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Learn How To Take Your Food Truck Business To The Next Level
So, you have already started running a food truck business, but how do you keep it running like a well oiled machine? These sections will provide an existing vendor up to date on all of the tactics needed to run and expand your ever growing food truck empire.
Business
How to Start a Solo Coffee Truck in 9 Steps
Starting a coffee truck with no employees isn’t for the faint of heart. It takes grit, an understanding of your market, and a willingness to take risks. But as Sid Gauby of Slow River[...]
Cook Out Franchise: How Much Will it Cost to Open with Fees?
Fresh burgers, BBQ, hot dogs, shakes – this is the sign that wraps around Cook Out location. For more than 30 years, Cook Out has been a well-known quick-serve restaurant in the southeastern United[...]
How Much Does it Really Cost to Open a Wild Birds Unlimited? (w/ Fees)
Wish you could combine your love of nature and business? Good news - Wild Birds Unlimited may be the right franchise for you by serving serious bird watchers. How much will it cost to[...]
Can You Finally Open a Panda Express Franchise? (Cost + Analysis)
For more than 30 years, Panda Express has been recognized as one of the big names in fast-casual. The company has more than 2,200 locations globally. In 2019, Statista reported Panda Express as the[...]
How Much Does It Really Cost to open a Steak ‘n Shake? (w/ Fees)
Are you interested in opening and operating a franchise without breaking the bank? Steak ‘n Shake claims you can own a restaurant for a mere $10,000 investment. At first glance this looks like a[...]
Can You Finally Open a Dollar General Franchise Store? (Cost Analysis)
There’s always something about the word “dollar” on a store sign that manages to turn heads and reels-in value oriented customers. Coupled with the mindset that everything in this store is priced at an[...]
What’s the Total Cost to Open a Yogurtland Franchise? (w/ Fees)
Want to open a frozen yogurt smorgasbord with more than 200 toppings for guests to consider? That pretty much describes a Yogurtland franchise. This frozen yogurt chain is really what it says it is:[...]
Can You Finally Open a Raising Cane’s Franchise? (Cost + Fees)
Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, commonly known as Raising Cane's, is a fast-food restaurant chain specializing in chicken finger meals. This chain was established back in August 28, 1996 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, by Todd[...]
How to Get Your Food Truck into Festivals and Fairs
Food truck owners regularly write me concerning alternative revenue streams outside of their usual vending stops. Because of this I'm always looking for ways vendors can expand their business without straying from the original[...]
7 Tips For Winter Growth For Your Food Truck Business
Conventional wisdom says a food truck’s business decreases 50 percent during the winter months. After all, who wants to stand outside waiting for food in the cold? But creative owners are finding ways to[...]
Customer Service
Real Ways to Improve the Customer Experience on Food Trucks
Customer experience is one of the hottest buzzwords in the food truck industry today. Vendors are putting more time, effort and money into into building a strong customer experience for consumers. No longer are[...]
How To Prevent Long Wait Times At Your Food Truck
In the bustling world of food trucks, nothing sours the customer experience faster than long wait times. Whether it's the allure of a gourmet taco or the promise of the perfect cup of coffee, hungry[...]
My Approach to Better Communication With Food Truck Customers
Outside of selling great food, effective communications with customers is the foundation for all food truck sales. The most important part of customer service is effective communication. This is a skill that your must train[...]
Maintaining A Customer Service Attitude In Your Food Truck
The server is in one of the most important positions in your food truck because servers must interact with the customer as well as the rest of your food truck employees. You can train your food[...]
Repeat Customers: How To Gain Them In Four Easy Steps
There’s a simple fact that every successful food truck has learned over the years: It’s a lot easier to sell to one of your existing customers than it is to sell to a new one. Building[...]
Providing Exceptional Customer Service In Two Simple Steps
If you provide anything less than exceptional customer service for your food truck customers, you’re wasting the time of, creating extra work for and frustrating your food truck staff, managers and yourself. The basic premise[...]
Building Customer Relationships For Your Food Truck
So you just opened up your food truck, now what? The typical next step is to determine how you will make your mobile food business a success. Unfortunately, having a great menu in a food truck[...]
Putting An End To Bad Food Service From Your Truck
With winter weather providing many food truck owners with valuable free time they can use to train their service staff, we felt now would be a good time to write another article on this topic.[...]
3 Things To Learn From Unhappy Food Truck Customers
Did you know that as a food truck owner, unhappy food truck customers are one of the best learning tools for your mobile food business? While every vendor wants to make all of their customers happy,[...]
