Top 10 Food Trucks to Eat At in 2016
It may be the turn of the year but the season for food trucks is still a couple months away, unless of course one lives in Texas or LA. Already though many are slowly getting ready for this wonderful time of year, expectations running high to delve into their local line-ups on good-meals-on-wheels, whether they’re an experience street-eater or a newbie just discovering the wonders of this food source just recently. There are new vehicles we have to hit while we can, missed older businesses to finally try and pin down, and of course dear favorites to go back to [...]
Watch This: Food Truck Video For Kids
Here's a fun video we discovered for anyone with young kids. The food truck song performed in this YouTube video starts with children's voices saying "food truck!" loudly and with enthusiasm, a bass line gently thrumming to engage the listening viewer. A Queso Good food truck rolls out from a covered parking awning full of lots of food trucks, obviously heading out to the streets for a busy day vending and feeding the masses. It's a sunny day and the fun song gets you in the mood for the adventure of food trucks. Produced by Twentytrucks, copyright Hammershark Media LLC [...]
Food Truck Exterior Lighting Options and Examples
Keeping a light on in a food truck means more than just being able to see what you’re cutting, in fact it can majorly impact your business in both garnering profits and making sure they’re not lost. Inner illumination doesn’t really apply of course, it’s a given that one is going to have it and enough of it to do their jobs. What we’re talking about today is EXTERIOR illumination; the things that kick on at night because, let’s face it, as a food truck you’re going to be spending a lot of business hours when it’s dark out. Being [...]
The Importance of Connecting with Food Truck Super Fans
Food truck followers are more than customers: they make or break the success of your food truck business. The contemporary food truck follower is more than just a customer, he is super plugged-in to the local scene as well as individual trucks. Followers are very connected, using social media adeptly and frequently to keep track of food truck scenes in their 'hood. Smartphone in hand, super fans take photos of trucks, food, lines, cooks, friends, and share them for better or worse. The casual eater will happen upon a food truck and take a chance, not knowing much about the [...]
Making Accurate Income Projections for a Concession Businesses
How does one make income projections for a concession business? We recommend thinking about your food cost as a percent of the menu price. In your income projections, you can use this percentage to calculate your food cost for that month. Let’s say you are projecting to make $8,000 a month with a one item menu. You charge $8 for that menu item, and your food cost is 25% of the price: $8000 total sales for month * .25 = $2000 total food cost In an Income Projections template spreadsheet, there are a few fillable sections that allow you to account [...]
10 Best BBQ Business Names of 2019
Sometimes picking a name for your business is as simple as snapping your fingers. Others, it can be a brain-racking process which gnaws on your psyche for days on end. Even more difficult is this when there are hundreds, THOUSANDS of other people in the country going into the same kind of business as yourself, like BBQ. Which can suck, as the name is one of the few things one can TRULY control and call their own without having to worry about annoying factors like costs, budget, local laws, or anything else affecting it. It’s the pivotal display of who [...]
Food Truck Documentary: Food on Four Wheels Video Review
This upbeat, sincere documentary short explores food trucks in Durham, North Carolina from food truck customers' and owners' points of view for 12:57. Made by students at The School of Doc, a free summer filmmaking camp open to high school students in Durham. The film opens with a customer expressing happiness with the casualness of food trucks. "It's fun to try something new." "There's no commitment before choosing and ordering," as there is in a restaurant. Casual, familiar and conversational are characteristics repeated and emphasized in this entertaining little movie. Only Burgers' food truck owner expresses his reason for opening [...]
What Happens When Food Trucks, Cinema, & Music Collide
Food Trucks and other activities have gone hand in hand ever since the trend started up. Truly the mobile businesses excel within symbiotic relationships; whether it’s doing a rally at a brewery or offering easy edibles during a music festival, the combo of ‘food truck + other thing’ has always proven beneficial to both parties when done right. Of course this idea has been noticed rather easily, building to lasting relationships and even grander events put together. Nowhere is this more seen than LA’s own Street Food Cinema. After a couple years ‘experimenting’ the idea, event producers and vending companies [...]
Can You Franchise a Food Truck Business?
The quick answer is "yes!" The big questions are "should you?" and "do you want to?" Brand sustainability, time and capital investment to franchise your concept are big factors in making the decision. Is your food truck business successful and running like a well oiled machine? If you have success with regular vending locations, a solid event and catering history, expansion may be the next profitable step. Franchising may catch your attention as a way of increasing your income streams from one truck to two with less effort and expense. Franchising eliminates the day to day operational responsibilities of additional [...]
Bootstrapping Guide to a Weekend BBQ Business
Bootstrapping, the new business word of the year [well, last year, but still], and basically the one which applies to almost all new startup owners in the food industry. Especially those tied to BBQ. By now you’re probably already wondering what the heck I mean/am talking about. Well let’s start out, for those not yet aware, by explaining what bootstrapping is. Technically speaking, it’s “Financing your company’s startup [or continued existence] by using the input or support of others.” And yeah, I hate this definition; it’s extremely broad, and basically sounds like how ANY business is run. But what it [...]