Tutorial:Starting your own business


Week 4


Day 19: Market Analysis


In the Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties the approximately 40 food trucks: 17 in Santa Barbara County, 17 in Ventura county, and 7 in San Luis Obispo county. I used Yelp to find the competitors. Many of the food trucks serve up burgers, hot dogs and tacos. There are a few that have coffee, Asian, Italian, sushi, and BBQ items. There is even one French food specialist. The mobile food truck industry is showing consistent growth.


There is still plenty of room for growth. Many cities are trying to figure out how to regulate the food truck industry. Most cities are favorable to ordinances that will allow the food truck industry to expand and be successful. The average cost of a truck is $85,000, $90,000 for initial start up. Here is the breakdown by where the trucks are located: fifty five percent are on street corners, eighteen percent at special events, fifteen percent at construction and industrial sites and twelve percent at shopping malls.


One of the strengths of the industry is its portability. The truck can be moved to many locations quite easily compared to a restaurant. Another strength relates to the cost. A completely equiped food truck costs around $85,000, which includes all the equipment necessary to cook and store the menu items.


One of the biggest drawbacks relates to the past. Many mobile food trucks had the reputation of not being clean - roach coaches, and the low quality of the food. These past threats to the industry have improved over time due to festivals, where a number of food truck vendors are invited and competition between them.


Day 20: Product/Service


Our product line consists of Sliders: beef, pork and chicken. We will also serve soft drinks, French fries, onion rings, baked beans and coleslaw.

To interest our customers in our products, we will feature pictures of the items on an electronic menu board attached to the outside of the truck. It will include images and prices of the items we have to offer for sale.

For our catering business we will have a web page and list our enterprise in Yelp, have a Facebook page, an Instagram and a Twitter accounts. We will offer monetary incentives if the "Like" us on the social media sites.

Classic Cheese
Portabells Mushroom
Blue Cheese

French Fries

Onion Rings

Baked Beans

Pork Sliders

Chicken Sliders

Soft Drinks

Coleslaw