Today we’d like to introduce you to Kerry McClure.
Hi Kerry, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I was a high school teacher and ended up with a new principal that was terrible and not supportive of my program, so I quit and followed in my sister’s footsteps of opening a mini donut food truck. She did all the research and decided on donuts so I decided to take the risk and try it too.
I had a really hard time getting a job at my age that wasn’t in education after I quit so becoming my own boss sounded like a great idea! I’ve been open for a year and a half and the business is going like gangbusters. I use to have to look for jobs and try to fill my calendar, but now people are knowing who I am and I get requests all the time.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest struggle at the beginning was the building of the truck. My husband built it all himself and had to do it a little at a time while he worked full time. It took a year and a half to finish. The struggles now are mostly learning to troubleshoot problems in the truck, like with the generator or my donut machine or electrical, etc.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I was the first Mini Donut truck in the Jacksonville, Florida area. I use a bigger more expensive machine than most mini donut businesses so I can make mine a bit bigger which allows me to frost them individually.
The donuts are all vanilla cake donuts and I have 6 flavors of toppings (Chocolate Oreo, Fruity Pebbles, Maple, Cinnamon Sugar, Whiskey Glaze, and Strawberry Sprinkle) along with a flavor of the month. They are very popular because they are shareable and can be a snack or a dessert. Although sometimes when I’m in a neighborhood with a savory food truck I usually tell people, “here’s your appetizer!” They are usually waiting for their dinner and I always serve my donuts hot and fresh, so it’s hard to not eat them right away.
The business has been a family thing from the start. My husband builds the truck, but it’s me and my kids that run it. The first 7 months it was my son and me and now it’s my daughter and me.
As for my brand, we could not think of a name and we had a new puppy that we were obsessed with so we named it after him, Ringo. It’s Rad Ringo’s, so I tried to go a little with an 80s theme for the wrap on the truck.
I think serving my donuts hot is what makes them so special.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Again I think that because I serve the donuts hot they are special and unlike any donut, most people have ever had. A lot of people really like the cake donuts instead of the yeast donuts too. I think I got lucky by coming into the food truck business when I did.
Food Trucks are all the rage now so I go in right on time. I try to spend a decent amount of time on my social media and I make sure to post where I’m going to be every week. I have many followers that track me down to get their donut fix.
Pricing:
- 6 for $5.50
- 12 for $10
- 25 for $20
Contact Info:
- Email: radringos@gmail.com
- Website: www.radringos.com
- Instagram: @radringosminidonuts
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RadRingosMiniDonuts
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/rad-ringos-mini-donuts-jacksonville?osq=Rad+Ringo%27s+Mini+Donuts
