1. Ask yourself: Why?
Have a clear goal in mind. In some markets, an operator can run a thriving business solely with one or more food trucks. In other cities, it makes more business sense to upgrade to a storefront. Detroit chef Omar Anani, for example, operates four food trucks. He has decided to turn his Fat Panda concept, however, into an actual restaurant for a variety of reasons: Detroit’s weather makes it hard to generate winter food-truck business, Anani says. He wants to have a consistent staff—one he doesn’t have to let go during the slow season. Plus, he says, city taxes and licensing requirements for food trucks are headache-inducing. “The food-truck scene in every city is a bit different,” Anani says.