When first time restauranteurs or food truck owners are just starting out it’s logical to think that perfecting the food is the best use of their limited time. After all if you don’t make a good impression to first time customers, you might never get the opportunity to serve them a second time.
In this Q/A interview with Eric Silverstein, owner of the massively popular Austin-based restaurant  The Peached Tortilla shares why food is actually not the most important factor in determining whether or not a food business will be successful. Eric knows what he’s talking about too. Just a few years ago Eric launched The Peached Tortilla concept from a single food truck. Today Eric’s brand has grown to four food trucks, a restaurant location, and is regarded as a visionary restauranteur in the Austin area.
In this interview Eric sits down with a brand new co-founder, Quentin Cantu of Ranch Hand Food Truck to discuss some of the misconceptions about food startups and what to expect if you’re thinking about embarking on your own food startup journey. Click play on the video below to watch the full 3 minute and 12 second interview.

Interview Highlights

Question: What are the biggest misconceptions about food start-ups? What do you wish you would have known when you got started?
Answer: Your investment in human capital is extremely important. Your team will make or break you in this industry. Also, if you’re goal is to grow, you simply won’t be able to work every shift. You can’t prep and chop everything. How you cultivate and manage your team will dictate your level of success in the restaurant industry. If you’re starting a food truck, you may not realize that you will become a manager of people by embarking on this business. How you treat and lead people is a big component.
You need to have a system for operating your business. You need to have a system for ordering more product, cooking food, serving customers. When you just start out, obviously you won’t have everything figured out immediately. It will take some time to get this part right, continue to evolve and be a process that you optimize over time.
Eric points out at the conclusion of the conversation that how to cook food or what you’re serving never came up as part of this section of the interview. That’s not to say that having terrific food isn’t important. But if you want to start and grow a successful business, your energy as the owner of that business needs to be on other areas.
If you enjoyed this video Eric Silverstein is regularly publishing videos like this weekly on his YouTube Channel. Eric’s goal is to document what it takes to succeed in today’s hyper competitive restaurant industry. Whether you’re thinking about getting started or looking for ways to make your current restaurant more efficient this will be a hugely valuable behind the scenes series. Check out the series intro video below:
https://youtu.be/G4QSrn_QX6E