Cycling Down For Winter

It’s been one hell of a crazy year for me, that’s for sure. It’s hard to believe we started all this now over a year ago and since opening we’ve got so many positive reviews on the food and the truck itself. We’ve learned a ton both before we opened, and since we’ve opened about operating a food truck and the learning certainly is not over. There was a concept a CEO once used a long time ago in my old career. He referred to it as “The Three R’s”. The concept is known as Review, Revise, Refocus and this is what the winter months will be about. Let’s be honest too most people don’t frequent food trucks in the hot summer months, and we’ve been advised that does not change during the winter, so it’s a good time to re-work some things. So….are you interested in what we have learned, in my continued known spirit of full transparency? Read on.

What Has Worked Well

Based on the reviews thus far, conversations, and just looking at data stats from Facebook, Google, and Instagram we can say the marketing and the food has hit the mark. We may not have a huge menu all the time, but what we do have has been described as “consistent”, “flavorful”, and other great adjectives. The reception to the food has just been extremely positive as folks can see by the nearly one hundred 5-star reviews.

We’ve gained a brand recognition with our graphics, our mascot, and our unique name, (which we will continue to always have to explain there is no pizza for sale). We’ve been told that our presence on social media is great, but we also realize we need more content that’s interesting to see and read. That’s hard when you are one person and you need to wear all the other hats.

We’ve also hit the mark on continued improvement with online ordering, text messaging for order ready alerts, and many other technical aspects to run the business with a small group of people. Or vendor relationships with Coke Consolidated, and Performance Food Service, are extremely solid and have contributed to consistent products and menu pricing.

We’ve adjusted to customer requests as best we can on portions, specials, and even menu item requests. If you didn’t know, the Roast Beef 3-Way was actually a customer request very early on. From a business perspective, we’ve maintained our expenses and we continue to be proactive with how we are spending out money both on product, donations, and payroll needs.

What Needs More Work

You can’t examine the good without some of the bad. One of the biggest hurdles we have to sort out is getting a “Number 2” person to help run some of the aspects of the kitchen. When we started out, we had this, but it turned out to be the wrong personality for what we needed. We’ve basically limped along without that “right hand” trusted person for the rest of the year, and that definitely needs to change. We’ve got some ideas on that and someone already expressing interest.

Deliveries of product has been a challenge. We’ve got great relationships with our two main vendor reps, but we have had more time wasted running around to meet delivery drivers around town. One thing people may not know is that a Commissary is not required in Greene County, but I’ll tell you it would make deliveries much easier every week. This is an area we are going to work hard to figure out over the winter as well so we can continue to provide the same products to our patrons.

When we started out, we felt we had a consistent plan for parking. We were open about the Monday through Friday, every week in the same spot(s) around town methodology. I can tell you that was great for two months or so, and business disappeared at all those locations. We started to branch out to other areas, including parking at hospitals and schools and started working out. We have had great support from some of our local business friends like Rock City and those evening setups also were great. We need to find the right mixture of places and times.

Lastly, we started asking more questions with event planners driving us to produce this article to help them understand they don’t need too many trucks and the things to ask the food vendors. We’ve also had struggles with people not understanding the size or power requirements for our rig, and that’s caused a lot of stress on us on the day we go to setup. We need to continue to communicate with planners to help them understand what they might really need help with.

What Happens Now?

First, we could use some help moving some of our inventory to folks that can readily use it. You can find the list Here Online and you can Contact Us for pricing via Facebook messenger or text to (423) 525-9454.

Also, to be perfectly honest, I (Chris) needs some part time work to make ends meet over the winter to pay the bills while Julie and I sort this out. I actually have a lot to offer other small businesses in the way of technology and operational efficiency consulting. At the same time Julie and I and hopefully a new “Number 2” can start looking to manage the other things on the list as a team of THREE instead of a one man show. So, if you need any help, know anyone that needs help with some of my unique skills over the winter, please reach out to me I would appreciate the help.

Also if you think you can help with any of the other things we are working on we would love to find some new partnerships around town and surrounding areas so we can hit the ground running again in the Spring and maintain a more consistent state of the union.

About Chris Colotti

Chris is active on the VMUG and event speaking circuit and is available for many events if you want to reach out and ask. Previously to this he spent close to a decade working for VMware as a Principal Architect. Previous to his nine plus years at VMware, Chris was a System Administrator that evolved his career into a data center architect. Chris spends a lot of time mentoring co-workers and friends on the benefits of personal growth and professional development. Chris is also amongst the first VMware Certified Design Experts (VCDX#37), and author of multiple white papers. In his spare time he helps his wife Julie run her promotional products as the accountant, book keeper, and IT Support. Chris also believes in both a healthy body and healthy mind, and has become heavily involved with fitness as a Diamond Team Beachbody Coach using P90X and other Beachbody Programs. Although Technology is his day job, Chris is passionate about fitness after losing 60 pounds himself in the last few years.

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