These days, if you have a catering business or small restaurant then you need to be mobile in order to remain competitive. You are limiting yourself by staying in one location and relying on those in the local area and repeat customers, but going mobile allows you to cast a much larger net and take your business to the customer.

 

Permissions

First, you need to make sure that you have all the reverent permissions and licenses to make your business mobile. Every mobile organisation needs to be registered with the Environmental Health Department and you will need a Level 2 Food Hygiene certificate as well as develop a food safety risk assessment and arrange liability insurance. Keep in mind that you will also need to obtain permission from your local council to use a location each time you move.

 

Setup

In terms of a setup, a large modified food van complete with a generator to power all the equipment on board will be a great option that allows you to be highly mobile. You may also want a large gazebo that can be used to provide shelter – weather can be a big issue for mobile food businesses, especially in the UK!

 

Food

When you run a mobile food business, you will have to think about the kind of food that you can serve. This might be different to what you currently serve, so you may need to develop an entirely new menu of food suited to your new customers. This will usually involve food that can be easy to eat while standing, such as burgers, hot dogs, chips, pizza etc.

 

Staff

You will want to hire staff for your mobile food business that are not only good cooks but also have strong customer service skills. You may also want to hire multiple staff members so that you do not always have to work yourself and the business can run full-time.

 

Marketing

Once you decide to go mobile, marketing is hugely important as you need to let your target market know when and where you will be at all times. Having a high-quality company website and using digital marketing to increase your visibility is important, but it is social media that you will really need to focus on. Social media makes it much quicker and easier to provide updates and to keep people in the loop about where you will be and when.

 

These are a few of the key areas to focus on when taking your food business mobile. These days, mobile food businesses are proving to be hugely popular and gives you the chance to take your business to your customers and target a much larger customer base while having greater freedom and flexibility.