Food truck and/or kiosk as absentee cash cow...

[Dien Rice]

Hi Gordon,

You've provided a LOT of top-notch valuable advice in these 3 posts!

It so happens that on the weekend, I met a friend of mine who owned a small restaurant. His landlord raised the rent significantly, so he decided not to renew the lease. He was looking for a new location, but when I talked to him on the weekend, he told me he's considering a food truck...

Now, he's not really doing what you recommend (which I think is very sound advice). He ran an Indonesian restaurant (it's similar to Malaysian food, or Singaporean food, for those not familiar with it)... So it's not as simple as putting a hot dog in boiling water. (Man, I like the idea of a simple hot dog stand, I gotta say...)

However, as you point out, the number one important thing is LOCATION... So, if he runs with this, hopefully he can find a good location.

I also have another friend, who also once upon a time had a small restaurant as part of a food court. He closed that a few years ago, then was just selling his food at festivals for a few years. He was selling Senegalese (West African) food...

Now, he has a food truck. He has a regular spot outside the biggest major art gallery in the city... and I think it's a great spot! I'm not sure how many days a week he is there, but he's there regularly, and I think he's doing well... It's a family business, he's got his kids (some are adults) involved, and as well as the food truck, he and his family are also doing festivals, and catering!

Great topic, Gordon... and wow, some incredible wisdom in these few posts!

Best wishes,

Dien

Originally Posted by GordonJ

Be it a food truck, restaurant, cement business, or any other thing money making...what I would ask ANYONE wanting to start out with a business or money making venture is:

WHO is your customer?

I would spend a lot of time identifying my Customer, Client or Consumer. I want to know as much as I can know about them.

ONLY after making a very deep dive into my Avatar, would I then begin to BACKWARD chain from the exchange of money, to what comes before that, and before that, and before that...and then I would have a BUSINESS PLAN to work with and know exactly what I needed to do.

Too many make their businesses more complicated than need be.

What is your Minimum Viable Product and WHO is going to buy it; where, when and how?

But no matter what, online or off, I would want to start with the person or entity which is going to put THEIR MONEY into MY Hands.

Let's call that Square One of marketing, shall we.

Gordon