GETTING STARTED WITH THE WORLD’S BEST POS SYSTEMHello Food truck enthusiasts!
Today I have a great article about starting up your food truck for success. Which highly depends on which how your money is moving. I recommend doing as much research as possible on which POS companies are best for you. I might be bias because I’ve been with Square for over 11 years now. But, they’ve been amazing. Never an issue, never a problem, I’ve never had to call the support line for any kind of help, I get in my truck, login to my square app, and it’s ready to go. Here are some things I love about Square. Their timely payments, freedom to take loans out to help improve your business at no upfront costs and no credit pull, and how versatile the system is. I get paid on time, never any delays. I can get my money instantly also (at a cost). I’ve had to take out loans with them before and they’ve helped my business grow and improve because of them. Especially when I was buying a house and I couldn’t have anything else on my credit at the time. I use a lot of their different apps they offer—from marketing to scheduling to payroll. I love it and I believe there’s nobody else doing it as easily as Square right now. So, I’ve taken the time to write up, step-by-step, on how to get started with Square! How to Set Up Square POS for Your Food Truck Setting up a Point of Sale (POS) system is a crucial step for running a successful food truck. Square POS is a popular choice due to its ease of use, affordability, and comprehensive features. Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you started. 1. Why Choose Square POS? Square POS offers several advantages for food truck operators: - Mobility: Ideal for mobile businesses like food trucks. - Ease of Use: User-friendly interface. - Affordability: No monthly fees, only transaction fees. - Comprehensive Features: Inventory management, sales tracking, and customer insights. 2. Equipment You’ll Need Before you start setting up, ensure you have the following: - -Mobile Device: Smartphone or tablet (iOS or Android). -Square Reader: For accepting credit card payments. -Cash Drawer: If you plan to accept cash payments. -Receipt Printer: Optional, for printing receipts. 3. Setting Up Your Square Account 1. Sign Up for Square, Go to [Square's website](https://squareup.com) and create an account. 2. Verify Your Identity: Provide necessary information for identity verification. 3. Link Your Bank Account: This allows you to receive deposits from your sales. 4. Installing the Square POS App 1. Download the App: Install the Square POS app from the App Store or Google Play Store. 2. Log In: Use your Square account credentials to log in. 5. Setting Up Your Menu 1. Add Items: In the app, go to “Items” and start adding your menu items. Include the name, price, and a description. 2. Categorize Items: Organize items into categories (e.g., beverages, entrees, desserts) for easy navigation. 3. Set Modifiers: If you offer customization (e.g., toppings, sauces), set up modifiers to enhance customer choices. 6. Configuring Payment Options 1. Connect Your Square Reader: Follow the instructions in the app to connect your Square Reader via Bluetooth. 2. Enable Payment Types: Decide which payment methods you’ll accept (credit cards, cash, mobile payments). 3. Set Up Taxes: Configure sales tax settings according to your local tax regulations. 7. Customizing Receipts 1. Personalize Receipts: Add your food truck’s name, logo, and contact information to your digital and printed receipts. 2. Add Custom Messages: Include thank you notes or promotional messages. 8. Training Your Staff Ensure your team is comfortable with the Square POS system: - Basic Operations: Teach them how to take orders, process payments, and handle refunds. - Troubleshooting: Show them how to reconnect the Square Reader and handle common issues. 9. Testing Your System Before hitting the road, test the entire system: - Mock Transactions:Run through a few test transactions to ensure everything is functioning properly. - Internet Connection: Verify that your mobile device maintains a stable internet connection (consider a backup hotspot). 10. Using Square Analytics 1. Monitor Sales: Use Square’s analytics to track sales in real-time. 2. Inventory Management: Keep an eye on stock levels and set up alerts for low inventory. 3. Customer Insights: Analyze customer data to understand preferences and tailor your menu. Conclusion Setting up Square POS for your food truck is a straightforward process that can significantly streamline your operations and improve customer satisfaction. With Square POS, you’ll have a powerful tool to manage sales, track inventory, and gain valuable insights, helping your food truck thrive in a competitive market. If you liked this article, don’t forget to subscribe at the top of the page! We do our best to post at least once a week. So stay with us and subscribe and share! Happy serving!
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PERMITTING YOUR FOOD TRUCK (DETAILED)Hello Food Truck Blog enthusiasts! Today’s blog is a very popular topic and I guess….mysterious…. Well; I’m here to answer your questions and list step by step on how to get your food truck up and running!