Winning Your Food Truck Customer’s Heart
Ultimately the quality of the food you serve will draw people to your service window; however customers are far more likely to return for purchases of your menu items if they feel valued by the[...]
Growth Strategies
3 Risks To Avoid That Slow Down Food Truck Growth
After a great spring launch or start to your summer, your food truck is suddenly a local favorite food truck. You’ve experienced a huge rise in sales and catering requests as your customers reach out[...]
Food Truck Business Growth The Right Way
In the food truck industry it's easy to be patient for things that need more urgency and too impatient for the for things that need more time. Food truck business growth comes from understanding what needs[...]
Four Tips For Taking Over An Existing Food Truck Business
Small businesses across the country have been taking a beating over the last few years due to the economy and even the growing mobile food industry isn't an exception. No matter the reasons behind some food[...]
Offer Cooking Classes To Expand Your Food Truck Business
If you are like most food truck owners and have a love for cooking that is coupled with a love for sharing your food with others, you can use these traits to increase your business[...]
Slow Growth: 5 Reasons Why Your Food Truck Is Stuck In Neutral
I have recently spoken with some food truck owners who were complaining that nothing seems to have changed in their food truck business, despite their best efforts to make things happen. Unfortunately, when we dig a[...]
Steer Around Food Truck Obstacles And Turn Them Into Assets
Successful food truck owners work with what they have to achieve their long term goals. This includes food truck obstacles, surprises, and even disappointments. Encountering food truck obstacles is one thing all vendors have in common.[...]
5 Ways To Build Food Truck Staff And Customer Loyalty
Why do you own a food truck or why are you planning to start one? Is it merely to line your pockets and fill your bank account or do your employees and customers’ factor into[...]
2 Tips To Help Strengthen Your Confidence
Confidence isn’t something a food truck owners either have or don’t. It’s a dynamic emotion that, like a your muscles. They need exercise to grow stronger and the only way you can strengthen your confidence requires[...]
Is Your Food Truck Growing Too Quickly?
June marked the 19th month of consecutive employment growth in the United States, with small businesses adding an average of 0.21 workers per company. Growth numbers like this are good news because it shows that[...]
Know When To Abandon Goals
Setting goals and sticking to them is important to every food truck business. But from time to time, as a vendor, you should reevaluate your goals. In order for goals to be useful, they need to be[...]
Human Resources
Basic Tips For Making Food Truck Insurance Claims
After causing a minor accident usually comes the dread of a possible car insurance rate hike. Even if you have plenty of food truck insurance coverage, you might be tempted to avoid filing any food truck[...]
Food Truck Workers’ Comp Insurance Basics
One of the big questions new and existing food truck owners have centers on workers’ compensation insurance; otherwise known as food truck workers' comp. In the food truck industry, there's no shortage of potential risks[...]
Understanding How FUTA Affects Your Food Truck
Food truck owners must pay federal and state unemployment taxes in order to fund the unemployment tax system. Unemployment compensation is designed to pay benefits to workers when they lose their jobs through no fault[...]
2023 Standard Mileage Rates For Food Trucks
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced the standard mileage rates for 2023, pivotal for food truck owners and operators to calculate the deductible costs of running their mobile culinary ventures. Effective from January[...]
Food Cart Profile: Potato Champion
Portland, Oregon with its nearly 700 carts, lining its streets, has quickly become a destination spot for foodies around the world. Portland’s street food scene is a bit different than most food truck cities[...]
Charles Goodnight: The Inventor of Food Trucks
Cattleman and inventor Charles Goodnight was born on March 5th in Texas. As a tribute to the man who may be the one individual most responsible for the food truck industry, I have put[...]
Common Food Truck Health Violations And How To Avoid Them
To food truck owners, local health department inspections may seem like a nuisance. Getting a report with multiple health violations can lead to unexpected costs for repairs, new equipment or other improvements. And with[...]
Key Fire Safety Basics for Food Truck Owners
As with any other food service establishment, food trucks have open flames, hot equipment, electrical connections, cooking oils, cleaning chemicals, engine oil and paper products which provide all the ingredients for a fire ready[...]
LP Gas Safety Tips For Every Food Truck To Follow
As the mobile food industry gears up for Spring, we're urging operators to heed this safety advice when storing, transporting, handling and using LP gas cylinders. As the preferred cooking option for most vendors,[...]
24 Essential Food Truck Generator Safety Tips
Portable electric generators provide power to almost all food trucks on the road today, but if improperly installed or operated, food truck generators can become deadly. Follow these food truck generator safety tips to[...]
