Transcription
Are you thinking of starting a food truck business? If you are, you are in luck because in the next 20 minutes, I'm gonna be walking you through how do you start a food truck business step by step. So make sure you guys keep watching.
Hello friends, my name is Wilson, and I help new food entrepreneurs build a thriving small business and a profitable food business. All of this while doing something that you love and enjoy, and then at the same time, avoiding the costly amateur mistakes. And I do this through this free YouTube channel with videos like this to share with you. And at the same time, I also have a paid mentorship program with step-by-step, in-depth training and guidance and support specifically for you. So if you like videos like this, make sure you guys smash that like button. It shows YouTube and I that these are the type of videos that you enjoy, so I can make more of this for you.
If you're thinking of starting a food business, but you just don't know where to start, or you just want to jump in and take that leap of faith, but you don't have the experience in doing so, making some very costly mistakes that could rack up thousands of dollars in unnecessary expense. And at the same time, you could be focusing on the wrong things that would drain your time, resources, and money. And that's the reason why I created this free masterclass that walks you through the steps to leverage Instagram to start your food business. Whether it's an online bakery, whether it's a cloud kitchen, whether it's a food truck, these are the lessons, the mistakes, the everything, the know-how that I wish I had when I first began. So go ahead, go into the link below and sign up for the free masterclass right now.
Now, without further ado, let's dive straight in. The first step is to pick the right concepts. Pick the right concept that has demand. What does that mean? That means pick something that people are wanting. If you pick an item that is really good, but no one wants it in your specific area, you're going to be fighting an uphill battle because the time and effort and the money and the resources that you put in in building a concept and a business around this concept is the same as if you were to choose a concept that has high demand. So therefore, choose the right concept with the right demand.
Now, in order for you to find out whether your concept has high demand or not, you must find out who it is that is wanting these items. Know who your target market is. Knowing who your target market is allows you to create the marketing material, the pricing, the menu item, and even where to open up shop or where to market your items. If you do not know who you're targeting and marketing to, you're gonna end up writing stuff that talks to no one. You're gonna start to target other people. When you target to the masses, you're basically not talking to anyone at all. The trick here is to find out what the problem is with your audience. What problem are they facing? And position your food truck as the solution to that person's problem. For instance, if you talk to the people around an area that is a young office downtown environment, and you ask them, "Hey, you know what? What are some of the problems that you have?" They're going to tell you, "I'm craving for something that's healthy, something that's vegan, something that's quick, grab and go, because my lunch time is only 30, 40 minutes long." Then you can come up with a concept that solves that specific problem. For example, you could be serving vegan wraps, or vegan burgers, or vegan hot dogs. These are all concepts that are convenient, that is healthy and vegan, that serves this specific clientele's problem. Guys, you need to get this point down right from the get-go. Watch this again. And the reason why is because if you continue to build on this later on, you're going to realize something is wrong. Marketing is not working. You know what? Logistics not working. People are not buying. You're going to spend a lot of time and effort and money trying to figure out what the problem is. And this is precisely where it begins. Figure this out, and you're gonna save yourself a lot more time and money in the future.
After consulting with a lot of new food business owners, this is one of the core problems that they face because not a lot of people know how to do proper market research and be able to extract the information and build a business around that. And that's the reason why I created this free masterclass training that walks you through the step-by-step process and how you can start a food truck business in the next 30 to 60 days. That way, you're gonna have the confidence to go ahead and move forward with creating that food truck of your dreams. So go ahead and click in the link below to sign up for the free masterclass.
Second step is that you must choose your location wisely. You need to be very strategical on where and when you're going to park your food truck. You can't just park anywhere and expect it to work. And at the same time, you need to know when you need to be at the certain locations in order for you to be the most profitable. You're going to find out that some spots are better than others, while others are not going to be as ideal. And this all takes a lot of trial and error for you to figure that out and collect the data points. Let the data tell you what is a good spot and when it is a good spot. The most common places to park your food truck: well, financial districts, office buildings, parks, breweries, large events. And these are all places where you are going to be able to see an influx of people at a regular time. So some of the consideration is that, you know what, we need to figure out what does it cost to be at that location? Whether it requires a permit or a monthly cost. We also need to figure out whether there is enough foot traffic around that area. What are some of the other businesses that are around the area? Do the other businesses welcome you or not? The truth is, you might not be that popular around that area because you might be stealing all their business. And yes, we all like to think the best of others, but this is not always the case. And lastly, we must consider whether there are places for people to hang out and enjoy your food. Whether there are going to be any benches available or picnic tables.
