Permits for an ice cream truck?

Question

i was wondering what permits or licenses i would need to start operating/running an ice cream truck in California. what would i need to do to get started and all that? would i need a place to store the ice cream or can i just keep it in a freezer in the truck or at home? plus would i have to get special permits to sell ice cream by the scoop and not just the packaged kind? oh and if you know, the general start up money i would need to do this. thanks for any and all info in advance

Answer 1

You realize that ice cream trucks are not a high profit business?  You're going to need a health department permit for the truck and for wherever you store the ice cream, and chances are the health department will not let you store it in your garage, so you'll need a storefront of some sort for that.  You'll need a business license for every city you operate the truck in, and a resale permit from the Board of Equalization in Sacramento.  

Before you go any further, I STRONGLY recommend you contact the Small Business Development Center (at your local community college) and talk to them; the counseling is free.  

Then sign up for the NxLevel Entrepreneurial program...  it's a 12 session course that walks you through the ins and outs of starting or growing your business, and as part of that you will write a business plan.  At the end of the class your plan will be reviewed by a lending professional, and will be critiqued, telling you the strong points of your plan AND the weak points.  

Then you can work on the weak points and hopefully get it into shape to actually present to a lender and get the loan you need.  There is a cost for the NxLevel program but it’s a lot cheaper than losing your investment.

Even if you hire a professional to write your plan, you should still take the NxLevel course.  It saved me from going into a business that would have failed within a year or so, taking my investment with it.  I realized by the third week of the class that I could not afford the business I was looking at and changed directions in the middle of the class.

Business plans may be a pain in the butt to prepare, but without one, your business is doomed to failure.  To start with, you won't know what your startup costs are going to be, what kind of income to expect, what your ongoing expenses are, who your competition is, and even whether or not you can make a profit.  Without a GOOD business plan, you will not be able to get a business loan to get your business off the ground.