Food trucks have become the latest craze for new entrepreneurs. Everyone has eaten one and almost everyone thinks they do at least as much as those they patronize. Before you jump into the fray, keep these tips in mind for new food truck owners. These are the five most common mistakes new food truck owners make.
1. Time Commitment. I just like to cook fun food and then sell it for cold hard cash. It is a huge commitment of time that is taken in the way that the first window is opened. The food chain runs faster than a brick-and-mortar restaurant. You must locate goods or events, then re-locate or find new events. Don’t forget to consider time travelers in your schedule. Your kitchen is mobile, so each stop or event requires the re-positioning of key components of your kitchen. You can’t fly down the road with containers, paper products or food items flying all over your back. at the same time he raised When the service time is over, you get to sit and clean up. Then it all starts over. These are just a few of the hours to your day add hours to your day .
2. License Requirements. Many otherwise intelligent people seem to think that you can buy food and then only sell culinary delights on their way. Although they vary from state to state, licenses are required for food trucks. Failure to follow them could mean a truck full of food and you can’t sell it. Just because you’re licensed in one area, state or county, you’re not ready to roll over and cook. You will continue to follow the rules for each province. Refer to item #1 above and add this to your time commitment.
3. Lack of Experience. Why would someone buy a pizza that is never cooked unless they buy a pizza>? It is done. Terribly indeed, but it happened. Many owners are innovating salty food owners do not have the experience of cooking for the masses; some have no cooking experience at all. That doesn’t mean you can’t operate a food truck, it just means you need to either learn the skills or provide the product you’re going to sell or hire someone who does. It is also important to remember that cooking in public is not the same as cooking for your family. Your family will politely eat what you put in front of them or toss it around the plate until the dogs can reasonably feed it. The public is not quite forgiving. While others will politely return their money, others will simply advise that “that” cart cannot be purchased. Or it will break your business very quickly.
4. Development menu. Not everyone can sell hot dogs and hamburgers. Don’t think yours is better or different. They are not. Developing a menu that is suitable for mobile production is a challenge. The food is unique enough to be noticed, but not so unique that it tries to turn people away from it. Having too large or too narrow a selection of food means you can’t be on the street or street corner. Menu development should be one of the first things you think about, even before you decide on the food you’re going to buy. You don’t want the physical space because you don’t want to accommodate the demands of food. Also, if you don’t have the intellectual or physical ability to produce (see lack of experience above), then you need to develop a plan.
5. Overbooking and Under-booking. Running a food business requires a careful balance between not working enough and working yourself to death. Both are easy to do. The most common mistake is to overbook; scheduling so many events or days on the street. This happens because time is required to run and recover from each previous event or day you missed. Newbies are most apt to overbook due to lack of experience. Continuous overbooking results in rapid burnout, remorse that you will also find in this business. Interestingly, under-booking can result in the same penalty. If you haven’t considered the necessary time and spent it to find new places or events to work on, you’ll spend more time looking at expensive food sitting in your driveway for not earning money. That is an inexorable feeling. Finding events or venues is a full-time occupation in itself, adding to that time commitment in item #1.
6. Undercapitalized. In this business it really takes money to make money. You may have enough money to buy groceries and supplies, but there are other expenses involved that you may not be aware of. Licensing, food safety certification, insurance fees, inspections, signage, and travel expenses are just a few. You’d be surprised at the number of small things you need to buy to prepare and serve food. While readily available in your home kitchen, your food can be a real challenge when you’re on the road. Profits are smaller than you thought; the weather will spoil the day or the whole thing. Not having enough money to keep the business running is devastating after you’ve spent all your money to get it started. When you’re planning your food truck market, you’re also thinking about cash resources to cover the day-to-day expenses of running the business. You can’t depend on daily sales that may or may not happen.
The best way to avoid these five common mistakes of new grocery store owners is to learn more about the business before you jump in with both feet — and all of your savings. Read Books and articles about business. Talk to other food truck owners about their experiences. Meet with event organizers to learn how they work. Be sure to try the caveats first. Your food truck business will be better.
Rosie Lee is the author of Grant Connections, a start-up guide for food trucks. She also owned and operated a trucking business. She always provides consultation to new and potential food truck owners.
