We were lucky to catch up with Chase Davis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Chase, thanks for joining us today. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers

Our craziest time came when the world was really crazy… The 2020 Pandemic! We had to quickly figure out how we would stay in business, especially since it started at the beginning of what was supposed to be our busy season. Since most of our business comes from large festival crowds and businesses we knew we were up against a big hurdle. Our staff came together and decided families are at home and everyone still has to eat, so let’s develop a marketing plan that shows how safe food trucks are, create an online ordering service, and contact subdivision HOA’s and lets serve lunch and dinner. They place an order and pay online, receive a pickup time and send one family member to pick up. We would park the truck at the club house for an easy pick up and everyone was happy. This was enough to keep us up and running but nowhere near what we were use to. We knew that some people were still working so we begin reaching out to them and got lucky and developed a relationship with the Department of Labor. They had over 600 employees needing to be fed which really added to our bottom line. We knew we could make it.

Things got even better! I got a call from a producer who said that they heard great things about us and needed a caterer for a movie set but it wasn’t a typical set. She went on to explain that Tyler Perry wanted to continue filming BUT it was in the bubble. So my thought was “in the bubble, what is that”. Mr. Perry was going to build a dormitory for staff, production and actors to live on campus (“in the bubble”) while they continued filming. Which basically meant once you’re on campus, you could not leave. She said that it would be approximate 300 people for lunch and the same for a late night dinner for about 1-2 weeks, can you do it? Do you have staff that could leave their family for that amount of time? I took a deep breathe and said yes of course before I even knew what the pay was. Well let’s just say Mr. Perry pays well, really well!

It was exciting being on site and being a part of production. The night service was somewhat difficult because we were to serve 30 minutes after they finished on set. Well that could be anywhere between 10:00pm and 1:30am and it really did vary so it was like being on call all that time. It was hard work but we enjoyed it! Several times Mr. Perry wanted our Chicken & Waffle Kabob at odd hours and guess what I did,, made it to the best of my ability. He always came back so it must have been good. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and we knew they did once we got the call from producer who said, “We loved you guys and want you to come back”. I was thrilled!

So the really crazy part is that they continued to produce shows the remainder of 2020 and into the first quarter of 2021 and guess who remained the caterer… yep, King Kabob Food Truck!!! We would work 2 weeks then have about 10 days off and then our last time we spent almost an entire month. By that time we were ready to go, but what a rewarding, exciting and crazy time we had at Tyler Perry Studios! When the world had slowed down and in some instances stopped, we had our best year yet! CRAZY!!!

Chase, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Spending three years in high school and four years in college studying culinary it was a given that my career would center around the food and hospitality industry. My first thought was I wanted to open a restaurant. As I did my research, I realized that financially it seemed close to impossible. Determined to stay in the field I began to think about a more doable approach to the industry and that’s when the idea of a food truck came into the picture.

I started a food truck businesses because like I said I didn’t have the funds to open a restaurant. Banks were not eager to give a new startup the capital needed to succeed. So I looked in a different direction. It was still a challenge to get funding, no one wanted to give a young straight out of college black male money to start a business. I got discouraged a little but I was determined. Someone jokingly said to me, “they give loans all the time for weddings”, so of course, my first thought was to give that a try. It worked, I was able to get a $25,000 personal loan to cover my “wedding”. The rest is history!
I wanted to be different, something that would stand out from all the other food trucks. As I brainstormed with my team I thought, “Why don’t we do a little bit of everything, all the foods I like, and put it on a stick”. King Kabob Food Truck was born! Once I decided what type of food I would serve, coming up with the name was easy. I’ve always called myself “King Chase” growing up so when I knew I was going to server kabobs, King Kabob was it.

My menu consists of all the foods I like to eat! We have a standard menu that consists of Chicken, Steak and Veggie Kabobs served over rice but we also go outside the box and have items like our Famous Chicken & Waffle Kabob, Low-Country Boil Kabob and a favorite of many, King Gobbler Kabob, served only at the beginning of November, all your Thanksgiving Day favorites on a stick.

We prep and cook our food on the truck. Most of the prep takes place in our commissary unit which allows a little more space to maneuver on the truck. Our commissary kitchen has always been at Prep Atlanta since our conception in 2015. We initially came to Prep because we liked the vibe of those running it! Since then we noticed that all of our needs were being taken care of so there was no need to go anywhere else. We also get leads generated from Prep so that’s always good especially if you’re a new business.

I really like the food industry and my ability as a food truck owner to have flexibility. Over the course of the last 6 years, I’ve learned how to work smart. I’m no longer interested in working 60-80 hours a week which would be the case for a restaurant. I like being able to make the same kind of money while minimizing the hours I work. It wasn’t always that way but the more you develop your brand, provide a good consistent product and become known in the industry as a “go-to”, the more you are in control of your destiny.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

If you are not resilient and fearless it’s difficult to be a successful business owner. And being in the food service business can be even more challenging when it comes to employees. It’s very difficult to get employees that will treat your business as you do. Not only that, it’s also difficult and a challenge sometimes to get candidates to show up for interviews. I remember getting responses from 24 applicants and only one showed up. I hired him because I thought he could be trained and an asset, but I was wrong, he didn’t show up for his first day. So early on I relied on my relatives to help out. My mom and aunt consistently worked on the truck for the first year and gradually I would fine a few good employees but that took a while.

Finding good help is and continues to be one of the biggest challenges I encounter. Since our work isn’t 9-5 employees have to be flexible which often leads to them needing a second job which doesn’t always work out. Although it continues to be a struggle throughout King Kabobs existence we’ve had some great employees…ones that have bought into our concept and that have a sincere desire to see our truck be the best!

In addition to employees, resilience is critical on a food truck because of the uncontrollable issues that we occasionally run into, truck or generator problems or any other mechanical issue. The truck is your restaurant so if something goes wrong with it, the restaurant is close! There are so many unknown variables when running a food truck…whether people will come out, will it rain, will there be too many trucks and not enough people. Because we have done well that has changed for us over the course of the last six years. We have a set minimum now before we come out which makes everything a lot easier.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Food trucks can require a great deal of maintenance, from the truck, to the equipment, to the electrical and plumbing issues that arise. Paying professionals to come out definitely takes your bottom line down a great deal. I had to realize that all issues don’t require a certified professional but someone that has a good understanding of what’s going on. I realized that I had to become a student of my business. Every time I have someone come out and look at something that has gone wrong with the truck or equipment I pay attention and take notes. The next time with a little help from YouTube I do it myself.

My preference in the past was to research and figure things out on my own, but I had to unlearn that. I’ve realized that you must be flexible and learn from other people’s successes and failures. Why recreate the wheel, why not just prefect it. I generally do that by being in touch and networking with others in the business.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.thekingkabob.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thekingkabob
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thekingkabob
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thekingkabob
• Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/thekingkabob