Today I’m going to show you how I accept credit cards at my hot dog cart (watch the video below).

I use a nifty little gadget called Square.

Square is awesome because there are no application fees, no set up fees, and it is unbelievably simple to use.

COOL TIP: Once you have a card reader you can use it to accept credit cards anywhere… at your garage sales, your kid’s lemonade stands, selling stuff on Craigslist, etc! I keep mine in my pocket. I’m always ready to “take plastic” wherever I go.

I just got a new location at an antique mall and Saturday was the first time I was able to accept credit and debit cards. It was very cool and my customers were impressed.

I made this video on the way back that shows Square in action.

Cream Cheese on Hot Dogs?  Ohhhh yeah!

I received a great question yesterday from Hot Dog Profits Premium Member John K.

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I was wondering if anyone has any recipes to make my cart stand out. I do have about 15 condiments on my cart to cover everyone’s taste; but I was wondering if anyone else has tried unique things like cream cheese on hot dogs?

John from NH

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Oh my goodness John, you’ve really hit on something big.  Offering cream cheese on hot dogs is one of the best things you can do this year.

Get em talking about you all over town.  Not only does it taste incredible, it’s a HUGE marketing tool as well.  Once people find out that you are putting cream cheese on hot dogs, they won’t be able to stop talking about it.

Why? Because it’s something most people would never think of putting on a dog. And when folks try it their eyes roll back in their heads because the flavor combination is… Just. So. Good.

Go fer yer guns! Want to put on a show that will make you famous in your town? Apply the cream cheese on a steaming hot dog right in front of them… with a jerky gun (click here – this is a good one)! Massive word of mouth advertising will ensue, guaranteed.

Build your brand while you’re at it.  Get a small vinyl wrap or decal made with your logo to wrap around the tube of the gun. Great for branding your hot dog cart in the community!

You can also use a pastry bag.  It won’t get as much attention as the gun but it works.  Whether you use a gun or a bag, be sure to keep it in your cooler between uses.  And as always, check with your local health department to be sure it’s within code if you have any doubts.

Create signature hot dog menu items.  After you apply the cream cheese, you should experiment with additional toppings for a double whammy of flavor. Spicy works well, as does sweet.  Try pairing cream cheese on a hot dog with jalapenos or sriracha.  Or go the sweet route and add a splash of maple syrup or a few dollops of cherry pie filling.  I’m not kidding.  It works.  Here’s an example to get you started.

Do you have a good cream cheese on hot dogs recipe or signature dog idea?  Let us know in the comments below!

-Steve

P.S. Do you have questions like John?  Hot Dog Profits Premium Members not only get access to all the books, videos, and courses that we’ve ever come out with – they also get direct access to me every day inside the private members area.  I’m always in there answering questions.  It’s the closest thing to having me come out and work your cart with you.  If you want to join us, click here.

Hi Steve hope all is well.  My friend told me his coworker was having retirement party.  He gave her my information and she called me.

She told me it’s going to be at a brewery 5-8 and she wanted chili and cheese dogs only for 60 people. She also said she got a quote from a food truck for $600 and that was too much.  My figures are set up $25, take down and clean up$25, $8 per person ($480) and my time 4-8 for a total of $580.

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Steve,
Dane
Sent from my iPhone

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Hi Dane,

It doesn’t matter what numbers the customer is telling you.  Who cares what the food truck quoted?  Who knows if she is even telling the truth?

None of this matters at all.  It’s just a smokescreen to get you to lower your pricing.

The only thing that matters is that you make enough money to make the job worth doing for YOU.  You know your costs.  You know your overhead.  You know what your time is worth.  Crunch the numbers, tell them what it will cost to have your awesome hot dog cart catering their event, then shut up.

If they go for it, great.  If they complain about your price, don’t apologize.  Don’t beg and plead.  Don’t negotiate.

Hold your head high, wish them good luck with their event, and walk the hell away.  You’ll be glad you did because…

Cheap customers SUCK.  They are the worst people to deal with.  They will be all over you with advice and suggestions the entire night. They will tell you how to do your job.  They will throw in last minute requests that you didn’t factor into your price.

Cheap customers will make you miserable.

High paying customers don’t do this. They realize that they are paying a professional so that they don’t have to bother with the details.  They will leave you alone and let you do your thing.  They will compliment you after the gig, give you a fat tip, and recommend you to their friends.

Much more fun.

