Author: Steve

OK Tampa area slingers, I have a nice little gig for you…

Hot dog vendor needed for a corporate event in the Tampa, FL area. Event will be at 4301 W. Boyscout Blvd. (right cross the street from International Mall)

Date: May 26th
Time: 11AM to 2PM
Approx. 100 people total (2 hotdogs per person)

Contact Aja Sanders via email (ajasanders5982@yahoo.com) to book this gig.

Good luck!

-Steve

 

Hey Slingers, want to get into business FAST? Here is a ready to rock hot dog biz. Includes a CCI 425 – one of the nicest carts out there. You get everything you need to start making money tomorrow. Check it out… more pics below.

Price:$6,495.00 Location: MA (Willing to Ship) Email: info@sunshinehotdogs.com

Top of the line Cart Concepts International Hot Dog Cart #425
Vented Umbrella with Signage
Totally Welded Tubular Steel Frame w/Rust Proofing
Independent Wheel Suspension w/Torflex axle system & E-Z lube feature
2″ Ball Coupler, lighting package & flat-4 trailer connector
Custom SS Fenders and Wheel Covers
4 bay Stainless Steel System Sink System w/Divider
SS Hot and Cold (5 Gallon Each) Water Tanks
12 gallon SS waste holding tank, emptied with quick release ball valve
Copper water lines, meets or exceeds NSF Standards
Insulated Stainless Steel Cooler Compartment (holds 120 12oz cans)
Stainless Steel pans with Welded Stainless Steel Covers
Steam Table (3-Full/ 2-Half)
Double Hot Dog Steam Tray
Stainless Steel Burner System(2)
Back and Side Dry Locking Storage Areas
Stainless Steel Trash Container, Napkin and Tissue Holders
2 Standard Propane Tanks (20 lbs each) with auto change over regulator
Display Case
Front Removable Cutting Board
Accessories: condiments containers, utensils, coolers, red mat, how to books, etc. (See Picture)
Setup and Breakdown Check Lists
Signage: Magnets w/Name and Logo, Menu, Lawn Sign (See Pictures)
Includes Web Site: www.SunshineHotDogs.com
Willing to ship, but the buyer must pay shipping

As hot dog cart operators, we MUST differentiate ourselves from the one dollar nasty green roller grill hot dogs from the gas station down the block. Here’s another great way to do just that.

Unique and tasty condiments will set you apart and allow you to charge more for your food. The toppings that we hot doggers have available today are mind boggling. I’ve seen everything from cream cheese to mac and cheese used as a topping for hot dogs, but today I’m going to share with you one of my favorites…

There’s more to relish than just pickles. Everyone has seen pickle relish, right? But have you ever tried CORN relish? It’s wundah-ful!

Corn relish has the sweet flavor of yellow corn in a sugar/vinegar base, punctuated by bits of green and/or red pepper, cucumber, and onion. It goes great with the savory taste of most meats – including all beef hot dogs!

Here is a Corn Relish recipe from AllRecipes.com if you want to experiment with making your own: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/21668/corn-relish-ii/. Or, there are a bunch to choose from on Amazon. Click here.

My favorite brand of corn relish was Aunt Nellies. Unfortunateley it is no longer available but Nance’s makes a corn relish that is very similar, and you can find it in many Walmart stores. Go buy a jar and try it out.

So there you go slingers, another way for you to stand out from the crowd.

Let me know what kinds of unique condiments you are using at your cart in the comments section below!

-Steve

top photo credit: picture of the Ohioana Dog from Dirty Franks in Columbus OH taken by swampkitty on flickr

 

 

Steve,  My wife and I are getting ready to kick off  our hot dog empire. The E-Z Built cart is built and ready to go. We’re getting ready for the inspection and permit process and the wife had a few questions.

1. When serving premium toppings such as chili, bacon, and cheese do you up charge for these or are they added into the price? We’re struggling with were to start our pricing…$2.50 for a dog with mustard onion relish or $3.00?

2. Location. We live in a small village. Not really a lot of foot traffic. but a lot of car traffic with some good visible spots  such as a boat ramp by the lake and a corner spot at a busy intersection. Can this work as far as building a good solid repeat  business?

Will send pics of cart soon ..  

Thanks
 Jim and Doreen Ryan

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hi Jim,

Good for you! The start up process is really exciting, isn’t it? It gets your blood pumping to think that soon… you will be your own boss!

I don’t charge extra for any condiments. I think it makes you look more high-end if all condiments are included. I charge $3 for an 8 to 1 hot dog. You can have anything on it that you want.

Consider developing four or five “signature” hot dogs and give them names. For example my “Randle Dog” comes with chili, celery salt, French’s crispy onions, and mustard. It’s what Randle ordered almost every day. I tried one and it was fantastic so I named it after him and put it on my menu. That’s it at the top of this article.

