Making money as a food truck is all about the location. When you choose a busy location with plenty of people walking by, many people will buy from you. If your location of choice doesn’t have people walking by or the only people walking by are not in your audience, you won’t make that much money.

Knowing how to find locations that will be profitable is a skill that all food truck owners should have.

Follow Your Target Audience

Running a food truck is much like running a restaurant. You need to keep your audience in mind at all times when making decisions. This goes for the location of your food truck as well.

What kinds of people eat the food and drinks that your food truck has to offer? Then, where do those people frequently go? Let’s say that you are a bubble tea truck, which has become popular with teens and young adults. You would want to have your truck located in an area where young adults and teens like to go. This could be near shopping centers and festivals.

Know your audience and know where they like to go. Have your food truck in those locations to have a profitable day.

Look for Food Truck Events

There are times and events when the event managers will want to bring several food trucks around for people to buy from. A popular example of this is the food trucks that are commonly at fairs and carnivals. The food that you buy from carnivals is from one of the many food trucks making up the food court.

Carnivals aren’t the only event that will host several food trucks. Many outdoor events will utilize food truck rentals and create a food court area just out of food trucks. Some colleges will have events that have them bringing in food trucks.

Many events will rent food trucks because they are a super easy way to bring food to the event attendees without having to worry about catering or the cleanup. As a food truck, these events are super convenient as you will have a large audience already lined up to see what kind of food you are offering. Events are always profitable locations as there will always be a collection of people at the event craving what you are selling.

Know the Popular and Unpopular Times of a Location

Even in places that people frequent, those places aren’t busy at all times of the day. With that, you need to figure out when the popular times are as well as when the empty times are.

Google already has a feature that shows you when businesses are the most and least busy depending on the time of day. That tool can be a good starting point when figuring out when the best time of day for locations are.

Then, you can also determine when popular times are by going to the location frequently yourself. If you go to a location every day at different times for a week, you will see for yourself how busy or empty the location is.

Once you find consistent busy times, you will know that’s when the location will be the most profitable.

Know Where You Are Allowed to Have Your Food Truck

While it is important to know which locations will be profitable, it is also important to know which locations won’t be at all. The locations that are not profitable are the places that don’t allow food trucks.

Before moving your food truck to any new location, look at the permits and regulations for that area. Understand if you are able to have your food truck there and if so, with what permits.

Having your food truck in a location where food trucks aren’t allowed will make getting a fine very likely. Having fines aren’t a profitable business move, they are instead the opposite.

Think Outside the Box

If you are still stuck with finding a profitable location for your food truck, try thinking outside of the box. Sometimes, the best locations aren’t the most conventional or the most obvious. There are many great locations for making a profit that isn’t the classic food truck park or outdoor event.

Where are the locations around your city where you tend to find yourself hungry yet with no options around? If there is a spot that jumps to your mind, check out the times when that location is busy and have your food truck there!

Some food trucks have decided to go nocturnal and satisfy the hungry customers that are up late at night. During the night, there is a whole new audience that needs to be catered to.

Food Truck Productivity Tips

Now that you have an idea of how to find profitable locations for your food truck, it is always helpful to know about more productivity tips for your food truck.

To successfully run a food truck, remember to:

• Make sure you keep your restaurant and parking permits updated
• Balance your profits with your parking and food costs
• Utilize social media for gaining the attention of your audience
• Eliminate as many distractions as possible to optimize efficiency
• Get the most important tasks done during your high-energy times
• Keep a big to-do list for all your food truck-related tasks

Food truck management is also restaurant management. Your goals are to make a profit while staying efficient.

Find the Right Location for Your Food Truck

Every kind of food truck will have different locations that will earn them the most profit. Using the tips listed above, take time to learn which locations make the most sense for your food truck and what times will get you the most customers.

As a food truck, it is important to save time and money. Staying organized with your profits, permits, and spendings are ways to make sure that you can continue earning a high profit even during the less busy days.