Photo by Kym Ellis on Unsplash

Have you ever thought about what it would take to get your vineyard noticed more? Of course, you have! But, actually implementing a procedure or service that astounds and amazes your potential clients is nothing less than a full-time job. That’s why you need a full-service wine truck.

A wine truck is just like a food truck, but better. Because, wine, of course. Add some cheese and crackers to the menu along with some sweet grapes—or go with a full-blown charcuterie board—and you’ll have people lining up to get a taste.

Let’s review a few good reasons to jump on this train and get in with the hip crowds.

A New and Happening Trend for Your Vineyard Business

Wine trucks are becoming more and more popular throughout the U.S.

It all started with a few entrepreneurs with big ideas and now the trend is, well, trending!

Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is just some passing fad, either. We all know how popular food trucks have become over the years, and wine is even better than food so who knows the possibilities?

A Mobile Tasting Room

What better way to display your wines than to bring your vineyard to the wine tasters? Consider catering at events like business luncheons, corporate fundraisers, and other adult-centered occasions where you can showcase what your vineyard has to offer and entice folks to come out and see your vines in person.

A Mobile Wine Truck is Fun

There’s nothing better than fun unless there’s wine involved which means there’s nothing better than fun with wine. If you thought you were having fun at the vineyard with your wine tasting events, you’ll have a blast serving your customers in their own territory.

Who Doesn’t Love a Good Glass of Wine?

Serving patrons via your mobile wine truck may be the only way to introduce new clientele to your business. People love wine, but they don’t always love a long drive to the country to visit the vineyard in person. But, with a mobile wine truck, you’re bringing the wine to them so it’s a win-win for all!

Try boosting your exposure by getting a spot at local festivals or setting up at wedding expos to snag potential bookings for your vineyard.

Why Should You Have a Wine Truck for Your Vineyard?

Establishing a wine truck for your vineyard is an excellent way to mobilize your business. Not only will more people be introduced to your wines, but you’ll leave a lasting memory and they’ll come back wanting more—whether at your vineyard or by finding your wine truck at another event in the future.

Especially if you have a new vineyard, a mobile truck can help you establish your name in the community. And, if you’re an established winery, you can be assured that your most dedicated clients will seek you out, an excellent selling point as you negotiate which events you wish to attend. 

If you have questions about how a mobile truck can best serve your business, contact us. We can get your mobile wine truck set up and ready to go.

Want more food truck advice? Check out more blog posts here!

Thinking about starting a food truck? Request a free custom quote and one of our food truck specialists will help you design the truck of your dreams.

Stay up to date on everything Custom Concessions has to offer! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

The post Expanding Your Vineyard Tasting Room with a Mobile Wine Truck appeared first on Custom Concessions.

Photo by Polina Kovaleva from Pexels

By the end of the year, roughly 92% of people will not have achieved their New Year’s resolutions. But, if you haven’t made immense progress in just over one month, that doesn’t mean you should scrap your resolutions altogether!

If you had some goals set for your food truck business, this is a great time to reassess them and get back on track. Grab a pen and some paper because you’re about to learn how to stick to your food truck plan and make some achievements this year. 

Break Down Goals

Setting huge goals often means you won’t cross the finish line for a while. The longer it takes to see results, the more unattainable the goal will start to feel, and the more likely you are to give up on it. 

Taking these high aspirations and breaking them down into manageable tasks is more useful. Say your goal was to take your business online this year. Break that down even further and decide where on the internet you want people to find you.

Do you want to build a website, or do you want to make a social media account? What form of social media would you use? 

Once you can answer these questions, decide who is best suited to take the steps required to launch your online platform. You can then establish a timeline, mapping out when you would like to get each action on the plan ticked off. 

Make an Outline

Sometimes a whole year is too long of a time frame for you to stay motivated about your food truck business plan. For instance, if you want to expand your food truck to include online ordering you’ll need to come up with a logistical plan to keep things running smoothly—including setting yourself up on an online platform, tracking order fulfillment, etc. If you give yourself an entire twelve months to do so, you might not get around to the task for a while. 

Setting monthly or quarterly goals can be more beneficial. Since you have already broken down your resolutions into small tasks, you can set deadlines for them. Making this outline will motivate you to get them done and keep you moving toward what you ultimately want to achieve. 