Third step is to craft your menu. Now, a major point here, guys, that you must understand: you are not a restaurant, you are a food truck. You don't want people to wait 20 minutes just to get your food because everyone's gonna be standing around, people are gonna get pissed off. As a food truck, you want to be quick and convenient. You are serving fast food. This is a volume game that you want to be. And that's reason why you must limit the number of items on your menu. That means you must have no more than seven items on your menu. Four to seven is an ideal range. Not only does it help with your logistics, but with more dishes, that means higher cost, whether it comes to ingredient purchases and also spoilage. And on top of that, more dishes, more operational headache from preparation to storage to actually making the food item. All of this takes and requires a lot more space. So what do you do? You keep it lean and you only serve your customers what they want. Follow the 80/20 rule, the Pareto's law. What does that mean? That means you serve 20% of your items, and those 20% would account for 80% of your sales. So choose the 20% and now you're going to be golden. Another advantage of having a small menu: this allows you to refine your item over and over again, so you can perfect it. As you collect feedback, you refine your item and make it perfect. While you continue to do this, this allows you to be so well known with one or two items that you're gonna attract everyone in town just to drive over just for your food item.
The fourth point is to consider your startup cost. Now, typically speaking, starting a food truck requires much less than typical storefronts. This could range anywhere from $30,000 to $100,000. And the reason for this big gap is because expenses can really pile up very easily. Now, there are two big costs that you should be aware of. First cost is the truck. You could either buy a brand new truck, refurbish everything and build everything to your specific specs. On the other hand, you can buy a fully equipped truck that has all the gear and equipment that you may need. It is a complete turnkey solution to you. Yes, it's going to be a little bit more costly, but at the end of the day, you get the peace of mind that your truck doesn't require as much maintenance, your gear and your machinery all works for you. Now, the third option is for you to go lease an existing food truck. It's the least costly option out there. As an additional bonus option, you can actually go for a trailer than a truck. The second biggest cost are the equipment costs. When it comes to equipment, you can buy new equipment, or you can buy used equipment to save yourself some cost. So where do you find used equipment? Well, Facebook Marketplace is a really great resource where you can find used equipment. And there are often websites where you can find second-hand used equipment as well. And thirdly, you can go and find auction houses where they auction off restaurants that just recently closed down. And finally, you can lease equipment and pay on a monthly schedule as well. Some of the other costs that you must consider are the advertising costs, car maintenance costs, licensing costs, permit costs, and also your car wrap costs. These are all going to add up to a bigger and bigger expense that you must be aware of when you are first starting out.
