we find a new pod, we should be in the black, but the business model I'm working on involves a lot of carts with a central kitchen, in clusters in a few cities. If anyone wants to chat about investing, let me know :)
We got started for about $20k total including the 'truck' which is actually a trailer that is stationary.
obligatory link, http://theheartcart.com