Starting a Coffee Cart Business

What is a coffee cart? It is a self-contained espresso bar on wheels, typically between five and six feet long. It contains refrigeration units, water supply tanks, a water-pumping system, a hot water tank and a sink with hot and cold running water with a portable drain tank. A fully loaded cart with equipment ranges in price from $13,000 to $26,000.

The coffee cart business is growing by leaps and bounds. Almost everyone enjoys a great cup of coffee so you should never run out of customers. However, before you open up your own coffee cart business there are several very important things that you should do first.

The very first thing you should do is research. Learn everything you can about coffee. Read books, go to trade shows, become a coffee expert. You must know your business inside and out to help it prosper. You should also work out a business plan to help establish the financial aspects of a coffee cart business. It would also be a good time to research your city or town regulations and public health laws.

The next thing you should do is to search out and secure a location. A very good location. It doesn't matter if you sell the best tasting coffee in the whole world, if your location is terrible you won't succeed. One of the best locations for a coffee cart these days, is inside a large hospital or medical building. There is a lot of traffic through these places and you literally have no competition. Here is a list of other location suggestions to help you begin your search in your area.

**In amusement parks and local festivals
**Hotel lobbies
**Airports
**Sporting events
**Office complexes
**Colleges
**Trade Shows
**Special Events

Be prepared to spend a premium amount monthly, to set up in some of these rental spaces.

Once you have your location secured, the next step you need to take is to contact your local health department about their list of regulations and probably the permit. Both of these will also usually have fees attached as well. You will also need access to restroom facilities. Each city has specific health, sanitation and zoning regulations. Make sure you study them and are able comply with all of them. Typical health departments require access to a three compartment sink for clean up. So when you obtain your coffee cart, you need to make sure the sink compartments are built in.

Check out online venders that sell coffee carts and compare prices to get the best deal. You may even be able to find a decent one on Ebay. Talk to other coffee cart vendors to pick up tips and maybe a good list of suppliers.

Once you have everything in place, remember to keep it simple. Make your cart attractive but uncluttered. The menu should offer a variety, but not too much so that you overwhelm your customer with so many choices that they have trouble making up their minds and they eventually walk away. Follow the Keep-it-Simple principals!

Your sales with a well placed coffee cart can equal or exceed that of a conventional brick and mortar coffee shop. But your initial investment will be one half to one tenth the cost of starting a coffee shop. Your business risk is much lower and you have more location possibilities.

So if you are looking for a good business venture to get into, consider opening a coffee cart. Because one thing you can be sure of is that coffee will never go out of style!

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