What have I done?

When I started this blog, I fully expected meet a roadblock or two.  And a month seemed like a long time to work out the problems.  Let's just say that the romantic idea of one month to figure this all out was ill-planned.  Time is not on my side, and the roadblocks seem more like barricades at this point.  But I'm not here to complain, that's just the reality of the situation.  Look on the bright side.  As of now, we've purchased a food truck, fashioned it to my specifications, got our LLC, got our vending license, and secured some purveyors.  All in all, not bad.  Here's the plan.

Secure a spot.  This is the part that makes me sick.  Historically, I don't sell myself well, and this is what it's all about.  How would a business owner not want to take money from me to park there and make them more visible.  It seems like it should be easy, I just have a sinking feeling.  Sorry, that was foreboding. 

Get my inspections.  Anyone who has worked with me knows my great fear of the health inspector.  Don't get me wrong, I've never failed one.  It's just a bit nerve-racking.  I tend to obsess. 

In the dramatic structure of my venture this is all part of the rising action.  I just need to make it to the resolution. 

A few pics of the new truck

26 feet of fried chicken goodness.

I'm fully aware of my neophyte status in the food truck game, but I'm pretty sure about one thing:  If you're going to call yourself a food trucker, at some point, you must acquire a food truck.  By this criteria, today I can consider myself a food trucker.  

When I arrived at the truck’s location, and the owner was outside ready to meet us, I felt pretty special.  

When David, my mechanically-minded friend, checked the overall status of the truck, I felt professional.

When Patrick, my business-minded friend, bargained with the owner on my behalf, I felt like the man.  

But when Rachel, my wife, handed him the check to take it off of craigslist, sh*t got real.  

We just bought a food truck.

Now that we have the truck, the next phase will be a mix of creative research, logistical planning, and old fashioned elbow grease.  In addition to working my full time job, I'll be refining my recipes and procedures with regard to the truck's capabilities.  

Rachel will be heading up the acquisition of all the necessary paperwork and securing a vending location.  If this wasn't enough, the truck needs a good thorough cleaning.  

There's no time to waste, it’s time to start trucking...

  

I JUST WANT TO FRY SOME CHICKEN

It all started so simple. The plan was to cook some delicious chicken. Then we would make some money

and have fun in the process. But any story worth living doesn’t involve the word “simple.” There are lots of

hoops to jump through in this food truck thing.

Getting an LLC and bank account was relatively painless. Getting a loan proved to be slightly harder. But

it seems that acquiring an actual truck for frying chicken is more complicated.

We have a set amount to spend. It's not a lot, but it's respectable. There's a delicate balance to achieve.

On one hand, we could get a fixer-upper which requires a lot of elbow grease. On the other hand, we

could reach for something at the top of our price range. This would be easier from a physical stand point,

but would deplete our funds considerably. I'm used to working hard, that's not the issue. I'm just not sure

if I'm capable of fielding all the potential curve balls that an older truck could throw.

How did it become so hard to spend money?

Through this whole process I continue to tell my wife Rachel (and myself) that "this is gonna be good". The creative bug in me starts doing its thing, and I start to dream.

Despite the complexities we face, my vision is still simple:

• Locally raised chicken, fried the right way to order.

• House-baked biscuits fresh from the oven.

• Side dishes that tap a person's soul like this meal was just cooked on a lazy Sunday.

That's cool. When I think about providing this service for people, the hard work and time spent seem like

no big deal at all.

This IS gonna be good.

here we go

Let me start off by saying that blogging was a foreign concept to me until about a week ago.  Foreign like having dental tools in your mouth, and almost as painful.  But like the dental tools, blogging is necessary for propper oral hygene.  Okay, that's where the analogy loses it, but it sort of works.  Suffice to say, I'm a little intimidated by this keyboard in front of me, but I think this is a good story worth following.

My name is Mark.  I live in Columbus Ohio with my wife Rachel and two kids Jakin and Mya.  I'm an executive banquet chef for a successful catering operation and I quit my job to start a food truck.  There, I said it.  The word "quit" was past tense, as in I already did it.  My stable bi-monthly paychecks will inevitably cease by July 2012.  But there's a silver lining to this story.  And cresting this silver lining is a chariot bearing the hopes and dreams of my family in the form of crispy fried chicken.  Sorry for the sappy visual, but the prospect of saving the financial future of my family warrants a chariot, or in this case, food truck.

I plan on blogging regularly to update you on the progress of this venture.  There's a deadline here and quite a bit at stake.  The potential obstacles are clear: finances, personal conflict, inexperience, dragons, and timing. Well, maybe not dragons.