Fifth thing to consider for your food truck business is the financials. Now, a lot of people who are new to business, they don't expect to not be making any money for the first one to three years, or any profits that they make, they need to roll it back into their business. So what does that mean? That means you must have a runway, a runway of capital that you have saved that allows you to go on for a while without you stressing too much. I've seen a lot of other people have other sources of income to make sure that they can actually run this by a few years without too much pressure. Now, I'm sharing this with you not to scare you away, I'm simply sharing with you the truth. Now that you know the basics, we got the mindset right, we must understand the numbers in order for you to be profitable. First number that we must look at is the average order value. What is that? That means on average, how much each person is buying from you every single transaction. Our goal is to increase that as much as possible. Now, how do you do that? Well, we can introduce complementary items or alternative items to increase that overall transaction. Whether it's an added drink or an added side dish, that would easily push our average order value from $9 to $15. The second number that you must know is your margins. How do you figure out your margins? First of all, you must know your cost of goods sold. And on top of that, you must know your labor costs. Once you know these two numbers, what does that allow you to do? It allows you to tinker with it, to lower one part or to increase one part, so then that way you can increase your profitability. And at the same time, for you to have this visibility, this allows you to cut the items that don't make you much money, cut the items that takes you a long time to create, cut these items, increase your profitability. That is the trick to running a profitable food truck. The problem with a lot of new food entrepreneurs is that they don't run their business like a business, they run it like a hobby. You don't want to mess up and realize that you're only making pennies because you didn't properly figure out your average order value or your margins. This is the biggest nightmare that I find a lot of people encounter. And I know this is because people just find numbers being super intimidating. And that is the reason why I created Foodie Printer's Finest program that walks you through all the important and crucial numbers, how do you identify it, how do you tinker around to make the most profits for your food truck. And in this program, we also talk about how we're going to be able to leverage Instagram to make your food business thrive and profitable. And if you ever have any questions or support that you need, you can always join our private Facebook group where all our students are on, where you can answer your questions. And on top of that, there's a bi-weekly group coaching call where I hop on and answer all the questions for you. That way, we make sure that we help you overcome the obstacles and at the same time keep you motivated along this whole journey. The Foodie Printer's Finest program, this is not just another Instagram course. No, this includes all the fundamentals to help out new food entrepreneurs out there. So go ahead and click in the link below in order for you to check out the Foodie Printer's Finest program and enroll. I'll see you guys in there.
The sixth thing that you need to be aware of when creating your food truck is the branding. This is the first time that people see you, whether it's an event, whether it's at a festival, this matters a lot for a food truck. A good design helps you capture and entice your customers to beat you amongst the crowd of other food trucks. And then what happens is that good food and good customer service gets your customers to become loyal customers that come back again and again. So if your branding and design doesn't capture people's attention, then you don't even have a chance to wow them with your food, or your customers would just be able to walk by. So how do you get your food truck to stand out? Use bright colors, use LED lights, use sound and speakers, use modern design. Share with people exactly what you're sharing and what you're selling at the same time, so people can be enticed by what you are serving right off the bat, no confusions. Now that you know what makes a good design, it is time to figure out where do you find a good designer. Initially, I recommend working with someone in-house or locally. The reason is because it's just much easier to communicate with and it's easier to get your vision out to paper and being able to wrap on your food truck. Let's say for example, you just don't know anyone around your city, well, you can utilize online platforms like Upwork or Fiverr.com, which is a little bit more user-friendly and budget-friendly. Bottom line is that your design must match and invoke a feeling towards your target demographic. All you're creating is an experience to who it is that you're trying to serve. So when you're designing, make sure you have that in the back of your mind.
The seventh thing that you need to be aware of when creating your food truck business is the permits and licenses. Just like any other food businesses, these are the items that you would need. But because you're running a food truck, you would also need to know your zoning and your parking regulations as well. For example, in Vancouver, there are only certain amount of food trucks available for you to drive into downtown core. And on top of that, depending on the different types of city and country that you're in, the regulations are a little bit different. So that's the reason why I would recommend you going to your local health authorities or your small business associations to inquire specifically what types of licenses that you would need to get and what types of permits you need to get in order for you to operate at your desired location. Now, to get you started here, just some licenses and permits that you may need: either a seller permit, a zoning regulation permit, a business license, a health and safety license, or a fire permit. And these are just some of the permits as an example for you to start digging. And the reason why you need to do your research in this part specifically is because you can avoid yourself making some very costly mistakes. For example, a friend of mine, he bought a food truck because he saw that outside of his workplace there was a spot that is always busy. So he bought that food truck and wanted to put it at that location. Later to realize that there's only certain number of licenses that can operate at that location. He ended up having to sell his food truck because there's nowhere else he can put that food truck. And that's reason why do your proper research before you head into the food truck game.