Track Your Progress 

When you complete a task, you should write it down somewhere. Every time you achieve a goal, the dopamine levels in your brain spike. Psychologically, your brain is more willing to repeat that action.

You can build off these progress trackers the following year too. Perhaps one of your intentions this year is to increase your food truck revenue. Tracking the percent increase from this year will give you an idea of what realistic expectations you should have going into the next one. 

Keep on Going with Your Food Truck Plan

Remember that failure is normal, and it doesn’t mean you can’t get back on track. Write down a purpose as to why you want to achieve the list of goals on your food truck plan to remind you why you are striving for them in the first place. 

Last but not least, if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to upgrade your food truck, don’t hesitate to reach out today for a free quote. 

Want more food truck advice? Check out more blog posts here!

Thinking about starting a food truck? Request a free custom quote and one of our food truck specialists will help you design the truck of your dreams.

Stay up to date on everything Custom Concessions has to offer! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

The post Your New Year’s Resolutions and Food Truck Plan: A Follow-Up Guide appeared first on Custom Concessions.

Photo by Vladislav Murashko from Pexels

2020 has been hard on all of us, and it’s been particularly challenging for the restaurant industry.

Throughout the winter, many business owners are thinking about what’s coming next year. To help you prepare, we’ve lined up these New Year’s resolutions to keep your food truck business going strong through 2021.

Importance of Resolutions for Food Truck Operators

It can be easy to dismiss the idea of New Year’s resolutions as frivolous and quickly forgotten, but it’s important to be prepared for anything. Setting attainable resolutions can keep your business on track and help it thrive in the eventual recovery of the economy. 

While you are thinking about your goals for next year, keep these seven resolutions in mind. You can customize them to better fit yourself as a food truck operator, and adopt just one or as many as you want! 

1. Think Healthy

We’ll start out with the theme of most New Year’s resolutions: the goal of generally being healthier. People are looking to eat more fresh, local food at the beginning of the year, and you’ll be right there for them with smart, delicious options.

2. Try Out New Ideas

Now is the perfect time to experiment with your menu and try out new items you’ve been thinking about. There’s usually a bit of a lull after the holidays, which could leave you with more time to test out dishes you didn’t have time to mess with before.

3. Become More Organized

The extra time that January provides is also an ideal time to get everything organized. You can use the downtime to research the best programs for accounting, ordering, and maintenance of equipment.

4. Take Care of Employees

Now’s the time to assess your staffing needs. If you need to hire more people, take the time to find qualified workers. If you’ve got everyone you need, make sure to let them know that they’re appreciated.

5. Go Online

If you don’t already have an online presence, now is the perfect time to set that up. If your truck isn’t on social media, it’s a good idea to start an account and engage with your customers. Creating a website with online ordering options can also be a great option to increase your sales potential.

6. Get More Involved In Your Community

Becoming more involved in your local community is always a good goal. It gets the word out about your truck and helps locals connect with you and your business. It can be as simple as participating in your city’s food truck festivals or partnering with local charities.

7. Increase Sales

If you can keep all of the above resolutions, it’s going to be easy to increase your sales. Having a specific goal that’s both realistic and optimistic is going to make it easier to achieve. 

Keep Those Resolutions

It can be easy to blow off New Year’s resolutions, not just for food truck operators but for everyone. Post them up somewhere you’ll see them every day to keep up your motivation and make 2021 a big success. Take time throughout the year to evaluate how you are doing on your goals—whether it’s once a month, or once a quarter.

Are you looking to make the most of 2021 and upgrade your food truck for the coming year? Contact us today for a free quote.

Want more food truck advice? Check out more blog posts here!

Thinking about starting a food truck? Request a free custom quote and one of our food truck specialists will help you design the truck of your dreams.

Stay up to date on everything Custom Concessions has to offer! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

The post 7 New Years Resolutions For Food Truck Operators appeared first on Custom Concessions.

We’ve come to the end of another year, and with it, the end of a decade. Looking back over the past year—or maybe even the past ten—you probably find yourself reflecting on some of the goals you’ve conquered for your mobile restaurant business, or perhaps some that have passed you by. 

