Rachel's in Austin! / Trailer Days
It's been an exciting week for us, as I just made the big drive from NC to TX! Moni even had a fresh batch of homemade raspberry almond muffins waiting for me. It's been an amazing journey, and an exhausting one, but I couldn't be happier to finally be in Austin after much anticipation! In addition to starting to prepare our Kickstarter rewards, we are getting right to work on our new trailer, which is currently parked in a friend's yard, with a cute dog named Pockets.
Appropriately enough, the trailer used to be a food business called Haute Pockets!
The trailer definitely needs some TLC before we can start thinking about appliances, so we are currently working on replacing portions of the interior and rebuilding it to suit our needs.
Special thanks to our carpenter friend, Rob, for helping us build our dream truck! In addition to general repairs, we are working on adding some extra counter space to make room for fridges and fryers. So far, making our floorplan is a lot like playing 3D tetris. I can't wait to get repairs done so we can start looking at kitchen equipment!
In other news, we have not *officially* decided on a location, but we are more seriously considering setting up shop at Spider House, a local cafe and music venue.
Also, on Friday we met with our ice cream heroes, Amelia and Valerie, who own Sweet Ritual here in Austin! They were kind enough to share some of their ice cream wisdom with us, and help us on our way to launching this spring. In fact, we have discussed partnering with them and using their ice cream bases to make our shakes while we launch! This would help us save money up front until we can afford certain luxuries, like a nice soft-serve machine.
Of course, later that day we had to stop by to sample some of their flavors, since I had never been before. Building a food trailer is hard work, but the market research really makes up for it. We're planning to meet with lots more food trucks and small businesses ASAP to make friends and create a network of support.
In the next week we will start putting together our Kickstarter rewards and working on our truck, as well as learning more about the legal aspects of starting the business. On Wednesday, we will be attending a small business seminar to help us figure things out!
All in all, life is sweet. :)
