Buy New Custom Food Trucks or Used?

When it comes to trying to lower the food truck cost, a lot of people think going the used route will save them the most money. But in reality, custom food trucks offer better savings. Last year more than 80 percent of all new food truck businesses reported failing within their first two years of business. The number one reason why they failed was truck and equipment malfunction. When you buy a used food truck there is no guarantee you are investing in reliable equipment. In addition, a previously owned food truck was designed for another business with a platform to foster their current needs and future growth goals, and not yours. If you were planning to have kids you probably wouldn’t buy a one-bedroom house because it wouldn’t accomodate healthy growth, and the same ideology applies to a food truck’s platform. Therefore, the cost of a used food truck will likely be a bad investment and certainly a risky one either way you cut it. This is why buying new custom food trucks designed for your needs pay off. 

Work with a Builder that Justifies Food Truck Cost

Be sure you partner with a builder that can justify the food truck cost by showing how it aligns with your plans to hit your growth goals. For example, if you and your partner decide you want to start a food truck business yourself, and have five items on your menu with the goals to double your menu items, invest in a deep fryer and add an extra employee if you can gain a 40 percent profit on your business at the end of the year, then the cost of your food truck should justify the things you need to hit these goals. In cases like this, the best food truck companies will create custom food trucks designed to accomodate your current needs with just enough space to allow you to grow into your target business model. This means the food truck cost must support a build that will promote growth, based on your plans, from start to finish. 

Food Truck Cost and Equipment

One sure way to run into problems with your food truck business is to try to keep the upfront food truck cost down by investing in low-quality equipment and materials. For example, porous materials like heavy duty plastics, tiles, wood and other items can be difficult to clean, trap moisture, collect food debris, and grow mold. The last thing you need is to have sick customers and the health department lowering your grade and fining you. This is why investing in high-quality stainless steel and the best equipment will justify the food truck cost while presenting you with an efficient workspace that’s easy to clean (and keep clean) and that will enable you to run an efficient business with delighted customers lined up around the corner. 

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Used VS. New Custom Food Trucks: Ability to Make Money

Many people are under the impression that used food trucks will save them significant amounts of money, but last year more than 80 percent of food truck businesses failed in their first year of operations, and the main reason was due to  mechanical failures that created major inconveniences taking food trucks off the road. Ongoing repair costs, plus the fact that customers went to the competition saw massive losses for food truck businesses, and as a result, they fizzled out. Your ability to make a profit is everything, and if you don’t have a reliable food truck to serve as the hub of your business, you are left with a weak core. In order to be successful, custom food trucks are absolutely the best investment because they are configured to help you achieve your specific goals and come to you in perfect working order.

Custom Food Trucks are Designed for You

We just briefly touched on this, but in order to be successful in the food truck business, custom food trucks designed to help business owners hit their specific growth goals is key. Everything from your target customers, to the cuisine you serve, to the number of employees you have must go into the food truck design in order to create a platform that will function according to each food truck owner’s specific business goals.

Consider it this way: imagine a food truck business that serves up surf and turf. Currently, their menu consists of some basic items like lobster rolls, tacos and skewered snacks. They have two people working in the truck and sell in the evening down by the beach. But their growth goals are to include proper steaks to offer the true restaurant experience from their menus, sell downtown during the hectic lunch hour, and hire on two more employees. This means food trucks need to be customized to both facilitate current and future needs, and customization is where it’s at.

Custom Food Truck Platforms

The size of your food truck platform is crucial. Going too big is an unnecessary expense out the gate, and will only serve as a hole in your profits bucket. It is important to find food truck builders who can design a platform that will allow you to achieve current goals, and grow into your future space as a highly profitable business making successful growth moves.

Custom Food Trucks Foster Growth. Period.

Growth comes with custom food trucks that are designed to work around your business model as opposed to someone else’s. Make sure to partner with food truck builders who can design a food truck that makes sense for your customers, your business model, and your goals and you will be in a much better position to succeed and create a comfortable life for yourself grounded in great earning potential.

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But let’s explore food truck cost in greater depth, and define the factors that matter most. This article will help people interested in buying a food truck make an educated purchasing decision based around value.

The Cost of Used Food Trucks is Deceiving

All too often, people think they are saving money when buying a previously owned food truck. But when it comes to buying a food truck that’s used, most only focus on the sticker price and therefore fall into the illusion they are saving money.

