We all need tips from time to time. If you are a first-time entrepreneur, business owner or, in this case, new to the food truck industry, then let these startup tips be your guide.
The problem with new food truck owners: They aren’t prepared. They aren’t business savvy, they don’t know enough about marketing and they don’t know enough about the industry, making failure a real possibility — well, if you don’t plan ahead and learn all of the facts first, that is.
If you are new to the startup game, make sure you take these tips to heart, food truck owners.
You are a startup, so act like one. You might think you have “made it” because your food truck is in business, but you also have to keep the right mindset. Just because you see money flowing in, it does not mean you should start living a luxurious life — well, at least not yet.
Stick to your current business plan, and make a five-year business plan while you are at it. Stretch your money, come up with new streams of income and, most importantly, be frugal.
In other words, find your niche (what you are good at) and run with it. If you entered this industry because you are an expert at the Hawaiian food concept, then stick to Hawaiian food.
While our goals and dreams tend to change, especially after seeing more and more success, it is important to always be you.
If you make the best pasta in the world, and you entered the industry because you wanted to open up an Italian food truck, then stick with that niche.
Don’t follow everything your competitors do. However, if your competitor is doing something that is working very, very well, then do what your competitor is doing. The key? Do it better than them. Make their ideas better, stronger. Put your own spin on them.
It is so important to listen to your customers, especially when you first become a food truck owner. If your mobile kitchen is doing something wrong, and your customers point that out, then change whatever needs to be fixed.
After all, it is the customers you are trying to please, so please them. It is okay to make adjustments at the beginning, and it is crucial that you adapt.
Just remember this: Good customer service does not go unnoticed.
Do you think entrepreneurs and business owners are afraid to fail? They welcome failure, but they also learn from it. Here’s the truth: If you are a startup, which you literally are if you are just breaking into the food truck industry, you are going to fail.
That does not mean you are going to go bankrupt. That just means you are going to see a ton of failure along this journey. However, the motivated and business savvy person will accept that failure, learn from it, grow from it and then do a better job the next time through.
This is a tough industry to crack. 9-to-5 is not in the vocabulary of the food truck industry owner. Therefore, you need to focus, take a look at the bigger picture and try to enjoy yourself, because a food truck business is literally going to be your life. Bring on the 14-hour days, and have fun with it. Also, make people happy by cooking up the recipes you were meant to cook.
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This post was last modified on July 14, 2016
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Great Article! i'm interested in seeing what a coffee truck would take to put together!
Thats my specialty!