How a Cajun Food Truck Loan Grew Bic’s Kitchen in Crossett

Dwight Johnson was living in Monroe, Louisiana, buying seafood plates out of the window of a woman’s car, when COVID-19 sent him back home to Crossett, Arkansas. He noticed something missing.

“There isn’t any seafood in Crossett,” he remembers thinking. So he taught himself a recipe before he even crossed back into the state. He tested it in his kitchen first, because he knew the difference between family approval and the real thing.

“Your family can tell you they like your food, but getting the public to like your food is a whole different ball game,” Johnson said. He handed a plate to his aunt. She said more than that it was good. She called him and said, “Nephew, you’ve got a product.” That was the signal Johnson needed.

From Facebook Orders to a Trailer Loan

Word moved fast once he started posting pictures on Facebook. Orders piled up faster than his kitchen could hold them, and one of his aunts, who knew somebody, pointed him toward Communities Unlimited (CU) back in 2022.

“I didn’t have a big bank account, and I didn’t have great credit,” Johnson said. “But I have aunties who know people.” That call connected him with CU’s Lending Team, who worked with him to finance the trailer that would become Bic’s Cajun Kitchen.

Building a Business Plan With CU’s Entrepreneurship Team

From there, Johnson connected with CU’s Entrepreneurship Team and Area Director Dale Rutherford. Rutherford worked alongside Johnson to build out the business plan and put his numbers on paper, part of Communities Unlimited’s lending and entrepreneurship work across the region. It was a different discipline than the one Johnson already had. He’d managed a furniture store for 16 years, but running his own business meant relearning the job from the ground up.

“Managing something and owning something are two completely different things,” he said.

Rutherford walked him through what owning a business required, down to recognizing when he needed to bring in a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) instead of handling everything himself.

“I always say Dale is the man behind Bics,” Johnson said. “I’m the operator, but Dale helped make it happen.”

Adjusting the Menu, and the Schedule

None of it came easy. Seafood costs climbed high enough that Johnson shifted the menu toward fried fish, which now outsells seafood.

“You have to be willing to adjust,” he said. He also kept his full-time job running alongside the trailer, which meant Fridays that started with a 10-hour shift and ended with him hooking up the trailer at 5 p.m. Rutherford told him early on that two days a week would eventually cap what the business could earn, and for a long stretch, that’s exactly what happened.

Hitting the Five-Year Mark, Debt Free

The goal Johnson set for himself was to get through the first five years and get everything paid off.

This month, he’s hit both marks. Bic’s Cajun Kitchen turns five, and Johnson has paid off his CU loan in full.

“I know it sounds cliché, but now I feel like there isn’t anything I can’t do, because this has probably been the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Johnson said. “It’s a big accomplishment.”

Chasing the Next Vision: Crawfish and a National Footprint

Johnson’s already moving on the next one. He is converting a 16-foot trailer into a crawfish rig and taking pre-orders during the week to prepare for running the business four or five days instead of two.

He’s looking at leasing a location in Bryant for the full crawfish season and chasing corporate events and larger boils beyond the weekly grind. There’s a bigger map in his head, too. He’s working on bringing Bic’s crawfish to Texas A&M for events, with an eye on taking the business national.

“I don’t chase the money,” Johnson said. “I chase the vision. If I get to the vision, the money will be there.”

His wife, Shante, works the trailer with him, same as she’s stood alongside him for more than 30 years.

“I’m proud of what we’ve built,” Johnson said. “My wife and kids have been right there, and I’ve had a lot of family I could call for advice.”

Five years in, debt paid off, and a national vision he’s getting started on.