How to Start and Run Your Own Food Truck Business in Tennessee

By A. K. Wingler

With good jobs so hard to find, especially in rapidly expanding Tennessee, owning your own food truck could be the best option. It’s the least-expensive start-up, and you can be fully operational in mere months. The rules and regulations can be a bit complex, and no single source has offered all the answers—until now. How to Start and Run Your Own Food Truck Business in Tennessee is the step-by-step guide that takes you from good idea to great success. Sure, it’s hard work, but exciting, mobile, flexible, and highly profitable—and you get to be your own boss and set your own hours. This book tells you how and where to make money in this exploding independent industry. Even if you’re just curious for now, this guide is the best way to discover if a food-truck business is right for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fresh Ink Group
• Release date: Jan 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9781947893931

Book preview

Introduction

Owning and Operating a Food Truck Business in Tennessee

Have you ever thought about opening a Mobile Food Truck business in Tennessee? It’s a good idea, there is money to be made, the food truck industry is booming! Wonder what it takes to get started? We wondered too, so we researched and researched and put all the information here in one place to help out our fellow foodies!

With good jobs becoming harder to find opening your own business is a good way to go, and a Food Truck or Mobile Vending is one of the least expensive start-ups. Are you willing to work hard and long hours? Do you want to stay localized or travel around the state? We’re sure you have many questions about how and where to start; I know we did. We had so many questions about policies and procedures and couldn’t find all the answers in one place. When we finally tracked down the answers, we decided to write a guide book to make it easier for others. So, we’re here to share our experience and know-how to get you legalized, up and running, and help you on your way to a successful new adventure.

Let us first tell you who we are and what we were doing. We are Bob and Andrea and we owned and operated Andebo’s Mobile Kitchen doing business as Andebo’s Italian Style Hot Dogs down in Florida. If we’re from Florida, why are we writing about Tennessee? Because the basics are the same no matter what state you’re working in. It’s the rules and regulations that are different, so we did the research for you, to help you get started.

First question is, why do we have two names? We’ll explain later in Chapter Seven. We catered lunches at a construction site and also took part in various evening events around the Orlando area. There are several ways to make money as you will see as we go along.

One of the first things you should do is visit various food trucks, sample the foods, and ask questions, most food truck operators are happy to tell you some things about the business. Take note of the appearance of the trucks and the interior if possible. Is it clean, do they have tables for customer use, what is their menu like etc. Definitely check out menus; keep in mind the more products offered, the larger the inventory they have to stock. Food truck menus should be simple and quick, customers don’t always like to wait in line to order then wait again while you prepare something that takes a while to cook. However, if it’s a great specialty, it’ll be worth the wait! Always give good customer service, making people smile is half the fun and keeps them coming back for more!

Honestly, be prepared to work ten to twelve hours in a day and sometimes more. It’s not just pulling up to a venue, opening up and selling, that’s only half the work. There’s pre-stocking and prep time before departure, arriving at the venue two or more hours early, selling for four to five hours or so, a quick clean up at the end as most venues want you to leave shortly after closing, then a further clean up back at your storage place. If you work the big fairs, like State Fairs, be aware they are open from 10 or 11 am and could run as late as 10 or 11 pm or later. But don’t let that scare you, fairs can pay really well! Read on, here’s how to do it!

Chapter One

The Menu

Once you have a good idea of what food trucks are all about, you should get an idea of what you want to sell. Do you have a favorite family recipe that everyone loves? Are you know for a personal specialty? Maybe a local favorite like Memphis Barbeque or Nashville Hot Chicken is your style, or fan favorites likes cheesesteak sandwiches or tacos; the ideas are endless! Just keep it simple, fast and creatively delicious!

Once you have an idea or two determine what ingredients it will take to create your product. This includes your garnishes, condiments, paper and plastic ware. Example: you want to sell hot dogs. Do you offer plain only, with sauerkraut or cheese sauce? What about chili? The menu needs to be determined first so you can figure out what equipment you need which in turn determines what size truck will work for you. It’s sort of starting in the middle and working backwards. What is not a good idea is going out and buying a used truck only to find out the equipment doesn’t suit your needs.

Ok, so you’ve decided on chili cheese hot dogs. Good choice! This will require the purchase of the hot dogs, buns, cheese sauce (canned or make your own?), chili (beans or no beans, canned or make your own?).

Making your own chili and cheese sauce adds to your list of necessary ingredients to purchase and time in preparation which may be done in your commissary kitchen, as health departments do not permit foods to be prepared in your home for sale in a commercial situation.

Now how will you serve them, wrapped in paper? Served in a boat, or in a Styrofoam box? Decide which service item will best suit your needs, don’t