As far as locations go, spots with a lot of car traffic can be good but they must have three things in order to work:

1. Great visibility – drivers must be able to see your cart or signs several hundred feet away. They need a few seconds to make the decision to stop. If they drive past you they probably won’t turn around.

2. Easy on and off access in both directions. If it’s a pain to get in or out of the parking lot, they wont’ stop. Stop signs or traffic signals help a lot.

3. A large area with plenty of parking.

If you have these three things you will do fine. Keep in mind it takes a while to get known and to build up your “regulars”. I can’t wait to see some pics of your cart.

Good luck!
-Steve

 

Bradley Jacobs is a Hot Dog Profits Premium member with a flair for the creative.

Several years ago he built two E-Z Built Hot Dog Cart but he added a genius marketing twist.

Since he was going to serve all-beef hot dogs, Bradley named his business “Wholly Cow”. Get it? LOL! Bradley also painted his E-Z Built Hot Dog Carts to look like… you guessed it… COWS!

Not content to rest on his Laurels, Bradley just put the finishing touches on his newest creation, Pappy’s Porch. Bradley took an old pop up camper and used the E-Z Built Videos to convert it into one of the coolest mobile food vending machine I have seen.

This thing has so much room in it for equipment and storage that you could go anywhere and sell any foods that you wanted. I love the mechanical roof raising and lowering system, the slide outs, double full size steam tables. I could go on and on but why not just watch the video.

Let’s hear it for Bradley in the comments folks!

-Steve

P.S. If you want to see more pictures of Bradleys “Wholly Cow” hot dot carts, you can find them here:

https://hotdogprofits.com/blog/wholly-cow-hot-dogs-e-z-built-hot-dog-cart/

At Hot Dog Profits our motto is, “Don’t sell a hot dog. Sell an experience!” Spiral cutting your hot dogs is a great way to just that.

It separates you from your competition as well a giving your condiments a whole lot more real estate to nestle into. If you want to supercharge the flavor of your signature dogs, spiral cut hot dogs will help a lot.

Another advantage to spiral cutting hot dogs is that i makes your hot dog about one third longer. This is great for presentation and allows you to justify a higher price point for your tasty tubesteaks.

Here is a video from Chow.com that shows you how it’s done…

Do you spiral cut your dogs? Is it too labor intensive? Let me know what you think in the comments below!

-Steve

Steve,

We purchased a basic trailer with serving window and did the interior ourselves. We have a summer location on Perdido Key with a beautiful view of the Emerald Green waters. Perdido Key is the Lost Key of Florida and the Western Gate to the Sunshine State. Even though our summer was Great, we doubled our best day of the summer season on International Talk Like A Pirate Day at the Perdido Key Pirate Festival. Soooo much fun and excitement. Thanks for all the good tips, lessons and advice on your site.

-Beth and Craig

************************************

Good for you two! Your trailer came out great. You should be very proud of yourselves.

Building out a standard utility trailer is a great alternative to buying a manufactured stand-in cart or mobile kitchen. You’ll save a lot of money and you can lay everything out exactly how you want it.

Premium Members – the videos inside your private members area are a great source of knowledge for how to do this. You’ll learn how to make everything you need using hardware store materials. From water tanks and plumbing to steam tables and burners we have you covered.

It’s really just building a cart inside out!

Let’s hear it for Beth and Craig, slingers. They did a great job on their rig!

-Steve

Steve,

How’s it going? I hope that all is well. I would like to share something with you and your readers and I really think that y’all will enjoy it. I did an event over the weekend called Food Truck Frenzy, held in downtown Temple, Texas and it featured a lot of local food truck owners from the central Texas area. It was not a competition but rather an event to promote the downtown area.

The organizer told the reporter that I would be a good spokesman for the event so I was featured in the story. I was blown away by that and I was excited to do it. Anyway, the story aired last night and it was awesome! I’ll attach the video to this email so that you can check it out. Thanks for all you have done for me, I truly appreciate it!

-Esteban Guzman, Stevies Red Hot Wienies

WAY TO GO ESTEBAN!!! I think they chose the right spokesman for sure. Keep on doing what you’ve been doing, you are an inspiration to us all brother!

Hey Slingers, let’s hear it for Esteban in the comments below!

-Steve

Who wants $600 for six hours of fun (I mean work)? I need several Hot Dog Cart vendors to work two day gigs.

You will give away 600 to 700 Hot Dogs each day, ketchup and mustard ONLY. The promoter will reimburse you up front for all product costs and pay you $600 for your time.

Here are the cities I need to fill…

Norfolk VA, New Orleans LA, Chicagoland IL, Morgantown WV, Kansas City MO

This is an excellent gig. I have worked with this promoter many times before and my slingers who have worked these gigs have all had glowing reports.

You must be licensed!

Call Mark at 260.271.9144 or email at marklski@hotmail.com for dates and more info.

Don’t have your hot dog biz up and running yet? There are big pay days like this one every weekend in towns across America that you’re missing out on. Want to get started? Click here for the best way.

-Steve