Alan Philips - Starting & running a food truck business

For the best reading experience, the following application settings are recommended:

• Color theme: White background
• Font size: At the smallest point size
• Orientation: Landscape (for screen sizes over 9), Portrait (for screen sizes below 9)
• Scrolling view: [OFF]
• Text alignment: Auto-justification [OFF] (if the eBook reader has this feature)
• Auto-hyphenation: [OFF] (if the eBook reader has this feature)
• Font style: Publisher default setting [ON] (if the eBook reader has this feature)

As I write this, Im sitting on a plane flying to Hawaii for a consulting project. I cant help but be amazed at how I arrived here. I started out much as I envision you: filled with passion and chasing a dream. Ive earned the right to spend my days pursuing my passion to serve, feed, and entertain people in the most creative ways I can imagine. My arrival at this nirvana manifested through countless hours of hard work and commitment to my personal vision. At one point, I was so obsessed with my dream, I wrote countless letters to celebrity chefs and restaurateurs begging them for jobs. I wrote so many letters and made so many phone calls that I recall one luminary welcoming me to his office under the moniker Mr. Persistent.

Following your passion for food and hospitality will be hard work, but it will take you on a spectacular journey, teach you countless lessons, and expose you to amazing opportunities and people. The key is to recognize the opportunities, seize them, and enjoy every moment along the way. Your enjoyment will directly affect the experience you provide to your customers.

At the core of the food truck business and its current revolution is the chance to open doors and expose your talent. If youre passionate about food and hospitality, a truck can be your entry into this world. Trucks provide a platform for the next generation of foodies, entrepreneurs, and chefs to turn their love into a businessat half of the traditional investment. Blogs, social media, and press can then potentially turn you into the newest sensation faster than you can fill up your tank. Just look at the venerable Kogi BBQ truck. It started out as a drunken late-night conversation but wound up igniting a revolution and, along with that, a Los Angelesbased empire.

The journey youre about to embark on is your chance to contribute your voice and talents to the conversation. Its a ticket to the game with front-row seats because of the media hype surrounding trucks. But with great power comes great responsibility. The truck you choose to create will be an extension of you and your views, and in turn, your reputation. You only get one reputation, so protect it with your life. Just as you can establish yourself as a player in the food business, you also can negatively impact your future with unsavory practices or a low-quality product.

The most important advice I can give you is to be authentic, and honest, and always put the customer first. Create a truck that speaks to who you are and what you love. Customers will know if youre being true to yourself, and it will directly affect peoples enjoyment of your product. Dont cut corners or try to take advantage of anyone in your business affairs. Treat everyone as you would treat your mother or grandmother. And never forget that your customers are the most important part of your truck business. Make sure, no matter what, that your customers leave your truck happy. Sometimes that might mean losing money or swallowing your pride, but word of mouth and buzz will determine your fate. A customer is 10 times more likely to talk about a bad experience than a good one.

Welcome. You are about to become the proud owner of a food truck, which is the most exciting opportunity in the modern hospitality business and also, quite possibly, the most delicious. Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines and fire up those stoves; its going to be an extraordinary journey.

Mobile food carts have been around longer than you might think; when engines started purring, so did appetites. The modern food truck revolution is a gourmands fantasy with no limits. From french fry trucks to mobile meatball meccas, food trucks are here to stay!

In this part, I explain what caused the tremendous growth of the modern food truck and give you a brief sampling of the types of trucks out there. Then I talk about the business behind the trucks, from choosing the right concept and food to selecting a type of rig. After that, we can get busy with what to look for when purchasing and customizing your truck. Finally, I discuss where you can park your truck once you have it. You cant park anywhere you want anymore, and building your spots is crucial to your success.

So, buckle up, get focused, and lets get busy making your ideas and passion into a deliciously profitable enterprise.

My first experience with food trucks was a delectable dose of Americana. I was four years old and playing in the park with my friends. As I played on the swings, slide, and jungle gym, I patiently waited for the bellthe bell of the ice cream truck!

That jingle was the highlight of my many days at the park. Who cared about slides and swings when you could taste the succulent sweetness of vanilla soft serve? I thought for hours about what combination or special treat I would choose. I became partial to Creamsicle Push Ups and King Cones, usually with a side of Nerds and watermelon Big League Chew. We are all creatures of habit. Though I wanted to venture off into the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles green ice cream creation, I was tied to what I knew and loved. Who could bear the thought of wasting a hard-earned allowance on some second-rate ice cream treat? Not me, not then, and not now.

But more than the food, there was something out of this world about the experience of the ice cream truck. Nowadays, marketers might call it aspirational, but the ice cream truck made my day magnificent. Waiting for the truck to show up, watching its arrival, eating my goodies in the grass, and the trucks eventual departure was about far more than just an ice cream cone. The colors, sounds, and interactions with friends and neighbors made the ice cream truck an unforgettable food experience.