Author: Steve

“Eye” See A Hot Dog Cart Opportunity Here

Hi Steve,

I had a set back when I was told I needed eye surgery for a detached retina the very next day. It was that serious.

My problem is I have to rest for a month to heal. I had to turn down a gig, my two locations at auctions, and I had to leave my home improvement center location open. I have no contract with them and no way of knowing if it will be available when I get back.

So my question is, “How does a sole proprietor prevent this from happening again” Partner with another vendor?  Train someone to do your business from start to finish?

Thanks for your time,
-Jeff

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Hi Jeff,

Sorry to hear about your set back, but I think this may be a huge opportunity in disguise.

First, I would not rush into a partnership with another vendor. Partnerships are usually a permanent solution to a temporary problem. You are almost always better off running your own show 100%.

Can you be on your feet long enough to train one person to run your hot dog cart? You wouldn’t have to lift anything or bend over. Even if you could just sit in a chair in your driveway for a half hour, you could easily train someone by talking them through it.

If you can do that it would position you for expansion upon your return – big time. You should be scouting around for more locations while you heal.

In a month you can run one new location and leave the employee at your old location. Then just rinse and repeat. Before too long you could have many, many carts up and running.

Once you get the system down pat, the job of serving great hot dogs (with a great customer experience, of course) will fall to your employees. Your job Jeff, will be opening new locations.

That is what successful franchisees do. They get really, really good at opening new locations.

So when life gives you lemons, make lemonade right?

I wish you a speedy recovery Jeff. Let me know how it goes!

Steve

“Hot Dog Mike” is Slingin’ the Dream on the Jersey Shore

Selling hot dogs from a cart outside of bars and nightclubs is some of the most profitable slingin’ there is.

If this form of hot doggin’ interests you, you’re going to LOVE the following story… and be sure to check out all the pictures below!

First Mike built his own E-Z Built Hot Dog Cart from our plans and videos, then he took our Hot Dog Biz 101 training course (all available instantly online in the member’s area).

Mike’s an action taker. As soon as he finished the course he went right out and scored what some might consider the Ultimate Dream Gig.

Read on to see why he is extremely pumped up about what happened to his Hot Dog Biz last summer. Hot Dog Mike’s story will get you pumped up too!

Mike writes…

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Hey Steve it’s Hot Dog Mike !!!

Thanks to you I had The Most incredible Summer of My Life!!! It was a Dream Come True!!!

Not only did I sling weenies at my favorite vacation spot down at The Wildwoods Jersey Shore, but the place I was slinging from made me Motel Manager too!!! Gave me a two bedroom apartment at The Castaways Motel!!! And paid me $X,XXX.XX  a month to live there while I slung weenies!!!

I was surrounded by motels and night clubs one block from the beach and boardwalk. I can’t even explain how many party weekends we had!!!

I would open about lunch time and go till 4 am. Can’t wait till next season!!!! Here’s some pictures!!!

Thank You Steve 🙂 🙂 🙂

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Wow, Mike – I’m really happy for you, but I’m not surprised.

I knew when you first joined us that you would be successful. Your emails and phone calls were full of enthusiasm and you had a great, positive attitude. I could tell that your people skills and your “gift of gab” would go over well with customers.

Looks like you have a way with landlords too!

Judging from the pictures below (and the 25 exclamation points in your letter, LOL), life is good for Hot Dog Mike. Just goes to show that it’s never too late to go for your dreams!

Keep us posted Hot Dog Mike. I can’t wait to see what kind of hot doggin’ adventures await you next summer. You are an inspiration to us all!

-Steve

Click on the picture to see a larger version.

Help Name This Father and Son Hot Dog Cart

Hi Steve,

I’m building the E-Z Built Hot Dog Cart from your videos. I’ve got a 7 year old that got me started. He said that he would help me work on it and when we get it all the way running he wants to help sell hot dogs. This was his idea to do this but he cant think of a name for it. HELP!!!!

