Research, research, research

First things first – you need to be clued up on the world you’re stepping into. Fortunately, street food is popular sector in the UK which means you shouldn’t struggle to find relevant independent hospitality stories, businesses and information to help inform and shape your idea. You can find no shortage of inspiring stories documenting similar business start-ups in our Member Spotlights here.

Some examples to get you started include where you’re going to trade, what your unique selling point is, and who are your perceived competitors – analyse what do they do well and how have they made a name for themselves, how do you differ to what they offer, what pain points you might encounter and how to overcome them.

Fail to (financially) plan…

Let’s be clear – you are looking to start a business, therefore the financial health of the business HAS to be central to everything you do. Even if you are not financially motivated, you need to ensure your business can make a profit in order to keep it alive. Creating a budget and forecast is key and will help shape the first few years of the business. Ask yourself questions such as how much start-up capital do you need to get the business going? And how much profit do you need to make in the first year?

…Plan to fail

Closely related to a budget and forecast, you also need to drum up a business plan that walks through what your aims with the business are and how you are going to reach them. Then you’ve got a more informed idea to shape what you need to do, to get from point A to point B and ultimately make this business work.

You need to spell out, in terms clear to others, how the business is going to operate. This will most likely evolve a lot as you go, but the better starting point you have, the better chance of succeeding.

Click here to access our suite of business tools to help make life and planning in business that bit easier.

Source a unit

It goes without saying that you’ll need a place to trade from; You may wish to begin trading with a gazebo set up and then buy a mobile unit, van or trailer. A great place to start is to browse the NCASS classifieds section. There are legal requirements for catering vehicles and how they’re kitted out – the unit will need to pass a gas and electrical inspection before you can operate.

If all goes well, you will be spending a lot of time in this unit so it is worth investing in. The unit will inform the first impression customers have of you as a business, so think about the aesthetic of it too.

For more information on buying the right unit for you, have a look at our guides focused on this topic:

And of course, a unit is no good without the equipment necessary to create your chosen dishes of delight – so you need to think about all the kit you will need to safely, effectively and efficiently prepare and produce your food. As you’ll be using this a lot, it needs to be durable equipment so purchase wisely – but this doesn’t mean you need to get yourself in huge debt to begin trading.

NCASS work with partners to provide you exclusive deals on best in class equipment. All NCASS members gain vouchers and discounts with Nisbets – find out more here.

For all gas related needs, we are partnered with Hamilton Gas Products, one of the leading distributors of gas control equipment and appliances in the UK – find out more here.

Local and fresh is a step towards success

To run a business consistently, to offer a reliable service to customers and have confidence in your product you need to find suppliers that can fulfil your demands and that provide produce you are happy with. Naturally, you need to be clear on profit margins from selling your products that will be informed by the supplier deals you strike up.

The more local you can go, the better too, logistically as it will be quicker and easier to obtain, therefore you will increase the sustainability of your business and the sector as a whole, and this can feed into how you market the business – customers consciously make purchasing decisions on factors like the sustainability of the business they’re giving money to, so choosing local could help you sell more, not to mention have a bigger impact on the local economy and allow you to build up great links within your community.

Get the legal stuff right

You can have the greatest menu planned out, irresistible dishes and superb branding all in hand, but without the right licenses you won’t actually be able to trade. In order to legally trade you’ll need to obtain the relevant street trading licences – for example, if you’re looking to sell alcohol, you will need a premises licence and a personal licence. Licencing stipulations may vary depending on area and which Local Authority you fall under. You’ll also need to register your business with your Local Authority and as a business with Companies House.

Our membership team are well equipped to point you in the right direction of which licences you need, how to obtain them and where from. Give them a call now on 0300 124 6866 or request a call back.

Find out all you need to know regarding legality with our Safe & Legal checklist.

Insurance is paramount to safe and legal trading too – you can find out more about securing tailored catering insurance here.

No training, no gaining

In food & drink businesses there are safety standards to legally uphold. You are responsible for ensuring the food you produce and sell is safe for consumption, and you can face serious consequences if this is not the case. To this end, there are legal requirements for you and your staff to have undertaken correct and relevant training relating to responsibilities within the kitchen.

Luckily for you, NCASS has a comprehensive range of training courses tailored to the specific needs of independent hospitality – and all NCASS members can benefit from huge discounts on each course.

Not sure where to start? Our Making Sure Your Staff Have the Right Training guide will spell it out.