Five Simple Ways to Grow Your Food Truck Business
I decided to do a small series focusing on the Food Truck industry and how you can help to grow your own foodie business. Food Trucks are cool. They’re bright, fun, interesting small mechanical bundles of yum. Where I live, there is a thriving community of food truck events that always draw a huge crowd of local support. But it’s not always easy and in fact, it can be harder than you imagine to run a successful food truck business. So what are some of the ways you can use to create more buzz, get more sales and ultimately make more money? Here are five easily actionable ways to get ahead.
Food
Cook great food! I’ll leave that one for you to work out. All I’ll say about this is to make sure you are serving food that fits with the food truck environment. Remember people are often grabbing your food on the go, there might not be seating available and they won’t be using a knive and fork most of the time. Make it easy for them to eat… unforgettable, yum and easy!
The Right Equipment
I’m not talking about the best cooker, or the handiest spatula. When I say equipment, I’m taking about the best e-Commerce solution for your business. Yo'u’ll need a platform that fully supports POS (Point of Sale) software. That’s where Shopify and Square come in (not the only options, but two of the best).
Shopify supports retail businesses with their top rated, modern POS system. The Shopify system is easy to use and comprehensive. It takes care of everything from managing inventory, customer lists and sales. And it does all of this while on the go - the app syncs in real time.
Managing all the tiny logistics and details that go into running your food truck business can be hard work, but it doesn’t have to be. Shopify POS makes it so much easier to keep track of the metrics that matter most to your business. Foodtruckr.com
Likewise, Square is one of the world’s best-known payment processing solutions.
The restaurant solution is a specific selection of tools built for food service businesses. The all-in-one restaurant POS system gives you everything you need to run your business, from click and collect delivery options, to team management, and a customer directory. Great for all kinds of food businesses, Square for Restaurants comes with a host of third-party integrations and API access to help customize your store too. Foodtruckr.com
Whether you choose one of these systems or opt for another one, make sure it’s right for your business. Take the time to go through the features of each system and work out your priorities. For further information on the options, take a look at the full article on Foodtruckr.com.
Social Media
Social Media is your best friend when you’re a business that moves around a lot. There is so much you can do to create awareness of your brand and food.
Share photos from events, show people what they’re missing. Post often and stay engaged. Don’t just post and run, stick around to answer any comments or just support other businesses.
Share photos of your food (I mean why wouldn’t you when it’s that good).
Update your location as often as you need to and provide a link to a location finding app.
Colab with other foodies or musicians. Share their pics and have them do the same for you, potentially doubling your audience.
Share your other services online. Do you offer catering as well? Post about it and provide a link to your website’s booking or information page.
Your Website
Whether you choose Shopify or Squarespace (or something else) for your website, there are a few things you should absolutely make sure you include.
Information about where you are and where you’ll be.
Your menu! People want to see what you sell and what it looks like, so include pictures as well.
Information about your catering services. Having food trucks at an event (weddings, picnics, school sports days etc) is very popular. Make sure you let people know if they can book you for an event. This is a great way to help fill up you calender over the quieter months.
Contact details. This is an absolute must, you’ll be losing customers if you don’t let them know they can get in touch with you directly.
The Wide World of Marketing
Marketing these days doesn’t have to be limited to your website, an instagram page and a few business cards. It is multi-faceted and sometimes non-conventional. Of course you should make sure your website has all the information we talked about earlier and your instagram should have pictures of your amazing food and location, but have you considered these ways to attract more bookings?
Shout about your catering services on all of your menus and other marketing materials.
Consider a referral program and offer a discount on catering services in exchange.
Target events like weddings by reserving booths at bridal fairs.
Think Instagram & Facebook are the only ways to market your business online? Nope. Try using YouTube and WhatsApp (the second and third most-used social media platforms in the world. Source hootsuite.com). Upload videos to YouTube and use WhatsApp to create broadcast lists. You can include links or invitations in your messages.
Unique and consistent branding.
As a food truck owner, you should invest a lot in signage. That’s what people see first, and it might make the difference between them choosing your truck or going somewhere else. Passersby will make up a large chunk of your audience. Gloriafood.com
Final Words
There is a lot that goes in to owning and operating a Food Truck business. I hope these ideas have given you a little clarity on what to focus on, after the food side of it is nailed down. If you need help with a website or some branding for your food truck, give me a shout.