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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Or is this a viable business idea?

94 replies

roxyfoxy89 · 09/11/2020 20:27

For the last few years I've been toying with a business idea. I want to buy a food/ice cream van, that I can trade from in the day around businesses, but also in the evenings/at weekends in residential areas. In winter I'd sell mulled wine, hot chocolate and coffees etc as well as brownies. In the summer I'd sell ice creams/ice lollies and iced coffees! It'd have an artisan feel and be more targeted towards adults.

Is this a viable business idea or a pipe dream?

OP posts:
MarshaBradyo · 10/11/2020 11:41

@willowywillow

Maybe get an electric van?
Also think this is better
fruitbrewhaha · 10/11/2020 11:48

Gosh reading these replies shows me why so many people don't want to take a risk to work for themselves.

Yes OP it is viable.

Near me in a small village a horsebox coffee stall opened up at the beginning of lockdown. They are on a farm, there's some haybales for seating. So on private land presumably paying something to the farm. They are busy with wakers, cyclists and people wfm.

Whilst on holiday this year in the UK I saw coffee shops on the back of apes (italian motorbike trailer thing not gorillas) pitched up near beaches in car parks.

Its all down to location.

I would concentrate on coffee. You run the risk of being all things to all people. Doing ice cream and alcohol will increase your costs ie you need coffee machine and refrigeration and heating equipment.

Ice cream vans are all owned and run by what I can best describe as cartels. Some sort of mafia operations. Have a look in your area if this is the case. Same for hotdog and peanut stands in London, I gather its all cut throat.

Talk to your local council. Talk to lots of people. Ask for help. There will be people really keen on your idea who will help put you touch with owners of land you can use to pitch up. I think this is better tha driving around the streets.

Also think about what hours of the day you want to work. Coffee is early morning into mid afternoon, ice creams afternoon into early evening, mulled wine is also later in the day. You'll never get any time off trying to cover all of those. Coffee on it's own has a good window of time and then take the late afternoon evening off (to do paperwork)

I work for myself, a business with huge overheads, don't let that put you off.

MyCatHatesEverybody · 10/11/2020 11:58

ExH and I used to run a small catering trailer. We started off by arranging to cater at a local boot fair (we couldn't just rock up). Logistically we had to bring several gallons of water along with us and the urn would take forever to heat up the water - think how long a kettle takes to boil let alone a full urn! We wouldn't have been able to drive around with it full/partly full either. I suppose coffee vans have appliances that can cope with that sort of thing but I assume they'll be eye wateringly expensive otherwise I'm guessing a lot more mobile vans would be doing coffee.

PPs are right that you can't just drive round wherever, the vast majority of pitches/patches will already be taken so you might have a long wait before you can start.

Not quite a pipe dream but there's probably a reason why your idea isn't already happening as a mobile version - I'd say many of us in that industry have had similarly whimsical notions of selling lovely things - who really wants to sell boring old burgers? - but the business reality is totally different.

ivykaty44 · 10/11/2020 12:13

I don't think op is going to be making coffee with an urn, a van can be kitted out the same as a camper van with a tank for water supply - meaning you can turn on a tap and get water from it

reallyawesomecoffee.co.uk/coffee-van-conversion/

www.oxinabox.co.uk/the-coffee-van-coming-to-your-door-how-stansfield-and-hoole-is-booking-its-customers-in-street-by-street-village-by-village/

WattleOn · 10/11/2020 12:18

It is viable. In fact. I think it is a great idea.

However, licensing could be an issue. That is something to check with your council early on.

It sounds a bit like this to me - www.thepopinn.com

newlabelwriter · 10/11/2020 12:22

We had a van which came and delivered beer and wine during the summer and it was a huge hit.