David Jones

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I really, really love it when a project brings a parent and child closer together. You’re doing it right David!

OK Slingers, let’s help the Jones’ name their new hot dog biz…

You can leave your suggestions in the comments,

-Steve

Twas The Night Before Christmas – HotDog Style!

This has been passed around for years now but it was originally written for us at HotDogProfits.com by Chef J. Gagion, (a.k.a. Pocono Hot Dog).
Merry Christmas and God bless all the slingers. I’ll see you in 2014 – Enjoy!

“Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the streets, were carts upon carts, selling Country smoked meats,

I stopped in Chicago to sample their wares, but when I asked them for ketchup, I got nothing but Stares,

Just Hot Vienna Sausage Loaded with fun, Sport Peppers and Tomato ON A POPPYSEED BUN??

On to Baltimore City that Inner Harbor Town, at J. Gagions Cart I plunked two fifty down,

For his Chesapeake Dog my taste buds were achin, 100% beef with Old Bay and Smoked Bacon,

The slaw that he served was not on the side, but right on the dog, between the buns it did ride.

On to New York to see what they Know, but first, just two stops in the Grand Mountains Pocono,

The Worlds Largest Chili Dog was the Point of their Sign, and the eyes in my stomach were much bigger than mine,

I feasted for hours before I went on my way, for I had Lunch and Dinner and Breakfast the next Day.

Headed East through the Water Gap, with My stomach a fill, We stopped by the Roadside of all places, Buttzville

With Fresh Buttermilk I toasted my My server Big Bonnie, and wolfed down a Classic from the Hot Dogger Named Johnny .

On Dasher and Prancer Lets take off in this rig, we are headed to Broadway in the Apple so big,

Where Hundreds of carts serve no Regrets, just Traditional Weiners with the name of Sabrett,

You can get em with Chile and Onions and Kraut, but I favor the specials the Vendors put out,

Some favor the Chile of Coney Island Fame, Like Nathans Famous, but what’s in a name.

Some Like Mustard and Ketchup and Relish instead, I chose the Latter with Onions of Red.

I head now to the Border, Be in Canada by Night, But not before sampling HOTS of red and white.

MERRY Christmas to all…..and to all a good BITE….

Crossing State Lines With Hot Dog Carts

I just received a good question from a slinger who is in the start-up phase of his hot dog biz. I don’t pull any punches with my answer. Read on…

Steve,

I appreciate the way you answer your emails.

I live in Indiana and am pursuing licensing here. I also work a lot in Illinois and know of several good locations there. Do you know if a “safe food” certificate is accepted all over? Would I need separate licenses for both states? That would be costly for just starting out, not to mention the added time.

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

John

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Hi John,

You will need a separate license and health permit for each county you sell in. While this may at first glance seem counterproductive, I see it as a very good thing.

I would hate to see a national health code for several reasons…

1. Freedom of location. While a few counties do have tough restrictions and high fees, many more are still extremely reasonable to do business in both from a code and fee standpoint. We have wheels under our little restaurants and the freedom to easily travel to a county that is friendly to our industry if necessary.

2. Freedom from “code bloat”. If a national health code were implemented, history strongly suggests that any reasonable and intelligent local codes would be replaced by the typically bloated legislation favored by both aisles in our “modern” federal government system. We don’t need a 2500 page health code book.

3. Freedom from hidden taxation. Whenever the national government decides to regulate a private industry they see it as an opportunity to stick their hand in your pocket and take an ever bigger “cut”of your profits in the form of “fees”, making it exponentially harder for private business owners (you and I) to be successful.

4. Freedom. Period. I believe that local and states rights should supercede federal bullying as intended by our founding fathers. We are losing our American freedoms at an alarming rate to a federal system that is out of control and run by an elite political class who have exempted themselves from being bound by the same laws that they force you and I to live under.

Don’t tread on me. Or my local health department.

Rant over. Sell ’em all, slinger!

-Steve

P.S. Feel free to copy and share the Food Code Sovereignty flag at the top of this article (some slingers are even using it as their Facebook profile pic). That’s great, but you are not allowed to alter the image in any way.

