Building a two-sided marketplace with real constraints
Check it outFood truck owners struggle to get booked for events. Event planners don't have a reliable way to find and book food trucks. Existing solutions are either generic event platforms or require upfront subscriptions that don't work for seasonal small businesses.
Why existing solutions don't work for food truck owners
Food truck businesses are highly seasonal. Revenue drops significantly in winter months. Any fixed monthly cost—like a subscription—becomes a real burden when cash flow is tight. Existing platforms don't account for this reality, making them unattractive to the very people they're trying to serve.
Research and insights
Seasonality is a real concern
Eight conversations with food truck owners revealed consistent patterns. January and February are slow months. Any fat in the budget during winter is a problem. Fixed costs don't work for this business model.
The community is welcoming
Food truck owners remember what it's like starting out. They're happy to refer you to others in the space. This openness gave us access to more conversations and validated that there's genuine interest in solving this problem.
They're okay with manual processes
Food truck owners were surprisingly comfortable with bookings going through their email rather than a fancy platform. This insight let us de-risk the launch with a simpler MVP.
STRATEGIC DECISIONS
How we learned
We initially planned a subscription model—predictable revenue for us, clear value prop for them. But research with food truck owners showed this wouldn't work given their seasonal cash flow.
The insight and choice we made
We pivoted to a percentage fee per booking, charged to both food truck owners and event planners. No fixed costs. The platform only makes money when they make money. This aligns our incentives with theirs and removes the barrier that would've prevented sign-ups.
Design solution
We built a simple email form that redirects booking information to the food truck owner's inbox. No complex booking flow yet. No payment processing. Just enough to test if the value proposition works.
The site is live at cateit.com with four food trucks signed up. We're focusing on supply-side first—getting food trucks on the platform before pushing hard on event planner acquisition.
Design compromises we made
- •The site uses a modular system limited to five components across all pages—faster to build, but limits flexibility
- •Food truck editing is in a modal instead of a drawer
- •Landing page is more generic than ideal—we cut location-specific carousels to ship faster
More interested? Take a look at cateit.com
Current status
Where we are now (pre soft-launch)
Site is live with food trucks listed. We haven't done the marketing push yet. Next step is building out the full booking flow and onboarding more trucks.
What we've learned about launching
Building a marketplace part-time across three cities is hard. We've had to align three different motivations: one person wants it on their CV, one sees it as a hobby, and I want it to become my job. We've learned where to cut corners and where not to.
Next priorities
- •Complete the booking flow with payment processing
- •Validate pricing through early bookings
- •Push marketing to get more food trucks on board
- •Test whether we can generate enough demand to make the marketplace viable