A packed calendar isn't the same as a profitable one.
When you run a truck, every booking request feels like a win. Someone wants you at their event, that's good, right? Not always. I've said yes to plenty of "great opportunities" that cost me money once I actually did the math. A packed calendar can hide a losing month just as easily as it can build one.
The numbers I actually run before I say yes
- The minimum. Some events guarantee a number, some don't. If there's no minimum and no guarantee, I'm betting my whole day on foot traffic I don't control.
- Travel. An hour each way isn't "an hour." It's gas, it's wear on the truck, it's a driver who isn't cooking, and it's two hours you can't use for anything else that day.
- Staffing. A truck still needs the same hands whether you sell out or sell nothing. Staffing an event is a fixed cost against a variable outcome.
- Weather. Outdoor events live and die by it. A forecast that flips the day before can turn a promising Saturday into a wash, and you've already bought and prepped for it.
- Prep. Prepping for a big crowd that never shows means food that either gets thrown out or eaten into next week's numbers.
What happens when the crowd never shows
This is the part nobody talks about when they're excited about a booking. You show up, staff is on the clock, the truck is stocked, and the promised crowd is a fraction of what was pitched. Now you're standing in a parking lot doing math on how much of today you're going to eat.
I don't say this to talk anyone out of events. Some of the best days we've had came from exactly this kind of booking. But I stopped saying yes to everything, and started saying yes to the ones where the math actually works before the truck ever leaves the lot.
The question I ask now
Before I commit, I ask myself one thing: if this event is a total dud, can I still cover the day? If the answer's no, either the terms need to change, or I pass. It's not glamorous, but it's kept us from turning "opportunities" into losses more times than I can count.