- Be remarkable and distinguish yourself with little touches
- For example, a cool paint job, environmentally friendly plates and cutlery, wear a funny hat, greet/farewell customers in a unique way, tell a bit of your story/philosophy on your signage
- Be delicious and provide amazing service
- Do your very best every single day. Greet customers with a warm smile
- If you feel grumpy or tired close up and go home, and start fresh tomorrow, you’ll do damage to your brand
- Collect email addresses
- Build up this list of your superfans over the long-term, year after year
- Fans on social media are ok, but they are not as valuable as email addresses
- Is there a way you can collect email address while people are waiting in your queue?
- Tell them frequently where you are so they can come and see you, or send their friends in the area
- Tell them what’s changed on your menu. Tell them your story. Tell them how you do things, your philosophy. Tell them the details that demonstrates how much care you take in your food and service and what makes you special
- Focus on growing your catering business
- This is where the real money is. It’s low waste, easier to plan, and a big pay day
- Use your exposure at markets and events to advertise your catering business
- Have your business cards and catering flyers available
- Write a message on the side of your food truck “ask about our catering”
- Always be on the look out for events/festivals to go to
- Book them months/years ahead of time
- Be prepared to travel to attend ones you hear about at the last minute
- Get a good photographer to come to several events with you
- Show how popular you are with shots of big crowds, happy people, and your good food
- Get them to take very short video clips also
- Use these photos on your website/social media, flyers, business cards etc
- Get a Facebook page
- Fill in every single detail including your name (so few vendors do this, when people like to know who’s running the operation)
- Invite all your friends
- Put a lot of time into it, add photos, ask questions, share stories
- Build a simple website
- Keep it simple. Lots of visuals. Build it cheap with WordPress or Wix
- Use as many social media platforms as you can handle:
- Facebook first, and then consider Instagram and Twitter
- Add yourself to Google Maps
- Even if you’re mobile, put your home base on the map
Hi could you please add my food truck to your list? I am based in the Manawatu. It is called Feeding Out. Facebook Page is the same.
Kind Regards
Rachael
Hi Rachael, no problem! The next step is for you to go ahead and add your food truck here: https://www.lovefoodtrucks.nz/add/