Pros and Cons of Starting a Mobile Coffee Business

Why Start a Mobile Coffee Business?

It just might be the best decision you make when starting a coffee business.

Why Start a Mobile Coffee Business?

Tremendous Benefits, Flexibility, and Lower startup costs Are Among the Top Benefits

Starting a mobile coffee business is a viable option for those looking to open a coffee shop but want something a bit more manageable, affordable, and feasible to start with.

With an abundance of opportunities, starting a mobile coffee business is a great way to enter into the retail coffee industry while reducing the inherent risk and financial burden – as well as the anxiety – of starting a brick-and-mortar coffee business.

There are incredible benefits to starting a mobile coffee business.

Here are just a few mobile coffee business options to start with:

• A coffee truck business

• A coffee trailer business

• A portable coffee kiosk

• A coffee trike business

Any type of coffee business that you can think of, including a coffee drive-thru stand, which can be moved from one place to another, can provide several important advantages that we intend to discuss below. 

Please note: If you are interested, we have written extensively on drive-thru coffee stands in our coffee shop business blog. We’ve also written on low-cost coffee business ideas that you will want to read.

Drive-thru espresso stands can be another exciting opportunity that doesn’t require an investment and other resources needed to start a full-fledged coffee shop startup.

Coffee shops and mobile coffee businesses alike do require a financial investment. To decide which is best for you, you must determine your coffee business budget and resource assessment for your coffee startup and see which best applies to your specific situation.

Moving forward, let’s take a look at some of the reasons why you might just want to hold off (or move forward) with opening a traditional coffee shop and instead set up a mobile coffee business.

Get The Ultimate Mobile Coffee E-book

Successfully Plan and Launch Your Coffee Trailer

Buy It Now

Benefits of Starting a Mobile Coffee Business

Benefits of Starting a Mobile Coffee Business

1. Create a Profitable Coffee Business With Lower Startup Costs

A mobile coffee business will have lower startup costs in a typical scenario than a traditional coffee business.  To explore the coffee shop startup costs of a traditional brick-and-mortar coffee business, it is helpful to realize that many other coffee business costs will be comparable.

Such costs include the need for an espresso machine and other coffee equipment, plumbing and electrical wiring installations, permits, licenses, etc.

Mobile coffee business startup costs can vary widely depending on several factors, including the size, scope, and equipment needed to deliver your coffee.  

The smaller and more coffee-focused businesses will lower their costs, which include both fixed and variable costs.

The lower cost barrier is significant and can really provide the incentive to move forward with a mobile coffee business. With smaller financial risk, the feasibility seems more reachable for many would-be coffee entrepreneurs.

Despite the costs, however, you could lose money if you don’t plan things out thoroughly.

For example, writing a coffee shop business plan can help you determine what kind of business you want and how to get there. Developing your mobile coffee concept and coffee menu is still essential. Taking the time to research and plan your coffee business will help you lower the costs even further. Therefore, researching and planning should be at the top of your “to-do” list.

Developing your coffee shop budget and coffee shop business plan will help you figure out how much money you will make as a coffee business owner.

2. Avoid High Leases Associated  With Retail Space Rentals

If you haven’t noticed, rent is going up – everywhere.

While some communities have rent control for housing, the same is not true for commercial spaces. One of the biggest challenges for brick-and-mortar coffee shops is finding an affordable location that works for their coffee business.

In commercial spaces, you can be locked into for a period of several years and pay an exuberant amount of money and other fees…all for the privilege of serving your coffee.  

Paying thousands of dollars in rent each month before you officially open your business is a sure way to dig yourself into a large financial hole.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a big believer in brick-and-mortar coffee shops, but make no mistake, you really need to prepare yourself to negotiate your property lease effectively.

Many coffee shop businesses financially struggle because of their high property lease payments.

There are various benchmarks that financial planners like to quote for how much your rental costs should be. For example, on average, your rent or lease cost shouldn’t exceed 15% to 20% of your estimated revenue at your coffee shop.

