Am I buying a used food truck or a food truck business?

A classified ad for a food truck can read the same whether the seller is offering a vehicle or a working business. The photo shows a truck. The text may say “turnkey” or “ready to operate.” Neither tells you what you will own the day after closing. Your first job is to find out which sale you are in, because everything that follows depends on it.

What a vehicle-only sale leaves out

A vehicle and its fitted equipment can change hands without anything that makes it a business. Ask whether the trading name, social accounts and website come with it. Ask about booked events, the commissary agreement, recipes and supplier terms. If the answer to each is no, you are paying for steel and appliances. That may be fine. It should be a choice.

Put the inclusions in writing

Verbal promises disappear quickly. Ask the seller for a written list of what is included, and have your lawyer work it into the agreement. The list should name the name, accounts, bookings, recipes and any contracts being assigned. Anything the seller says belongs to someone else, such as a leased appliance, should be identified now, with the lender or lessor consulted.

The checks and paperwork differ

A vehicle purchase leans on a mechanic’s inspection, ownership records and a search for debts registered against the vehicle. A business purchase adds financial statements, contracts, permits and staff. The paperwork follows: a bill of sale for a truck, a fuller purchase agreement for a business. This guide on buying a food truck covers the going-concern path.