Things that you wish you knew before setting up a food truck business
If you are planning on starting a food truck business, remember that you are most likely to find one in every corner, serving busy people. Despite being saturated in the market, food truck business continues to be a good business idea as almost 37% of Americans prefer fast-food everyday.
Food trucks have become more popular than ever since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic. More people are opting to get takeaways rather than dining in a restaurant. So if you keen on starting a food truck business, you need to ensure that you stand out from the crowd. Setting up a food truck business is affordable compared to a brick-and-mortar location. However, it will need more than your usual efforts to maximize your profits and retain loyal customers in the long run.
Here’s what you should do before getting started
Examining the numbers
Before creating your menu, you must do a lot of analysis and research. Carefully look into your food truck’s prospective marketing and financial mix and potential customer demographics. You can now compare these numbers directly to your rivalries. Closely follow their websites, and check out their menus, sales, and marketing tactics. The vital questions that you must ask yourself before setting the menu include:
- What fantastic food can my truck offer customers that others in this area cannot?
- Do I have food items on my menu that people can find in many other places?
- When it is a question of variety, how to compare?
- How to compare my pricing with the competitors?
Track the famous food trends
You should always ensure that the dish you will be offering in your food truck is what the customers are craving. Always follow and update the existing food trends and try to include the ones that will mostly go with your menu. For instance, many restaurants and food trucks have added bacon to their dishes to spice everything up.
Create a popping and inexpensive menu
The key to successfully setting the menu is to be resourceful about it. You do not need to create expensive additions to the menu to wow your customers. You can change the dishes for low cost and spice them up with different sauces and toppings. You can make a unique signature dish to create a rave among customers.
Concentrate on what you create the best and stick to it
One mistake that most food truck owners make is to stuff their menu with different alternatives to ensure they have something for everyone. But this is not practical. Since you have to buy expensive ingredients to make those dishes, you will have a high-stress level to accomplish these dishes well. Thus it is better to concentrate on those dishes you are confident enough and know you can do well.
Does regular analysis of the food cost
With the availability change in some specific food and increase in the food price, you also need to make changes in your menu. You can stop making some dishes if the ingredients become too expensive or outsourcing is tougher. You have to consider the season when it comes to vegetables, thus saving money and effort.
Also, never be afraid to alter your dish price whenever the ingredient price increases. If it is a minor change in the price, customers will never mind as they are more inclined to get the best quality food. Always compare the price and menu with your competitor regularly. You can make any adjustments if you think this will help you to become more popular and successful among the customers.
Offer a different price range
Not everyone will order the most expensive dish on your menu every time. Thus try to include a different price range menu that everyone can afford on other occasions. But never decrease the prices of those dishes which are expensive to create. We recommend offering middle or low-range snacks and dishes along with the expensive ones.
Follow the competitor’s price range
The experts on food trucks always advise you to remain at least a dollar different than your competitor’s prices. It can be a dollar lower or higher than their price.
