To-Do Lists

So this being my first time starting a business it seems like there is always a to-do list with an ever-growing number of items on it. Knowing that you're doing all of it so your business will be successful though is a very different motivator than someone telling you that stuff needs to be done. I love knowing that Courtney and I are doing this all on our own and I can't wait to see what's going to happen.

I got to taste some of the amazing creations Courtney has been thinking up and Betsy so kindly took pictures for us. Last night we had concord grape spiced cider, spiced pepitas(pumpkin seeds), spicy roasted pumpkin, and a pumpkin cake with harvest beer caramel sauce. It was all so good!!! We will be submitting entries so we can take part in Mohawk market in Norman at the end of this month which is like a farmer market but more hip and takes place at night.

When we were just getting ideas about starting our truck we read a lot about starting a food truck over on Clover Food Lab and they so openly shared all of the obstacles and issues they faced as they started their truck so along the way we will be sharing the problems we encounter along with hopefully the fun and exciting things that we get to experience.

Today has been a little stressful trying to get insurance quotes. I read somewhere that when starting a business you should always budget 20% over what you think it will actually cost because things always come up. I now am starting to believe that whole-heartedly. I had a quote for auto and general liability insurance today for $6500. Now folks, 20% is one thing but over 200% is something else entirely. Thank goodness I got another quote at least for auto that was much cheaper and hopefully we'll hear back from our awesome insurance guy tomorrow with some great news on general liability.

The great news is that every day I encounter more opportunities for us. Plaza district is a new up and coming area in the city and they are hosting a festival on Saturday that I'm going to check out because they are all about embracing local so I would love to get a contact there so we could park there once or twice a week. We also will be looking at Mesta Festa later in the month, several farmers markets that we could take advantage of and I know have my sites on Homecoming at OSU at the end of October. Fall is such a great time to be launching our truck and I'm excited to think about how this is all coming together at exactly the right time.

I will update tomorrow with hopefully a report on insurance and hopefully with our auto inspection scheduled for the truck!

I will leave you with the picture of the delicious food that Courtney cooked up last night. And again a special shout-out to the awesome photographer (Betsy Gillies). She will one day be famous for all these incredible photos she takes so remember that name! She is also owed credit for introducing Courtney and I and making Skookum possible. We at Skookum really love Betsy!!!

The Beginning

Hello Everyone!

Today is our first blog entry to document our progress on starting our food truck! We just heard back from the great Payne County Bank today and we have been officially approved for our loan to purchase our truck. From here on out we will be writing about everything we are doing to get up and running.

Steps we have already taken before getting approved for our loan.

1. Got an EIN
2. Registered as an LLC here in OK
3. Created a business plan w/financials
4. Created an operating Agreement for our LLC
5. Went to a class on starting a business where we learned about sales tax, payroll taxes, etc
6. Trademarked our name
7. Went and had a marketing meeting in Stillwater to discuss our business plans

We hope you will all follow along as we start our business and bring a new food concept to the heart of OKC.