**Disclaimer** This is for food trucks applying for The City of Houston (not Harris County). Stay tuned for more details on how to apply with the county. The City of Houston is by far the most annoying to get permitted in Houston. Every food truck owner will agree. So, I’ve made it easy for you! Enjoy! How to Get a Food Truck Permitted in Houston: A Step-by-Step Guide Starting a food truck business in Houston is an exciting venture, but it requires navigating through various regulatory steps to ensure your operation is compliant with local laws and health codes. This guide provides a detailed, step-by-step process to help you obtain the necessary permits and licenses to get your food truck rolling in Houston. Step 1: Business Plan and Research Before diving into the permitting process, create a comprehensive business plan. Research the Houston food truck market, identify your target audience, and define your unique selling proposition. A solid business plan will guide your decisions and help you understand the financial and operational aspects of running a food truck. Step 2: Business Entity and Name Registration 1. **Choose a Business Structure**: Decide whether your food truck will operate as a sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, or corporation. Each structure has different legal and tax implications. You can find more information on business structures on the [U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) website](https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/launch-your-business/choose-business-structure). 2. **Register Your Business Name**: File a “Doing Business As” (DBA) name if your business name is different from your personal name. You can register your DBA with the [Harris County Clerk’s Office](https://www.cclerk.hctx.net/). Step 3: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) Apply for an EIN from the [IRS](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/apply-for-an-employer-identification-number-ein-online) if your business has employees or operates as a corporation or partnership. This number is necessary for tax purposes and opening a business bank account. Step 4: Apply for a Sales Tax Permit Register for a Sales Tax Permit with the [Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts](https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/permit/). This permit allows you to collect sales tax on the food and beverages you sell. Step 5: Food Manager Certification At least one person in your food truck must have a Certified Food Manager certification. You can obtain this certification by completing an accredited food manager training course and passing the exam. Approved courses can be found on the [Texas Department of State Health Services website](https://www.dshs.texas.gov/food-managers/). Step 6: Mobile Food Unit (MFU) Plan Review and Permits 1. **Submit Plans for Approval**: Before building or purchasing your food truck, submit detailed plans to the [Houston Health Department](https://www.houstonhealth.org) for approval. Your plans should include a layout of the truck, equipment specifications, and menu items. 2. **Construction and Equipment Requirements**: Ensure your food truck meets all the construction and equipment standards set by the health department. This includes having appropriate refrigeration, handwashing stations, and cooking equipment. Step 7: Health Permit Application 1. **Submit the Health Permit Application**: Complete the [Health Permit Application](https://www.houstonhealth.org/services/health-permits/mobile-food-units) with the Houston Health Department. You’ll need to provide details about your food truck, menu, and food preparation processes. 2. **Vehicle Inspection**: Schedule an inspection of your food truck with the health department. Your truck will be inspected for compliance with health and safety regulations, including sanitation, food storage, and equipment standards. 3. **Fire Inspection**: In addition to the health inspection, your food truck will need to pass a fire inspection conducted by the [Houston Fire Department](https://www.houstontx.gov/fire/). This inspection ensures your truck meets fire safety codes. Step 8: Commissary Agreement Houston requires food trucks to operate from an approved commissary—a commercial kitchen where you can store and prepare food. You’ll need to sign a commissary agreement and provide proof of this agreement to the health department. More information can be found on the [Houston Health Department's Commissary Information page](https://www.houstonhealth.org/services/health-permits/commissaries). Step 9: Vehicle Permits and Inspections 1. **Vehicle Registration**: Register your food truck with the [Texas Department of Motor Vehicles](https://www.txdmv.gov/). Ensure your vehicle has the necessary insurance coverage. 2. **City of Houston Mobile Food Vendor Medallion**: Apply for a Mobile Food Vendor Medallion from the [Houston Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department](https://www.houstontx.gov/ara/regaffairs/). This medallion must be displayed on your food truck at all times. Step 10: Adhere to Zoning and Parking Regulations Familiarize yourself with Houston’s zoning and parking regulations for food trucks. Certain areas may have restrictions on where food trucks can operate, and you’ll need to comply with these rules to avoid fines and penalties. Details can be found on the [City of Houston's Planning and Development Department website](https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/). Step 11: Start Your Food Truck Business Once you’ve obtained all the necessary permits and passed the required inspections, you’re ready to hit the road! Promote your food truck through social media, local events, and partnerships with other businesses to build a loyal customer base. Conclusion Starting a food truck in Houston involves multiple steps, from business planning to obtaining the necessary permits and certifications. While the process may seem daunting, each step is essential for ensuring your food truck operates legally and safely. By following this guide and staying organized, you can navigate the permitting process and bring your culinary vision to life on the streets of Houston. Good luck, and happy cooking! Some Important Start-Up CostsHello everybody! Firstly, thank you all for taking the time to read these post and giving me your feedback through email mostly. I won’t take much time on that because we have a special article tonight! It’s all the things people ask me when they are ready to buy a truck/trailer…..”How much money do I need??”