In reality, used food trucks are more prone to repair-needs, and often these come up fairly regularly. In addition, engine problems and other mechanical issues can surface that throw your food truck out of commission. Not only will you have to pay for repair bills, but the loss of revenue and the dip in traffic you will later experience as a result to customers going to your competitors will cause an overall greater loss.

Food Truck Cost is Relative to Business Goals

If your goal is to expand and grow your business, then you will need a food truck built to accommodate your current and future needs. If you only have your sights set on maintaining a small operation, then you don’t want to overspend on something you will never utilize. The best food truck companies ensure all clients gain real value by investing in a food truck that will help them hit their short and long-term goals. The upfront investment cost will be based on growth goals, and a good food truck builder will be able to offer a competitive price for a custom food truck that will help their clients keep cost down and make wise investment decisions for their business.

Food Truck Equipment Cost

The best custom food truck companies will offer equipment at an affordable price. Ranges, refrigerators, freezers, griddles, friers, stoves and ovens can eat into the food truck cost rather quickly. This is why top food truck builders offer high-quality equipment at lower prices than the competition. Do your research and look for average cost, and look into the various brands. Read consumer reviews, and educate yourself. Even though your food truck builder is already well-versed in the world of food truck equipment, entering a relationship with a builder in which you know enough to be dangerous is always beneficial.

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Financing a Food Truck

If you plan to buy a food truck using cash, then this section won’t necessarily apply to you. However, most people finance their food trucks so we will go over this subject. The best food truck companies help their customers determine what type of financing they need, and they even recommend creditors and financing plans. The truly amazing food truck companies will even engineer a custom food truck design to accommodate the financial needs of their customers. Make sure your food truck builder is aware of financing options, and that they help their clients get approved for a load that makes perfect sense for their goals and capabilities.

Buy a Food Truck from a Veteran Builder

You may not care how long your florist or dry cleaner has been in business (hey, service is service). But the time a food truck builder has been in business is a huge testimony to their ability to provide high quality service. Using shoddy welds, poor equipment, and construction methods that eat up power and provide poor insulation can increase your average order value simply because the condition to serve an item rack up higher costs. The food truck business is a close-knit community, and when a food truck company creates a poor-quality build, news spreads fast. So when you buy a food truck, make sure the manufacturer has been in business for at least a decade, as this time will attest to the quality of their food trucks.

Look for Custom Food Truck Builders and Branding

When buying a food truck, your needs will not be the same as the company’s next customer. That said, there is no one-size-fits all food truck. When shopping for a food truck manufacturer, look for a company that considers the following items into your build:

• Your local market and competitors
• Your short-term and long-terms business goals
• Your consumer audience members
• Your operations
• The menu

Knowing your local market and competition will help food truck manufacturers design a truck that will resonate with people right out the gate. Also, accommodating your goals is key in the build; the space must accommodate your current operations, and be large enough for future growth. The truck, its technology and branding must reflect something that meets the desires of your customers, and when buying a food truck look for a builder that will implement the right equipment and work spaces to make operations a breeze. This will also help you turn out your menu items with reduced cost.

When Buying a Food Truck Interview at Least Three Companies

Before pulling the trigger, speak to a minimum of three food truck builders. Look for one that meets this criteria, that communicates well, and that you feel will be your true partner in the food truck business.

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Starting a food truck business has its risks, but with those risks comes a big opportunity to make multiple six figures. In fact, the average food truck in America that survived its second year of business grossed more than $300,000 last year. If you are looking to hire the best food truck builders to help kick-start your business, make sure they perform the following tasks covered in this article to help their clients see profitable growth.

Food Truck Builders Should Align Business Goals with Design

When you start vetting food truck builders, be sure to locate one that asks probing questions about your business goals as part of their research for building a food truck. Most food truck businesses start out small and increase their operations as profit permits. Most food truck businesses begin with one or two people, then hire additional employees once they have hit a growth milestone. Your food truck builder should take the time to ask you what your goals are so they can design the food truck to accommodate you. But space for an additional 2 more employees isn’t the only consideration here. Part of a food truck business growth goal could be to expand the menu, and often this adding additional food truck equipment pieces. So the best food truck builders make sure the specs accommodate these future goals.

The Best Food Truck Companies Build for Your Customers

Your customers are going to be the deciding factor as to whether your food truck business makes a sweet profit and sees steady growth, or flops and burns. Therefore, food truck companies should seek an in-depth understanding of your customers in order to offer build suggestions that would make the food truck experience amazing for them.