This seems like a good benchmark to work from, but how can that be possible when rent is going up 10% to 15% every year in nearly every major city?

The reality on the ground is often more difficult to link to theoretical benchmarks. Being overwhelmed by your property lease and poor management leads to the failure of coffee shop businesses.

To sustain those levels, you may have to increase your revenue by 20% every year simply to stay ahead of increases in your rent, taxes, inventory, and labor costs. Wouldn’t you rather have that extra 20% in your own pocket? If a “great” location costs $4,000 to $10,000 per month (or more!), just how many coffees would you have to sell to cover the rent?

Having a mobile coffee business lowers these costs significantly.

Yes, you may still have to pay for the initial costs of the coffee trailer, coffee truck, or coffee kiosk, but you can be sure that the costs of your mobile coffee business will not be going up every year!

Whether you pay-as-you-go while building out your coffee truck or get a loan and buy the entire mobile coffee business, once it’s yours, it’s yours!

Now to be fair and realistic about the rental costs, you may have to pay “rent” or some fees to park in certain areas to conduct your coffee business with the city, or parks department, or other property managers. However, these costs can often be significantly lower than the traditional costs of a coffee shop.

Additionally, if you don’t like your rent cost, you can always change locations, right?

Avoiding the high cost of property leases in many urban places around the country means you save an incredible amount of money every month, especially when you compare the costs to traditional coffee shop businesses.

This reason alone is important enough to entice many to start a mobile coffee business!

Why Start a Mobile Coffee Business?

3. Your Mobile Coffee Business Creates a Lifestyle Business

By starting a mobile coffee truck business, you are also creating a lifestyle business for yourself. That is, you create a business around the lifestyle you want.

Independence. Profit. Mobility.

All of these things will naturally orbit your mobile coffee business. A mobile coffee business allows you to create a job or career that suits your schedule and lifestyle – whatever that may be. Whether it’s going from location to location and serving different types of customers at various events and gatherings, to simply working whenever you feel like making money during various times of the year.  

Want to check out a local festival? Take your coffee truck! Want to work at a local marathon race? Take your coffee trailer.

Having a mobile coffee business allows you to travel to the physical location you wish to visit and work at – or perhaps a location where you need to be.

Of course, having a mobile coffee business requires all of the same attention, planning, and administration required to start any coffee shop business. However, a mobile coffee business provides you many more options and flexibility that a coffee shop owner would love to have.

4. Allows Yourself Room to Grow at Your Own Pace

Starting a coffee business can be overwhelming. A full-fledged café with several staff members and a full menu, operating 6 to 7 days a week, can be a lot of pressure for someone to set up, start, and manage successfully.

Starting a coffee shop takes work. It takes money. Starting a mobile coffee business also takes money. However, the degrees of operational and financial bandwidth can be starkly different. Starting a mobile coffee business can give you more control to speed up or slow down your business development process.

Having a mobile coffee business can give you the opportunity and the room to grow your business – at your own pace! Additionally, we are talking about growing on a personal and a professional level at your own comfortable speed. You control how much you can handle – how much time, money, and effort – and your own ability and capacity to deal with it.

Too much going on in your life? Simply slow down the number of events you plan to work at with your mobile coffee business. Need time to figure out your marketing, accounting, or your vendors? You can slow down.

Think you can handle more than you are currently doing? Simply add more events to your schedule.  With your mobile coffee trailer business, you have total control. And isn’t that the way it should be?

5. Develop Your Own Coffee Truck Business Brand

Developing your coffee business brand is an important aspect of the valuation of your coffee business. Where would Starbucks be without its brand?

Your mobile coffee business brand – your business identity – plays an important role in your coffee business's success. How your customers see you is important – on so many levels (and beyond the scope of this article).

As a mobile coffee business, it is common that you will have two types of customers: The first type of customer is your average person or customer who walks up to your mobile coffee business and buys a coffee cup.

