The following is a guest post by HDCN reader Tony Skulitz:
We’ve been covering some advanced stuff lately but I think it’s time to review some of the basics. A brush up if you will.
I wrote this to try and explain a few things to the hot dog vendors out there.
To all hot dog vendors, I had the chance to meet a hot dog vendor that heard of my spot. I was approached and asked, “Hey I know you are doing better than me, can you tell me what I am doing wrong”.
So I had a Saturday free and went down to see his display of hot dogs and wanted to see how he was selling them.
What I saw was a young man wearing no kind of hat, jeans that were cut up and a colored ginney tee shirt. His 1stst thing I noticed, he did not wear any gloves. Your customers may not say anything about this but I assure you they won’t be back for seconds.
The next thing I noticed was a very dirty cart. When I asked him how often does he clean, his response was every 3 or 4 days.
I then looked into his 2 small coolers, he only had maybe 150 cans of soda and a few pack of Sabretts, and a few packs of the foot long hot dogs, that was it. He had a grill but had no brats or sausages or kielbasa.
I explained to him what he was doing wrong and how he had to change in order to bring in more customers. The funny part about this was the other day I had a gentleman sitting at my tables that I provide watching me. This gentleman travels up and down the area and he told me about this vendor and how poor is cart and appearance was. I thought to myself, even though you don’t hear it, your customers say it. Your customers do watch.
For those of you out there, you need to follow the simple rules.
Keep the cart clean, I clean mine has often as I can. If this means evry hour then so be it.
Have clean dress attire, hat, apron, gloves on hand etc…
You can only make enough money for the inventory you have on hand, if you only have $100.00 in inventory, you can’t expect to be making 400 or 500 hundred a day. It’s just not going to happen.
Thank you, Hot Dogs U Relish – Tony
Click the pics for a larger version.
You’d think most of these things would be common sense. We just can’t let ourselves slack when it comes to our businesses. Very glad you covered these important tips.
The sign has a typo kielbasy? kielbasa is correct and how many of you caught it?
What is the best way to clean the inside of the bins???
I am just starting out and I wish you would have elaborated on what should have been in his coolers. How many sodas should you carry, how many dogs, and what about that grill? I am just now building my cart and I am trying to figure out what to do with everything. I would love some feed back.
when you wear gloves do you prepare the food then take the gloves off to handle the money? all I’ve read is paper money is covered in germs. If you pick up the wrapper with your bare hands and never touch the food with your hands but instead use tongs and spoons do you need to wear gloves?
RW,
I think kielbasy may be a Polish spelling. And that spelling catches the eye which is always good.
-Steve
Wanda,
All your questions are answered in my Hot Dog Biz 101 course. (shameless sales pitch… 😉
As a matter of fact, I set up a coupon code just for you. Enter WANDA in the coupon code box at checkout and get $10 off. http://www.HotDogBiz101.com
– Steve
Gloves are not all they’re cracked up to be. As soon as you touch something like money, they become contaminated and should be changed. I guarantee you, there are a lot of germy gloves touching a lot of food out there. Be careful.
-Steve
Tony, you gave that hotdogger very valuable advice that others were unwilling or unable to share with him. I hope he follows your wisdom. Remember (in my opinion), every hotdogger reflects in some little way on others. If a customer visits a couple of dirty carts, or even worse, gets ill after eating at a cart, that customer very likely will never buy from a cart again. He may also share his experience with friends at which point all hotdoggers suffer.
It’s all common sense, the cleanliness of your cart, uniform and the surrounding area can really play a role whether one succeeds or not in this business.
I prefer sanitation more important than the quality of the food, but then again if your sanitation is high, no doubt the quality is up there too.
thanks for the post steve. I guess sometimes we all need to get reminded.
Clean Clean Clean,my wife ,and i always wipe down the cart,as the day goes along.We are going out again today witch will be day #11,and we are only doing about 30 dogs a day,witch we all know sucks,but we are in a major parking lot with lots of traffic,and we have about 10 regular customers already,because they love my wifes chili.We are not busy yet,but i have the confidence we should do very well,not only ,because of dogs,but because of the people they are all great,and we are having a great time.How long should we give this spot? Jeff
Wanda, what I do is simple, I wear a glove on my left hand, and handle the tong in my right hand, my hand’s never touch the food, once I have the food done, I hand the dog to the client and then I remove the glove and handle the money. I go thru a few hundred gloves a week. as far as the soda is concerned, I carry around 400 cans of drinks per day. I go thru 100 lbs of ice per day keepinjg every cold.
