Then he remembered seeing mobile advertising trucks by the dozens roaming the streets of Las Vegas, and he thought that might work in Nashville, too. A few weeks later, with his new rolling-billboard GMC box truck outfitted and ready to roll, Jones' StreetSmart Mobile Advertising was born.
"The truck has been on the road about three months now, and customer response has been overwhelming," Jones said. He has begun outfitting two more trucks for Nashville and intends to expand the service to Knoxville, Pigeon Forge and Chattanooga.
"We have a captive audience when we're in traffic. Our trucks are at eye level, so they're hard to ignore, and you can't turn it off like a TV or tune it out like a radio," he said.
Jones' concept of a mobile operation that avoids the high overhead and fixed costs of an office-bound business is something that's catching on all over the country as entrepreneurs look for creative ways to make money without a lot of startup expense, said Joe Alexander, associate dean of the Graduate School of Business at Belmont University.
Belmont is one of Jones' customers, using the truck to advertise its executive MBA program. "We saw immediate response to our ads, and we're now on our third campaign," Alexander said. "When you think about having to invest millions in a brick-and-mortar location, then worry about whether the traffic will be there to support it, the idea of a mobile business makes sense."
All kinds of mobile businesses are popping up — from hot-dog vendors and other restaurants on wheels to tourist party buses and more sophisticated concepts that use the Internet and text messaging to connect with customers.
Scott Dunlap, co-owner of the F.A.D.D.S. Party Bus in Mt. Juliet, operates a fleet of six customized buses designed to host parties on wheels. The largest is a double-decker that can accommodate 40 people.
(2 of 3)People in BusinessBuilding Information Modeling On the Rise in the Construction Industry
