Not with the intention of giving you any tempting ideas to break the law but recently a food truck in Denver was caught selling more than just food. If you ordered a “6 pack,” don’t expect to get 6 cans of your favorite beer because this was the code used to order meth or methamphetamine a.k.a. crystal or ice.  News such as these give customers reason to distrust food trucks which makes it another peril to face when thinking of opening your own food truck business.

Fortunately, the overall image of food trucks remains unblemished although there still remains a multitude of must-do or not-do for first-time food truck operators. Here are a few of the valuable insider tips you could benefit from knowing before opening the windows to your new food truck operation.

When establishing your food truck business:

• Do not forget that if you cross over to a different city, you will have to apply for another set of city permits. At the same time, you will need to check the health ordinances, regulations, sanitation and insurance requirements for food truck operations because they can differ with every city.
• In most cities, you are given a limited time to park and you might have to steer clear of brick and mortar restaurants.
• Get all the advice you can but be picky on which ones to act on and if the decision has anything to do with permits and taxes, always talk to the right authorities.
• Limit your menu and number of ingredients since storage is limited and customers want their food served within a reasonable amount of time like 10 minutes or less.
• Don’t wait for the last minute to apply for permits or inclusion into food truck events. These are usually best done as soon as possible since the waiting list for approval is getting longer by the month with the astronomical rise of food trucks around the country.

When running your food truck business:

• Be ready to work on weekends and holidays. Also, just because you’ve closed down for the day does not mean you stop working. There are so many other tasks to do like purchasing, food preparation, marketing, and accounting.
• You have to be on site to make sure quality remains high.
• You need to love food and serving customers because it’s important for customers to talk and relate to food truck owners if you want to establish a loyal following.
• Many food events charge entrance fees to be a part of a special event or ask for a percentage of your sale. Do factor this in when you do your cost accounting.
• Give yourself at least 10 to 30 minutes to set up so be early in order to avoid wasting time.
• Never forget truck maintenance because unnecessary repairs will eat into your profit.

Finally, consider investing in a customized food truck and a portable easy start, low noise generator because these are the investments that will pay off in the end.

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