Hey hot dog vendors I thank you for being here, lets all go and make some money.
Tony
pull your cart into a car wash and squirt it off and out
Hey Guy’s. I am in Huntsville AL and we have NEVER had any dog carts here cuz the health department here are not in favor of food carts. But my hot dog company rep. told me yesderday he saw on on one of our main drags, I was surprised but eager to see for myself, so I drove to the spot and sure enough there was a hot dog cart selling Original Chicago Dogs, first ever in this neck of the wood.
I got out to check it out, the vendor had on jeans a tee-shirt and a red half apron, not too shabby but, OMG The cart was horrible!! The only clean things where the two colorfull Umbrella’s! The cart was DIRTY waterspots looked like from 2 years ago on the “ONE” lid he had over the dog steamer, no lid over the bread? A TOWEL?? Not a Restaurant towel a regular hand bath towel in green terry-cloth? The cart had a buil-in-condiment tray on the back and instead of the little containers that where meant to go there, just holes? He should have at least put lids on there, or bought a piece of SS to cover them! Needless to say it was less then acceptable at least to me, I eat with my eyes and if it don’t look good I aint eating it.
Chida
The Wiener Wagon
Many years ago I worked for a deli sandwhich chain. The franchise owner purposely hung a banner, with the business name on it, upside down and facing a very busy road. It was amazing how many people would call to tell us the banner was upside down. This can give you an idea of how many people are noticing such advertising. The misspelled kielbasy could be for that purpose.
I keep hearing about gloves, well I change gloves on every customer, and yes they notice. Gloves are real cheap so change them. I can’t say I have the best business in the world but I have about 90% repeat customer base. I am in a very very small town and must have repeat customers. I go thru about 60 drinks per day, give of take (one cooler). I always have extra just in case. My noral ice is about 60 lbs, but at festivals everything goes way up. Cleaning the cart is not just a good idea but a requirement. With a hotdog cart you have time to clean. I clean my cart before I setup, then as I go along I continue to clean. If you don’t like to clean sell cars, houses or get a job cutting grass. Don’t give us a bad name by having a dirty cart. Word of mouth is your best way to advertise, its free.
Duggs Doggs
Good!! Good!!
Excellent advice. There is one other cart here in our town, and it is dirty. And she keeps her chili on an old crappy crock pot, a total turn off.
We hear about her cart from our customers and if you think your customers wont talk about your cart you’re mistaken. Don’t give anyone amunition!!
When we have down time, we’re CONSTANTLY cleaning our cart, and our condiment containers before we restock, and we try to keep them full. People eat with their eyes too, and if your condiments look like they have had a rough day, no one is going to want them! And clean your bottle tops too! Dried up ketchup and mustard on bottles is gross! And don’t cuss or read a book! (I just discribed her to a T)
Hey Steve,
Since we are covering some of the “basics”, how about starting a conversation on location ideas?
WOW….Dirty carts, Homemade Chili, crockpots!!! This would never fly in Chicago. GOOD LUCK PEOPLE
I am starting in a couple of weeks but I have been visiting local carts for a couple of years… People(one guy) with full thick beards, smoking & reading a book, looking almost annoyed when you walk up . I didn’t even stay long enough to buy a dog or see gloves or not.
One guy had a shiny new trailer inside & out. He was wiping things down as I approached. I peered inside as he prepared my food. Very neat & organized & signs weren’t hand written. His certificate was displayed & I saw thermometers & boxes of gloves, which he changed with each transaction.
Who would you go to again?