Well, there’s a lot of variables. Do you want a trailer? Do you want a truck? How nice do you want it? Do you need it to pass City of Houston permitting? These are only the few questions you should be asking yourself and there’s plenty of more! Firstly, you want to decide if you need a trailer or a truck. If I’m giving you some advice, just get a trailer. They are cheaper, more comfortable to drive, and if your truck breaks down, you can just haul it with another truck. This can save you a lot of time and money rather than having your food truck broken down for a week or so. If you want a trailer, you can get one, all in for about a starting price of 30k. That includes the trailer, buildout, fire suppression system, equipment, etc. It might be a smaller sized trailer, maybe 12’-14’ but trust me, smaller is better when you are starting out. You don’t want to spend all your money up front, because of course there’s more expenses! Now, if you want a truck, and it’s on the smaller size, 40k will be your base and this might include all your equipment, fire suppression system, etc. Now, all the nitty-gritty details you don’t think about…. You need a generator-1K-10K You need a wrap-3K-6K You need utensils, pans, warmers, bowls, tools, gas can, spare tire, etc-$500-2K You need product-This really varies depending on the event/cost of your food You need permits-$1K-2K Miscellaneous-1K I would personally not cheap out on the generator. I’ve had my Honda Eu7000is for over 10 years now and it still works perfect. So, investing in a quality generator can last a life time. Also, I’d recommend getting a quiet inverter generator! Wraps can vary, depending on quality, maybe he’s your buddy and he’ll give you the ‘Buddy discount’, or maybe you want to go all out and your builder will ‘Help you out’ and throw the wrap in on your trailer/truck payments (what a nice guy). Anywho, you’ll need to get an exact quote for your size truck/trailer. Utensils can really cost a lot. Try your best to get as much as you can from places that sell things cheaper—like Amazon. Not everything you buy needs to be from restaurant depot or any other stores you may go too. I’ve found a lot of stuff online that’s a lot cheaper. If you are like me and like to be prepared….i always have a spare tire, gas can, and some tools. This is something you may want to have. Not necessary to run a food truck but I like to have it. PRODUCT….people don’t think or maybe just don’t care but product is an upfront cost and if you don’t sell it….bye bye to your upfront investment. Make sure to buy more of the stuff that’ll last like fries and less of the stuff that can spoil quickly, like meats. Until you really figure out how much product will last you, less is more when you are starting out. Permits, if you are starting out in the City of Houston or Harris county, I believe the cheapest one is $1,200 and the most expensive is $2,000. That is for all year long or if you are somewhere else, I’d check up on your city’s permitting costs or maybe you just wanna ride dirty for the first few months….up to you! There’s always something that comes up in a food truck, so having a budget for miscellaneous things will definitely benefit you. Maybe you hit a curb and your leaf spring broke, or you need another propane tank, or whatever it is, food trucks always require MORE. So, budget in some things that you might need. In conclusion, I’ve touched on some key parts of opening up your food truck/trailer business. With everything I’ve listed, for a trailer, a budget of 36K-50K will do. For a truck, a budget of 46K-60K will do. Remember, these are all estimates! I don’t know how cheap you can get something, I know tons of people and I can get a trailer built for 15K and I know a guy who actually can give me the ‘Buddy discount’ because I take all my trucks and trailers to him. So, you might be able to get your rig under these numbers…great! Make it happen and anytime you are saving money, I’m happy for you! Leave me a comment below on how much you spent on your food truck? Or maybe, how much do you have to spend on your food truck dream! Must Haves Inside Your Food TruckWant to know what you'll need when you start your food truck? Maybe you'd be interested in knowing the things that most people look over when buying a food truck. Well that is what I am going to tell you today. I am going to give you all some insight on what you'll need before buying your food truck..... that you might have been told or maybe didn't think about!
There's so many things to say and instead of putting it into a paragraph, I'll just list everything and touch up on some important ones after.