The eighth way to start your food truck business is to do your marketing. How will you get the word out there about your food truck? Now, I know there are tons of different marketing tactics. Today, I'm going to be focusing strictly on digital marketing because as a study has said, more than 90% of the people that go out and dine at a restaurant, they do their research online. Unlike any of the industries out there. Now, if you have the capacity, if you have mastered these digital marketing tactics, then you can focus on other types of marketing tactics. First digital channel that you must focus on is your website. Now, I know a lot of people think that a website is not important right now. But did you know that more than 57% of people that decide to go eat at a restaurant or any food place goes and check out their website first? And more and more people are actually deciding to go onto the website of their favorite place that they want to support and order directly from there. So if you're thinking about having a website, just having pictures online is not going to be enough. You need the ability for people to actually place an order on your website. So when it comes to setting up a website, I highly recommend using Square. And the reason why I recommend it is because it's simple to use, it is mobile-friendly, and on top of that, it is free for you to use when you first sign up. Now, this is a company that I myself have been using when I was running my ice cream shop. And if you guys want to check out more about it, you can check out the link below in the description. Just imagine the 57% of people that search for you online cannot find you, or your website doesn't look good, or it's not coherent. What do they do? When they're confused, there's no trust, they leave to other places. That's the reason why it is so important to have a good website.
The second digital channel that you must be aware of is Instagram. If you're not on Instagram, your food truck basically doesn't exist. Why Instagram is a platform and not Facebook? It is because there's more than one billion active users on Instagram every single month. And people like to utilize this platform to bookmark places that they want to go eat. People like to use this platform to see and stalk what their friends are eating, so then that way they can give it a go when they have the time. This is exactly how me and my wife choose where to eat on a regular basis. Instagram is also the best place in order for you to build touch points with your customers. The more you show up in front of their face, the more you occupy their mind space, the more they remember you, the more relevant you become. And the more positive touch points these interactions you have with your followers, the more they'll come and buy from you and become loyal fans. Now, the biggest problem out there is that a lot of people don't know how to utilize Instagram as a marketing tool. How do we utilize Instagram to reach out to influencers to do promotions for us? How do we use Instagram to create content that engages with our audience? How do we utilize Instagram as a marketing channel? Now, if that is you, then I invite you to my free masterclass where I share with you how and why Instagram is the best platform out there to help your food truck business gain more popularity and gain more customers. So go ahead and click in the link below in the description to attend the free masterclass right now.
The third digital channel that you must explore right now is TikTok. TikTok is a platform that is growing rapidly and is a great place for you to tinker around with. So many different small businesses has gone viral all because of them posting content on TikTok. So if you have an interesting food concept idea, or if you have a great personality, or personality that is distinctly you, then TikTok is a place to be. Not only can you create TikTok content, but also repurpose the TikTok content on Instagram Reels as well, allowing you to accomplish two big tasks with one simple action.
The last digital marketing strategy that you must know and utilize is PR. Now, a lot of people think that PR is old news, and this is something that I disagree because having your article and having publications about your food business is a really, really good social proof. It adds authority to your food business. It is so much more powerful when a publication says that you have the best taco in town, the best pizza in town, then you claiming that on your own Instagram. This is the power of publications and PR. What other people have to say about you has much more impact and power than what you have to say about yourself. Now that you have your publication, what do you do with it? Plaster it all over your food truck, put it on your website, yell it out of your lungs on Instagram, let people know about these publications, these awards, this authority that you have. And that's the reason why people care so, so much about their Michelin star, about their James Beard award, about the best in Canada, best United States award, because this gives them the stamp of approval.
So there you go, friends. How do you start a food truck business? In this video, I shared with you the basics, the fundamental, the framework you need in order for you to build a successful food truck business. Now, if you want a more step-by-step guide, more in-depth training, how do you actually utilize Instagram to build up your food truck business, then definitely I invite you to join us in the free masterclass down below in the link. After you join it, I'm going to see you on the inside, and we're going to share with you some more in-depth knowledge, tactics, and tricks in order for you to build a successful food truck. I hope you enjoyed this video, guys. If you guys have what do you do? You smash that like button. Why? Because it shows us that this is the type of content you enjoy, and what do we do? We make more of these valuable content for you. So go ahead and smash that like button. Otherwise, I'll see you guys in the next video.