As you know by now from reading this blog I love food analogies and I love to relate stories about food to marketing.  Last week was the finale of  the Great Food Truck Race featured on the Food Network and hosted by the amazing chef,  Tyler Florence.  For those of you who didn’t watch the show features 8 teams of people competing for a chance to win a 50K state of the art food truck. During the course of 7 weeks each team was taken through a series of challenges designed to ultimately see who could run a food truck with the best results.

Whether you are opening a food truck any other type of business where you are selling products or services the recipe for success is the same.

Tyler asked the contestants why they were there and again at the end of the season with the two final contestants.   I think it’s critical you know your why, because that’s part of your story and what creates your brand.  Our “why” shines through everything we do when we clearly know why and what motivates us.  On a side note, I recommend the book “Start With Why” by Simon Sinek if you want to really go deeper and gain clarity.

BRANDING – Can you clearly define your brand?  Is your brand memorable and shareable?  What does your band stand for?  These are all questions that you need to answer from the get go.  In the example of the Great Food Truck Race, the contestants were given the challenge to cook five dishes that represented their brand.  In the case of  the food trucks, you knew exactly what type of food to expect from each truck.  Do people know what to expect from you?  Are you true to your brand?

MARKETING – Are the steps we take along the way to get people to know, like and trust us enough to buy from us?  The truck contestants were challenged in each city they stopped to market to a new audience.  It included sourcing and cooking  local ingredients that were specific to the region. As with all businesses who have to know our audience, and are you the one they will buy from?  There are many ways to market and advertise, as an example one of the trucks stops included the creation of a 30 second commercial that was broadcast on the radio.

PARTNERING – Learning to partner with others in your niche can be an effective strategy for gaining exposure.  I often will partner with my colleague Kristen Brown owner of Happy Hour Effect. We teach workshops together collaborating our expertise and tapping into each others connections.  As in the Great Food Truck race, teams were challenged at times to work together rather than just be competitors.  Who could you partner with to create more exposure?

TIME MANAGEMENT – Seems we are all challenged with time management, being rushed to get things accomplished in less time.  But time management is about efficiency and getting your product and service to market quickly.  Often it is those who implement at a faster speed will make more money, they simply make improvements as they go.  In the case of the food trucks those who could shop, prep and start selling would win.  How fast can you get to market?  Can you implement now and perfect later?

BUMPS ALONG THE WAY – As with any business we will encounter bumps that force us to change gears and adapt. Having the ability to act quickly will often determine our success or failure.  The food truck contestants were thrown curve balls all along their journey such as having to cook food that was not their specialty but in order to survive and move on they learned to adapt and rise to the occasion.

QUALITY – At the end of the day, the  quality of our products and service will tell the story of our success. Just like a plate of food – if we serve it cold, lacking of flavor and appeal we will not get a repeat customer or referral.   Quality and service must be part of our marketing plan.  Think in terms of how you followup with people after the sale and are you memorable?

From Food Network TV

From Food Network TV

So from my perspective The Great Food Truck Race was all about building a business from the ground up.  Lessons taught by Tyler Florence were all about taking your skills and talents and learning what it takes to build a brand, market that brand and develop a  business model that is repeatable and profitable.