The beginning of a new year is a great time to look back: on why you weren’t able to achieve some of the goals you set for yourself or on all the goals you have managed to achieve. And then, set new ones that you can strive toward in 2020!

Here are some important things to take into account when determining your food truck goals for the coming year.

1. Take Those Baby Steps

Give yourself concrete actions to go along with your lofty ambitions. There’s no point in setting goals so intimidating that you are afraid to step out and do anything about them. When thinking about your goals for the upcoming year, set out individual actions you can take toward meeting those goals. 

2. Make Your Goals Manageable

Set mini goals for yourself along the way to meeting your year-end goal. Want to get more sales at your food truck? Making a goal for yourself to sell $30,000 more than you did last year might seem overwhelming, so break it down into smaller increments. Give yourself a per-month or per-quarter sales growth target instead. That way, if you don’t meet your goal in a single month, you have the rest of the year to keep trying to achieve those goals.

3. Tell Someone About It!

The surest way to give yourself more accountability for meeting your 2020 mobile restaurant business goals is to tell someone. Or even several people! Telling someone about your goals makes them real and more concrete than when they are just ideas floating around in your head. Just make sure the person you tell is someone who will be supportive and cheer you on. That way, you’ll be more motivated to work toward making those goals come to life.

4. Get a Quote

Dreaming of owning a food truck someday, but not sure how to make it happen? Get a quote! And don’t let the numbers scare you. You can’t work towards a goal if you don’t know what the goal is. Once you have all the facts, you can start making a plan to put your dreams into action.

5. Don’t Be Afraid

Don’t let fear hold you back from achieving your goals! And don’t be afraid to fail. If you set 10 ambitious goals for yourself, but you only achieve 5, then you’ve achieved way more than you would have if you didn’t set any goals at all. 

6. Track Your Progress

Write your goals down somewhere and keep track of how you’re doing. Maybe get yourself a notebook, make a Google doc, or find a goal tracking app for your phone. Then, every time you achieve a step toward your goals, write it down. 

Want to visit 10 food truck festivals this year? Start by brainstorming which ones you could register for. As you book them, record each one tentatively as a mini goal you’ve reached. Then, once you actually attend an event, mark it permanently as one more achievement toward your total goal for the year.

7. Celebrate Your Successes

Many of us tend to beat ourselves up over failure, and we often forget to cheer ourselves on when we accomplish something special. Be sure to celebrate when you accomplish steps toward your year-end goal. Buy yourself a fancy coffee, let yourself take an afternoon or evening off, or just post about it on your social media to let the world know about your achievement. Chances are, your online food truck community will want to celebrate with you! 

Ready to Jump in to 2020?

Get out there and make your mobile restaurant business the best it can be this year. Make your resolutions, set your mini goals, write it all down, and track your progress. And don’t forget to celebrate!

Want more food truck advice? Check out more blog posts here!

Thinking about starting a food truck? Request a free custom quote and one of our food truck specialists will help you design the truck of your dreams.

Stay up to date on everything Custom Concessions has to offer! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Photo: Rawpixel

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If you run one of the 23,551 food trucks in the U.S. as of 2019, you know it’s a more affordable way to get your food in the hands of your fans than a traditional restaurant.

But the outdoor nature of your business also adds a challenge as temperatures drop in the winter. Customers aren’t as willing to line up in cold and snowy weather, even if they love your food. Without a warm dining room, you may see a slump in sales.

But instead of packing up for the winter or looking for a regular job, you can use winter food truck strategies to encourage increased off-season sales. From special promotions to expanded business offerings, slight changes in your business model can keep your cash flow going.

Try these winter food truck options for the winter months.

1. Partner With Local Businesses

Collaborating with other businesses is a mutually beneficial way to drum up more business. If you prefer the lunch crowd, find a large employer in the area who lets you set up in the parking lot. You get the captive audience of the company’s employees to keep you busy during the lunch rush.

You might also set up a table inside the business. Prepare food in your truck, and pack it up in a warmer. Head inside the business to sell to their employees.

Another option is to partner with local breweries and similar businesses that don’t serve their own food. Many breweries focus only on their beverages. That leaves patrons hungry while they’re drinking.