I agree completely about changing gloves each and every time, I do that as normal practice. I also wipe the cart when I have a chance, always better to have a great looking cart, catches the eye of potential customers that way. I’ve also tinkered with my set up each and every time I take the cart out. I work full time so I only am able to set up on the weekends. I bought a picnic table that I set up under the canapy and I was able to use it this past Sunday at my church’s spring fest and man it was a heck of an idea! I had people who were buying hamburgers from the vendor next to me come to my bench and sit a while….not my intention but oh well. I had an excellent day that day and I sold out competely at the end of the festival. I must have raised at least $500 for the church with me donating every bit of it. I will say that I had lots of customers who were impressed with my cart and some who requested my business card so it might lead to some catering gigs. I’m extremely happy with my cart and I’m excited to get to the summer months!
Esteban Guzman
Stevie’s Red Hot Wienies
I am a relative newcomer to hot dogging. Like many others, I clean my cart before I leave to set up. I clean it again when I get to location, and wipe down between customers. I go thru a lot of gloves, as I put on fresh gloves for each customer and throw them away before I handle cash or anything else. I wash my hands many times a day. You can’t be too clean, and believe me , your customers will notice. I constantly have people remark on my washing and use of fresh gloves as well as my clean cart. Good luck out there!!!
Unfortunately, where I am located, our city fights us so much that we haven’t been able to find a location where we can serve more than $1-200 worth of inventory, so I don’t carry more than I need, but am always prepared with xtra than what i normally serve..ya never know.
I wear a glove on one hand, which is the ONLY hand that touches any food the way I serve. It is removed before taking and handing back any money. I wipe my cart surface each time I serve…meaning..if I have 1 customer, I wipe it down, if I have 10 to serve, I wipe it down as soon as those 10 are served. At the end of the day, the cart is sanitized and Sheila Shined. I wear an apron and my hair is always up or I wear a visor.
Being able to talk to your customers while serving them makes the time go faster, you get to know your customers and being friendly and joking keeps them coming back as well.
Been doggin a year now – learned a lot, OJT. One of first things I learned was not to use the so called cold area of cart for ice or perishables. No insulation, ice melts quick, have to deal with water drainage, constantly pushing customers out of way to access cold stuff…A big ice chest, which keeps ice all day costs less than $20. Now the “cold” area is used just for storage of non-perishables en route to gig.
Don’t use gloves, but constantly washing hands…Cart arrives at gig immaculate, keep wet wash cloth handy whole time to clean as I go…
Only twice, early on, did not have enough stock, and ran out. Better to be prepared for success, everything’s on ice, and can go back in fridge for next gig. With regular ongoing gigs, can estimate how much you need. This last Wed nite, figured I would sell 200 dogs, among other things, and by 3 in morning, sold last dog and bun to last customer. Perfect!! With ok weather, should sell 230 dogs tonight….net is $2.40 each. Have 3 catering gigs lined up for May.
Yanks Franks – Great Comment – like it or not we are all in this together.
As far as gloves; I am a retired nurse and if I never see another pair of gloves I be just fine.
Instead I use 9X10.75 sheet of foil – grab the bun with my tongs (Klosmerman Buns, already seperated in the bag) – put the bun onto the foil – apply the Hot Dog – flip and wrap – I make a show of it.
I wash my hands about every 5th customer and use hand sanitizer in between every customer.
I also have post my customer promise on my cart.
Quality – Service – Cleanliness
hey guy’s, I work in school as a cleaning person ,did enyone now how they serve food on the caferia?.good look to all.
I love you guys ! We are on day two with our Dream Maker cart in California ! (whew.. Talk about learning curve) I look forward to this blog every day , just wish I had some xtra cash to start with your book. I know it would have been free but my husband wasn’t quick to shell out any more $$. So I thank you ALL for the limitless free advice I get here 🙂 hotdoggers are quickly finding a huge place in my heart !
We wear a clean glove on the right hand, which is dispensed – in front on the customer (that way they know it’s new) then grab your foil with your left, place the bun in the foil with your right hand – see then you only need one glove – make you doggie – etc. hand the dog to the customer, remove it and then deal with the money! We have had many, many customers comment and how we are BEYOND – sanitary!! – Sure you go through a few gloves but they are cheap and people love it – ! Thanks Steve – you are the best! Sue and Rena!
I think you all are doing a great job!!!I too look forward to reading all that you have to talk about. All the information has been very helpful..I would like to hear from you guys on diffrent variations of setting up your carts for vending.