Stick with your numbers Dane.  They are very reasonable.  If the customer won’t pay that, then you don’t want them as a customer.

Good luck!

-Steve

Ice, like propane, is part of the overhead expense on a hot dog cart. Reducing overhead increases profit. Today let’s explore how to keep more of the money you make by saving on ice costs.

Hi Steve,

I have a question regarding keeping my drinks cold. (soda, juice water etc.) We have been using coolers and ice and are using 20# of ice per day. We do have an electric hook-up on site. Tried an electric cooler, but when you’re opening it a lot, its not keeping the drinks ice cold. Any suggestions would be most helpful.

Thank you, Diane (Dudley’s Dogs)

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Hi Diane,

Keep your soda in a refrigerator until it’s time to put it in the cooler. Having soda already cold will save a lot of ice every day. Also, if you have a big enough fridge or freezer, keep you cooler in it overnight. Getting everything as cold as possible before adding your ice will help enormously.

OK Slingers, give Diane your best ice saving tip in the comments below!

-Steve

 

Hi Steve — I purchased your E-Z Built series a couple of months ago with the intent of building a cart. They were very helpful in guiding me in designing and building my own self-contained concession trailer. I already owned an 6 x 12 open utility trailer, that I enclosed and wrapped with metal roofing material. I worked with the local health department and built it around their requirements and passed the final inspection without any hassles.

I decided an open cart wouldn’t really be good here in Oregon where the weather would play a big part in a successful operation. We have wind, rain and cold days even in the summer…so I decided to expand on your cart ideas and go for an enclosed trailer. Also, I can lock it up and leave it overnight at a multi-day event and be ready to go quickly the next day.

I had my first event this past weekend. It consisted of a park location starting on Friday night for 3 hours and then all day on Saturday. At 3:00 pm on saturday I had to close temporarily for about 45 minutes to run to the store and get more hot dogs and buns so I wouldn’t run out before the dinner hour. I sold 300 hot dogs and ran out at 6:30pm and ended up selling chips, water and sodas for the next hour.

Great way to start a new business! I have more events booked in the next few weeks.

Funny thing happened at the event…I had four people stop by just to ask questions about the trailer!!! A couple of them bought some hot dogs and asked a bunch of questions about the build.

Thank you for your insightful DVDs to get me started, they were a great help in designing the trailer.

Bob Yeager
Klamath Falls, Oregon

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Fantastic job Bob!!!

The E-Z Built Hot Dog Cart Video and Plans were designed to be super-customizable, and customize you did!

Let’s hear it for Bob in the comments, my slingers!

-Steve

Click the photos for a larger version…

Hi Steve,

I am having a dilemma and need your advice.

My husband and I have a hot dog cart for last 3 years. We tried few different locations & decided on one. We’ve been here for the last 2 and half years. We live in a small town (under 3,000 pop). This spring a lady vendor comes & sets up at the same location. She sells dogs & burgers (like us) but she puts her price $1 less. She has a trailer so she sells fries. We still get our customers but new people go there because of the fries and she is driving us crazy.

Please help- what to do? We loose about $100- $150 per day. Grrrr…..

– Val

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That damn free market system! LOL, just kidding.

Competing on price is just a race to see who goes out of business first. Let her take that route. Just think how much it must suck to be her, working just as hard as you, and making a lot less money.

The bottom line for any business is that you can compete on price, or you can compete on quality. I highly suggest the quality approach. BUT – you have to justify it. Here’s how to do that…

People never buy something based on price alone. They buy based on the perceived VALUE. Value is just another word for “getting your money’s worth”. If you think that spending a little more is worth it, you’ll buy the higher priced product. That is the reason why Yugo went out of business.

You are going to have to do something to convince the majority of customers that you offer more VALUE. That you are worth more than your competitor. That doesn’t just mean your food. It includes the customer experience – big time.

How fun is it to come to your cart? What do you do to make eating at your cart an awesome, fun, exciting experience?

• Do you wear a uniform or just jeans and a t shirt?
• Do you have punch cards and incentive programs or do you just hope people come back?
• Do you offer “signature” gourmet hot dogs with a photo menu or do you just sell hot dogs.
• Do you have fun, energetic music playing or is it just quiet?
• Do you have colorful, flashy, eye catching signage, swooper flags, and streamers or are you just standing behind a plain old hot dog cart?
• Do you do any marketing in the community to set yourself apart from your competitor, or do you just show up at your spot and hope?

