I’m starting a food truck in Sendai next month.
Is anyone else here running a food truck/ restaurant/ pop up events in Japan?
I’d really appreciate any advice I can get about the struggles and unexpected difficulties you had starting your business.
Thanks!
16 comments
Not to sound harsh or negative, but these are the sorts of things you should have been investigating *way before* you even began looking at starting up a food truck.
I got close to pulling the trigger on fabricating a food truck, but pulled out after talking to a bunch of people “in the biz”, and realizing just how cut-throat, boring and difficult it all can be. Mind-you this was in Tokyo so perhaps a different experience than Sendai.
I recommend a search for *Japanese food craftsman* on YouTube.
You may find something useful there.
I ran the numbers on a few food truck concepts and the verdict was that the profit margins were too low to justify the time, energy, investment and risk with opening one.
Based on the companies I talked to that specialise in fitting out trucks for vendors about 80-85% of them fail to turn a profit and end up exiting the market.
If I was committing to purchasing a truck and starting a business I’d want to have everything lined up beforehand – concept, recipes, suppliers, potential sites, branding, socials etc. You want a very robust business plan and p&l / forecast in place with inflation adjusted COGS for the next 3-4 years included so you can set your product pricing now and not need to adjust when food prices increase over the next few years.
Obviously I hope you do well but maybe this is a question you should have asked before investing in a new business?
I’m also opening a medical clinic. Never did this before. Any Reddit doctors have any advice on becoming a medical professional? Thanks!
We had a really good entertainer for one of our Halloween parties- an American called Mr Tak- needless to say Covid hit his business quite hard, but he also had a food truck business during the week. He ran it in Fukuoka city. He seems to have got him through. Google or Facebook him.
Idea: have a Japanese person take orders. People in Sendai, in general, would prefer to deal with a Japanese person, I think. I’ve seen a few foreign places here that had great food but went out of business. One problem may have been a desperate looking foreigner staring at the people walking by.
In 2002, I talked to a black or Indian guy, I can’t remember now, who was selling kebabs out of a red van like vehicle in front of Shinjuku Station, South East Exit. It was basically in front of the GAP and where now that little square is next to the escalators. It was before all the construction. Anyway, he told me that the yakuza would demand 400,000 a month from him to park his kebab van there. If I remember, he said he did not pay them, though. So the yakuza would call the cops on him and the police would come and tell him to go, because I think he didn’t have a license or something. This was over 20 years ago in Shinjuku, maybe Sendai will be different – and you’ll have the appropriate licenses.
I’m also starting my food truck business next month.
Not sure what food to sell yet, but maybe something unique like kebabs or crepes.
I would like to know where I can buy these food trucks. Also is it okay if I park and sell near Shibuya crossing since there are so many potential customers there.
Thanks for reading my mind about this very question!
Not to be discouraging but most food trucks fail over time. Those which survive survive only because it feeds on the lifeblood of the proprietor.
An exit plan such as selling up when it’s profitable is a good idea. Also, Japanese customers are fickle and demanding af.
Sounds cool, what kind of food will you do?
I live in Sendai, so if you drop the name of your business or your socials, I’ll check it out when you open.
Where in Sendai? Ive seen a few food trucks outside the mall in Nagamachi and the park near city hall but the most populated areas aren’t really great for parking up somewhere
Tell me about your truck and the food. This is really interesting. Wish I lived a bit closer so I could try it out.
Have you discussed your plan with the local “clan”?
What are you selling? Any pictures we can see?
Also good luck mate! Don’t let the debbie downers get to you too much.