The Recipe for Success

Lessons from a Mobile Food Business

Since the beginning of our food trailer business, there has been no shortage of lessons. Some lessons are easy. Many, if not most, have been hard lessons.

Mr.Pimento is ran by a group of people with very diverse backgrounds, skills and experiences. However, all of us put together do not know everything. Some mistakes and challenges were unavoidable.

In reflecting on our 1 year in business, we’d like this entry to be called “The Recipe for Success”.

This will be a short list and will by no means comprise all of what is necessary to make one successful in business. It will however, be some good food for thought, pun intended.

Lets get cookin’

Lesson 1: Be Humble

It has been important for us to remember that we have so much to learn. Being humble is a necessary starting point because it places us in a state of mind that is willing to be corrected when the time comes. Boy does that time come often. I remember the time we realized we were turning on the fryer incorrectly. Meaning, we had no idea we had been turning on the fryer the wrong way, for months. We used to take almost 3 minutes to get the fryer turned on until we had an accidental discovery that revealed we had been doing it wrong all along. The new found approach literally saved us minutes of prep time at the beginning of each day. We have had many more lessons on the importance of staying humble. Your business and growth depends on it.

Lesson 2: Take Bold and Not So Bold Risks

When the triple digit heatwave hit Austin, we saw a huge drop in business at the concession window. It was quite discouraging. We knew that we had great food, great service and an overall strong brand, but people were staying inside. Our hours of operation, 5pm - 10:30pm was not working. We needed to do something different. We decided it was time to play around with our hours, but I was nervous about it. The truth is, we had nothing to lose because our sales had plummeted so sharply. Nevertheless, it was a risk in my mind and it would mean making several changes throughout the week to accommodate a new schedule. We switch over to a 7pm-12am schedule. It worked! Our business didn’t quite go back to the glory days, but there was a significant enough pick up in business that made the change worth it.

Lesson 3: Seek Mentors

Having great relationships in business is one of the most valuable things you want to pursue and hold on to. We have met so many people along the way. Some of which we are in contact with to this day. As a matter of fact, we have people in our network that have been pivotal to our success because they provided meaningful, insightful and well intended advice. Earlier this year we purchased a 500 gallon smoker(one of the risky moves we decided to take) to help us increase the volume and quality of our cooking. From that experience, we met our buddy Matt who has been a strong voice of encouragement and guidance. Through Matt we learned some insightful ways on how to grow our catering business and the people to reach out to in order to do so. This has been a blessing. Cheers to friendship and strong alliances.

To wrap up, we’d like to leave you with a little recipe try at home. Let us know if you used this recipe and give us a shout out on instagram.

Curry Chicken Recipe - Mr.Pimento Style

• 2 pounds of skinless chicken thighs(bone-in), cut into bite-sized pieces

• 3-4 tablespoons of Jamaican curry powder (Blue Mountain brand)

• 4-5 scallions, chopped

• 1 scotch bonnet pepper, seeded and minced (adjust to your spice preference)

• 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated

• 4 cloves of garlic, minced

• 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1-2 teaspoons of dried thyme)

• 1 teaspoon of salt (adjust to taste)

• 1/2 teaspoon of ground allspice

• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

• 2 cups chicken broth

Easy cook:

Take the herbs and seasonings and blend it all up as if it’s a smoothie. Take the smoothie and bathe your chicken in it. You can leave it overnight, a couple days or just cook right away.

Place oil in a crockpot or slow cooker. With all of your herb smoothie and chicken combined, place contents into crock pot or slow cooker. Proceed to place the broth in the cooker with your chicken. You can also use a pot over the stove on low heat. Set your chicken to cook low and slow. Every 45 minutes, if you can, feel free to turn the chicken, but this isn’t absolutely necessary. Once the meat is falling off the bone and is tender to the touch, your chicken is finished. Give it a try!

See y’all on the next edition

Stay savory!