Welcome to Our Street Food Business Journey: Here’s What We’re Starting and Why

Starting a Business Together: Our Journey of Love, Freedom and Cheese

Ever dreamed of starting a food business with your partner, but unsure where to begin? Us too. Here’s how we turned our love for cheese toasties into a business!

Hey there, and welcome to the start of something exciting! We're Penny and Yash, a newly married couple with a big dream. After a year-long adventure around the world, we realized our passion for food was something we wanted to share with others. And as much as we enjoyed exploring new food, nothing compared to the comfort of a cheese toasty. It's always been our go-to comfort food—a warm, melty, and satisfying bite that makes everything feel right again. That's when it clicked: what better way to share our love for food than through the cheesy goodness of a perfect toasty? This blog is our way of bringing you along on the ride as we launch The Cheesy Toastie Company, our mobile catering business. We’re not just about cheese; we're about creating locally-sourced, quality damn-good food!

The Corporate Grind & Breaking Free

When we first met, we had a shared dream: to live an alternative lifestyle, prioritizing our happiness and our love for travel. We wanted to explore the world together, experiencing new cultures, meeting new people, and savoring great food.

But before we knew it, we were living in London and caught up in the corporate grind. We were both working long hours with very little time to see each other. I (Penny) was an Operational Manager at a hospital, while Yash managed several restaurants in London. Although we were gaining invaluable experience, something was missing. We had fallen into a routine that left us feeling stuck—dreaming of something more meaningful and exciting. We decided it was time to break free from the corporate world and pursue something creative—something that would allow us to work together and be our own bosses.

Our Dream to Live Creatively

We made the bold decision to leave our jobs, get married and travel the world on an extended honeymoon. It was a leap of faith, but it felt right. Travelling through countries like Thailand, India and Vietnam, we discovered a love for fresh, flavourful food made with love. We were inspired by the amazing food we’d tried and the experience of sharing meals with people across different cultures. That sparked the idea to create something we loved: a business serving gourmet cheese toasties, made with the best local ingredients we could find. It sounds simple, but it’s all about the quality. Trust us when we say, cheese toasties are no longer just a snack—they’re a gourmet experience!

From Dream to Reality: Starting Our Food Business

When we returned to the UK, we were determined to make our idea a reality. We threw ourselves into research and planning. We spent months experimenting with flavour combinations, attending local festivals to see how other food vendors operated, and researching everything from equipment to suppliers. Along the way, we learned there wasn’t much information available on starting a mobile food business (like the best equipment, gas vs. electric, and start up cost breakdowns). So, we decided to start this blog to share our journey with others and help aspiring food entrepreneurs avoid the same pitfalls - lucky you!

Use a Business Plan to Get Started

While there’s not a huge amount of information on food trucks specifically, there are so many resources out there to help startups in general. One of the most important steps when starting a business is creating a solid plan. Making a business plan helped us avoid the overwhelming question of ‘where to begin’ and gave us a clear roadmap for getting started. Whether you’re applying for funding, bringing on business partners, or just setting clear goals, having a structured plan helps you stay focused and organised.

A well-prepared business plan covers everything from cash flow projections to marketing strategies, helping you anticipate challenges and make informed decisions. It also serves as a professional document to present to investors, banks, or event organizers if required. While food trucks and mobile catering businesses have their unique challenges, the core principles of business planning remain the same—understanding your costs, pricing, target audience, and growth potential.

If you're looking for funding support in the UK, check out these resources:

• The King’s Trust (formerly The Prince’s Trust) Enterprise Programme – Support and funding for young entrepreneurs 18-30 years old.

• UK Government - Information, grants and low-interest loans for startups.

Taking the time to plan properly can make all the difference in running a successful and sustainable food business.

Our Unique Offering: Gourmet Cheese Toasties & Loaded Fries

Our food business centers around two things: gourmet cheese toasties and loaded fries. Let’s face it—who doesn’t love a hot, melted cheese toastie? But we wanted to take it to the next level with unique, exciting flavor combinations like truffle-infused cheese and caramelized onions, alongside a variety of locally sourced toppings for our loaded fries. By starting with a food stall, we could test our idea on a small scale while keeping our costs low. The goal? To create a unique food experience that brings people comfort, warmth, and joy—one delicious bite at a time.

Embracing the Struggles

Starting our food business wasn’t all sunshine and cheese though. Along the way, we had some real doubts. There was one point when we felt overwhelmed with the mountain of regulations we needed to navigate, from food hygiene certifications to understanding health and safety requirements for mobile businesses. We had to educate ourselves quickly and make sure we did everything by the book, but there were moments when we questioned if we were cut out for this. If you’re starting your own food business, we highly recommend researching your local regulations early on so there are no surprises down the line. And if it’s confusing at any point, don’t hesitate to reach out to your local council—they’re there to help guide you through the process.

But it wasn’t just the paperwork—it was the negativity we encountered from online commenters who told us the food business was too saturated and we would never succeed. Honestly, there were days when those comments got under our skin. We were so passionate about the idea, but the voices of doubt made us second-guess ourselves.

But then, we remembered why we started in the first place: our love for food and the desire to share something we were proud of. We pushed through the negative noise by focusing on the positive feedback from those who believed in us and the small wins we were having. We also realized that starting small gave us the chance to learn and adapt. Looking at other UK food start-ups doing well and carving their niche made us feel inspired, not discouraged. We started to see that the food industry was changing, and local, quality ingredients were becoming more appreciated by customers. It reaffirmed that we were on the right path. It wasn't easy, but pushing past those doubts was part of the journey—and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Why a Mobile Food Stall?

Speaking of which, you might be wondering why we decided on a mobile food stall instead of something like a pop-up café or a food truck. Well, for us, a food gazebo was the perfect choice. It’s low-cost, gives us the flexibility to test our idea in different locations, and allows us to work around our schedule. The mobile catering industry is growing fast in the UK, and the barriers to entry are relatively low. Plus, the freedom to bring our food to different communities felt right for our initial phase.

And while we're starting small, we know there’s room to grow. We love that we get to share food that we’d love to eat ourselves—cheese toasties made with quality ingredients, real local food, and not the typical boring options you might find at your average burger truck. This is about creating something special and authentic.

Our Advice: Start with Passion

Our biggest piece of advice for anyone thinking of starting their own business is this: start with passion. Do something that excites you, something that makes your heart sing. For us, that was melted cheesy goodness. Passion will keep you going when the going gets tough. There were definitely moments when we wondered if we were crazy to step away from stable jobs and dive into the unknown. Doubts crept in, but we knew that for every challenge, there was a solution—and we leaned on each other during those tough times to push through.

And don’t get caught up in the fear of doing it perfectly—just start! Use your business plan as a roadmap and let it guide you through the process of planning. Take it step by step and allow yourself to grow and adjust as you go. Don’t overthink it—getting started is half the battle!

Join Us on Our Journey!

We’re so excited to share this adventure with you. Follow along as we navigate the highs, lows, and everything in between of starting a food business. You can expect future blog posts about the hurdles we face, tips for those considering taking the plunge, and the behind-the-scenes moments that make this journey so rewarding.

We want to help aspiring food entrepreneurs avoid some of the mistakes we made along the way, and we hope to share a little inspiration for those who might be questioning whether they’re ready to take the leap. If we can do it, so can you!

Have you ever thought about starting a food business? (or even just love cheese toasties as much as we do!) - we’d love to hear from you. Drop a comment below and share your thoughts. Let’s chat and inspire each other!

Thank you for joining us on this ride!

Penny and Yash x