The budget in 4 buckets
Group every cost this way and the financing structure becomes obvious, because each bucket is funded by a different program.
- /The unit: 25,000 to 175,000, financed as equipment against the truck itself
- /Compliance and setup: 4,000 to 15,000 for permits, plan review, inspections, and insurance binding
- /Opening stock and small wares: 5,000 to 15,000
- /Operating reserve: 3 months of fixed costs, commonly 9,000 to 30,000
Recurring costs you commit to on day 1
Startup budgets fail on the recurring side, not the purchase side. These land every month whether you served 40 covers or 400.
- /Commissary kitchen: 400 to 1,200 per month
- /Insurance: 200 to 600 per month
- /Fuel and propane: 400 to 1,500 per month depending on service volume
- /Permits and event or lot fees: 200 to 2,000 per month in busy markets
- /Maintenance reserve on the truck: budget 3 to 5 percent of the unit value per year
Why the reserve is the line that decides survival
A truck with a down generator earns nothing while it sits, and the payment is still due. Weather, a broken compressor, and a permit renewal that stalls all produce the same outcome: revenue stops, fixed costs do not.
Three months of fixed costs is the practical floor. A line of credit at month 12 replaces that reserve with something cheaper to hold, because you pay only on what you draw.
How this gets financed in practice
Split the request. Equipment financing covers the unit on the longest term available so the payment matches the useful life. Working capital or a line of credit covers stock and the reserve.
Financing the reserve on the same short term instrument as the truck is the most common structural mistake, because it forces a high payment during the exact months revenue is least predictable.
Calculator
Buildout budget and capital needed
Most buildout budgets miss by ignoring what accrues while nothing is being built. This splits the project cost across the standard allocation, then adds contingency, rent during construction, and opening capital to get the number you actually have to fund.
Second generation space runs lower. A bare shell runs far higher once infrastructure is installed.
Training payroll, opening inventory, deposits, and the first slow weeks.
Where the project cost lands
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We email you a copy of these figures. They are estimates for planning, not an offer, a quote, or a preapproval of any kind.
The arithmetic
Project cost = square feet x cost per square foot. Contingency = project cost x contingency percent. Rent during construction = monthly rent x build months. Total capital needed = project cost + contingency + rent during construction + opening capital.
Sources
- 1Buildout allocation model: construction 45 percent, equipment 25, mechanical 12, FF&E 10, soft costs 8Foody Finance modeled assumption (modeled assumption, not a published figure). Our own allocation for a second generation restaurant project, published in the buildout cost guide. It is a planning assumption, not a published statistic, and every project moves the mix.
- 2Occupancy costs commonly run above 5 percent of salesNational Restaurant Association. Restaurant Operations Report, occupancy cost as a share of sales for full service operations.
- 3Average hourly earnings, food services and drinking places: $21.95U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Employment Statistics series CEU7072200003, all employees, average hourly earnings.
Estimates, not offers: Amounts, terms, and funding times are estimates based on programs commonly available in food service. Actual terms vary by program, lender underwriting, time in business, revenue, and credit profile. Nothing here is an offer of credit or a guarantee of approval.