The second type of customer is the person or organization that will hire or invite you and your mobile coffee business to their event or function. In other words, your second type of customer is the event organizer.

Their decisions will be based on your availability, your capacity to serve coffee, and your coffee brand.

In the end, your coffee business brand will play a role in whether or not your customers will buy from you. Thus, whether or not you are profitable.

A smaller coffee business, such as a coffee truck or trailer, can help you develop your local coffee business brand.

As your coffee business grows, you will begin to flesh out your identity. Your coffee business brand might go through various stages of evolution until you arrive at the most suitable one.

A mobile coffee business allows you greater flexibility to experiment with your coffee brand. The scale, scope, and your assessment of the responsiveness of your customers.

6. Mobile Coffee Trucks Are Fun!

Having a mobile coffee truck or coffee trailer can be fun!

In discussing the important coffee shop business steps you should consider taking, much of the fun can get lost.  

Taxes… Leases… Permits and code compliance… not necessarily exciting, right?

While it’s crucial to address important issues of starting any coffee business, let’s not forget about all the fun you can have with a mobile coffee business.

Engaging with the public at a variety of locations can be very interesting and rewarding. Attending events, concerts, festivals, and feeling like you are part of the community can really be appealing and novel.

Choosing The Mobile Coffee Business You Want

I love mobile coffee businesses because it magnifies the creativity of each coffee business owner. Mobile coffee businesses offer simplicity. Purity. Minimalism. Every morning, you only take what you need to serve your coffee. At the end of the day, you pack it all up.

Of course, as with any business, you can always make things more complicated. For example, you can add to your coffee menu and service to satisfy a wider swath of customers, which may be an avenue to greater profitability.

Generally, however, a mobile coffee business often leans towards a clear and streamlined service: serving coffee and light snacks. With that being said, you have several different types of mobile coffee business to setup. From small operations to more robust coffee services, you have to decide which one fits your mobile coffee startup budget.

General “Mobile Coffee Business” Types:

• A coffee truck business

A coffee truck operates in the same manner that a food truck would. It is a self-contained mobile vehicle that is not separated from the motor or driver. A coffee van (or any other similar vehicle) can also be categorized as a mobile truck coffee business.  

A coffee truck is appealing because it is extremely mobile – simply pull up, hook up, and serve up your coffee.  When it's time to leave, you can leave without a trace. 

• A coffee trailer business

A coffee trailer (or camper) is built out to serve coffee and other products. It is pulled by another vehicle with a hitch as it does not have a motor of its own. The distinction can impact your general and commercial auto policies.

Coffee trailers can be a great option for serving coffee as it can be pulled and dropped off pretty much anywhere with road access. There are benefits of having a coffee trailer versus a coffee truck. While both are equally mobile, a coffee trailer may be able to fit into smaller spaces when it's detached from the pulling vehicle. Detaching a trailer every day, however, can be cumbersome. 

• A portable coffee kiosk (setup)

There are coffee and concession kiosks that can be set up and broken down in any location. From indoor office buildings to farmers’ markets to parks and festivals. Depending on the coffee kiosk's size, you may need to have it pulled in a trailer or truck.

If your coffee kiosk or setup is tiny, you probably won’t need a large trailer or truck. All that may be required for this type of mobile coffee business is a table, tent, water, and power supply.

However, you may need to have substantial space to transport your coffee equipment (espresso machine, grinder), water tanks, inventory, and supplies.

A portable coffee kiosk is a low-cost coffee business alternative to get your coffee business off the ground.

• A coffee bike/trike business (Either motorized or pedal)

Some pedal-powered vehicles or bikes can carry your espresso machine (or coffee brewer), grinder, and water. Pedal-powered vehicles can be fun and another low-cost coffee business idea that is popular in some places.

Some pedal-driven vehicles can also have a small motor, which can make pedaling your coffee equipment much more feasible. However, to travel across town or even a few miles, you may need a way to transport your bicycle coffee business, either with a van, trailer, or larger vehicle. 

