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In today's economy, more than ever, people are looking for alternative sources of employment for themselves. Throw a dash of American entrepreneurship into the mix, and you will find that one of the largest growing search areas on Internet sites such as Google, Yahoo Search, and Bing! is the Mobile Food Industry. Mobile Cuisine Magazine would like to help these potential vendors and the food truck industry by providing a series of articles that will help each individual in deciding if being a mobile food vendor is the right career shift for them.
In the first of our series, we will discuss the very basics and initial thoughts you should be putting time into to assist you in getting a mobile food business started.
Setting up your Menu
Number one, what in the world are you going to sell? There are a huge number of factors you need to look at before you make your decision. Where are you located? What can you cook? What do the people in your area think is worth spending their hard earned money on to feed themselves? Just as any restaurant owner must decide, you must find out what suites you and your customers. Do you have a gourmet or professional culinary background? Maybe taking a simple idea like barbeque, or tacos, and giving them a new twist on old recipes will thrill the crowd.
Once you have determined what you will be selling, you must take the time to perfect your recipes and technique. Have friends and family help you conduct taste tests. If you have enough early investment capital, find a marketing firm to run the tests for you. Find out what people like, and don't like, and tailor your menu to the results you receive. One of the worst things a vendor can do, is start prematurely, and sells its customers bad food. Word of mouth as advertising works both ways. Sure it can be a positive, but if you are serving poor tasting food, it can be almost impossible to turn that perception around without having to rebrand your entire enterprise.
Location, Location, Location
Alright, you've got it, you know what you can and will be able to sell from your truck. Now what? Well, you have a product in mind, but whom and where will you sell it? Take look at what type of demographic will be interested in your food. Are you selling something that the late night bar hopper will be interested in, or will you need to find locations where the customers will have more interest in a gourmet food item, than fries and a hot dog? Travel around your area. Find the local hangouts; find where the majority of the cities foot traffic takes place. If your competitors are going to be brick and mortar restaurants, where are they located?
Now that you have gathered this information, you will need to find out where you will park your rig. Many municipalities across the country have strict guidelines on where mobile food vendors can park. Take the time to speak with the zoning and parking officials in the areas you wish to sell. Find out how long you can stay in one spot, find out the hours you can park with or without feeding a meter. Another avenue food trucks are using, is parking in open lots. Contact the owners of the lots, and get their permission to park there, and be sure the permission is in writing. You may need to supply them with times and days of the week you plan to use their lot. Rather than denying their request and risk the lost opportunity to partner on their site, write up a proposal with the required information which both parties can agree to. In most cases a flat fee or a percentage of your sales may be a prerequisite to making an agreement; however, having a regular site for sales can be a great start to getting your business noticed.
Using your Competition
In most high traffic food truck communities it will be very difficult to start up a business that will be unique. Once you have determined what type of fare you will be serving to your customers, you must find out who your direct completion will be. Search the streets, the internet and more importantly, use twitter to track them down. Find out when they operate and what their menu consists of. Be sure to find them and visit their sites. Besides trying to find out what their customers are buying, the more important aspect of your clandestine efforts should be to taste their product. If it's possible, come back on multiple occasions, this approach will give you a better understanding of how they operate and how you can manipulate your menu, your prices and your locations.
If this article was helpful, let us know. The next in our series will be published soon, so keep coming back to check.
Richard Myrick is the Editor-in-Chief of Mobile Cuisine Magazine
In Southern California, old-fashioned trucks sandwich be updated mobile restaurants with various menus, such as culture. In the face of chain restaurants and high operating costs, many food locally owned small businesses are missing and the catering industry truck is stepping into the slot.
The speed of growth of this new development in the catering sector has sometimes created conflicts within some communities. Southern California Mobile food vendors Association was formed to attempt to create a series of "best practices" to operate within the industry changes. While you are still developing the rules, the movement's popularity with the public is indisputable.
One of the many ways that is changing the industry is the use of websites and Twitter to help customers know the schedules and locations of their favorite trip restaurant. The various truck owners post schedules and menu so their "followers" can easily make plans to meet for their favorite meal. The possibilities are seemingly endless. From a simple grilled cheese for Japanese noodles, there's something for almost everyone.
The grilled cheese truck -if you're looking for that simple grilled cheese or something more exotic, this menu has a search response. Cheese offers starting with American routine and extend a creamy Brie (Cranberry Walnut bread) or Gruyere with lots of added salt and interesting sides.
Barbie Q -if your preference is St. Louis style ribs or pulled pork sandwiches, Barbie can provide along with traditional sides. They also have a veggie burger for those who love the BBQ, but I don't eat meat. Like many other gourmet food trucks cater too.
Skewers on wheels -a non-traditional meal choice for many Americans, food on skewers lends itself to a wide variety of flavors and textures. From Shiitake Mushrooms or Hawaiian pineapple tofu kebabs spam can be coupled with a salad and create a full meal for any taste preference.
TastyMeat -lovers can choose from beef, lamb or chicken in savory sauce; Add lettuce, tomatoes and onions, then wrap it in a fresh focaccia for a delicious meal fast.
Kogi -Combine Korean barbecue with Mexican style and you get spicy Tacos or Short Rib pork Burritos and they have not forgotten even vegetarians, Tofu comes in a taco or burrito.
Asian Soul Kitchen -for a more traditional Asian meal, try Japanese food of the soul. Sample, a combination of Yakisoba noodles, vegetables and a flavourful sauce or a filling meal order more Nijukaga a hearty beef stew, potatoes and noodles in a broth of Bonita.
Also trucks of old-fashioned ice cream are leaping on gourmet, Twitter bandwagon.
Coolhaus -make an ice cream sandwich to order with your favorite cookies and ice cream. Choose between six flavors of cookie and fill them with your choice of more than twenty ice cream. From the traditional vanilla macadamia white chocolate, they make a new ice cream sandwich.
Get shaved -Shaved ice may seem like another version of a "snow cone", but the similarity ends with the base ingredient. These low-calorie (60-70 calories per serving 8 ounces) come in a myriad of flavors from Watermelon Banana.
There are trucks serving at most any time of day, from breakfast to dinner time. If you are looking for a Southwest omelet or a slice of Pizza, there's a truck out there looking for your business. Twitter is the easiest way to keep track, but many are also on Facebook or have their websites.
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