Upload Your Hot Dog Photos

Hey Slingers and Wanna-be Slingers alike,

We just installed a fancy new photo uploader on this page. It allows you to upload photos of your own hot dogs for all the world to see. It says “Submit a Media File” but don’t worry, media file is just a fancy word for “picture”.

Give it a try!

You can upload photos of hot dogs that you made on your cart or your kitchen stove, makes no difference to us. We just want to see your creativity in fashioning new-fangled condiment and topping combinations.

TIP: Make sure to use the “medium” setting on your camera when you take your picture, or edit your photo to display at 1200 pixels wide or less before you upload it. Large files really slow down the uploader.

I will be approving all photos before they go live so be patient, I’ll get to yours I promise.

I’ll get the ball rolling with a photo of a delicious dog that I serve on my own cart. It’s called the Randall Dog.

If you want your name (or business name) to appear with your pic, enter it in the Post Content field.

OK folks, upload away!

[fu-upload-form]

 Here they are – reader submitted photos. Click on the picture for a larger version…

 

Which Hot Dog Cart Start Up Book Should You Read?

Which Hot Dog Cart Start Up Book Should You Read?

It’s a common question. But at it’s core, it’s a fundamentally flawed one.

Why?

Because it’s the wrong question to ask. And if you ask the wrong question, you’ll never get the right anwer.

I don’t know why, but newbie and seasoned hot dog slingers alike seem to think they can read one single book and then assume that they know everything there is to know about running a (potentially) six figure business.

Does a student in diesel mechanic school only read one book? Or an accounting student? Just one book?

What about a neurosurgeon…

Patient: “Gee doc, which book did you read to learn how to cut into my head? I heard there’s a good one available.”

Surgeon: “Yep. I only wanted to read one book so I picked the one that looked the best. Now lie down. I have a tee time in three hours.”

Ridiculous? Sure is.

Listen. I know that hot doggin’ isn’t brain surgery but there is still a LOT to know. So why do folks insist on only reading one book?

The only thing I can think of is money. When you are in start up mode, cash is tight and the temptation to only read one book is very real.

Don’t give in to it.

When I started Hot Dog Profits I was pretty much the only guy teaching this stuff. There was definitely only one hard copy hot dog cart book back then. It’s called Carts of Cash, and it’s 250 solid pages of dog slingin’ goodness.

Yes, I wrote it and I think it’s pretty darn good. So do thousands of other people who have bought a copy over the years (thank you!).

So am I saying that Carts of Cash is the only book you should read?

Of course not. Here’s what I’m trying to say…

Get my book and read it. Then please buy the other gentleman’s book and read it too. Maybe even buy a third one. But only if you are going to READ IT!

“But what about the cost Steve? I can’t afford your stuff and the other guy’s too.”

The market place has certainly changed since I started this whole thing, so here’s what I’m going to do.

I just put together a very special deal that anyone can afford. It’s a lite version of my Premium training package. It’s called the Hot Dog Profits Premium Value Membership. You can check it out at http://HotDogProfitsPremium.com.

In addition to being able to watch my entire hot dog cart building video series (50 videos and counting) on your computer, you also get access to the online version of Carts of Cash. It’s the same great book with additional info added since the original printing. And if you need something to hold in your hot little hands, you can get the 250 page hard copy Carts of Cash book for $15 and change.

You’ll have plenty of moolah left to buy those other books you’ve had your eye on. Get ’em – but only if you are going to READ ‘EM slinger! 😉

“Knowledge is Power” according to Sir Kevin, er… I mean Francis Bacon. How can you argue with any guy named Bacon? I LOVE Bacon!

Commence to learnin’ now,

-Steve

P.S. We’re just testing the waters with this offer and these prices are definitely subject to change. However, if you are reading this you can still get in. I’ll remove this post when the offer expires. Here’s the link again: http://HotDogProfitsPremium.com. See you inside!