I bought a used TopDog cart in 2009. This is my fifth season:
Season 1 – Worked lunches at a college campus until December. Not bad but alot of competitiion. Had another PT job.
Season 2 – Did weekends at local bike trail, college football games and a few events. Shut down by December. Had another PT job.
Season 3- Continued the bike trail, college football games and a few more events. Shut down by December. Managed a restaurant FT.
Season 4-Suddenly I started getting calls for alot more events. Ended up doing over 20 events. Left my FT job to concentrate on the cart. Worked events well into December (Christmas festivals).Only had one month that I didn’t sell. Took on some very part-time to fill in during my slow time.
Currently – Working outside a new bar on Fri/Sat nights. Waiting for the invitation to work downtown once/week for urban farmers market. 25 events booked through December so far. The very PT job dovetails really well with my cart and insures the cash flow all year.
Moral of the story…..perserverance and patience pays off. I keep calling, networking and getting more gigs. There’s a Food Truck Association starting up in town and I have been a part of it since its formation.