By setting up just outside the door of the brewery, you give those customers a quick food option. Consider hiring a runner who goes into the brewery to take orders then delivers them when the food is ready. 

The brewery can promote your food truck to help draw more customers into the establishment. Both businesses benefit from increased sales.

2. Set Up at Outdoor Holiday Festivals

Not everyone stays indoors in the winter, but you’ll need to be strategic about where to park to find those customers. Outdoor holiday festivals, such as outdoor Christmas markets or holiday tree lighting ceremonies, attract people who expect to stand out in the cold. Signing up as a food vendor for those events puts you in a prime spot to make sales during the winter.

3. Offer Delivery

The traditional food truck model involves parking your truck and waiting for customers to swarm. Since winter weather makes people want to stay indoors where it’s warm, consider flipping that model. Instead of making customers come to you, go to them.

If you park in a busy commercial area, your truck can serve as your hub. Hire a delivery person to run the food to the nearby office buildings. Adding online ordering to your website for this delivery service makes it even easier for your customers to get their food.You can also use established food delivery services, such as GrubHub, DoorDash, and UberEats. Your customers can get their food delivered, and you don’t have to manage the delivery process yourself. 

4. Create Winter Specials

Customers may need a little incentive to line up outdoors for your food. Offer special winter discounts to give customers that push. You’ll take a small hit to your profits, but you’re not making any money if no one shows up to your food truck.

You might offer a meal bundle for a cheaper combined price or a freebie with a meal order, such as a free coffee or hot chocolate with every entree. Encourage customers to bring friends by offering a buy-one-get-one-free promotion during the winter. 

5. Embrace Winter

Instead of fighting the cold and flurries, use it as part of your seasonal food truck marketing plan. A winter menu or a few additions to your normal menu help draw crowds. Consider dishes such as soup or coffee drinks to help customers stay warm.

Get the customers who brave the cold to help you promote your food truck by offering branded winter gear. Scarfs, ear warmers, and gloves are examples of items you can print with your logo as a special winter promotion.

Have fun with winter activities by putting out a few sleds that customers can use on a nearby hill while they wait for their food. Offer a free coffee to anyone who makes a snow angel, or start a snowman-building contest among your customers. These activities make the wait more enjoyable and make your food truck memorable.

6. Ramp Up Your Online Presence

When business is slow, take the spare time to focus on promotional efforts. Growing your online presence can help drum up new business in the winter. It can also help expand awareness about your food truck in the coming months.

If you don’t already have a website and social media channels, set them up and start posting. Share information about your menu, your business, and your employees. Post about any winter specials you create to encourage people to visit.

Another promotional option is to approach local food bloggers, newspapers, and other media outlets about your food truck. Invite them to try your food or do an interview with you. Being promoted on those local channels can help new customers find you.

7. Expand to Catering

Shift gears in winter toward catering instead of individual sales. Your food truck can work as the headquarters for your mobile catering service. 

Waiting for customers to stop by your truck is often unpredictable, especially in colder weather. A catering gig gives you a guaranteed amount of business. You know in advance if it’s profitable and worth your time.

Your truck offers a mobile kitchen option for cooking food on-site at the event venue. You can also use it to transport food, ingredients, and equipment to the location if you plan to cook the food in a commercial kitchen space.

Promote your catering services on your website and through your social media channels. You might cater weddings, birthday parties, fundraiser events, and other celebrations.

8. Head to Warmer Weather

One of the benefits of food trucks is the mobility aspect. When you’re the boss, you decide where to set up the truck.

If cold winter weather severely cuts into your business, consider heading to warmer climates for part of the year. Think of yourself as a business snowbird instead of a retired one.

This option works well if you already own a home or have relatives in a warmer climate. You can also find a short-term rental in your new location.

You’ll need to find temporary employees once you get to your new destination if you can’t run the truck yourself. You’ll also need to get permits and follow food truck regulations in the new area.

Use Winter Food Truck Strategies

What are your favorite food truck strategies for beating winter sales slumps? Getting creative with your food truck advertising, menu planning, promotions, and services can help keep your income up during colder periods.

If you’re in the market for a new food truck, check out our mobile kitchen galleries to fuel your inspiration!

Want more food truck advice? Check out more blog posts here!