MyCatHatesEverybody · 10/11/2020 13:07

@ivykaty44 I made my point rather clumsily, I was trying to say that to do something fancier than a basic ice cream or catering van would be pretty pricey which is probably why mobile vans seem to stick with the basics. The conversion cost on your link started from £13k + vat and that's on top of the cost of the van itself!

emmathedilemma · 10/11/2020 13:19

I would be cautious of a business venture that relies on visiting offices / businesses for trade as I suspect the market already exists for such places and many are either still closed or have very limited numbers of staff in for the foreseeable future. My office of less than 100 people used to have 3 mobile sandwich vans visit at various times of the morning and got so little trade that 2 stopped coming, and even the one who still comes (or did prior to lockdown) seems quite willing to drop us from his round at any opportunity. On a typical day I'd say no more than 5 or 6 people buy from him and that's in an office with no canteen or shops immediately nearby.
The weekend market is probably quite lucrative, there's a couple of nice coffee vans in the parks and beach near me and I often don't bother joining the queue it's so long.

DynamoKev · 10/11/2020 13:23

Don't some Ice Cream vans also sell dope, fags and booze (allegedly)?

fruitbrewhaha · 10/11/2020 14:12

£13K plus for a van fit out is ok. Could do it for £20K. Much less than a high street location.

DynamoKev could be on to something, mobile drug dealer, no taxes or licencing issues.

Have you got money to invest OP? Or access to some. There will be start up or business enterprise loans available. Talk to your council. Or perhaps crowd funding. Also talk to a coffee producer to ask if they have a stocking fees available, they will give you something towards your set up costs if you agree to sell their coffee only.

TheDowagerDuchess · 10/11/2020 14:16

Viable, but also hard work, and you do have to make sure of licensing! I think the actual selling would be hard work and long hours to make any money, and there’d be admin costs / time spend alongside.

So fine, but I don’t think it will make you a fortune. Depends what you want from it really!

Ethelswith · 10/11/2020 14:19

This is a way to find pitches

www.truckstoptoday.com/Info/About

notanothertakeaway · 10/11/2020 14:23

in the evenings/at weekends in residential areas. In winter I'd sell mulled wine, hot chocolate and coffees etc as well as brownies

Sorry, but I don't see the appeal of this. I live in a city with plenty of local shops. I can make mulled wine / hot chocolate in the comfort of my own house, so I wouldn't come out into the cold / rain to buy it from a mobile van. And I wouldn't walk far for a brownie, when I have a well stocked biscuit cupboard in the kitchen

MintyMabel · 10/11/2020 14:28

Are you from Aberdeen @MintyMabel? Only place I hear a cake called a "fancy piece"!

Used to be, @OllyBJolly ! Of course, it really is a funcy piece!

LockdownInDressingGownAndFrown · 10/11/2020 14:29

I just want to know what music your van would play Grin

I'm sure MNers can think of suitable tunes, for a naice van that sells mulled wine and luxury coffee (I think it sounds great by the way)

My local ice cream van seems to do very well around here but I (genuinely, not joking) think they sell drugs. It plays the Teddy Bears Picnic btw.

ohidoliketobe · 10/11/2020 14:35

Wfh for the foreseeable future, I would be delighted if a grown up Ice cream truck came down my street a few times a week selling coffee, hot chocolate, pastries and soup. I can picture myself leaving meetings when I hear the chimes and running to the corner like a giddy child.
Back in the days of the office, we went for coffee runs and to the sandwich shop for lunch, so it's no different to that cost for me, and means I'd actually get some fresh air and 10 mins away from my screen. Plus, pastries.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 10/11/2020 14:37

[quote movingonup20]@SchrodingersImmigrant

The job centre will provide you with a business consultant and financial support if you apply to them, I was offered it last week.[/quote]
That's good! I remember hearing taht was for after 6 months of unemployment (yeeeears ago) and that they stopped it later all together. Good to hear it's still going!

Mylittlesandwich · 10/11/2020 14:38

We have a wee van that's started coming round here but by arrangement they don't just amble around. They do coffee, hot chocolate, milkshakes and coolers. They have loads of yummy cakes too. We were about £10 for 2 hot drinks and 2 cakes which seemed pretty reasonable.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 10/11/2020 14:41

@MatildaonaWaltzer absolutely. We were asked if we wanted pitch on one (well everyone was, we weren't special 😂) and oh my god. The cost was just... Yeah. Fully understand why stuff in there has the premium. It was a no from us. And few other small ones.

@WhereverIGoddamnLike I too always wanted some cool ones around. I love it in a tv when they go to the can and get amazing looking food like tacos. Now i want tacos🤦

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