Pamela, I would start with your local municipality first (village, city or township ...then, the county, if applicable). If your 'great location' is not zoned correctly, nothing else matters. If it is...you're off to a good start. While you're at the town offices, find out about the steps necessary for obtaining all of the permits & licenses necessary to build and operate a food service facility and the exact process & timeline for obtaining those permits. Realize that you'll need approvals from the health department, the building department, county clerk, etc and that it can be a pretty involved process (even for a small taco stand). Getting all of this information upfront will not only help you make sense of it all, but will be valuable to you while you write your business plan (Which is THE most important steps that you'll need to take when starting the business). While doing your due diligence, don't forget to reach out to your local, county & state economic development departments for any potential help that they can give you. There are some great programs available to the independent businessperson all across the country and it would be a shame not to take advantage of them. Finally...write a solid business plan, find a good mentor and stay passionate about what you do. Oh yeah...and never fall in love with a location! LOL Best of luck, Tony O

For the marketing aspect of your new business, it's important to utilize local search. Make sure your business is added to the busincess center for Google, Yahoo, Bing and other yellow pages. This way, you'll show up when someone searches for tacos in your area. Yelp and Chowhound are also great resources. Good luck, Pamela!

It would probably be a good idea to read up on some of the food industry laws in your state. Although for a smaller food service it would probably be very simple, but usually you have to be registered and inspected by the state for health requlations. The particular state I live in they generally do this 2x per year, and here there is actually a fee for them to come and inspect. But like I mentioned for a smaller service, and depending on where you live if might be cheap and not much to it. Good Luck!

Good to know you are interested in getting into the food business. I have some questions. Do you have previous experience in running that kind of business? Do you have skilled staff? Have you done market research? Who are your competitors and what do they offer to their customers i.e. price quality, environment etc? For further information and a brief checkout community the restaurants and food service businesses section provides information on wages, taxes, food safety etc. For start up and business plans, check steps to starting a business, which gives information on how to get licenses, tax numbers, business planning etc. Hope this helps you.

Hi pgoddard, Which state are you starting your business in? You can check out our state guide for step-by-step help. Is this a restaurant or a food concession stand? If it's a restaurant, you can learn more about operating a restuarant in our blog. Since you are starting a food service, I suggest you check out our Food Service Business Guide for more information on employment and labor laws, taxes, and food safety.

One of the first things you should look into is the laws of your state - most states have laws or requirements when it comes to food service businesses - check out your Secretary of State's office or: Find a SCORE or SBDC office in your area. Not only can they help you with the requirements of your state but they can also help you research and develop a business plan - a plan that will help you start, run and grow your business instead of trying to do it blindly.