Hi everyone. I was hoping I could get some suggestons on cleaning the steam-table portion of my cart. Whenever I try to clean this area while operating, I always get burned. I’ve tried several different methods, all with the same result. Any help would be appreciated. Glad to be a part of this great community. Steve, thx for creating it.
Gloves are the only way to go. I use two gloves each time i serve.removing them when i handle the money and using a fresh pair for the next customer. When ever i get a chance i clean. More than one customer has commented on the gloves and the lack of them at one of the other vendors. Once a week the cart goes under the hose and gets scrubed with stainless steel cleaner, i like barkeepers friend. Every morning before opening i use windex and go over the whole cart while waiting for it to heat up. Once or twice a week i will pick a woman and ask if she has any suggestions about the set up concering anything a that needs more attention from a womans point of view.. You would be suprised as to the great word of mouth advertising this gets. Rick Hot Dog Heaven of Springfield
I wear white chef jackets during the cold weather and tee shirts with our logo on the back during the summer. I wear a cap and apron also. wash hands often use hand santizer and wear gloves. Changed after each customer. We wipe the cart down and spray with a mixture of water and a tsp. of bleach often during the. About two weeks ago I was cleaning betwee customers when a couple pulled up and said it always pays to read the signs. I thought he meant the signage along the street. but he said the signs he meant was seeing me cleaning the cart. If i was cleaning it must be a good place to eat. they raved about our product and said he would spread the word. So believe me people watch!!! Wipe the cart down, be neat in your appearance and sell great food and you can’t help but be successful.
Jim & Kay
“THE GREAT AMERICAN DAWG WAGON”
I hired an operator that had worked with the largest hot dog company in Edmonton. I thought that 7 years of experience would be great for my growing franchise, but, boy…was I wrong. His bad habits that we acceptable at his old employer were a total liability for me and he couldn’t change his ways. Thankfully, he only worked a few shifts at a nightclub and didn’t make the cut for my prime locations. I now personally train my new operators and take them through the steps for a few shifts until they feel comfortable. I can’t afford to have someone out there who isn’t towing the line.
Rex Johnson
Owner
Hot Dog Heroes
Edmonton, AB
Hey everyone, what a pleasure to get the emails again. I thought you forgot me Steve. Was supposed to start with my business this month but my friend’s illness has delayed it. I purchased my cart used. Cleaned and scrubbed and works and looks awesome. When I transported from the seller to my storage, the sneeze box flew off, what a scare but anyway, where do I get another sneeze box? Help, in the process of starting my gigs for june. love all the advice and can’t wait!
Thanks for all the great information. I will be purchasing a Topdogcart out of Florida has anyone use or have an opinion on this type of cart.
I clean my cart CONSTANTLY. I go through gloves LIKE CRAZY. I clean the immediate area around my hot dog cart REPEATEDLY. People notice, but mostly I am a bit FREAKISH about cleanliness.
When I was a CSP Trooper, I always kept my uniform spotless and my leather shiny and scuff-free, including my boots. My campaign hat was always lint and dust free, even going so far as to covering it with a specially-fit plastic cover to protect it from the snow and rain. My brass was always tarnish-free and shiny. Why do I mention this? Because when others saw how professional and impeccable my uniform was and how professional my demeanor and attitude was, I gained respect from everyone, including the bad guys out there, and that kept me safe. The officers who got less respect and more abuse were the ones who had unkempt uniforms and vehicles, and who acted unprofessionally. At Sturgis, the bikers always treated the “staters” with much more respect.
If I were to choose between an unkempt street food vendor’s cart and a clean, professional-looking cart, I definitely would not be going to the dirty cart. I’d probably mention the dirty cart to others as well, to avoid them, that is, lest they wish to risk a food-borne illness.
Thank you. All great tips. First maiden voyage of my hot dog cart this weekend. looking for tips on placement of gloves, foils and hot dog trays and where do we put the tongs after using them in between customers/
Hi Julie, good luck this weekend. I think that you’ll find that placement of gloves, foil, tongs, etc is a highly personal thing. You will develop your own preference after you’ve been slinging a while.