Getting my first customers

It started last September when I flew into LA to visit some family.  My brother-in-law and I were out taco-hunting in K-town when a thought occured to him: "What if we put Korean barbecue in a taco?"  I thought it was a great idea, but knowing the food industry, getting any idea - big or little - off the ground is an impossibly uphill battle.

2 weeks later, I received another call, and this time, he called to let me know that a friend of his owned a fleet of taco trucks and was willing to rent us one for a month for free.  Around that same time, Mark's good friend Roy - a high end chef - was looking to get his hands dirty again and open a Korean hamburger place.

My sister Caroline put together a rough business plan whilst Roy created personal tastings for my family over the next month and a half, working day and night to harmonize Korean and Mexican flavors.  He'd email me what kinds of ingredients he was using and I would give him a little feedback here and there. 

Around that time my little brother Eric got his good friend Mike involved, who designed our logo as a favor and, as a social media networker, advised us to put up a Twitter feed so that people would know where to find our nomadic truck. 

Mark's initial business plan was to park in front of some night clubs because drunken people tend to get very hungry at the end of the night.  I, on the other hand, thought our food deserved to be tasted by sober palates.  High end approaches to street food are rare to find around LA. 

For our first tasting, I reached out to all the West Coast bloggers I could get a hold of.  If there were people who enjoyed food and could recognize something special when they saw it - it would be the bloggers.  

After 30 emails, I finally got an answer back from Abby of Pleasure Palate and Eddie Lin from Deep End Dining.  We arranged a personal tasting for Abby and her foodie friends and had Eddie come to our official tasting in Pasadena.

Our first weekend out trolling the streets of Hollywood, we couldn't give our tacos away.  Club owners would chase us out or people would snub us.  And then the blog posts came in and the food blogging community sat up and listened.  . 

The bloggers created the buzz and the Twitter helped keep people in the loop in regards to our locations.  Fans would seek out parking locations for us.  By then Eddie had decided to mention us on his spot for KCRW's "Good Food" and the rest is history

Advice for others

Reach out to the bloggers in regards to your business, give great service, have enthusiasm for what you're doing, allow family members the creativity to channel their own talents, keep relationships close and friendly with the customers and listen to their feedback.  It's good to understand that there will be ups and downs and even mishaps can turn into invaluable learning experiences or opportunities.  Also, sincerely consider each adn every idea, no matter how crazy it sounds.