Over the years we’ve provided some fun articles which point out key traits we’ve witnessed in some of the most successful food truck owners in the country. Today we are going to reverse things a little and go over the the common traits of unsuccessful food truck owners we’ve seen in the mobile food industry.

15 Traits Of Unsuccessful Food Truck Owners

  1. Owners who say that they never have enough time for themselves or family, but who refuse to hire anyone because they do not have the ability to trust anyone else.
  2. Vendors who desperately need a marketing plan, business plan, operation plan, strategic plan, etc.,  but never seem to get around to getting it.
  3. Vendors who have high turnover and blame it on the market or the economy.
  4. Totally reactive to circumstances.
  5. Vendors who treat all staff the same.
  6. Vendors who cannot think beyond their own experiences, and who refuse to understand that their success will be limited to their level of understanding that food trucks are a unique business model and may not be related to their understanding or experience in other industries.
  7. Those who do not understand that if you are not able to differentiate yourself in your market, you will fail.
  8. Vendors who do not study industry trends.
  9. Vendors who cheat, lie, steal and abuse any or all of their relationships with vendors, staff, and customers.
  10. Owners who, find they have a great sales increase, but don’t know where it came from.
  11. Vendors who refuse to ask for help, even when they run into major problems.
  12. Vendors who take their staffs, customers, vendors or team for granted.
  13. Those who do not embrace change.
  14. Vendors who never seem to be ready for change.
  15. Vendors who do not understand the importance of branding their food truck business.

RELATED: Is Your Food Truck Business Running You?

RELATED: 5 Traits of Successful Food Truck Owners

The Bottom Line

No matter how great your passion and vision, a few bad habits can drive a promising food truck business into the ground. We’ve taken notice of several recurring traits of mobile food business owners who fail. At the end of the day it only takes two or three of these traits that cause problems. We hope this list of 15 of the most common traits of food truckers who end up failing helps you avoid them.

Please note, if you feel you have some of these traits…it’s almost never too late to change. I’m sure there are more, but these 15 traits of unsuccessful food truck owners seem to be the biggies. Do you have any additional traits that we should add? Share your thoughts in the comment section, our food truck forum or social media. Twitter | Facebook