Churro Business Plan: A Cart, Costs, a Seasonal Projection

A churro business plan is a cart plan. Churros are cheap to make, dough, oil and cinnamon sugar, so the money is in how many you sell an hour, and that depends on where the cart stands: festivals, markets, games and private events. The plan sets out the menu and what each item costs with the staff time in it, the cart and its permits, the year month by month, which for an outdoor cart follows the weather and the event calendar, and the startup budget, which is mostly the cart. In the example below, a churro cart in San Antonio, Texas, sells singles, filled churros, boxes with chocolate dip and event bookings, loses money only in January, and ends the year about $29,600 ahead on $73,400 of sales, after paying $20 an hour for the frying and serving. Below is a description example, each part of the plan, the permits, the year, the startup budget, and a free template.

The short version

• Describe the business in a paragraph: the churros, where the cart goes, the commissary, the goals.
• Cost each item with staff time in it: dough, oil, sugar, fillings, the bag or box, card fees.
• Price singles, filled churros, boxes to share and event bookings.
• The cart is a mobile food unit: a health permit, a fire inspection for the fryer, and often a commissary.
• Plan around the event calendar: summer and festival weekends carry the year.
• Keep working cash for the winter months.
• TaroStack keeps each batch's true cost and what the cart needs for each event. More below.

Part 1: the business description

Sol y Canela Churros, a made-up churro cart in San Antonio, Texas, I use in these examples, writes:

Sol y Canela Churros fries churros to order from a cart at festivals, markets and ballgames around San Antonio, and books private events. We prep and clean at a licensed commissary. In our first year we plan to sell 900 churros a month in summer and book three events a month.

Part 2: what each item costs

The staff time is the cart's hours spread over what it sells, including the slow stretches, so it's the biggest line. How a cart's numbers work for coffee is in coffee cart business plan.

Part 3: customers and prices

Filled churros leave the most per sale; events leave the most per hour, because the cart is paid to be there.

Part 4: the cart and the permits

A churro cart with a fryer is a mobile food unit. It needs a permit from the city or county health department, which inspects the cart, and many health departments require mobile units to prep, clean and restock at a licensed commissary. A propane fryer often brings a fire department inspection too, and each festival has its own vendor application. Texas requires staff who handle food to complete accredited food handler training within 30 days of starting, explained in Texas food handler card. What a commissary costs is in commissary kitchen cost. Check your own city's rules; this is general information, not legal advice.

Part 5: the year, month by month

Fixed costs are $1,150 a month: the commissary ($400), insurance ($90), health and fire permits ($60, averaged), event and market fees ($250, averaged), propane ($80), software and card fees ($40), marketing ($80), and a share of the towing vehicle ($150). Month 1 is April; June to August is full speed:

The year's sales are $73,444 and the profit $29,626, on top of $20 an hour for the staff. The template's event counts are rounded per month; book your real calendar into it.

Part 6: the startup budget

Get the template

Download the churro business plan template. Four sheets: products with price, variable cost and units at full speed; the year month by month with a ramp you can change; fixed costs; and the startup budget. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.

Where this stops working

Every event needs the right amount of dough, oil, filling, boxes and propane on the cart, and a festival weekend can sell three times a market day. Running out at 4 p.m. on a Saturday is the expensive mistake, and a plan's monthly average won't prevent it.

How TaroStack does it

TaroStack keeps each batch's true cost and what the cart needs for each event.

Recipes and true cost. The dough, the filling and the dip are recipes, so each batch carries its true cost at what the flour and oil cost that week.

Stock on a phone. A count of the cart's supplies takes minutes on a phone, even at a festival with no signal, and shows what a difference is worth before you post it.

What each event earns. Event bookings are orders by customer, so margins show by product and by customer.

Recipes, batches and true cost are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.

Questions people also ask

Is a churro business profitable?

It can be: in the example, $29,626 on $73,444 of sales in the first year, after paying $20 an hour for the staff, with summer and event bookings carrying it.

How much does it cost to start a churro cart?

In the example, $13,100, most of it a used cart with a fryer, plus an extruder, a generator, permits and $2,000 of working cash.

Do I need a permit to sell churros?

Yes: a mobile food unit permit from your city or county health department, often a commissary, a fire inspection for a propane fryer, and each event's vendor application.

How much should I charge for churros?

In the example, $4 for a churro, $6 filled, $14 for a box of six with dip, and $650 for a two-hour event.