Starting a Food Truck Business

1. The food truck company owners provide different benefits to the communities they work in. They try to give a seasonal menu of food produced from locally grown ingredients, which gives a good option for the local people. Most of the food they sell is locally grown, fresh, and environmentally conscious. This presents an alternative to the processed foods that most people in downtown Columbus eat daily (ABC News, 2013). What is more, the customers can directly support local farmers by purchasing food from the truck. 2. The benefits of having a food truck business include the smaller risk comparing to a sit-in restaurant. Moreover, some overheads costs are eliminated when one operates a food-tuck business; for example, one does not have to pay rent as compared to sit-in restaurants. Besides, the service at the food truck businesses is also faster as the customers pay and collects their orders as they go. The other advantage is that the initial cost of starting the food truck business is also low. Furthermore, food trucks come with the opportunity of participating in concerts and events, and thus turn out to be profitable.

Question Three

Like any other ventures, food truck businesses also come with notable risks. Firstly, there is the challenge of regulation from the local authorities due to the sensitive nature of the business. The other risk is that in case of fault in the equipment used to make the food, a business may experience loss of customers and revenue. Further, there is also the risk of low profit margins due to the competitive nature of the industry (Weber, 2012).

Question Four

Dan and Steve have various characteristics that will enable their business to become a success. Firstly, the two are tenacious; they have been able to live with the uncertainty that is accompanied with their business. For instance the hours of operations for their food truck prove to be a challenge (Thomas, 2012). Additionally, the two entrepreneurs acknowledge the fact that they have gone for quite some time without getting profits but they are not ready to give up. Further, the two plan everything and manage their money well; they are helped with a non-profit organization EC TI which helps them with the marketing aspect as well as social media.

Question Five

The type of entrepreneurship shown in the video is that of small businesses. These are business such grocery stores whereby the owner runs his or her business. Most of these businesses are run by families, and they are barely profitable during the first one year. The source of funding for such businesses is often from personal savings and borrowing from family members (Kumar, 2008).

Question Six

The success of the food truck business is dependent on additional support factors. With the number of customers increasing Dan and Steve should think about the expansion of their business. The expansion may be buying another food truck or adding more offerings to the menu. The other additional support that would be critical is employing more staff so that service delivery is improved.

Question Seven

The two entrepreneurs should heavily advertise their food truck’s selections of food. Additionally, they should send information to various event planners throughout Columbus city that will call on them for catering needs. Considering that they serve a variety of food and beverages, their mobile truck will be able to efficiently offer catering services for a wide spectrum of casual events.

References

ABC News,. (2013). Video: Building a Food Truck Business from Ground Up. ABC News. from http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/building-food-truck-business-ground-18777941

Kumar, S. A. (2008). Small Business and Entrepreneurship. IK International Pvt Ltd.

Thomas, E. (2012). How to start a home-based food truck business (1st ed.). Guildford, Ct.: Globe Pequot Press

Weber, D. (2012). The Food Truck Handbook: Start, Grow, and Succeed in the Mobile Food Business. John Wiley & Sons.