Want a restaurant? Get a van instead – bricks-and-mortar is so last year. And it doesn’t have to be expensive. Launching yourself as a mobiler requires a lot less start-up capital than a restaurant. I remember one street food seller outside of the Staples Center in LA, cooking bacon-wrapped hot dogs on shopping baskets topped with jerry-rigged griddles made from aluminium sheet pans. It can’t have cost the guy more than $20 to build — cheap enough to leave if the cops chased him off for selling food without a licence. Of course he was breaking the law. And he wouldn’t make the finals of the first British Street Food Awards, but you get the idea. It needn’t cost a fortune – mobilers have been known to get up-and-running for less than a grand.

It’s a great time to be in street food, what with the financial downturn and all. Just when consumers are cutting back on their restaurant spending, a food truck serving inexpensive lunches and dinners is be an easier sell to the public. But, like it says in the industry Bible (Profitable Mobile Catering by Bob Fox), this business isn’t for everyone.

The plus points are that:

Everybody has to eat – massive market and growing.

Low start-up costs

Low overheads

Immediate cash income

Low level of experience required

You’re your own boss.

But don’t forget that being a ‘mobiler’ is very hard work, and can be very physically demanding. You’ve also got to get to grips with Health and Safety, and civic by-laws which – in some parts of the country – limit where traders can trade. And they’re different  from area to area.

But once you know where you want to sell, you have to register your business with your local authority. You will then be responsible for the health and safety of your employees (which means you will need proper food safety training). You’ll also be responsible for the health and safety of your customers, so make sure you’ve got a good  liability insurance package.

Contact the NCASS,  the Nationwide Caterers Association, on 0121 603 2524 for advice and help with all the issues. These guys have been there, done it – and they know how much sauce to serve with it too. You’ll soon be ready to start spicing up the sidewalk.