Where to Go from Here
If you want to know everything involved in owning and operating a food truck, start at the beginning of this book and read it straight through. However, if you’re looking for certain aspects of running a food truck, you can refer to the table of contents or the index to find the specific topic you want. Each chapter is meant to stand alone, and the information each chapter contains isn’t dependent on your reading previous chapters to understand it.
If you’re brand-new to the mobile food industry and aren’t sure where to start, Chapter 2 helps you understand the different types of vehicle platforms to choose from that best suit your concept. Interested in tips to create or improve your menu? Turn to Chapter 8. Want to find out how to attract more customers to your service window with the help of social media? Chapter 16 has your name all over it.
You can jump around, start wherever you want, and finish when you feel like it, so buckle in and hit the road.
Part 1
Rolling into the Food Truck Industry
IN THIS PART …
Getting to know the mobile food industry and determining whether you can cut the mustard
Planning out a specific road map for your food truck business, from concept to cuisine
Figuring out how to deliver your future culinary creations
Understanding your local market and determining who your customers will be
Chapter 1
Food on Wheels: The Lowdown on Food Trucks
IN THIS CHAPTER
Understanding a day in the life of a food truck owner
Deciding whether you have what it takes to run your own truck
Walking through the initial stages of starting your mobile food business
Getting ready to open your food truck
Making sure your truck runs smoothly
Drawing crowds to your truck (and getting them to come back)
So you’ve just finished watching the latest episode of Eat Street or The Great Food Truck Race and think that owning a food truck looks like fun. Or maybe you stumbled upon a food truck in your area, watched the busy lines, and noticed that the staff appeared to be having a great time. With these observations, it wouldn’t be a huge leap for you to think, “Hey, these trucks get huge crowds, and the employees seem to be happy, so maybe I should run my own.”
When on the outside looking in, you can easily miss all the hard work that’s involved in getting a food truck business started and ready to serve the community. As the owner, you have to manage every detail of the business, including hiring the staff, designing the menu, and even picking up trash left by your customers. A food truck can quickly become more work than fun if you aren’t aware of all you’ll be required to do.
This chapter serves as your starting point into the mobile food industry. I take you on a quick tour of a day in the life of a food truck owner and then give you a guide to help you look a little deeper at your motivations and expectations for entering the industry. I also walk you through the steps of starting and running your own truck, from deciding what kind to run to getting (and keeping) followers.
Checking Out a Typical Day in the Life of a Food Truck Owner
Running a food truck is no stroll in the park. In fact, operating a food truck can involve downright dirty, draining, and difficult work. When your employees drop the ball, it’s up to you to pick it up. When a tire goes flat, often you’ll be the one who has to repair it. You’ll work the most (and longest) hours. You’ll work every job in the business, from line cook to mechanic to accountant. To create a successful food truck business, you’ll need to develop a culture of hard work, with you being the one setting the example for your staff.
After weeks (or months) of refining your recipes and spending numerous hours on the phone, waiting in line, and filling out reams of paperwork, you’re finally ready Your truck has been outfitted with the perfect kitchen. The sign company has called to inform you that the graphics and menu board are complete. It’s time to fire up the grill and open for business. Now comes the easy part, right? Sure, it can be a 9-to-5 job, but not in the way you may expect. The following sections provide you with a look into a day in the life of a food truck owner. (Keep in mind that your schedule will look different if you opt for a different service time, such as breakfast or lunch.)
The alarm goes off, and you crawl out of bed; it’s 9 a.m. While the coffee brews, you boot up your computer so you can check any important emails, tweets, Facebook messages, and the like that may have come in overnight. From the time you wake up until approximately two hours later, you’re busy going over your calendar of events and planning for your day. After you complete your correspondence, you start planning for upcoming events. With 30 minutes to go before meeting with your team members, it’s time to get ready and drive to your meet-up location, the commercial kitchen.
You meet with your team to discuss your notes, daily specials, and suggestions from lessons learned the previous day. Your team shares with you what they’ve heard overnight from local news and from customers and competitors. Sharing this information keeps everyone in the loop, part of the team, and, in most cases, in high spirits.
During this time, the team goes to the market and bakery or to inventory the food shipments that have been delivered. After getting the food needed for the truck, everyone heads to the commercial kitchen to chop fruits and vegetables, blend the sauces, and grill the meat (if you serve it). Those team members not involved in the food prep will organize the truck to ready it for the work night, fire up their Twitter and Facebook accounts to notify followers of the truck’s location(s), and conduct another round of correspondence and phone calls.
Time to head to your “office”; you now take the truck from the commercial kitchen’s lot to your first stop.
It’s time! It’s time to open the doors, practice your trade, and make your mark on your community. When you reach your destination and a line of people are already at the curb, the sight is both invigorating and terrifying. It’s invigorating because you already have loyal followers who have found your location and are waiting to be served a meal from your heart. It’s terrifying because you need to park and start cooking quickly so you aren’t keeping your customers waiting too long.