Implement all of the ideas above and people will be drawn to your hot dog cart. Once they experience the fun and excitement of your business and enjoy one of your signature hot dogs, they won’t ever want to downgrade to the cheapo food across the street. What’s a buck when it gets you so much more?

As for fries, I don’t really think you need them to compete. I hate doing fries on a cart because of the mess and danger of hot grease with out any barriers between the fryer and the customers.  Especially with kids around. Just offer a good quality chip and you’ll be good. (I’m sure some of my slingers will disagree with that statement, lol!)

You’ve got this Val. Go get ’em!

-Steve

P.S. Any tips for Val my slinger friends? Leave them in the comments section below. (We just updated our site and the comments box is now at the bottom of the page after the comments.)

Here’s a deal you don’t find very often. A concession trailer and a hot dog cart for sale together or separately by the same owner.

If you want to go big right from the start, this is a great way to do it! You could do daily street vending with the cart and festivals with the trailer.

Or just buy whichever one fits your needs. Owner will separate.

By the way, the cart has a reduced price – I think it’s a steal.

Let’s start with the concession trailer first…

Click the pics for larger images…

6 foot by 9 foot concession trailer, ready to go! Comes with a 5000 watt generator for total freedom. Set up anywhere!

Includes:

• 3 bay sink
• Hand washing sink
• Fresh and waste water tanks
• Refrigerator
• Fryolater
• Flat top grill
• Awning
• Chest freezer

UPDATE: SOLD $5700 

And here is the cart – a nice unit for sure (and discounted too)!

Hot dog cart 2006, lights work, comes with one foot flat top grill, umbrella, electric hot dog warmer and a 4 foot & 3 foot cooler.

UPDATE: SOLD

Both of these units are ready to make money tomorrow. SORRY, SOLD.

Are you looking for a nice big side serve hot dog cart? The DreamMaker Oceanside is it!

What could possibly be better than a new Oceanside? How about saving big money on this pre-owned model.

This lightly used unit has not one but TWO full size steam tables and a large open work space on the cart top.

Turn Key Business. Not only do you get a like new DreamMaker Oceanside, you get everything you need to start making money tomorrow – utensils, signs, tables, etc.

Lemonade Anyone? This package even comes with a lemonade juicer so you can serve Lemon Shakeups (huge profit margins!)

DreamMaker Oceanside Hot Dog Cart Specs:
Super clean setup! Turnkey ready.
2 full size steam trays with roll top covers
24” Cecilware Flat Tom Griddle w/ top cover
4 sinks, 1 large hand wash, (3 for wash, rinse, sanitize)
2 propane tanks (mounted to front of cart)
Counter space front and back
Push bar
Integral ice chest
3 heavy duty high wind umbrellas
Removable towing tongue (1 7/8” ball)
Black plastic counter top
DOT Lights, wheels, tires, fenders
Spare tire
5 gallon water tank
Battery powered water heater and water pump
Hot/Cold running water.
7.5 gallon grey water tank
Storage space under and above cooking surface
Includes all utensils, signage, 2 tables and lemonade juicer, supplies, napkin dispensers, water hose. etc.

Asking $7000
Email Jeff Shinabery at jwshinabery@outlook.com or call 440-897-1775

Hi Steve, 

This is a picture of my current set up for UK slingin. What do you think? Attached is before and after shot. I have so far invested £1600 into this cart. Just need decent signwriting and then will be getting licenses etc and be selling for next spring!

I’d like it if you could publish for your followers to critique.

Many Thanks 
Uk slinger
Nick

Hi Nick, I like it!

A lot of options open up when you don’t have to mount the cart body on a trailer frame. You get much more depth inside the cart body for storage.

I like your layout. Two good sized pans over burners. Lots of condiment compartments.

Your hand washing set up is nice and simple. While it wouldn’t meet the health codes in many parts of the U.S., it is nice and simple and does what it needs to do. The location is logical, out of your way. One thing I might do is keep the water jug under the cart when not in use. This will discourage customers from wanting to use your sink.

Curiously, here in my county in Missouri this set up will pass codes. All we need is a jug with a spout that will stay open with no hands, a catch basin, soap, and paper towels. However my own personal cart has hot and cold pressurized water, sink, etc.

Nice little griddle. Good size for onions and peppers. That smell will really draw them in!

Overall, great job Nick!

-Steve

P.S. OK Slingers, what are your thoughts about Nick’s cart? Let him know in the comments below.