New Food Vendor 30-Second Elevator Pitch Script
An elevator pitch is a brief statement that explains the service your business provides and creates a desire for others to want to learn more about your business. Many folks think a formal pitch is only needed if you are a salesman by trade, but this couldn't be further from the truth. If you own a food truck or catering business, you need to be able to communicate what your business does and is all about. In fact, your ability to communicate effectively could be the difference between thriving and just getting by in your business. This is really important [...]
Shaved Ice Truck: Full Business Plan Example
Writing a well-thought business plan is one of the most important actions you can take to set your mobile food business up for success. Best of all... It costs you absolutely nothing to complete and forces you to answer important questions about your future business. Big questions like: Where will I vend?, What will my expenses be? And who your competitors are? In today's post, we've provided a real-life example of a business plan for a shaved ice truck. Why? Because sometimes it's better to have an example of a business plan so that you can see how this concept [...]
How The Paleo Pit Stop Food Truck is Getting Started
Create a unique menu with a one-of-a-kind food offering: This is one of the timeless pieces of advice given to every restaurant owner that's just getting started. This advice is regularly passed on for a reason. By answering this question, you can articulate in under 15 seconds that special thing that makes your eatery different in addition to attracting the group of people that might be interested in dining at your truck. In today's Q/A interview, we spoke with future food truck owner Brian Fitzsimmons who has drawn inspiration for his food truck menu directly from his personal story and [...]
Ultimate List of Florida's Food Truck Festivals
If you live in Florida--like we do--you are fortunate to live on one of the states with the most food truck festivals in the country. Due to our (mostly) nice weather year round, we can attend outdoor events just about anytime we want. And Florida has some of the best festivals around. For example, did you know the world's largest food truck festival happens in The Sunshine State every year? Today, we will take you on a tour of some of the popular mobile food events happening across this great state on an annual basis. Whether your a foodie or [...]
Food Truck Festivals Across America List: 2016 Edition
Finding all the different food truck festivals that are popping up across the United States can be tough. More often than not these events are only promoted locally and can be hard to find online. But it doesn't need to be this way! As a result, we wanted to put together a resource that will help you find some of these mobile food festivals so you know where you can attend no matter where you live or travel in America. If you're a food truck owner looking for the next lucrative event coming to your area this can be an [...]
Should You Accept Cash Tips on Your Food Truck?
It can feel like just about anywhere you shop now-a-days, you find a tip jar. Historically, people would tip their server a customary 10% at a sit-down restaurant or for services like a ride in a taxi. Today, you'll find find the tip jar front and center ever where from coffee shop chains like Starbucks to Subway restaurants. Which leads us to the question... With the continued acceptance and expectation of a tip jar, why not accept tips on your food truck as well? According to TripAdvisor.com's Tipping Etiquette guide for the United States, a "good tip" should be 20% [...]
Fire Safety Licensing and Protection For Food Truck Owners
Fire Safety Licensing You will undoubtedly come across fire safety regulations. Unfortunately, food trucks can be perceived as mobile bombs, especially public perception. Assuming you have a food truck that's been built with the correct safeguards in place this is an exageration. But with that said, it is important to take safety seriously. This is your business and livelihood. There have also been some recent examples like this news report of a food truck exploding that highlights the responsibility food truck owners and manufacturers share for public safety. There are a lot of potential fire safety issues on board a [...]
Health Inspections & Commissary Requirements for Food Trucks
Health Permits When I think of health inspections, I am reminded of an episode of the sitcom Friends. In this particular episode, Phoebe started dating a health inspector. The two would go on dates to restaurants and he would find health code violations and shut down those restaurants on the spot. Eventually, she became frustrated with his power, because he had closed all of her favorite restaurants. Needless to say it didn’t end well for those two. Hollywood is known to exaggerate the truth, and that is most certainly the case here. In actuality, your local health department is there [...]
How-to Determine Electrical Power Needs of a Food Truck
You will almost certainly need electrical energy for your truck, unless you plan on vending from a hot dog cart. Even then, if you want to do anything cool you’ll want to upgrade so you have power. How much power exactly will you need for your truck? That is tricky and depends entirely on the Wattage of your equipment. Let’s do a quick introduction to the physics of electricity so you understand the terminology. When we start the build process, we work with customers to determine how much power they'll need to operate they're specific type of business. Understanding Watts [...]
The Flying Pie Guy – New Jersey Handheld Meat Pie Truck Build-Out
This afternoon we bring to you one of our recently completed builds that's about to head north to New Jersey with the current owner. The main item being sold by the The Flying Pie Guy are handheld meat pies. Meat pies are not staple menu items in the United States, but are extremely popular in the United Kingdom and Australia. Meat pies are common lunch items in both countries. In fact, the owner of the vehicle, Mike Peacock, was born in Australia. The Flying Pie is bringing this overseas tradition all the way to New Jersey with their food truck concept. Your host with [...]