Introduction

It was a beautiful fall afternoon on November 23, 2013 in the Chinatown of Washington, D.C.. The Department of Health was having a DCHealthLink Health Fair outside of the Martin Luther King Library and they had invited several diverse radio stations and food vendors in order to attract those passing by. These food vendors, all food trucks, included Senor Taco, DC Sliders, Dolci Gelati, Hala Grill, and Jerk@Nite. A month before, Jerk@Nite hadn’t been established. It was more of a thought. Denville Myrie, CEO of Jerk@Nite, never pictured a a year ago that he would be cooking his thoughts in a truck and serving them to real customers.

Background

Myrie, a Physical Therapy/Health Science student at Howard University, came here from Jamaica with an I’m-going-to-be-somebody attitude. He made plans to be a health professional dealing with health administration with the long-term goal of owning a hospital. He is a interesting guy with a hustler’s mentality.

Not knowing anything about the culture of the university, he quickly adapted and a found a way into the culture’s infrastructure that would better prepare him for the future he planned. He realized early that the campus housing situation wasn’t a fit for his lifestyle and during his second year, he and some friends found a place not too far from campus. This is where the idea of Jerk@Nite was created.

Myrie was tired of the selections offered during the late night hours, and being that he was entering into a health industry, it just killed him to have to make unhealthy decisions about the food that was entering into him. During that same time, he started thinking about meals that he would eat late at night. He also knew that if you keep waiting, you’ll wait for forever.

So, when he moved to his new place during his 3rd year, he began to practice cooking He knew he needed to get better at his hobby in order to make it that much more delicious. He needed to perfect his ingredients and make the dishes look good. He continued to do that in his 3rd location where he conducted several “focus groups” with his friends to get their opinions on the food. It didn’t take long for them to hop on board.

In addition to getting his friends to taste the food, he also asked how much they would pay for the food. There was no specific number reached but ranged from $5-$10. Myrie’s financial inquiries led to his great friend, Anthony Miller, giving him $5 to make him his prized “The Mandeville”. This moment was the huge and the official call to action for Jerk@Nite. Myrie realized that time waits for no one and he had no choice but to continue because he had supporters on his side.

Menu

Myrie had to create menu that would be particularly likable by people within the
Howard University area . He considered several options, but came up with a list containing sandwiches, pastas, native cuisine, and comfort foods. Foods needed to be fresh and hormone-free.

Department of Health

The opportunity to even start a food truck began in the Department of Health. They were in need of a final vendor for the health fair in November. They asked Myrie, who already allowed several people in the department to try the food, if he would like to participate. With no hesitation, Myrie agreed to jump on the bandwagon. He calculated in his mind of the profit that he could make. He also understood his food, Jamaican and jerk-based, would fill the diversity gap that would’ve lacked at the health fair. However, there was major problem. There was no food truck.

The Department of Health offered some helpful tips for Myrie that would help him ease into the food truck industry. They informed him to get and maintain the licenses for a food truck because many in this industry don’t have the the proper licensing or many of their licenses are expired. They also told him to care about the food made.

Operations

Denville Myrie is a one man show right now. He deals with all of the operations himself.

Finances

In order to save up for the food truck, Myrie buys food in bulk from Costco and from a market that offers hormone-free meats. He believes that it is better to be over-prepared than to be underprepared in order to be ready for any problem that may result during service. He cooks from his home and until he has been able to save the amount needed to get the truck, me makes deliveries from his own truck. He incurs the costs of gas for the car and the utilities of renting his home.

During his time at the health fair, the truck he used was rented. He understood that he can’t rent often because of the expenses associated. The hourly fee to rent wasn’t ideal to a business just starting out. No one wants to be in the red. He was luckily able to create a relationship with an organization dealing with the rentals of food trucks. And although he was not a member of the organization, Myrie offered the committee samples of cuisine on his menu as a persuasive way into their hearts and mouths. They became instant fans and waived the fact that he wasn’t a member because they believed that much in the success of the business.

Due to the poor financial strength of the business, his employees are actually friends that volunteer when they can. He, however, wants to use this business to create employment opportunities for other students. He is a huge supporter of black-owned businesses and understands that he eventually wants be able reinvest in the community as it has done to him.

Marketing

W-O-M has been the marketing tactic in generating customers and getting the word out about Jerk@Nite. He takes advantage of the various social media platforms (i.e. Instagram and Facebook) to build support from Howard University, which is his target for now. Because he knows his market, Jerk@Nite opens for business at 11PM and closes at 4AM on Tuesday, Thursday, the weekend. This is the time where many of the restaurants in the are are closed and he knew that students were getting tired of the same old Chinese deliveries an pizza deliveries and all that in-between.

The hours of operations were also created because of Myrie’s lifestyle. He is a student and has a job and still wants to have a social life. He knew that at this time he could do everything he needs to do during the day and then work on his company.

In addition, he offers discounts to Howard University students and samples his dishes to potential investors and customers because he believes in building a customer base before making a profit.

Competition

There is a minimum barrier to entry within the food truck industry making it a competitive industry. The differences in the type of food served makes it easier to identify competitors. Jerk@Nite fits into a International, Jamaican inspired segment. Myrie pinpointed his main competitors which includes Jamaican We Crazy and Simple Wheels. These trucks offer similar types of cuisines. They use similar spices and sauces to create the native meals (Jerk@Nite has a secret sauce that will never be revealed). Their customer base is larger because they have had more time to invest in their companies to identify where customers hang and when. Myrie knows his target because he is a student, his friends are students, and he knows what is the best time to operate. His advantage against his competitors is that he knows his target well and can thrive off them alone, for now.

Challenges

There are several challenges that Jerk@Nite faces, the one that will influence the business the most is the actual operation of the business. There are times when being a one-man-show is beneficial to the business. However, when the business begins to expand, Denville Myrie will need to find additional people to bring aboard in order to keep the business running smoothly.

Recommendations

Jerk@Nite could take advantage of the days in which students are populated on campus (I-lab, library) to rent the truck in order to forecast additional days to operate in order to make additional profit. If it is discovered that more students buy on Wednesday, then it would show that the day may need to be added to the operation hours.

Jerk@Nite could consider researching rent-to-buy truck options or creating them with owners willing to sell. Food trucks are not cheap and renting them isn’t providing the benefit that Jerk@Nite wishes to have. There are plenty of truck owners that could be persuaded into a deal that will benefit them both. Myrie could consider investor options for them or a smart deal in order to get a truck.

In order to create a loyal worker base on all aspects of the business, Myrie could consider hiring interns (non-paid) to deal with marketing (social media, event planning, communications), operations (food preparation, inventory), general (front-of-truck). This would create great PR for the business and offer Myrie the chance of conducting business while the interns run the business.

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Jerk@Nite

JaMor Johnson
Shardae Richardson
Shakiyla Brown
Dominique Mathis

Entrepreneurship
Harmeling
12:40-2:00