Food truck business simulator
See what your food truck would turn over, how many customers you'd win and who you'd lose them to — month by month for two years — before you spend real money.
One van, a lunch rush, and a spot worth fighting for. This one opens as Rolling Kitchen: A food truck working lunch spots, markets and events across a few towns. Rename it, reprice it, or describe your own food truck and let Nova rewrite it to fit.
What a steady food truck ends up with
Played steadily for all two years — quality first, then growth, a fair share of the bank spent each year — a steady food truck here ends its last year on $104k of revenue and $2.7k of profit, with 389 customers and 2.3% of the market (#5 of 5).
It starts from nothing: $80k in the bank and you, 55 hours a week, with no customers yet.
People who play it well do better, and a bad plan runs out of money.
Revenue in the last year: $104k
Profit in the last year: $2.7k
Customers at the end: 389
Share of the market: From nothing to 2.3%
Where it finishes: #5 of 5
Years and decisions: 2 years, monthly
What you'll decide each month
Each month you set what a order costs, how many customers you can serve and who is on shift, what you spend on being known in the pitch, and when to open in another pitch.
Each decision shows on a forecast before you file it, and every period resolves against the rivals and the economy.
Who your customers are
Food lives on its customers. A new place gets tried because it is new; whether those people come back next month is what decides the second year.
22,000 customers in all, across your town, the next town over, the villages around, the county town and out by the ring road.
Weekday regulars: Locals and workers who come back every week if it is quick and fairly priced. About 9,900 of them, worth $257 a year each.
Treat-yourself crowd: People who come for something good and will pay for it. About 5,500 of them, worth $429 a year each.
Families: Bigger orders, early tables, and a long memory for a bad visit. About 3,960 of them, worth $343 a year each.
Tourists and passers-by: Here once, chosen on a review or the sign outside. About 2,640 of them, worth $114 a year each.
Who you're up against
Three rivals are already in it, and they play to win: they cut prices, spend on marketing and answer what you do. Most of the market is theirs on day one.
The sandwich chain: The biggest, and slow to change — it has stopped listening to its smaller customers. Holds about 20% of the market.
The other truck at the market: Hasn't changed in years and is living off the customers it already has. Holds about 10% of the market.
The new place with the queue: Clever and quick, but stretched thin and hard to get hold of. Holds about 8% of the market.
How it works
Free until you start: building and previewing cost nothing, and starting is $10, once.
Build it — free: Press build and you get your own copy of this market: four kinds of customer, three rivals and five pitches.
Make it yours: Change any number, describe your food truck in a sentence or two and let Nova fill it in, or upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history to fit it to your real figures.
Preview — free: See what a steady food truck ends up with, and every warning worth reading, before you pay anything.
Start — $10: Pay once to start, your seat included. Then run it month by month for two years.
Also for
street food · van · market stall · pop-up
How much does the food truck business simulator cost?
Building and previewing are free: make your own copy of this food truck market, change anything in it and see what a steady food truck ends up with without paying. Starting the simulation is $10, once, and your own seat is included.
Can I make it match my own food truck?
Yes. Every number can be changed — the customers and what they pay, the rivals, the pitches, the costs and the starting cash. Or describe your food truck in a sentence or two and Nova, SparkTower's AI, fills every section in for one Nova action. If you already trade, upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history and the simulation is fitted to your real numbers, starting from where your business stands today.
Are the numbers realistic for a food truck?
The template is checked against what real ones do: played steadily, a believable one finishes year two turning over between $70k and $350k, with between 250 and 3,000 customers. This one's preview comes to about $104k and 389. Your own prices, costs and figures change that, which is the point of trying it here first.
Can I use it to test a food truck business plan?
That is what it is for. Put your plan's prices, costs and starting cash in, play it forward month by month, and see whether the money lasts, how many customers you would need and what a rival's price cut does to you — before you put real money in.
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