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“You don’t need to know everything.” – Laney Strange on getting started in the mobile food business or anything else you might want to do.

“There were a lot of unknowns going into this and I didn’t have this background, but I had an idea I wanted to run with and a great partner and I’m running with it.” – Laney Strange on starting Memphis Punch.

In the same vein as many of our previous guests, the path to owning a mobile food business doesn’t always have a clear connection to an individuals professional background. Laney Strange has had a successful career in the software industry, lived in Silicon Valley and was employed by notable companies like Amazon.com. But personally, she didn’t feel content or fulfilled in that type of environment.

In this episode of the Food Truck Empire Podcast, Laney Strange shares her experience starting the smoothie trailer Memphis Punch. She also goes into the details of the numerous different hurdles she’s had to jump just to get off the ground over the past two months like a huge move from San Francisco to Memphis, Tennessee and competing against free beer. Still, Strange stresses the importance that you don’t need to have everything figured out before you start making progress toward your goals and dreams.

From a business advice standpoint, Laney also gets into the details on why Memphis Punch opted to use a food trailer instead of a truck, including: 1.) Modularity: Ability to upgrade to a larger trailer at any time and still use the same truck to pull it. 2.) Affordability: Memphis Punch was able to purchase a trailer, a new Toyota Tacoma, a generator, and all other equipment for under $60,000.

Episode 14 is approximately 27 minutes in length and is available on iTunes. In this podcast I also announce my commitment to fund at least one food truck startup per month for the rest of the year.

Here’s What You’ll Learn in this Episode:

  • Why you don’t need to know everything about food trailers to get started.
  • The reasons Memphis Punch decided to use a trailer
  • How Memphis Punch is targeting the healthy lifestyle market with events like fun runs, 5K’s, and walkathons.
  • What the owners of Memphis Punch are doing to re-think the food truck business
  • Why working for yourself can be more fulfilling than a traditional 9 to 5

 Mentioned in the Show

Memphis Punch – Like Memphis Punch on Facebook and connect with Laney Strange and her partner Billy Bicket directly.

Memphis Food Truck Alliance – Hat tip to this organization for connecting me with Memphis Punch for an interview. Visit their website to learn more about the other fantastic food trucks serving the Memphis area.

Funding For Your Mobile Food Venture

In this week’s episode I announced that I’m planning to fund one crowdsourced food truck project per month for the rest of the year. If you know of a deserving food truck that should be considered, please let me know about it. The best way is to post a message with a link to your KickStarter campaign on the Food Truck Empire Facebook page or send an email. Twitter works too.

I plan to fund and feature one new truck per month in October, November, and December. See you next Friday!

Want to start your own food business?

Hey! I’m Brett Lindenberg, the founder of Food Truck Empire.

We interview successful founders and share the stories behind their food trucks, restaurants, food and beverage brands. By sharing these stories, I want to help others get started.

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