THE MYTH THAT EVERY DAY YOU GO OUT IS BETTER THAN RESTING AND NOT GOING OUT

Two of the biggest issues I have found in doing a food truck are burnout from the constant long hours and the irrational belief that you always need to be out working. Sometimes it makes sense to actually take a day off. Don't believe me? Let's look at the math.

Foundational to this understanding is that nothing is free and that in order to go out and make money you incur costs. There are two types of costs—fixed and variable. Fixed costs are those you incur whether you work or not. Variable costs are those that you incur when you work.

Examples of fixed costs are truck costs (lease or monthly payment), commissary cost, insurance, business licenses and health permits.

Here is an example of what my fixed costs every day might be in Los Angeles:

• Truck lease: $3,500/month
• Commissary: $1,600/month
• General liability insurance: $1,500/year
• Auto insurance: $7,500/year
• Business licenses: $2,000/year (need one in every city that has its own city hall, as a rule)
• Health permits: $5,000/year (LA, Orange and Ventura counties plus the cities of Pasadena and Long Beach)

Assuming 20 work days a month (working five days and resting for two) and 12 months/year, that's these daily rates:

• Truck lease: $175
• Commissary: $80
• General liability insurance: $6.25
• Auto insurance: $31.25
• Business licenses: $8.33
• Health permits: $20.83

Total fixed daily costs: $321.66. Call it $325 to have a round number.

Every day that my truck sits idle I lose $325. Those are my fixed costs.

Now let's look at variable costs. If I take the truck out, I have costs like gas, food, labor, propane and cleaning. You might have the following variable costs:

• Gas: $1.50/mile (gas at $6/gallon, 4 MPG on the truck)
• Food and packaging: 20% of sales price
• Labor: $30/hour per worker (assuming no one tips and I pay them a guaranteed $30/hour)
• Propane: About $25 every four hours
• Generator: $15 every four hours
• Cleaning: $100 (the best money I ever spend so I can walk away at night and come back to a clean truck the next day)

So let's say I do a lunch shift and do $300 in sales for a job 15 miles away. Those who don't understand math say "That was $300 you didn't have."

Wait a second. Did you forget that you have variable costs? Yes you made $300 in sales but how much did it cost you to make that $300?

Let's break it down.

You spent $60 in food and that was 30 miles in gas so $45 there. Your propane was $25 and you spent $15 in generator gas. And $100 to clean the truck. Total variable costs? $245. So your actual take home is $55.

You had to wake up early, shop, prep and drive and serve. Then drive truck back and have it cleaned. To net $55.

So against my loss of $325 to sit around and stay home and REST... I now only lost $270 instead of $325. Is your time worth only $55? I would rather take that time to rest and recharge.

Trust the math. Sometimes it's better to say no, rest and not be irrationally thinking you always need to be out working.

John Ou is the owner of The Fix on Wheels, a Los Angeles burger food truck, and the founder of the Facebook Group: Food Trucks - Unfiltered, where he gives free and direct advice about running a food truck.