My dream is to own a brick & mortar coffee shop, but before I take that plunge, I want learn the business through developing a mobile pop-up coffee stand in a pull-behind trailer. The city I’m in is large & has plenty of business centers to find myself in, as well as many events & walkable areas.
Has anyone else done this? Successes or failures you’d like to share? Advice in general?
This is a great idea! I’ve started looking into pop up market events where people sell jewelry, candles, clothes, etc because that’s my market, and I’ve seen at a lot of these events they also have small food trucks or coffee/smoothie trucks. That might be a good route for you too because while you would still need your city’s licensing to operate, it might be easier to actually set up shop because you’d be part of the private event. Rather than just going around asking if you can set up somewhere and potentially getting rejected.
You will need access to a health inspected kitchen to load your trailer with water and supplies (assuming your license requirements are similar to most cities). Same for cleanup and food storage (milk etc). There are probably “ghost kitchens” or “catering kitchens” you can use for a fee.
This is interesting. I have a lot to learn, that’s for sure.