Food trucks, which traditionally have been of the no-frills bagel and coffee variety, are giving way to pimped-out stainless steel vehicles that are clean, attractive, branded, and run by ambitious owners. Gourmet food trucks are proliferating, as are the groupies who queue up curbside in increasing numbers for a new kind of lunch. I have a client in the SoHo area of Manhattan, so I'm there a few times a month, and the neighborhood seems to be a hub for increasingly fascinating offerings.
There's the Taim Mobile, a falafel and smoothie truck which always has a line on Hudson St. And down the block is Kimchi Taco Uptown a bit, there's even a Big Gay Ice Cream Truck.
(Want to spot more trucks? Check out the New York Food Truck Association's website.)So what's it like running one of these moving eateries? Kim Ima, owner of the Treats Truck, which sells the most insane brownies, cookies and other treats (how about a peanut butter and jelly cake sandwich for lunch?), says the business has its challenges. "The biggest challenge is parking. I've developed about eight regular spots over time, but sometimes you show up and a big delivery truck or car is in the way." For such major problems, there's always a creative entrepreneurial solution. "Having a truck filled with cookies helps when you ask if someone can move their car a bit or move to different spot close by."
While food trucks offer their owners the upside of lower entry and overhead costs, Ima says there's a flipside: "The weather, the economy, everything is constantly shifting. I can't make decisions based on the way things worked four years ago, or sometimes even last week."
And while Ima is both the mom and the pop in this mom-and-pop business, bigger things are coming for this truck operator. "In the fall, I'm opening a storefront in Carroll Gardens [Brooklyn] called The Treats Truck Stop. It will be a bakery cafe, with a production kitchen for both the cafe and the truck. Also, I have a cookbook coming out November 1st called The Treats Truck Baking Book. I'd like to add a second truck by next spring. And, of course, I'll have a bigger staff to help run the truck and the store."
Interested in entrepreneurship? Instead of just ordering that kimchee taco, ask the owner for some entrepreneurial wisdom.