When it comes to starting a food truck business, the early work is all about brainstorming your business concept. Researching local food trucks, figuring out your unique value, and talking to food truck manufacturers will provide a great foundation. But ultimately, you just have to follow your heart.
Explore the Local Food Truck Scene
Carrying out market research is an important step in creating your own food truck business. Explore popular food truck locations and watch customers’ reactions to different food trucks. Is one food truck more popular than the others? Why? Who are the customers? What is the customer experience at the ordering window? What do customers say about the wait, the trucks or the food?
Researching the street food scene in your city should give you lots of ideas. Is there a gap in the market for a certain type of food? Or certain customers? Or a certain location? Identifying these opportunities should help yo
Help Your Food Truck Business Stand Out
Do more than “make good food”. Instead carefully consider what will make you unique from food trucks and other competitors. Businesses seek to differentiate themselves from each other and create a unique value proposition for their customers.
A good value proposition will be tough for others to replicate. Common business differentiators include customer service, product features, quality, distribution, values, supply chain sourcing, customer status, brand alignment, technology, expertise, certifications and credentials. How do these differentiators translate to a food truck business?
Maybe you buy your blue corn masa from a secret, authentic source that real foodies will appreciate. Or allow repeat, corporate customers to order ahead and pay using their smart phone. Or create a family experience at your food truck with music, costumes, colorful food truck wrap, and kid friendly food. No matter what you choose, your food truck should focus on something that you do well and that’s difficult for others to copy.
Get Professional Advice from Food Truck Pros
Other Food Truck Owners
You’re competing with other food trucks, but you’ll also be part of the food truck community. People love to talk about themselves and the business they’ve built. Connect with other food truck owners at local commissaries, food truck associations, events, or online.
Food Truck Manufacturers
Professional food truck manufacturers can be a wealth of information. Reputable food truck builders will go above and beyond to not just sell you a food truck, but help you succeed.
For instance, Justin Campbell operated food trucks for years prior to starting Los Angeles food truck manufacturer Firefly. Today, Firefly provides free business consultation and a customized food truck design tailored to your needs. All Firefly custom builds are guaranteed to pass your local health department inspection so your food truck can serve legally. We offer in-house food truck wrap design and installation and custom food truck menu boards to reinforce your value proposition. And finally, all Firefly food trucks come with a 2-year warranty, training, and continuing support if you have questions.
Every new build comes with a Firefly Warranty
Your success is our success. We stand behind our work with an industry-leading, 2-year warranty on every new build so you can spend more time connecting with customers and less time in the shop.
Follow your Heart
Advice is valuable, but ultimately every budding food truck business owner just needs to follow their heart. While it helps to have a business plan, many food truck owners learn through experimentation. If you stick with it long enough, you will learn what customers want and can adapt your business to meet that demand.
Do you have a definite idea of the food that you want to cook, but don’t have a plan to set your self apart? Try focusing on quality. If you have your heart set on making a business out of your favorite food then you just need a knockout recipe that you can make consistently… And a food truck.
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Are you ready for your free consultation and food truck quote? To work with one of the best custom food truck manufacturers LA has to offer, contact Firefly today at (323) 524-0078.
