How James Grant Turned a $200 Trailer into a Thriving Business
In a recent episode of the podcast, How I Built This, Danny Meyer, the founder of Shake Shack, said as a young restaurateur and entrepreneur he only saw the upsides of his decisions. James Grant, an Oakland native, who now lives in Antioch, shares this positive mindset.
Twelve years ago, Grant made the decision to go vegan. This decision inspired him to experiment in the kitchen. “When you go vegan, especially at the time I went vegan, it was harder to eat, if you weren’t in the Bay Area or not a chef it would be really hard to stay vegan” said Grant. Over time, Grant’s self-imposed experimentation started to pay off in the kitchen. Going vegan motivated him to research more recipes and diets to keep himself healthy. He eventually switched to become pescatarian, giving himself the ability to experiment with more recipes.
In the kitchen, he slowly started to perfect his batter for deep frying vegetables and seafood. After sharing his creations with his family, they strongly encouraged him to start a business selling his food. Grant found further inspiration from his older brother P and another Bay Area chef Hot Dog Co. “They were really the first two in our circle who took a step outside of the box and tried to build a business from the ground up,” said Grant. Helping his brother at events gave Grant the opportunity to witness first hand what it would take to start his own business.
In February 2019, Grant launched Letz Get Krackin. His first event was in Sacramento, California. He made the connection through his brother P who had a kettle corn and lemonade stand. Using the connection, he told the event coordinator he would feed the entire event crew if he could sell at the event. Grant remembers the event fondly: “I acted confident, and kept telling him I was ready even though all my equipment had not arrived yet.” Fortunately for Grant, the equipment arrived in time, and he sold out of all his inventory in two short hours.
The Letz Get Krackin setup is quite unique in the world of ubiquitous-looking food trucks. Grant used to build houses, and he applied his construction skills to put together a kitchen on an open-air trailer bed. The fully functional kitchen demonstrates Grant’s incredible work ethic. In about a month, he was able to turn the $200 trailer into a fully functioning business. This open-air set up makes Grant visible from his trailer and allows him to interact with customers.
As Letz Get Krackin has grown over the past year and a half, Grant has become a role model for other young entrepreneurs. He stressed how tough it was starting his own business. Behind closed doors, Grant struggles with mental and physical fatigue, and he notes “If you’re looking for an easy route you shouldn’t be an entrepreneur.” For advice, Grant looks to his older brother, who told him to keep his head down and remain focused.
This advice has never been more prevalent than now with the added stress of running a business during a pandemic. If anything, it has made Grant take even more pride in his business. He stressed the importance of always keeping his workspace clean, making sure his customers see him washing his hands, changing his gloves routinely and wearing a mask for safety. Grant’s ability to maintain a positive mindset has been crucial during these uncertain times.
Initially, one of the challenges Grant mentioned was how to grow his customer base while trying to make a profit. Grant embraced this challenge, stressing the importance of his decision to keep his prices affordable. He began selling large seafood plates for $20, charging just enough to make his money back. The affordable price allowed Grant to create a loyal customer base. He values his customers, saying, “Even if the customer is wrong, they are always right, I appreciate them all greatly”. His mentality shows when working in his kitchen. Grant goes out of his way to interact with all his customers or potential customers.
Since February of last year, Grant has managed to go from charging $20 a plate to now $35. Changing his prices was a difficult decision:“My mindframe was success, I never looked at success as me trying to eat on somebody, I knew the business had to grow in order for me to charge my customers more.” This decision has clearly paid off for Grant, as he now struggles to maintain inventory due to selling out every day. In our 45 minute interview, Grant received 5 calls for pre-orders. However, he still manages to maintain the same mindset, “I show love, the food to me, means nothing versus the love you get in return, I never see it as about me but always about my customers”.
The batter is what attracts customers from all over the country. Every piece of seafood is meticulously breaded by Grant. None of his food is pre-processed or frozen. The batter’s slogan is “If it wasn’t for you.” The slogan certainly lives up to its name. When fried, the seafood has a thin crispy exterior, it allows the seafood’s flavor to be the main focus.
In the future, Grant has aspirations to continue producing more trailers in order to grow his customer base. His plan is to replicate his current trailer ten times in order to expand to other cities across the United States. Grant is confident in his ability to expand Letz Get Krackin, saying, “I already know how to build the trailers, I feel like I can get one trailer done every month, but I am not stopping till I get 10”.
As for the menu, Letz Get Krackin offers two unique plates, a lobster tail plate and a king crab plate, both come with fries, fried salmon and fried shrimp. In the Bay Area, it might be hard to find another restaurant selling fried lobster. The richness of the lobster pairs perfectly with Grant’s batter. If you are looking for a smaller plate, Grant sells just shrimp or salmon plates. Occasionally, Grant will also sell fried alligator. The most surprising item on the plate might be the fried corn. Similar to the lobster, the flavors of the sweet corn and the salty coating combine perfectly.
Grant cannot be more thankful for the continuous support he received saying, “To be honest my family helped me get it off the ground, they supported me in every way possible”. Other than his family, Grant looks to other self made chefs in the Bay Area for inspiration, “We all inspire each other, nobody can sit here and tell you they are not inspired by others who came before them”.