Thinking about starting a food truck? Request a free custom quote and one of our food truck specialists will help you design the truck of your dreams.

Stay up to date on everything Custom Concessions has to offer! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

The post 8 Clever Winter Food Truck Strategies to Bring in New Customers appeared first on Custom Concessions.

Are you having trouble growing your food truck business? You’ve come to the right place! Whether you’re a current or future food truck owner, we think these tips will help jumpstart your strategy for food truck success.

Market like a Maniac 

Marketing is one of the most important aspects of your business. This is how you get your name out there to the people. After all, if no one has heard of your food truck, how are you going to grow your business?

Make sure your truck has a branded identity that is easily recognizable and pairs well with the food you serve. It doesn’t make sense to brand yourself like a 50s diner when the only dishes on the menu are Japanese noodles. 

This doesn’t mean that you can’t be creative with your styling; just make sure your creativity flows in the same vein as your food theme.

Up Your Social Media Game

Does your truck have a strong presence on social media? Or would potential customers wonder if you are even still in business judging by the lack of recent posts?

Keeping up with your engagement on social media can be tough, but your mobile food truck will thank you when lines are gathered outside of it.

Post your daily or weekly specials on Facebook. Share photos of your most enticing dishes on Instagram. Advertise your current location on your Snapchat story.

Be Frugal

Sometimes it’s tempting to look at the success you’ve had in the past and take it for granted, but don’t forget that a lot of what helped you get there was careful planning, patient saving, and judicious spending.

It’s very easy to go all out when you feel you’ve finally “made it,” but continuing to wisely steward your business resources is the best way to go. This way, if hard times unexpectedly befall you, you will have greater potential to bounce back.

Keep following your business plan. Don’t stop looking for even the small ways you can save on spending. And don’t forget to always seek wise business counsel for any major financial decisions you may find on your horizon.

Run with the Seasons

It is important to continue making the food that has gotten you so much success in the first place, but it is never a bad idea to change up the menu every now and then.

One of the key ways you can do this is by introducing seasonal specials or limited time offerings. Customers often enjoy products that are relevant to the time of year, like specialty frozen treats during summer, fall-inspired flavors in autumn, or warm comfort foods for winter. 

Having certain dishes that only return to the menu at specific times of year adds to your food truck’s nostalgia. These specials allow you to build anticipation among your clientele when a favorite seasonal item is about to come back on the menu.

Offering temporary specials also gives you the advantage of testing new recipes or ideas before adding them to your regular menu. It allows you to gauge how popular a food will be before committing to it as a permanent offering year round.

Remember To Be You

While change is a good way to add some spice to your food truck offerings, remember to stay true to your food truck’s core identity. You have made it this far with your mobile kitchen, so you’ve been doing something right along the way.

Don’t throw everything out the window or change too much at once. If you are known for specific quirks, then by all means stick to them. After all, they are probably the very things that keep returning customers coming back again and again. 

Do you serve certain specials every Wednesday? Is there a secret sauce you add to signature dishes? No matter what you are known for, keep doing you.

Start Catering

Branch out and offer catering for weddings, special events, festivals or whatever else you can find. This is not only a great way to make some serious dough (perhaps literally and figuratively), but it is also a great way to get your food truck’s name out there.

Try displaying a sign announcing your new catering service wherever you set up shop to generate awareness among your regular customers. Be sure to announce your new catering services on your social media channels. 

You could even consider contacting local print media, like food magazines, newspapers, or community newsletters, to see if they would be interested in running a story on this new service in the local food scene.

Set Goals for Growth

Finally, don’t forget to set goals for your business growth. Like any other restaurant venture, running a successful food truck comes down to implementing essential business practices. Setting goals is an important way to make sure you get where you want to be. 

Don’t let temporary slumps or unexpected bumps in the road throw off your mobile kitchen mojo. No great achievement is gained without hard work and determination, successful food trucks included. 

So get out there and keep chasing that food truck dream!

Want more food truck advice? Check out more blog posts here!

Thinking about starting a food truck? Request a free custom quote and one of our food truck specialists will help you design the truck of your dreams.

Stay up to date on everything Custom Concessions has to offer! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

The post Seeking Success: Strategies To Grow Your Food Truck Business appeared first on Custom Concessions.

