I got an email from a soldier in Iraq who wants to start a hot dog cart business when he gets home, but he has a hard time believing he could make a real income selling hot dogs. If any of you have the same doubts, they will be totally blown away after reading this story.
What’s the difference between making money and making a LOT of money? How about 100 feet?
New York City hot dog cart operator Pasang Sherpa knows the value of the right location. Sherpa sells his dogs outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art and recently outbid two rivals for the rights to both the north and south entrances to the museum.
Before I tell you the winning bids, think about how much you would pay for the rights to these locations. Keep in mind that together, his two carts are right in the path of over 5 million visitors a year – and the only other food is blocks away.
Here’s a hint: The north entrance gets a lot more traffic because many museum visitors use the nearby 86th Street/Lexington Avenue subway express stop. So Sherpa paid $80,000 more per year for this spot which is 100 feet away from the one at the south entrance.
OK – are you ready for this? The rents are $362,201 for the north, and $280,500 for the south. Holy #%&* ! I’m having a hard time getting my mind around this. How many hot dogs, chips, and sodas do you need to sell just to break even? Let’s do the math:
Keep in mind this is a premium tourist destination and there is no where else to eat. I’m guessing that a dog, chips and soda would sell for $8. If so, Sherpa needs to serve 80,338 meals to break even. That’s less than 2% of the 5 million folks who walk right by his carts on the way in or out of the Met each year. Granted he has other overhead to cover, but nothing even close to those rent payments. If he sells to just 10% of the tourists he will gross…
Four million dollars a year. I’m getting dizzy.
But here’s a lesson. Before you sign anything, make sure all your ducks are in a row. Only one of Sherpa’s carts passed the health department inspection, and his coveted north entrance will be blocked by construction for months. Again, holy #$&* ! Wouldn’t you have done a little more due diligence before jumping into the big leagues? So now he doesn’t want to pay. Big surprise.
If you want to know how to make just a tiny fraction of 4 million dollars a year with your own hot dog cart business, head on over to HotDogBiz101.com. There you’ll learn everything you need to know to start and run your own highly profitable hot dog cart business, including how to get locations rent free. See you there.
Later,
-Steve