• Drive-thru espresso stand

While generally situated in permanent locations, drive-thru coffee stands can also be mobile (though not as mobile as a vehicle) and, thus, qualify to be mentioned here.

Some coffee stands can be equipped with wheels and an axle and can be towed or carried via a trailer to other locations. Oftentimes, they will need to be loaded onto a trailer and moved.  This does take effort, time, and money.  

These mobile coffee businesses, by their very nature, require to be self-contained. This means that it should provide everything they need without hooking up to any water or electricity outlet.

Drive-thru coffee stands can be plumbed and hooked up to electricity, but generally, most mobile coffee businesses require everything to be self-contained. That is, your plumbing, electrical, and gas supply all need to be provided through some means, either through water tanks, a power generator, or a propane tank.

Choosing Your Mobile Coffee Business Concept

What type of mobile coffee shop business do you want to start?

Often, it may depend on your coffee business budget. It may also depend on existing coffee stand competition in your area, your physical location options, your perceived customer base, and the availability or access to a trailer, truck, or bike.

So, if you want to start a mobile coffee business, you either work with what you got or look elsewhere to find the right vehicle or location.

Often, searching online allows you to find the right option for you at the best price. As you already know, choosing your mobile coffee business may be determined by where you live or what is available to you. However, your coffee business budget is the most restrictive factor in choosing the best mobile coffee business that works for you. Therefore, determining your budget and coffee business funding mix will be essential.

Whatever mobile coffee business concept you choose will impact your overall coffee business budget differently. Sit down and break down your mobile coffee business costs. Consider what vehicles you already have to work with. For example, you may already have a trailer, a drive-thru coffee stand structure, etc.

Determine your fixed and variable costs, including your coffee equipment, your coffee menu, administrative and marketing costs, etc. For more detailed information on your budgeting, read our article on coffee shop startup costs.

Each of these mobile coffee business options does have a set of pros and cons.

Let’s illustrate some pros and cons for each of these mobile coffee business choices that you may be considering below…

Coffee Truck Advantages and Disadvantages

The Pros and Cons of a Mobile Coffee Business

Mobile coffee trucks

Pros – With a coffee truck, it’s easy to drive to any location and drive back home in a snap. Your mobility is your lifeline to a variety of locations and customer bases. You can easily travel long distances and attend any number of events or functions to sell your coffee. Coffee trucks offer lower operational overhead costs than traditional brick-and-mortar locations. This is a huge benefit, especially in higher real estate markets.

Cons – Sometimes, we all have car problems. If you have problems with your mobile coffee truck, your business could be put on hold until it’s fixed. This means that instead of earning money selling coffee, your mobile coffee truck is spending the week in an auto mechanic’s garage. Coffee trucks aren’t as cheap as you might think. Whether you decide to buy, build, or renovate one (all have pros and cons), be prepared to invest some money.

Mobile coffee trailer

Pros – You have the ability to travel anywhere, just like a trailer, and take steps to avoid downtime if your towing vehicle breaks down. While coffee trailers come in all shapes and sizes, some can be smaller and, therefore, fit into various vending spaces. Like coffee trucks, a coffee trailer offers low operational expenses and overhead. No need to pay thousands of dollars for a monthly lease with a mobile coffee trailer!

Cons – A coffee trailer can be just as costly as a coffee truck to “build-out.” However, you will need an additional towing vehicle (with a V6 or V8 cylinder engine), such as a van or truck equipped with a hitch to pull your trailer. This additional vehicle can add to your costs, licensing fees, etc. Additionally, you need to transport your power supply, water, inventory, signs, seating, etc. This may require you to buy a large enough pulling vehicle to carry those items.

Portable coffee kiosk

Pros – Certainly, a portable coffee kiosk offers a lower-cost coffee business option for you. This means less time and hassle to get from zero to making money. Additionally, having a coffee kiosk allows you to be anywhere from inside the lobby of an office building to a private event to a farmers’ market and food court.

