Catering / Burger Vans as a income?

MarkRansom

Has anyone any info on using a burger / chip van
thinking about doing this too help my parents and myself try too get some extra income for myself and a job for my mother

whats needed if i was too buy a burger van off ebay fill it with food, do i have too pay the council too sit in a layby or carboot, or parks serving food?

i presume i have too get a catering certificate and maybe some form of health and hygine thing? any idea what these can costs?

any help or directions would be great an also are they worth while?

square-pants

My parents have two catering trailers set up in laybys. One is a static one on a busy dual carriageway that has been there so long (20 years?) that they don't need permission to be there any more. Another is parked on private land in a busy industrial estate and they pay a token rent (£20 a week) to the owner. They are fantastic money earners if you have a good pitch.

You need your unit/van/trailer assessed by your local council, and you need a health and hygiene certificate because you are working with food ( you can do this online or some councils offer free courses).

Rules on parking in laybys change from council to council, so find a layby you fancy and ring up the council it belongs to, tell them what you are intending to do and ask them if it's okay.

Best advice I can give you.

1.) Source a good local bread supplier, they can deliver fresh baps to you daily and are usually competitive with cash and carry prices.

2.) Pay the £15ish a week for a portaloo company to site a portoloo in the layby if you are planning on doing this in a regular spot 7 days a week - it helps to attract people bursting for a wee! ( And you'll need it too!) Keep the portaloo locked and tell people that ask for the key that it's for customers only, some will be snooty about having to buy a can/chocolate bar to use the loo, but you have to pay for it to be there - so stick to your guns.

3.) Keep it simple. The best sellers in layby catering vans are things on baps. Bacon Bap, Egg Bap, Sausage Bap and combinations of the three. Chips are a no-goer, it costs too much on gas to keep the oil hot all day and the profit isn't there.

4.) To build up a regular trade, you need to keep to your trading hours. If you tell your customers you are there 5 days a week from 7am - 4pm, then make sure you go every day and don't knock off at 1pm on a quiet day. If you start having inconsistent trading hours, people might stop off at another van or shop before reaching yours on the off chance that yours might not be open.

5.) Get to know your customers, build up friendships with them - make conversation, be interested in them. If you're in a busy lay by on a dual carriageway a lot of your customers will be truckers, they might have been driving for hours and could appreciate a chat. ( I swear this is why my mum is so successful, she could talk the hind legs off a donkey!)

Good luck

MarkRansom

WOW thank you so so so much you have just dispelled any fears an well pretty much definetly made me consider this now, thank you so much for replying and in so much detail too that is great

mark