Spring has sprung, so it’s the perfect time to set a game plan for your experiential, sampling, and promotional event success when the the hustle and bustle of spring and summer begin. Let’s explore Tips for Ramping Up Your Events for Spring in this article. Although we cannot speak on behalf of all food truck builders, APEX Specialty Vehicles fabricates only a limited number of custom food trucks and trailers each year, so our production facility is booking up quickly. If you’re ready to get a quote and get started – complete the quoter tool here.

TIPS FOR RAMPING UP YOUR EVENTS FOR SPRING 

Many existing food truck operators are beginning to ramp up for the food truck season, however there are some newbies to the food truck segment that may not necessarily prepared for the influx in business. Foodtruckr.com recently published an article, “How Your Food Truck Business Can Rock Spring,” and highlights a great list of reminders when approaching this season:

1. Start hiring employees. 
Great employees can be hard to find, so it’s a good idea to get started on the hiring and interview process before business becomes too busy and you’re scrambling at the last minute.

2. Market, market, market.
Get a plan together to market your food truck and get the word out for your upcoming events and locations. Have you set up social media accounts? Reached out to local event coordinators about space? Create a buzz.

3. Get your food truck into tip-top shape.
Take some time to evaluate your equipment and the truck to ensure everything is operating correctly. The more time you’re on the road; the greater the ROI. Reduce the amount of downtime during the busy season, and have any repairs done prior to hitting the spring schedule.

4. Prepare menus
Does your menu reflect ingredients that are in-season? Will your menu change with the seasons? If so, take some time to modify your menu selection.

5. Inventory/Replenishment Schedule
This is a good opportunity to figure out your inventory and replenishment schedule for this season. An effective way to do this is to review last year’s numbers (if this isn’t your first year on the road), and build off of those numbers. If this is your first year for a food truck, you will have greater uncertainty for how your inventory will be adjusted. Be flexible, and willing to adapt!

6. Get some catering events, festivals, concerts, food truck events on your calendar.
Schedule some catering events, food truck rally’s, concerts/festivals, etc… get your calendar booked with events, so you’re able to back-fill with the open food truck sessions.

7. Get creative with attracting customers.
Everyone loves samples, so set up at a great place for foot traffic and give away samples of your food. Try it before you buy it is effective in the food truck realm! How about offering daily specials? A preferred customer punch card? Discounts on catering gigs? Explore some new and creative ways to get people to try your food, then the rest is history!

8. Have fun.
At the end of the day, you own and operate a food truck – how cool is that?! Be sure you keep in mind your primary reasons for starting this food truck dream!

We hope this article inspires you to get excited about the upcoming warmer weather days, which result in greater traffic for your business. If there are any additional questions you have that APEX Specialty Vehicles can answer specifically about food trucks – designing, engineering, building, etc. – please give us a call. 816.853.3360