Cons – A small coffee kiosk might limit your ability to serve a wider variety of coffee and other products. Additionally, carrying larger coffee equipment such as an espresso machine or grinders is impractical. You will also need a larger vehicle to transport your equipment, water, and power. If you don’t have self-contained power, you will be limited to those locations by which you can have power.

Coffee trike/bike/pedal pedals

Pros – The low cost of a coffee mobile business powered by pedals is very attractive. You can go anywhere and be very mobile. This means you can go directly to your customers and move as quickly as the flow of traffic. 

Cons – You are only able to serve what you can carry. This means that your brewing equipment, grinder, coffee, cups, milk, water, and power all need to be carried to your final service destination. Of course, you can get around this by transporting your bike with a van or truck, along with the coffee equipment and other supplies.

Drive-thru Coffee Stands

Pros – Drive-thru coffee stands offer you a lower-cost alternative than traditional brick-and-mortar. It's reluctantly semi-mobile. While it may be more challenging to move and set up a drive-thru espresso stand, it’s still technically mobile, giving you the ability to serve coffee in a better location if the need arises. It offers some of the benefits of a brick-and-mortar, allowing customers to find you easily.

Cons – Depending on the size and setup, some stands can be nearly as expensive as a brick-and-mortar store, often including a lease. A coffee drive-thru stand can be tough to move and haul away, especially when compared to other mobile coffee businesses.

Choosing The Right Mobile Coffee Business For You

Each type of mobile coffee business discussed above offers its own set of benefits that may work for you. Choosing the right mobile coffee business based on your competition, your location, your customers, and your budget will all play an important part in your final decision.

Taking the time to plan your coffee business before you start will help save you time and money in the long run. Our Complete Coffee Shop Startup Kit contains a coffee shop business plan that can help you plan out your coffee business and budget.

Our audio interviews with real-world coffee shop owners and experts can help you figure out your coffee business concept and vision.

Budgeting For Your Mobile Coffee Business

Take an honest look at your coffee business budget. It will help guide you through your decision-making process on which the mobile coffee business is right for you.

Bringing up money can be a difficult thing for many people. An important question is how much you can afford and what money you can access to cover all of your expenses until your coffee business is operational (or even profitable).

Catching the excitement bug in owning a coffee truck or coffee trailer is easy. The truth is that any worthwhile business takes planning, startup money, and dedication. The more you plan, the less you spend.

To help you with your planning, we’ve written in-depth articles about coffee shop startup budgets. Our coffee shop business blog is packed with useful topics and information for aspiring coffee business owners.  Below are a few samples of some info-packed articles you'll find in our blog. 

Pros and Cons of Starting a Coffee Truck

How do you get started with a mobile coffee business?

What’s the main difference between a traditional coffee shop and a mobile coffee business? The answer is: Your mobile coffee business is generally on wheels. You still need to calculate your break-even point. Additionally, you need to deal with staffing issues, choosing the right equipment, work with the health department, etc.

As with any coffee shop business, you still need to:

• Research your coffee business & develop your concept
• Write your coffee shop business plan
• Create your menu
• Develop your mobile coffee business budget
• Work with your health department
• shopping and choosing coffee equipment
• Manage your coffee business

Are you ready for the next step in your coffee business planning?

Get The Ultimate Mobile Coffee E-book

Successfully Plan and Launch Your Coffee Trailer

Buy It Now

Coffee Shop Startups

Based in Seattle, Washington, USA, Coffee Shop Startups is dedicated to providing you with the most relevant information on how to start a coffee shop business successfully. Over the last 11 years, we've helped thousands of aspiring coffee business owners worldwide. We harness the experience, wisdom, and knowledge of many successful coffee shop owners to help you increase your chances of success and profits. We support business owners who want to start a coffee business by providing them with valuable information on starting their coffee business successfully.