If you add up every single task, then there are probably 100 things food truck business owners should do every day — at least. However, let’s broaden the horizon a bit and not look at the obvious.
Yes, food truck owners should obviously cook food and serve customers every day. If they didn’t do that, then they would fail as a business — that is pretty basic. However, we are talking about things food truck owners should do to keep their sanity and to grow their businesses. Reminder: The food truck industry is not for the faint of heart. This industry requires almost all of your time. You know, if you plan on actually staying in business and making a profit.
Food truck owners should cook, serve, drive to their locations, hit up events, etc. We all know this. However, if mobile kitchen owners plan on taking their food truck games to the next level, then they should also be doing these five unique things as well. Every day, might we add.
5 Unique Things Food Truck Business Owners Should Do Every Day
- Make Something New, And Then Test It Out For Free
- Give Things Away On Social Media
- Wind Down In Some Fashion
- Network
- Monitor Your Numbers To See If You Are On Pace To Reach Your Goals
Make Something New, And Then Test It Out For Free
If you have ever been to the mall, then you have likely seen this a time or two. For example, Starbucks will hand out a new flavor they are trying to sell (in a small cup, of course) for free. Costco also does things of this nature.
Food truck owners should not only do this, but they should take it to the next level as well. Mobile kitchen owners should cook a new dish they would like to incorporate, hand it out for free in small portions and then see what the customers say. This feedback is very valuable because it is coming directly from your customers.
Not only will this help to attract more customers, because people are always interested in free food, but it will also be a great way to see how your new item fares. If people love your new dish, then you should probably add it to the menu. Remember, this doesn’t have to be a main course. This free item could be a drink, snack, dessert or whatever you would like.
Give Things Away On Social Media
Okay, so some people might be wondering how they are going to stay in business if they keep giving things away for free, and that is a good question. However, not every free item has to be free food for a year. You can simply give away a shirt with your logo on it, a free meal, a free dessert, a free drink, a two-for-one deal, etc.
Once again, people love free things, especially when it is food. Not only can you pick up engagement quite a bit on your Facebook account by incorporating giveaways, but this could — and should — lead to more customers coming to your food truck. After all, if you give away a free dessert, then the winner of that prize will have to come to your mobile kitchen to collect it, and they might also order a meal on top of that.
Wind Down In Some Fashion
Let’s get away from the giveaways for a minute. When thinking of strategies to make your food truck business better, taking a break likely doesn’t come to mind. However, it is near impossible to be on top of your game 24/7. Therefore, you have to find time to wind down. You have to find time to get away from work and do the things you love, or simply relax.
Winding down not only helps with keeping you sane, but this time away from work helps to refresh your mind. When you get back to work with a refreshed mind, you can really hit the ground running with a new surge of motivation.
Winding down doesn’t directly increase your sales, but it will help you when it comes to not feeling burned out.
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Network
You know what entrepreneurs and business owners do really well? They network. Networking can lead to future opportunities and business partners. The best part? You never know who you are going to meet.
There are simple ways to network while on the food truck job. For one, you can engage with your customers. Secondly, you can venture to fellow food truck owners nearby — because there are likely plenty of food truck owners nearby — and introduce yourself. While every industry is very competitive, kitchen truck owners seem to be a different breed. They actually want to help each other succeed.
So the next time your lines aren’t that busy, walk around and talk to fellow mobile catering owners, or spend more time talking to your customers. Once again, you never know who you are going to meet. For instance, one of your customers could be a billionaire who needs someone to cater a party that will feature other billionaires, and that is where your business could come into play. An opportunity like that could be a serious game-changer.
Monitor Your Numbers To See If You Are On Pace To Reach Your Goals
This is pretty basic, but it’s something that likely doesn’t get monitored enough.
Being a food truck owner takes up a large amount of time, but you should be monitoring your numbers quite often no matter what. No, this doesn’t simply mean counting up the money each and every night. This means counting each day’s numbers and then seeing if you are on track to meet your goals. If not, then you need to make some changes.
Most people’s problem — well, when it comes to meeting goals, that is — is the fact that they write down their goals and then never look at them again. They don’t monitor their goals, which means they don’t know how far away they are from reaching them.
If you monitor your numbers every day, then you will know if you are on pace to meet your goals — you guessed it — every single day.
Looking for financing to start or grow an existing food truck? JSL Financial has you covered.
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About the Author
Jeremy Adams is the President/CEO of Prestige Food Trucks, which is the world's leading custom food truck manufacturer. In his current role as President/CEO, Jeremy manages dozens of employees, interacts with clients, and maintains a healthy relationship with all of his business partners. Since Prestige, Jeremy has launched many other successful companies.