Here’s an example: let’s say a food truck company has a client who plans on working in Downtown Los Angeles selling surf and turf to the busy lunch crowd. Knowing that most people get an hour’s lunch break, ordering times will be a huge deciding factor as to whether or not people will do business with you. A good food truck builder may suggest an interactive menu that allows customers to pre-pay for lunches in order to avoid long waits. They might also suggest various technology devices that entertain customers who are waiting in line to make time fly by.

Branding a Food Truck

The best food truck builders will know how to lay out a custom vinyl wrap on your food truck, or design a hand-painted shell design that looks sharp, brands your business, and remains memorable to your customers. Color, graphics, design placement, and social media tags should all be strategically thought out.

Look for a food truck builder who performs these tasks, and you will be off to a great start to see year-over-year growth.

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Your dream is to run a successful food truck business, and with today ls competition as fierce as it is, you need to a strong start out the gate. When you work with a company capable of creating a profitable food truck design that will accommodate your needs and delight your customers, your chance of being successful triples. After all, in 2017 more than 80 percent of new food truck businesses failed in their first two years with the leading cause to be due to inadequate designs.

This article is intended for help people understand what goes into a food truck design that will likely roll out in year-over-year growth.

1 . The Food Truck Design Begins with the Platform

Once your food truck manufacturer has helped you find the truck, the platform build is the vital foundation to the design and its ability to be profitable. Some of the most common specs include:

• 14 foot
• 16 foot
• 18 foot
• 20 foot
• Trailers
• Spinners
• Custom food trucks with specific dimensions

Your food truck builder should first discover your business model, growth goals, and understand your geographic market in order to help you choose the best platform likely to generate profit. Many food truck companies fail because they buy a food truck that’s too big and they waste money in operations. Then there are people buying food trucks that are too small; they think they are saving money by going small but in reality they wind up not having the space needed to grow, let alone function successfully. The best food truck design accommodates the business in the present while still offering room to grow based upon realistic goals.

2 . Food Truck Equipment

A profitable food truck design must call for new equipment. All too often food truck businesses will invest in used friers, griddles, freezers and other accoutrements in their quest to save money. But used food truck equipment is notorious for breaking down and causing owners to lose money while they are out of commission. Look for a food truck manufacturer that can get you wholesale prices; this way you are saving tons of money while getting top-of-the-line new food truck equipment.

3 . Food Truck Body Design

Finally, look for a food truck company capable of creating an exterior design that brands your business while staying relevant to your buyer audience. Whether they use vinyl wrapping or hand-painted art with airbrushing technology, the design must be backed on marketing research to ensure it uses customer targeting considerations in its messaging, logo, colors, and aesthetic appeal. The design should also enable the food truck to be hyper competitive in its space and be a fan favorite for years to come.

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But how do food service distributors know how to shop custom food truck companies for a single vehicle or fleet of food trucks that can meet their specific requirements? These tips will help.

The Best Custom Food Truck Builders Serve Wide Consumer Audiences

The trademark of top food truck companies are those who manufacture vehicles for a wide buyer audience. When custom food truck builders have deep portfolios from working with companies like Google and Disney, to family-run food truck businesses and single entrepreneurs, being able to win repeat business from various clients with opposing needs is a true testimony to the food truck company’s ability to make loved, custom work where any challenge can be overcome.

Look for Food Truck Designers with an Eye for Marketing

The food service distribution industry is extremely competitive, so knowing how to market yourself through your food truck is paramount to hitting your growth goals. The best food truck designers will take your current operations into account, your growth goals, and research your market before designing a food truck.

A good food truck design is never limited to colorful graphics. Rather, it should begin with the platform type. In order to stay profitable, food service companies will need food trucks that allow their employees and chefs the space and room to function, with a little room left for growth. You never want to go too big, as the larger your vehicle, the more money you spend in gas and powering the platform. Ideally, you want something with a tad more space than currently required to facilitate growth goals.

In addition to choosing a platform and its equipment, food truck designers make the vehicle attractive with art work and messaging designed to resonate with your target buyers. If you are a corporation like Kraft and you have a food service division that prepares meals for a large movie studio, you will want food truck designers who consider target clients, their employees tastes, and design a food truck that speaks to their demands. Whether they use a vinyl wrap or they hand-paint a food truck with catchy call-to-actions and bright, head-turning artwork, food truck designers must always look through a marketing lens at all times.

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