Coffee Truck Business Plan: A Mobile Espresso Truck's Year

A coffee truck sells the same drinks as a café without the rent: a 12-ounce latte costs about $1.24 in espresso, milk, cup and card fee, and sells for $5.50. In place of rent, it pays for the truck, which is the biggest startup cost by far, a commissary where it fills water and cleans up, site fees at offices, breweries and events, and fuel for the truck and generator. The plan turns on finding a morning spot that's busy every weekday. In the example, a Chattanooga coffee truck starts with $102,500, ends its first year about $11,500 ahead before the owner's pay, and makes about $4,000 a month at full speed. Below is each part of the plan, the first year month by month, the startup budget, and a free template.

The short version

• Describe the truck in a paragraph: the spots, the drinks, the goals.
• Cost each drink: espresso, milk, cup and the card fee.
• Plan sales by product: lattes, drip, cold brew and pastries.
• The truck is the biggest startup cost; the commissary and site fees replace rent.
• A busy weekday morning spot makes the plan.
• Check the city's mobile vending permit and the health department's.
• TaroStack makes each drink a recipe, so its true cost follows the price of what's in it. More below.

Part 1: the business description

Ridgeline Coffee Truck, a made-up coffee truck in Chattanooga, Tennessee, writes:

Ridgeline Coffee Truck is an espresso truck parked weekday mornings at two office parks in Chattanooga, with weekend markets and events, selling espresso drinks, drip coffee, cold brew and pastries from a local bakery. In its first year it aims to reach $14,450 of sales a month.

Part 2: what a drink costs

The pastry's "coffee" column is what the bakery charges; it's resold, not made. A café's version of these numbers is in coffee shop business plan.

Part 3: spots, the commissary and permits

Weekday mornings are two office parks, 6:30 to 11; weekends are a farmers market and an event or two. The truck fills water, empties grey water and is cleaned at a commissary every day, which the health department's mobile permit requires. The city's vending permit says where it can park. A smaller start with a cart is in coffee cart business plan, and its licenses in coffee cart license.

Part 4: what each product earns

At full speed the business sells $14,450 a month and keeps $10,817, 74.9%; lattes bring $6,390 of it.

Part 5: the first year, month by month

Fixed costs are $6,800 every month: wages for a part-time barista ($4,000), truck fuel and generator ($700), site and event fees ($600), commissary kitchen ($500), insurance ($300), truck upkeep ($300), register and software ($100), and other costs ($300). Sales start at 35% of full speed:

The year's sales are $124,414, and the business ends it $11,534 ahead, before the owner's pay. It breaks even at about $9,080 of sales a month, in the fifth month. The lowest cash point, −$7,513 in month 4, is covered by the $10,000 of working cash with about $2,500 to spare. The truck costs as much as a café's build-out, but the monthly costs are a fraction of a café's; a good morning spot every weekday is what fills the plan.

Part 6: the startup budget

The $92,500 before working cash is earned back in about two years at full speed. A truck that sells food instead is in food truck business plan, and the roasting side in coffee roasting business plan.

Get the template

Download the coffee truck business plan workbook. Four sheets: your products, each with its price, variable cost and units a month at full speed; the first year, month by month, with sales ramping up, profit, cash, the first profitable month, the lowest cash point and whether the working cash covers it; your 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

The plan uses one spot's sales. Rain empties the office park, an event doubles a Saturday, and by Friday the milk and cups on the truck don't match what the week sold.

How TaroStack does it

TaroStack makes each drink a recipe, so its true cost follows the price of espresso, milk and cups.

Drinks as recipes. Each drink is a recipe by weight, so its cost moves when the supplier's price does.

Counts with no signal. The cooler and dry storage can be counted on a phone with no signal, and the reorder list shows what runs out first in days of cover.

Waste with a reason. Milk past its date and pastries left at close is recorded as waste with a reason, reported by item.

Recipes, counts and the reorder list 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

How much does it cost to start a coffee truck?

The example budgets $102,500, including $10,000 of working cash; the truck itself is the biggest item.

Is a coffee truck profitable?

It can be: the example makes about $4,000 a month at full speed before the owner's pay, and ends its first year ahead.

How much does a latte cost to make?

In the example, about $1.24 for 12 ounces: 45 cents of espresso, 40 cents of milk, the cup and lid, and the card fee.

Is a coffee truck cheaper than a coffee shop?

To run, yes: the example's fixed costs are $6,800 a month; the truck itself costs as much as a café build-out.