Starting a food truck business can be intimidating, but when it’s your dream, you shouldn’t let the scary stuff stop you. Being afraid of the unknown can make you stall out before you even begin, so it’s important to start by taking manageable steps toward your goals.

In this post, we’re going to share a few ideas of easy things you can do to get going on your food truck business.

Brainstorm Ideas

Everyone has different ways of doing this. For you, maybe it consists of writing down all your scattered dreams in a notebook. Maybe it means sitting down with a friend or partner for coffee and bouncing thoughts off each other. Sometimes just talking about a dream out loud or getting it down on paper will make it feel more real.

Here are some things to think about at this stage:

• Your menu. Do you know what kind of food do you want to serve at your food truck? What are some of your personal favorites? What kinds of things do you enjoy cooking? Are there recipes that friends or family have complimented you on?
• Your brand. Most successful businesses have a recognizable style, whether it’s thematic or simply aesthetic. You could have a themed food truck based on the type of cuisine you will be serving, a place you love, or even an era in time that speaks to you. Or your look could be aesthetic only, defined by a certain color palette or design style. Whatever you choose, having a consistent brand will help customers pick your food truck out of the crowd.
• Your quirks. Is there something unique you could add to your food truck to make it especially memorable? Is there anything you could do to make the customer experience stand out?

There are no wrong answers during the brainstorming stage, so you have nothing to be afraid of in writing your ideas down. Who knows? Something that might have sounded crazy in your head might just turn out to be your best idea yet.

Do Some Research

Simply learning more about the food truck industry will help you get a better hold on how you might go about starting your own truck. Find out what other food trucks are in your area and eat at them so you can see how they do what they do. Read blogs and listen to podcasts not only about food, but about the business side of the restaurant world.

Another thing you can do is talk to local small business owners and ask how they got their start. Find out how they got the funding to start their venture. Ask what mistakes they made along the way and what advice they would give to other small business owners who are just starting out.

Surrounding yourself with people who are like-minded (food or business wise) will help fuel your inspiration.

Find Out About Laws & Resources

Do you have any idea what kind of licensing and permits are needed to open a food business in your city? Contact your local health department to find out what specific food-related permits you will need to think about obtaining.

Visit the U.S. Small Business Administration website and find out about all the legal things you need to get your business off the ground. You’ll eventually need to register your business name, get a business permit, open a business bank account, and get insurance to protect your food truck business.

Does your city, county or state have any resources for helping small businesses? Find out about any small business development centers available to you and take advantage of them. Schedule a meeting with an advisor who will be able to help you navigate all the mysteries of your local business world.

Set Aside Time for Planning

If you are so busy running around in your day-to-day life that you can barely think, you will never get your food truck dream off the ground.

Set aside a few hours every week when you will spend some concentrated time planning for your food truck. Whether that means sitting at a local coffee shop writing down ideas or hitting the pavement and walking around your town to find potential locations for your truck, setting aside time will help you make your business goals a priority.

If you really want to make your food truck a reality, this time should be sacred. Don’t let other plans push it out of the way. If something really important does come up, don’t just skip your planning time for the week altogether. Reschedule it for later in the day or for another day that week.

Get a Quote

How will you ever get your food truck business off the ground if you don’t have a specific goal that you are working towards?

Knowing how much your future food truck could potentially cost will give you a number to start saving for. Or it might give you the motivation to apply for a small business loan and see what the possibilities are.

Requesting a quote will help you hammer out details you may not have thought about before, because the food truck expert helping you will know all the ins and outs of different trucks and equipment.

Getting a quote will also help make your nebulous ideas more concrete. There’s no harm in just getting an idea of the cost! It doesn’t attach any strings, but it will nudge you that much closer to making your food truck dream a reality.

Ready? Go!

So what are you waiting for? Start moving on some of these ideas this week. You might be surprised at how much taking some small steps will help you put your food truck dream within reach.

Want more food truck advice? Check out more blog posts here!

Thinking about starting a food truck? Request a free custom quote and one of our food truck specialists will help you design the truck of your dreams.

Stay up to date on everything Custom Concessions has to offer! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

The post Before You Begin: Steps You Can Take Toward Making Your Food Truck Dream a Reality appeared first on Custom Concessions.