Brett Lindenberg, founder of FoodTruckEmpire.com, shares his insight into what it takes to get a food truck rolling these days and tips on how to keep the business successfully running.

Notes: Links to resources mentioned within the podcast are included below the transcript.

TRANSCRIPT:

Jennifer:

Today, we’re talking to Brett Lindenberg who’s a founder of FoodTruckEmpire.com which was started in 2013 with the goal of becoming the ultimate resource for aspiring mobile food owners. Today, FoodTruckEmpire.com received over 60,000 visitors each month and has been cited in publications like Entrepreneur Magazine and Restaurant Hospitality.

 

In July of 2016, FoodTruckEmpire.com will be kicking off season two of their podcast series where they’re going to be following along a hot dog cart vendor on his journey to build successful mobile food business.

 

For more information about the podcast series or any of the resources available on the Food Truck Empire site, visit www.foodtruckempire.com and we will as always include a link to this in the transcript page for today’s podcast on the small food business site as well. Brett, thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate it.

 

Brett:

Thanks for having me too Jennifer. I’m a big fan of yours so appreciate being on the podcast.

 

Jennifer:

This is awesome because you’re bringing a whole bunch of a food truck knowledge. You go so deep into this industry. I wanted to start with you started foodtruckempire.com in 2013 and now we’re recording this podcast in 2016, what changes have you seen in the food truck industry between then and now?

 

Brett:

Yeah, when I started the blog back in 2016 I was actually starting it basically because I was looking into a food truck business for myself and I couldn’t really find any information about it online but I was a big fan of this what me and you are doing right now, I listened to a lot of podcast.

 

I was like, “Well, maybe if I started a podcast I could basically just have an excuse to talk to a bunch of food truck owners and not have them be like fearful in sharing information with me and then just go from there and see what happens.” That’s what I did. I would say one of the biggest things between then and now when I got started is I think there’s just … In general, I’d say the industry I think is getting … There’s a little bit more information that’s getting published about it.

 

I think it’s maybe the industry as a whole as getting structured a little bit better and there’s a little bit less just the myth of the joys of operating a food truck from TV shows like the Great Food Truck Race where you’re just going to buy a truck and go about there and park somewhere and make a whole bunch of money.

 

I think just the expectations and the understanding of all the actual work it takes to actually run a food truck successfully and the hours that go into it. I think that is a really big thing between, or difference between then and now. You’ve got more people that want to get into it for I would say the right reasons because they’re really serious about it and they’ve done their research.

 

I think that’s a really great change and then I’d say also too another big change that say between th...