1. Tool Box- If you have all the money in the world to hire somebody for every broken part or to change something on your truck right when you call, you don't need this. But, if you are like all of us in the food truck scene, you'll need to be a little handy! Any 50+ piece tool set will do, get a drill, and an impact drill (not necessary but will help). A few drill bits, screw drivers, wire cutters, and screws will take you far. If you are trying to be very handy like I am, then you'll add more as time goes on. 2. Jumper Cables- Everybody knows what these are for but you might not know that you just might (hopefully not) need them for your generator. So, make sure your cables are small enough for your generator! Make sure you figure out how to jump your food truck also. Some of these things have multiple batteries! So, make sure you have the correct set up for your rig. PRO TIP- Get a Jumper cable battery pack. Nothing is worst then sitting on the road with your jumper cables but no battery to jump it. 3. Oil- Can not stress how much having an extra bottle of generator oil has helped me and engine oil. Imagine going to your shift, pulling up, ready to serve, you go to turn on your generator and you get that infuriating 'OIL' message on your generator. The generator will not turn back on until you change it BUT, you read Damion's "Starting a Food Truck series" blog so, you are prepared with a nice bottle of clean oil to change it in 20mins. So, you change it in 20mins and BAM, you saved yourself from added stress, finding out how to get to the nearest gas station, and getting back; just to spend another 20mins changing the oil. PRO TIP: Get a Funnel that is small enough for your oil refill hole and keep the old bottles from you last oil change to drain the bad oil into. p 4. Bucket For Fryer Oil- Unless you like your oil all over your truck floor, get yourself a bucket to drain it a little after every shift. 5. Extra Generator Parts- If you are trying to be as handy as I am, you do everything (crying slowly). So, I service my own generator. I use to not know how easy it was it was to work on my Honda Eu7000is but it's honestly the easiest generator to service--and I found out the hard way. I use to drop my generator off and wait two weeks for them to service the fuel pump and I stressed a lot about spending money to rent a generator every time. So now, I'm a "PRO" and I know how valuable having my generator is for my business. So, specifically to my Honda, there's only about four things that make it turn off for no reason, the oil, fuel pump, fuel pump filter, and this dumb fuse I always forget to check. Again, this is specific to my generator, so figure out yours and how to service it. It'll save you a lot of money and time. 6. Water Hose- Not going to spend much time on this one but I will just say, the retractable, non-kink, whatever hose, is the best for storage and life span. Don't cheap out and get the 50 ft one, just get that 75 or 100! 7. Gas Tank- Again, not going to spend a lot of time on this one but definitely get the gas tank that releases gas from the bottom of the tank. Not the traditional ones, they always break and leak--so annoying! 8. Common Sense & Patience- This may seem like a joke but honestly it isn't. I've seen so many people add unnecessary stress to their day because, one, they aren't being patient and two, they aren't allowing themselves to have some common sense because they are trying to rush everything. Remember, from my last article, food trucks are not fun, they are stressful (always), but everything can be fixed, you just have to have the desire to move forward. Like everything, you get better with common sense, in-relation to being a food truck owner, through time. It is going to take time to figure out all the best strategies and ways to handle different situations but try to think and always plan ahead. I hope these tips help you when you have decided to venture on this new grueling chapter of your life. Most of these things may seem obvious but remember, not everybody has common sense (joking). On a serious note, I honestly hope these things will help you, it is really a goal of mine to help new business owners, food truck or not, grow and be successful. Being your own boss is the best thing you can do in life and I want to be here to help you all through it! Damion Loera Owner/Author The Food Truck Blog The Ugly Truth About Starting A Food TruckEverybody thinks starting a food truck is such a great thing to do. You don’t know how many people have told me, “Hey Damion, I was just let go by my job and now I have my severance packages, I want to open up a food truck! Can I come and shadow you?”
Please, go take your money, put into something passive, like real estate! This is actually what I tell them. maybe you know somebody that wants to open a food truck? Don’t encourage them just because they are great cooks. Being a food truck owner is more than being a great cook. I tell everybody, “You can have the best food, in the worst location and Somebody else could have the worst food in the best location and he’ll make more money than you.” It is just how food trucks are. It’s a lot of late nights, hoping to make $100 and apartments (because that’s all you are getting in the beginning) that don’t want to pay you but expect you to provide a service to their tenants. I don’t want this to sound like a rant but I’d like to let everybody here know that it’s not an easy task. I’ve been in the business for 13 years now (owner/employee). It’s always been great, I’ve loved it the whole way and it’s opened so many opportunities for me. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the food truck. There is a light at the end of the tunnel for the beginners, but you have to be honest with yourself. 1.) Do you have what it takes to sit for hours without having a customer? 2.) Do you have the hustle to market your business? 3.) Do you have the smarts to understand your business financially and operationally? 4.) Are you handy with repairs? A lot of people don’t think about repairing your truck and if you can do it yourself, it’ll save you a lot of money! 5.) Do you love the struggle? if you have these, you might be okay! I just want to close with, food truckin’ is great—you can make a lot of money and you can travel all around your city doing it! You meet some great people along the way, we have a tight community amongst our food truck friends. It’s a lot of work and you just have to be prepared to get down and dirty. You can make a lot of money if you do it right, which leads me to my next blog…. How to grow your food truck at a beginners stage… to start making money quickly! Stay tuned! Please leave your comments below, if you liked the blog, hated it, or just want to put your opinions in. I’d be happy to hear you all out and comment back! Damion Owner True Dog Houston |
AuthorDamion Loera - Owner of True Dog Houston & Kurbside Eatz food truck. Categories |