Do you love cooking and dream of the day when people will be lining up to have you cook for them? Opening a restaurant is the dream of many but can be a pretty difficult one to achieve. You have to get the location right, employ enough staff, and cater for a bunch of overheads.
If only there was some way of getting your foot int the door. Of testing the waters without committing to long leases and staff contracts. With Denver food trucks, you have exactly that opportunity.
Why Denver Specifically?
Based on a report that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation put out, Denver comes second only to Portland when it comes to a city being truck-friendly.
The report was written after extensive research conducted over the course of a year in twenty cities. They looked at:
- How easy it was to get a permit or license. (In this category, Denver came out tops, meaning that you had the least amount of red tape to wade through.)
- Zoning laws.
- Start-up costs. (Denver also came up top when it came to the costs to get the business off the ground. )
- Operational costs.
According to researchers, starting your business in Denver was simple and straightforward. They also noted that the operating procedures needed to stay compliant were simple as well.
Is it Really that Easy?
Not everyone would agree with that assessment. Those in the know say that while Denver does try to accommodate business owners, you still have to be willing to fork over a lot of hard cash to get your business open.
Local truck owners cite that the fire safety regulations are onerous and could provide a barrier for entry for owners who are not properly prepared.
What is it With the Fire Department?
The issue is that the fire suppression systems required are pretty pricey. You might also have to change the size of the propane tank and alter the gas lines. While these measures make sense from a safety angle, they also mean a substantial increase in costs that the owner has to bear.
And we aren’t talking about a couple of hundred dollars here, more like a few thousand.
Where Denver also did poorly was when it came to operational compliance. In this area, the inspections, visits to regulatory agencies, insurance costs, licenses, permits, and taxes add up to a pretty penny. In this area, the city dropped to sixth place.
You can expect to pay tens of thousands of dollars annually just to be compliant, and that is a lot of money.
Conclusion
But, maybe we should be looking at things from a slightly different angle. After all, the cost of running a brick and mortar restaurant can be a lot higher.
And, with a restaurant, if you have chosen the wrong location to set up in, you are usually not able to do much about it until your lease has expired. With a food truck, you just pack up and move on.