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Steer Clear of Pitfalls: 6 Pro Tips to Avoid Food Truck Failure
Food trucks have been growing exponentially since 2008, and many food lovers are broadening their horizons from restaurants to mobile cuisine. However, even with this spur in popularity, many food trucks aren’t able to succeed. There are many common issues that cause these failures, and knowing them can save your business. This blog will go over 6 tips for preventing food truck failure and what shortfalls you should avoid at all costs.
1. Develop an Identity and Stick to it
A major part of a food truck’s success depends on its ability to establish a brand and stick to it. If your food truck doesn’t differentiate itself from your competition, consumers won’t have a reason to remain with you. Cookie-cutter imitations of other concepts don’t have any power and are bound to fail.
Getting every single customer in your area is impossible, so focus on establishing your target audience and create a style of food and environment that is suitable for that market. Once you’ve established your identity, make sure to reflect it on your menu items.
2. Analyze Your Market Thoroughly
Failing to establish a market for your food truck can be detrimental to your newly established business. Before opening your food truck, you need to establish a demand for your cuisine and a strategy to capture some market share. But it doesn’t end there. Once you open your business, you need to continue to analyze the direction of your customers’ preferences and make adjustments, changes, and/or new additions along the way. Without fact-based knowledge of your market, making these types of decisions is almost impossible.
3. Write a Business Plan
A business plan is vital for any type of business. It’s a written guide of what you want your food truck to be and how you plan to achieve this goal. This plan forces you to plan ahead and think about:
- Competition
- Your marketing strategy
- Your management structures
- Financing
You mustn’t proceed without creating a solid business plan. While not doing so doesn’t ensure failure, it does mean that you’re more likely to do the following things:
- Spend more money
- Reach fewer of the right customers
- Be less efficient
- Grow your business more slowly (if not at all)
4. Plan for a Year’s Worth of Capital
The food truck industry is known to have low entry and exit poisons compared to restaurants and other stationary locations. This leads food truck owners to enter the industry with low capital. As a result, many start the business with just enough money to open the service window, but not enough to sustain it in the first few lean months.
Unexpected events happen all the time, especially in this business. That’s why you should plan to have at least a year’s worth of capital to keep the business running in case things come up. If you don’t have sufficient capital, you may want to postpone your plans and continue saving until you’re ready. It’s better to start late and increase the chances of success that start early and close the business right away.
5. Hire and Train Wisely
We all know at least one food place where one was treated rudely. While some people may continue going, most people discard the place entirely. Bad service kills a business quickly— it’s just that simple. No matter how great the food is, people won’t be going back to where they were mistreated. Employees represent your business, so it’s vital that you put in a great amount of time and effort in the hiring process.
6. Ensure Consistency
After creating your identity, it’s essential that you consistently preserve that identity. Every time a customer comes to your service window, he/she should experience the same food quality every time. It shouldn’t matter who is preparing the food on any given day. Consistency is key to establishing a regular customer base. Don’t let inconsistent food be the cause of your food truck failure.
The food truck business is booming! Be part of the group that’s successful! Hundreds of food truck businesses fail, and it is primarily due to the previous reasons we mentioned above. We hope these 6 tips for preventing food truck failure help guide you toward growing a successful food truck business! If you’re ready to start your business and buy a new food truck, give San Diego Food Truck Pros a call at (858) 221-3095, or contact us by clicking here.
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