Find Or Post Food Truck Jobs
Do yo have an open position in your food truck? Are you looking for temporary help for an up-coming event your current staff just can’t do on their own?
Post Food Truck Jobs
Insurance
Storing Food Trucks: Do You Still Need To Insure It?
There may come a time when you need to consider storing food trucks. Whether it's because you are in a cold weather region or you are just taking a break from the rigors of the[...]
Additional Insured Certificates: What Food Truck Vendors Need To Know
We often get calls and emails from new food trucks just weeks away from embarking on their new food truck operation and looking to secure insurance coverage. They know they need it, but often it is[...]
3 Common Food Truck Insurance Myths
Your food truck is the backbone that keeps your mobile business running. When it comes to insuring your mobile bistro, it can be difficult to distinguish insurance facts from myths and buying insurance without knowing[...]
Does Your Food Truck Have Business Income Insurance?
Recent news of a Philadelphia food truck commissary fire has led to a lot of requests from our readers on the subject of business income insurance. If business income insurance is a new term for[...]
Food Truck Storage Insurance Tips
If you have a food truck that you keep in storage during your off-season, you may be looking for ways to reduce your insurance costs. If you want to save money on your food truck insurance[...]
How Business Income Insurance Affects Your Food Truck
There seems to be some confusion by food truck owners on what Business Income Insurance really is and how it works. This entry is designed to explain just why the coverage is so important and[...]
$2.4 M Awarded For Food Truck Fryer Oil Burn
A California appeals court said Monday that Travelers Property and Casualty Co. of America was liable for $2.4 million awarded to a food truck vendor who was burned by oil that splashed on her from[...]
How Will ObamaCare Affect the Food Truck Industry?
What do the up coming federal health care reforms mean for the mobile food industry but more specifically, your food truck business? Will the Affordable Care Act add thousands of dollars in extra costs[...]
Insuring Your Food Truck
Insurance isn't something that everyone thinks about when they get into the food truck business. At Progressive, we’ve noticed a sharp rise in the amount of food trucks we insure, with an increase of nearly[...]
Why You Should Always Ask For The Insurance Requirements FIRST!
Congratulations...you just landed a great opportunity to serve food at a large office building lot, college campus, festival or movie studio. In the beginning, they may have asked if you had insurance and of course you[...]
Under The Hood
How to Build Your Own Food Truck From Scratch in 10 Steps (Video Series)
If you’re looking for a DIY guide to set up your own food truck and establish a profitable mobile food business, you’ve come to the right place. In this guide[...]
How To Protect Your Mobile Business From Food Truck Theft
Apart from your home, your truck is probably your most valuable possession and vulnerable to theft. Losing a food truck due to theft is not only a financial setback (even if you have insurance), you[...]
The Pros And Cons Of Diesel Engines For Food Trucks
If you’re considering buying a food truck, one of the big factors you need to examine is the engine that powers your mobile food business. In today’s food truck market you have two choices...diesel engines[...]
Food Truck Repair Safety Tips
When you’re making any food truck repair on the chassis of your food truck or simply doing basic maintenance, practice these safety tips to avoid injury to yourself and damage to your food truck and to be[...]
Essential Coffee Truck Equipment
Opening a coffee truck business can be a fun and exciting venture for those who may not have a culinary background. Before you start writing your coffee truck business plan or start looking for a[...]
Would Your Truck Pass An OSHA Food Truck Inspection
The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets the standards for workplace safety which apply to food trucks and the commercial kitchens they operate from. Failure to meet these standards can[...]
How To Find Wall Studs In A Food Truck
When mounting heavier accessories or appliances in your food truck, you’ll probably want to drill directly into the wall studs. But how do you find wall studs in a food truck? Unlike in residential construction, the[...]
Food Truck Kitchen Design: The Work Triangle
The dominant geometric shapes in most food truck kitchens are typically four sided, from rectangular cabinetry to square appliances. But in all reality the most important one is a triangle. The work triangle has always[...]
Outfitting Your Food Truck With Restaurant Equipment
When outfitting their food truck kitchens most mobile food vendors have a multitude of options. Before you head out to start shopping, you’ll need to create a full list of the restaurant equipment your truck[...]
Putting Out Food Truck Kitchen Fires
Food trucks, with their open flames, hot equipment, electrical connections, cooking oils, cleaning chemicals and paper products; have all the ingredients for food truck kitchen fires to flame out of control. Nearly 8,000 food service establishments[...]
Looking to buy a new or used food truck?
Follow the link below to be taken to our Food Trucks For Sale section to find the perfect food truck, cart or trailer to start your mobile food adventure in.