REBIRTH OF COOL
I had the opportunity to spend the afternoon with BULLHDED PEANUT CO’s founder Bear Tyler. We exchanged texts then spoke on the phone to set up the interview. He told me to get off at exit 5 off of I-26 and turn left. I asked what next, and he simply said, “Drive 2 miles til you smell some bad ass boiled peanuts cooking then you found me.”
How did the idea and concept of BULLHDED come about?
I just woke up one day and stopped thinking about how to come up with a big idea, and just started focusing on 3 simple things: GOD , FAMILY , GRIND, and with those everything worked itself out. The idea to scale to a food truck from a pop up happened about 6 months into the initial launch of our product.
What are some motivating factors that drive you?
Serving the community where I live. Building a business that fills a need but also has a purpose.
How has been the transition to a food truck been?
It's been a long year. A Lot of work, a lot of sweating , a lot of cleaning, a lot of missed sleep, and a lot of good times. Just because you have a truck doesn't mean people will come buy or checkout your product. SALES 101…. A Lot cold calls and self promotion. So your comfort level with some things has to be expanded to have any level of success. We have had to figure out where we fit in as well. The types of events we are onsite for, community outreach, servicing our corporate clients, commercial sales, to the time of day that we vend. Navigating all these things has trying and very rewarding.
What is toughest thing you have had to deal with the first year?
RAIN///
What are some of the obstacles you have to overcome to start BULLHDED?
Quite a few...why do your peanuts cost more than $5 is one….country capitalism..ha! The concept of incorporating seasonal sides into our peanut platters. We are taking a southern classic and reinventing it through product offering, presentation, and marketing. The things that we offer that are seasonal are intune with southern culture and tastes. SALT | SWEET | HEAT | ..a jumbo honey bun, to local honey, a cold CheerWine, fresh corn , to vine ripe tomato’s and peppers, we are going the extra mile to provide our customers the best of what our region has to offer.
Who runs your media platforms and develops your campaigns?
I do. I have a background in both IT development and graphic design. I wouldn't say that what we are doing is ground breaking but it is a bit tongue and cheek. Our media gets a few laughs at times.
How did you combine your passions together to form BULLHDED?
We form like Voltron; a lot of mistakes, a lot of life experiences, and a long road all led to the concept of BULLHDED to what it is today. Anytime you can bring together lifelong passions, have GOD as the center point, serve your community, and pay the bills, it's an amazing thing. I have always been driven by hard work, design, food, business, and music. Anyone that comes up to our food truck or follows our social knows this.
How has your community supported you?
Yes. Everywhere we go we are shown love. Its overwhelming at times. As BULLHDED grows we never lose sight of where we started. Our main goal is to serve our community where we live. Spend our money locally and source all products locally. Without this buy in the concept of a small business is dead. I don’t need to travel 2 hours away from our home base when the people we serve live 2 minutes away from our peanut lab.
Did you bootstrap BULLHDED?
Yes for the first 18 months. Its was a hard road with laying out all the coats with little to no payback the first several months. Once I decided to scale to a food truck with a solid concept, I got a partner. A misconception that people have is that you need a pile of money to start a food truck. The reality is that you need to have a solid product that can be replicated. Your concept needs to touch on something that is missing from the market and offers what others do not. Long hours and at times days without sleep. Food prep and clean up can be extremely taxing..lol.
Have people bought into you concept?
At first no. We got a lot of strange looks and a lot of blow offs from people. But once we won over a few loyal followers, business grew. I don’t know how many people tells us that they do not like boiled peanuts based on taste and texture. Then they try ours and they are good to go.
How many hours a day do you work?
24 x6 // SUNDAYS are for my pack, When you love what you do , it’s not work. #godfamilygrind
Any advice to anyone that is looking into a food truck start up?
Do your research, develop a credible concept and move forward. Be prepared to work long hours and make business and personal sacrifices. Put all of the negative doubters in your rear-view mirror and drive forward. But mostly really believe in what you do and thank GOD that he has made this choice part of your story. No matter what you think of yourself, we are all not that clever without some help.