Franchise Spotlight: Shaq, Mr. October Endorse Original SoupMan Food truck

Mobility:

Crawford says, “We serve a great product like we would out of a restaurant, but out of the cart. You can take it to Wall Street five days a week, and during the weekend to a fair, festival, theme park, baseball or football game. Anywhere across the country you think you can find a big market. You can’t get that with a regular brick and mortar. With a store if you open in a spot that’s a bust and decide to sell no-one wants it. And you’ve got hundreds of thousands of dollars invested.”

Profitability:

It’s simple to maintain, with a limited number of employees and no rent. Crawford has been taking the cart to venues across the country over the last year to gauge the market. He says on an average day he brings in as much as $2000.

Taste and Flavor

The cart program offers between seven and nine flavors from 40 Soupman brands. They put all the soups on rotation depending on customer demand and personal choice. They also offer a sandwich and the soup combo and a lobster roll sandwich.

Marketability:

The Original SoupMan has partnered with The Atlanta Franchise Group, a franchise development company, to push sales. They will partner on multiple fronts including franchise sales and development, franchise operations and training and franchise implementation.

With more than 20 years of experience and $400 million in generated revenue, Atlanta Franchise Group has a proven track record for launching and scaling franchise concepts.

So will the black community embrace the brand?

Shaquille says, “Soupman soups are bold and spicy flavor. My family and friends love the soups so I think this product will do well in the African American community. We also have great feedback from our customers and strong sales in Newark, NJ.”

They also have a popular pilot program at Malcolm X Shabazz High School that serves soup and other lunch items.

Franchisees get a three-week classroom training period, manuals on food safety and a written test. After that all they’ll need is to fill the cups right and treat the customers with respect.

Some disadvantages include the weather, finding parking, vehicle problems, traffic, a crowded space, and truck maintenance.