Do you own a food truck or are you considering starting a food truck business? Aside from slinging some killer cuisine, a custom food truck wrap is one the best ways to build your brand and stand out amongst the competition. Let's look a few things you should think about when considering investing in wrapping your food truck:

Do:

1. Consider Your Specific Food Truck Configuration: Food trucks are as unique as the food served out of them. That being said, make sure you're thinking about your food truck configuration when developing a design. Your food truck wrap may have the most elaborate and eye-catching design but if it does not compliment the layout and take into consideration, windows, body lines, viewable fields and angles then you may not be getting the most out of your food truck wrap.
2. Competitor Research: Most of our customers are not 100% married to a design concept or scheme when we first engage for their food truck wraps. We always recommend you spend some time researching the competition (local or national) and look for design inspiration and ideas! Let's face it, few of us are as creative as we hope at times, and when those times come it's always the worst. Invest some time on Pinterest looking for food truck wrap designs and get some ideas. Pro-Tip: Knowing what you don't like is just as important as knowing what you do like!
3. Maximize Your "Retail" Space: What do we mean by this? Simply put, your food truck is your retail space, inside and out! When we work with our customers or their fabricators we know how much time, consideration and money you put into getting the exact custom layout for the most efficient kitchen layout you can. Why then skimp out on the outside!? Most food truck wraps we install are no less than 350 square feet and some are double that. That's a small apartment in NYC! You're missing out if you're not taking full advantage of all of the "storefront" space on the outside of your food truck.

Don't:

1. Wait. One of the biggest issues we run into with our customers is they wait until the last minute to get their food truck wrapped. This is a huge mistake and, in our experience, only ends up adding unnecessary stress to your plate. Make sure you take the time to sit down and reverse engineer your timeline for when you need your truck in service and serving up some hungry customers. Have a big event you need to be at? Let us know right from the start so we can help walk through your timeline to make sure you're in place and looking sharp! Most food truck wraps only take 2-3 days for us to install. That can depend on complexity of install and size but that is a general safe bet for how long you should budget for your wrap to be installed.
2. Neglect Your Wrap: We cannot stress this enough: a vehicle wrap is not paint! They're custom vinyl graphics and as such they require a little more care. To the best of your ability, hand or gently wash your truck whenever it comes time to wash it. This will help extend the lifespan of your wrap and therefore give you a greater return on your investment. Try to keep your food truck in shade and avoid dirt roads if possible as those will also lead to a longer life for your wrap!
3. Overemphasize The Phone Number: This is a big one and it's important to frame this around your goals and what is best for your business. A few things to think about when designing your food truck wrap and considering a phone number or not: Do you want people to call you? Do you want to start the conversation elsewhere (ie. website, social media etc.) For years and years it was an absolute must that you have a phone number in your wrap design and it has to be almost as prominent as your logo. As technology has changed though, consumers have too and many would prefer to get in touch after they've seen your website, social or other digital presence. When was the last time you dialed a number from a vehicle wrap you saw on the road? Did you call or check them out online first? There's no right answer here, but it's not something to overthink either.

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Did you know?:

1. Ink Monstr provides the best customer service, communication and the highest quality food truck wraps in Denver. As such, we know what it takes to keep your project on deadline and get you in service as soon as possible. We can work with your fabricator or body shop directly to keep tabs on the status of your food truck and when it's ready for wrapping!
2. We measure and template your vehicle. Guess and check does not work with custom food truck wraps, you've got to put eyes on the truck, measure and template it for a proper full wrap to come to life. 
3. We can help you create your design from scratch, or we can work with your files or designer directly to produce your food truck wrap. Whether we design your wrap for you, or you send us files already created, our team of world class print and production designers will ensure your wrap is proofed out to the exact specifications for your food truck wrap. 
4. Full wraps are more durable than spot graphics or decals! Though a full wrap will cost you more than partial graphics, a full wrap is more durable and will generally last longer. Every edge of vinyl on paint can become a failure point as it's prone to being picked, pulled or chipped. Full wraps are paneled across the length of the food truck and the vinyl has overlapping seams where the vinyl is on another panel of vinyl, opposed to paint. As crazy as it sounds, vinyl adheres best to another piece of vinyl! All said, full wraps maximize your retail coverage and give you the most durable solution!
5. A food truck wrap can last anywhere from 3-7 years generally. That's a big range, we know, but we've seen wraps changed out annually and we see some that are a blast from the past. In Colorado, we generally expect to see about 2-5 years lifespan out of a food truck wrap depending on how it is cared for. That said, you should think of your food truck wrap as your storefront; don't let your storefront get faded, old, dirty or out of date with design! 
6. Your food truck wrap can generate 30,000+ impressions every. single. day. Mind blowing right!? When it comes to advertising strategies for your food truck business, it's difficult to find a better marketing investment than your business wrap. A wrap is a one time expense that builds your brand recognition with every mile so your cost per impression goes down every single day! How many marketing investments are like that!? No recurring expenses, no expensive clicks or pay-per-impression campaigns, just good old fashioned brand marketing.
7. Last but definitely not least…How much does a food truck wrap cost? This is a great question and as much as we’d love to just tell you a number straight away, the unfortunate answer is: it depends. It depends on a lot of things! Are we doing a full wrap or partial? Are we doing the design or are you? Is the installation going to require more time or be more complex? How large is your food truck? What we can say is generally speaking, we see our food truck wraps come in around $4,000-$7,000 depending on a lot of factors.

When it comes to wrapping your food truck, the design options are limitless and there are a lot of things you should take into consideration. The most important thing to remember is that for the best food truck wraps you need the best partner to walk through every stage of the process. We're time tested, proven and ready to help you build your business!

Give us a shout if you want to chat at 303-200-0676 or, if you're ready to get some pricing going and start your food truck wrap process, head over to our Get A Quote page, share some details and we'll get back to you as soon as possible!