Case Study : Food Truck Operational Improvement

Business Strategy

Business Transformation & Operational Improvement for a food truck enterprise

Our Client by the numbers

$297k

Annual Revenue (2023)

22%

Net Income Margin

Years in Business

$1.5M

Business Valuation

Two (2)

Locations/Foodtrucks

Ardinal Strategy Group Business Consulting Project Management Data Analytics

Overview

This client is an established vegan & vegetarian food truck based in California. They are a well-recognized food truck brand, having gained substantial buzz over the last 5 years for their exquisite variety of traditional Indian cuisine. They are local to the San Jose area, serving DTC customers via in-person sales, pick ups, and food delivery across 2 food trucks. For B2B, they have executed small scale adhoc catering per. With a goal of increasing revenue & brand awareness via improved operations and new strategies, our team leveraged the following 6 assessment areas to evaluate their operations.

Operational Analysis

Conduct a comprehensive analysis of all existing business operations including Sales, HR, Customer Service, Supply Chain and Marketing to assess SOP and efficiency levels.

Sales Channel Assessment

Identify and assess the ROI on all current sales channels, including e-commerce, B2B, partnerships, and ad hoc catering contracts.

Marketing Strategy Assessment

Assess current marketing strategies and brand dynamics across all channels to identify bottlenecks with sales conversion and customer acquisitions.

Customer Acquisition

Assess all current strategies that have not improved customer acquisitions and retention across all new and existing sales channels.

Long Term Strategy Assessment

Assess all long term financial, business and growth strategies and current progress towards set milestone to evaluate their needs and effectiveness.

Catering Service Feasibility

Assess the feasibility of a quickly launched and scaled B2B catering service for schools, community events, festivals, conferences etc.

Approach

Given the comprehensive nature of our clients needs, our approach incorporated several focus areas such as Business Assessment, Growth Strategy, and Industry Due Diligence to derive solutions that can be implemented over a 3 month-period. Our approach was as follows:

Comprehensive Operational Diligence: We kickstarted our approach by conducting a comprehensive due diligence of their business operations. This includes an assessment of the main business functions, an assessment of their operational efficiencies, and an assessment of SOP implementation and application across the 2 food trucks.

Financial Due Diligence: A comprehensive financial analysis was performed to obtain an in-depth understanding of their business performance to determine the YoY impact of pricing and cost strategies on profitability. This will aid in assessing the need for any cost-cutting measures and/or pricing adjustments to increase revenue.

ROI & KPI Assessment: Our team followed up with a 5-year comprehensive assessment of their ROI and KPIs for the strategies that have implemented. Some strategies included the hiring of a marketing agency for branding & Google Ad campaign, influencer partnerships, menu design, and sales strategies that aimed at improving profit margins.

SWOT Analysis Assessment: We leveraged the standard SWOT Analysis framework with application to the food & restaurant industry. We assessed their current operations and positioning in comparison to market standard and local competitions. Our strategy targeted pain points within their operations that have gone unsolved. We also identified opportunities within menu and pricing whereby new business strategies can be implemented.

Gap Analysis & Growth Assessment: We identified gaps within their current operations that can be addressed to stimulate growth and efficiency. The main areas hindering growth opportunities that were identified included:
- limited marketing and brand strategies based on KPIs
- limits with brand appeal to online customers via DoorDash, UberEat
- challenges with catering services and customer service

Execution & Implementation

20+ Operational Strategies

We developed 20 key strategies with implementation plans that can improve operations within HR, Marketing, Customer, Finance, and Sales. The overall execution strategy is flexible, allowing them to decide how to implement these strategies over a 3-month timeline.

Revenue Channels Revitalization

Revamp DoorDash and UberEats across all locations to improve brand positioning and sales levels. Our team also introduced new branding and marketing tactics that could increases brand appeal amongst in-person customers. eg. revamp print marketing, revamp menu styling, leverage daily and weekly specials etc.

Growth Strategy Support

We built a plan of action that can be followed to secure additional growth opportunities via increasing customer acquisition, revenues, and brand engagement. This plan serves as a guide for the expansion of their geographical and online footprint.

Catering Services Launch

We led the restructuring and the implementation of their official catering services to appeal to customers, businesses, agencies and organizations. We provided support for pricing strategy, catering contract development, lead generation, and marketing.