STARTING OUT MOBILE

Maybe you make the world’s best pies, or you have always helped your friends and neighbours by mending their computers, or perhaps you have green fingers and your garden is the envy of the street. A lot of businesses are started by people who have hobbies or special talents and want to turn these interests into a business. But scaling up from a hobby to a real business, such as a bakery, restaurant or shop, requires business know-how and a substantial investment. Many people do not have enough of either of these, so they never take the first step.

An increasing number of aspiring business owners have found a way to take a first step that makes this transition from hobby to business more gradual, less expensive and less risky. They are taking their dreams and talents on the road - in vans and lorries, and even horse trailers. The first entrepreneurs to do this have been in the food business. In recent years a wave of street food vans has arrived on the scene, serving everything from gourmet cupcakes and burgers to Vietnamese street food. Street food vans have become a way for aspiring chefs to try out recipes and test the water before making a big investment in a traditional, brick-and-mortar business’

Beginning on a small scale has its advantages, the most important of which is the relatively modest size of start-up costs. These costs, which consist primarily of the vehicle and any required equipment, usually come to about £5,000-£10,000, a fraction of what it would cost to start a shop or restaurant. Similarly, overhead costs² are generally low. Mobile business owners must pay for fuel, of course, but other utility payments are modest. With such tightly controlled costs, mobile businesses often break even in a year or two; in contrast, success comes to brick- and-mortar businesses much more slowly, and they often fail within the first two years. In short, mobile businesses are relatively low-risk propositions.

The mobile food vendor trend in the US and Europe has spread to other parts of the globe. Today, you can get waffles and pancakes from a lorry in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and tacos from an old school bus in Dubai. The success of these street food vans has inspired other entrepreneurs to consider starting out on wheels. Rich Harper once ran a chain of gyms, but his real interest was boxing. In 2005, he bought an old lorry, equipped it with some gym equipment andtook to the streets - all for a total start-up cost of just under £5,000. His business quickly made a profit and is still going strong, as he brings the boxing ring to customers all over his state.

UK entrepreneurs could take inspiration from the US where, today, there are vehicles that sell flowers, shoes, clothes and all kinds of specialty food items. There are also mobile businesses that provide services, such as hair styling, pet grooming and repair of high-tech devices. Mobile retail has grown steadily, declaring a 12% increase between 2009 and 2014. Mobile retail is not without problems, however. Weather, the fluctuating price of fuel, and just finding a place to set up are all challenges that mobile entrepreneurs have to deal with. These business owners, however, feel the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. In the US, the mobile food business alone the largest in the mobile retail sector - generates an average annual revenue of $857 million.

Once convinced that their business has achieved sufficient success, some successful mobile entrepreneurs move on to a brick-and-mortar business. Others, like Rich Harper and his boxing gym, are satisfied to stay mobile. In an interesting twist, some brick-and-mortar business owners, observing the success of mobile retailers, have added a mobile component to their business. The vehicle acts as a marketing tool to bring business into the shop. As stand-alone businesses or as extensions of shops, mobile retail has huge future potential in these economic times. 이 문장을 한국어로 자연스럽게 번역해줘