learn<\/em> phase. During this phase you\u2019ll gather important information about the satisfaction levels of your customers in regards to your menu items, service, and the customer experience with your food truck business. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe beauty of the Lean Startup Method is that if any of your solutions fail, you can trash them and develop new ones. Focusing on effective products, services, and advertising tactics will ultimately lead to a more successful food truck business for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If a company sold an overly expensive product and told people that it had an 80% chance to break down, malfunction, or otherwise fail within a year of purchase, most people wouldn\u2019t buy that product. This scenario seems outlandish, but that\u2019s basically what the Lean Startup Method does. Four out of five businesses started with the traditional startup method result in failure during their first year of business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A business owner who starts a food truck with the traditional startup method takes significant financial risks and pays high startup costs. They don\u2019t learn about the industry or conduct market research but instead jump right in and hope their business succeeds. But when you start a food truck using the Lean Startup Method, you\u2019ll continually test different ideas, menu items, and services to meet the needs of your customers by making changes based on their feedback. A business started with the Lean Startup Method has an automatic advantage over businesses started with the traditional startup method because you\u2019ll build a community for your food truck that will eventually become your customer base. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using the Lean Startup Method to start your food truck means you\u2019ll have lower startup costs than people who bought food trucks using the traditional startup method. The traditional startup method expects you to be able to fund buying your own food truck and pay high startup costs. The Lean Startup Method allows you the chance to learn about the food truck industry and how to successfully run your business gradually. Without the added stress of high startup costs, your food truck business has more of a chance to survive and thrive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
How am I able to so confidently state that your food truck is more likely to succeed with the Lean Startup Method? Easy. I\u2019ve started five different businesses during the past eight years using the Lean Startup Method. I was able to sell three of them successfully, and I still own and manage the other two to this day. I went on to help thousands of people start the businesses of their dreams, and I can help you start your food truck too! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lean Startup Method and the core tenets of build<\/em>, measure<\/em>, and learn<\/em> reduce the startup costs of your food truck business and can provide you with solid foundations and the necessary tools to manage a successful food truck. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Build<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nDuring the build<\/em> phase, you\u2019ll develop a plan and build your food truck business. You do this by identifying a problem that your community has with other food trucks and the industry at large, creating a community for your food truck, recognizing an opportunity to provide a solution, and developing that solution. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThis phase is important because it provides you with an opportunity to determine whether the ideas you have for your food truck are good and whether they meet the needs of your community. Building a solid foundation for your food truck business and acquiring the knowledge and tools necessary to run a successful business are the goals of the build<\/em> phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Step 1: Identify a problem<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe first item on your agenda should be discovering a problem that a number of people have, one that you feel you can solve with your food truck. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can\u2019t just start selling food from your food truck and hoping people buy it because that isn\u2019t an effective business model. There are hundreds of new restaurants on the market, and numerous food trucks in the country, and customers simply don\u2019t have enough money to support them all. A much more effective tactic is to find a compelling reason for people to buy your food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But finding this compelling reason can be tough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What you need to do is find a pain point<\/em>, a business term for a problem that\u2019s common among a lot of people and causes pain or discomfort enough for them to look for a solution for it. Either the people will develop a solution on their own or they\u2019ll pay someone else for a solution. You want your food truck to be that solution. <\/p>\n\n\n\nBut it\u2019s not as simple as adopting the menus and advertising tactics of other food trucks. You need to find a problem that local people face that can be solved with your food truck specifically. Are there not many food trucks in your area? Have people in your area been looking for a food truck with a specific type of food (Mexican, burgers, desserts)? Do all the food trucks in your area sell the same types of products? How familiar are local customers with food trucks?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take note of the concerns that people bring up to you because you can use them to develop your business. Do other food trucks neglect to give people customization options and a variety of toppings? Would people like to see more menu variety in food trucks? Would people like to see a food truck that sells a type of street food not offered by local food trucks? Are people interested in a food truck with friendly staff and experienced cooks? Do they want creative signature dishes? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After you\u2019ve talked to more than a handful of people you should notice a few common concerns that pop up in your interviews, and you can start adding these to future surveys. Make sure you ask customers about how much these problems affect them. When you ask about other food trucks, you\u2019ll gain insight into the food truck industry, other local food trucks, the types of food available at food trucks in your area, events where people visit food trucks, and the service that people expect from food truck businesses. You can sift through this information to find the problem you want to focus on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>How do you choose which problem to focus on?<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe Lean Startup Method doesn\u2019t outline a way for you to choose the problem you will address, but these tips should make choosing a problem a bit easier: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Choose a problem that affects a lot of people. Are there not enough of one type of food truck in the area? Do people want more portable food that they can eat on their walk back to work? Would people like to see new menu options from a new food truck? <\/li>
- Choose a problem that can be considered a pain point<\/em>. When learning how to start a food truck, it does you no good to choose a problem that no one cares about. The more agitated or distressed by a problem people are, the better an option it is for your food truck. Are there no food trucks near big businesses (call centers, construction sites, hospitals, etc.)? Do no local food trucks show up at events, forcing people to eat the typical carnival food and get bored? Are people in your area looking for new menu options to get out of their dinner ruts? <\/li>
- Choose a problem that you can reasonably solve. If people want fancy gourmet meals from a Michelin-starred chef served from a food truck, that\u2019s not something you can realistically provide. But what you can<\/em> do is use gourmet ingredients and add exotic options periodically to scratch their artisanal itch. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
The goal of this step is to find a problem that affects a lot of people and causes enough pain or distress in their lives that they\u2019re willing to pay for a solution to it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n