You conquered your business plan, you have come up with amazing strategies for your business, you have picked your location, purchased your truck — now what?
Well, assuming you have already taken care of your permits and insurance (among other things), the real fun is about to begin. After all, you are about to become a food truck owner, which means you are about to serve up amazing food to happy customers. That’s the dream, right?
We will leave you with this question once more: You purchased your food truck — now what? Well, here’s the thing, not every food truck owner’s path is going to be the same. However, we have provided four steps that you can’t forget, and these steps typically come after you have finally purchased your truck.
You Purchased A Food Truck — Now What?
- Time To Get Mentally Prepared
- Set Up Your Social Media Pages And Website
- Hire An Employee Or Two (If It’s In Your Budget)
- Tell Everyone You Know
Time To Get Mentally Prepared
First things first, it’s time to get mentally prepared. You are about to enter an industry that has hard work and determination written all over it. What do we mean by that? Well, if you aren’t determined and if you don’t work hard, then you are not going to make it.
This industry, at least when you are first getting started, calls for 10-plus hour days basically every day of the week (yes, including the weekends). Things like vacation and free time are going to become scarce. With that said, if you have an amazing schedule/plan in place, then you are going to make it, and you are also going to love what you do, which is cooking food.
You are about to come face-to-face with your dream, and you have to get mentally prepared for the challenge.
Set Up Your Social Media Pages And Website
If you haven’t set up your social media pages and website yet, then you need to get on that immediately. If not, how else are people going to reach you? How will they know where your truck is going to be next?
You have likely thought about making a website, but what are your thoughts on social media? Believe it or not, social media isn’t only for young people. It is an invaluable business tool, if you will. In a nutshell, social media allows you to engage with your food truck customers, and it allows said customers to reach out to you. Social media (and a website) is a great way to build brand awareness, and that is crucial if you want people to know about your food truck business.
When you first become a food truck owner, you are going to find out in a hurry that there is a ton on your plate. Not only will you have to work at your truck every day, but you are going to have to do things outside of that setting as well, and social media is one of those things.
Moral of the story, start building your following on social media now.
If you are trying to break into the food truck industry, make sure to check out these food trucks for sale!
Hire An Employee Or Two (If It’s In Your Budget)
If it’s in the budget — and it’s okay if it’s not — then now is the time to hire an employee or two. Perhaps it will just be a family member working with you, which seems to be the case for many kitchen trucks.
If it is just you and your food truck, then you could get burned out in no time.
Of course, this employee needs to be someone who you can count on. Ideally, this employee will have the same goals as you. If your employee is driven, hungry, passionate about this industry and is a dream chaser (you know, qualities you have as well), then you are going to be in a great position to succeed.
One of the keys in life is surrounding yourself with positive and successful people. If you find an employee who possesses these traits, you will be in great shape, and your chances of succeeding in this industry will increase.
Tell Everyone You Know
You are about to enter the food truck industry, so tell everyone you know. Not only will this be an opportunity to tell people you are in the process of chasing your dreams, but it is also an opportunity to make your grand opening a huge success. After all, if more people know about your food truck, more people are going to make it to your grand opening.
Word of mouth is still a very powerful tool, so tell your friends, family, followers on social media, etc. This is a big deal, and it should be treated as such.
These are just four things to think about once you have finally purchased your food truck. Of course, not everyone goes through the steps in the same order. Therefore, you might have started up your social media accounts before you even purchased a truck. You still might have to look for a location for your mobile kitchen. It really just depends on the person and the situation.
Nonetheless, you finally purchased your food truck, which means you are about to own and operate your own business. Now, the real work is about to begin.
If you are looking to break into this industry, make sure to request a custom quote!
To stay up to date on everything Custom Concessions has to offer, make sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. You can also find more food truck blogs here.