Author Topic: Anyone own/run a food truck?  (Read 3989 times)

Psychstache

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Anyone own/run a food truck?
« on: July 21, 2017, 07:55:52 AM »
SO and I are considering the idea and curious about some of the trials and tribulations of running a mobile kitchen.

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SC93

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Re: Anyone own/run a food truck?
« Reply #1 on: July 21, 2017, 09:52:47 AM »
I know a lot about it, my buddy keeps wanting me to go in with him on one but I'm just not there. What town are you in?

The reason I am not 'in' yet is because I want to do ice cream and he wants to do mexican food. He wants to make the burn, I want to cure it! lmao

SeaEhm

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Re: Anyone own/run a food truck?
« Reply #2 on: July 21, 2017, 09:58:00 AM »
Few years ago they were quite popular here, however, they have seemed to die down with a lot of them going under.  The more successful ones are now in brick and mortar buildings.


HipGnosis

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Re: Anyone own/run a food truck?
« Reply #3 on: July 21, 2017, 10:18:29 AM »
They're popping up all over here in the Milwaukee area.  The ones I hear most about are niche foods (that don't interest me) like Korean BBQ or Grilled mac-n-cheese.

bunchbikes

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Re: Anyone own/run a food truck?
« Reply #4 on: July 21, 2017, 09:24:51 PM »
I don't see how owner/operator food trucks make any money, to be honest.   It's hustle hustle hustle, with an upfront investment, and travelling around trying to sell food faster than your expenses are racking up.


The real money is in franchising.  Like Kona Ice.

SC93

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Re: Anyone own/run a food truck?
« Reply #5 on: July 22, 2017, 12:39:26 AM »
They are really popular here in Texas. Neither of us would ever work it, we would have people work it. I currently have a small investment in a kettle corn business. I own 33% and an older couple work it along with 1 worker. That worker is a police officer and is going to retire next year. At that time, him and his wife are going to run another kettle for us. Last weekend they made 800 bags on Friday and sold all but about 10 bags. Saturday they made 2000 bags and sold them all @ $8 a bag. That's a very good weekend. Normally they make about 800-1000 bags for the whole weekend and sell most of them. Depending on the venue, sometimes they are $6 a bag. Kettle corn is a tough and hot gig. I'd be more than happy to change them over to ice cream anytime they choose to.

Cassie

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Re: Anyone own/run a food truck?
« Reply #6 on: July 26, 2017, 05:44:59 PM »
They are also very popular on the WEst Coast.

SeattleCPA

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Re: Anyone own/run a food truck?
« Reply #7 on: July 27, 2017, 07:54:40 AM »
There are some episodes of the CNBC show, "The Profit," where the small business has or starts a food truck.

Finding and watching these episodes would be super useful, I bet, if you're thinking about this. Well worth the 2-3 hours you'd spend.

P.S. Tacit knowledge about particular ventures/opportunities is the hardest kind of knowledge to acquire... but it's super-valuable and (I think) essential to enjoying true profitability.

Inaya

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Re: Anyone own/run a food truck?
« Reply #8 on: July 27, 2017, 09:26:01 AM »
Look very closely at the laws where you plan on operating. Here in Chicago, food trucks are very popular, but it's very difficult to operate one successfully due to ordinances. Particularly one that prohibits parking a food truck within 200 feet of any establishment selling food (including convenience stores and the like). It's not easy to find a parking spot that isn't within 200 feet of a restaurant, a 7-11, a Starbucks, a CVS, etc. And once you find one, you can't stay there for more than 2 hours. Here are some articles about how the laws have really hurt what should be a thriving food truck scene:

https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/food-trucks-decline-parking-ticket-fines-ordinance/Content?oid=26035054

https://chicago.eater.com/2016/12/5/13841786/chicago-food-trucks-lawsuit-decision-parking

Sometimes I play with the idea of having a baked goods truck as a side gig when I FIRE, but realistically I know that there's just no market for it in my FIRE location.
« Last Edit: July 27, 2017, 09:30:22 AM by Inaya »

HipGnosis

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Re: Anyone own/run a food truck?
« Reply #9 on: July 31, 2017, 08:51:51 PM »
They are really popular here in Texas. Neither of us would ever work it, we would have people work it.
If neither of you have worked in a food truck, you'd better have someone with that knowledge advising you.

SC93

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Re: Anyone own/run a food truck?
« Reply #10 on: August 01, 2017, 04:28:55 PM »
The Kettle Korn is doing pretty good and no one had any experience with that. We usually wing things and do it our way... if it works great, if it doesn't work, we can always say we tried and did it our way. We don't have time to run a food truck... that's a lot of work. lol The trick is to get the perfect worker(s) for the job and to know how to market. That's how we do all our businesses. I don't think a food truck would be that different than kettle korn would it? The trick is to be 'in' with the right people and that is already done with the kettle korn. The connections have already been made to set up in certain places. Find the 'right' serious person to be in charge and we should be ok.... personally, I just hate spending that much on a food truck, I'm cheap. lol I like starting a business with a few hundred dollars and it making a lot of profit within 3 months. Kettle korn cost us $13k to get started and that was a big pill for me to swallow but it worked out. Since then we've even bought a box truck and other high priced items to make it easy on them to work and I've been ok with it.... after I saw it was going to make us lots of money. We usually cut the person in charge in on some of the over-all profit of the business. The only way I will agree with him on a food truck is for him to agree with me to get some type of ice cream thing going. Since 1989 we've been business partners and if one doesn't want to do it, we usually don't do it until that person changes his mind. Our first business venture was buying a Ford Escort for $400 and we made a profit so we kept going.