If you are about to enter the food truck industry, first off, congrats! You are about to embark on the journey that is following your dreams, and you are also about to become a business owner. As a business owner, you need to make sure your food truck is ready for everything.
More likely than not, you already picked your location, you already discovered the nightmare that is permits and regulations, you already made your all-star menu that is going to lure in a ton of customers and your truck is 100 percent ready to go. You are set, right?
Believe it or not, there are some very important steps that you might be forgetting (or know nothing about). We understand, there are so many things you have to do as a business owner, which is why this industry is not for the faint of heart, or folks who aren’t extremely passionate about food and people. Not to mention, this might be your first rodeo, if you will.
In the spirit of that thinking, we have provided three things new food truck business owners can’t forget to incorporate into the mix. If you have forgotten about these things, then don’t panic — just get to work.
3 Things New Food Truck Business Owners Can’t Forget To Incorporate Into The Mix
- Social Media/Marketing
- A Plan For The Offseason
- Multiple Streams Of Income
Social Media/Marketing
You entered this industry to be a chef, not run social media pages. You entered this industry so you could please people with your amazing recipes, not be a marketing guru. Unfortunately, if you plan on running a successful food truck business, you have to learn the ins and outs of marketing and social media.
If you haven’t even set up a Facebook account for your business, don’t panic. There is plenty of information on the internet that can help you through this process. And remember, social media is a big part of digital marketing, so you will technically be taking down two birds with one stone.
Why do you need to incorporate social media and marketing, one might be wondering? Without these things, people will not know about your mobile kitchen. Word of mouth and things of that nature are still great ways to build brand awareness, but you can reach more people (and at a faster rate) if you have strong social media and marketing strategies. Not to mention, you can easily reach your target audience on networks like Facebook, and you can also show your followers pictures of your food and where you will be next.
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If you are running a mobile catering business, then you have to bring social media and digital marketing into the mix. Not only could it lead to an explosion of customers, but your competition is also on social media and implementing digital marketing strategies.
A Plan For The Offseason
More likely than not, your grand opening is going to take place in the spring or summer. If not, you should be asking yourself why. While it is great to ease into things, your sales will likely be way lower during the offseason than the busy season, which is during spring and summer, of course.
Unfortunately, once the temperatures start to drop, you are likely going to notice a decrease in sales, because not as many people are going to be venturing to your truck. This is why you have to have a plan for the offseason.
If it doesn’t make sense from a financial standpoint to keep your food truck business open during the colder months, then your plan is to simply shut down shop until spring comes rolling along again. If you plan on staying open during the nicer days of winter, then you also have to let your customers know that you will be open. Because if you don’t, then they might just assume you are closed since it is the winter.
Nonetheless, if you plan on growing and thriving in this industry, then you have to make your plan for 365 days, not just the days of spring and summer.
Multiple Streams Of Income
You might not target this concept until you really get the hang of this industry, but if you really want to hit the ground running and get your name out there right out of the gate, then consider starting up your catering side of the business sooner rather than later.
Another form of income in this industry can come from food truck events. Events are amazing for the simple fact that there are so many people at them. So not only can you make a lot of money at events as a result of so many people being at them, but you can also get your name out there in a hurry (more eyes will see your truck, and then the word will hopefully spread).
Of course, if you want to ease into this industry and just go from designated location to designated location, then that is completely fine. The choice is 100 percent up to you.
Here’s the deal, the more streams of income your business has, the more money you will likely make, especially if you start adding things like catering gigs on the side.
Nonetheless, new food truck owners can’t forget about social media/marketing, an offseason plan and having multiple sources of income.
If you are looking to break into this industry, make sure to request a custom quote!
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