Hey Slingers,
I hope you all had a happy, safe, and (for those of you who had gigs) profitable Independence Day. I spent the first half of the day with family, the second half of the day with friends, ate too much, laughed a lot, and was thankful to my creator for being able to live in the land of the free.
Thank you to all who sent me emails and texts yesterday. I have the greatest readers in the dogosphere!
See you Monday,
-Steve
Hi Steve, and a belated happy forth to you. Yesterday was my first big event day, my best so far. Leading up to that day was very stressful. I was so afraid of not having enough product to sell and having money to pay for it. Turns out I ran out of ice water and that’s it. I need to do something with a big pile of hot dog buns, got about 300 left. My biggest enemy yesterday was the heat, over 100, when it’s that hot I wonder if it’s worth it to get out on the small shows, nobody’s hungry. I guess you pack heavy on the drinks and water, right? As you Steve, I’m thankful to God that I live in this country of ours to enjoy the freedoms we have. Also thankful for my wife and daughter who helped me at the fireworks show last night, I owe them a night out.
Congratulations Randy! Yes, water and soda move really well when it’s hot out. Tell your wife and daughter that I said “Good Job!”.
DITTO! No work. Only play; kayaking, fireworks, and a corn dog. God Bless America…AGAIN!
Sounds like a great day Robin!
Back at you!!
Thanks for your service to our country Michael. I mean that.
Right back at you Steve, enjoyed the day by relaxing.
Right on Robert!
Steve,
Just had to comment on your message for the day. I have watched and read your daily emails for almost a month now and new there was something different going on. I am 64, on social security, and my wife is unable to work due to a health issue so we live quite humbly as you might imagine. I have a little at home hobby business that almost makes ends meet. We see the opportunity in Hot Dog vending and are quite excited about the potential…both to fill a financial need and to meet/greet people with a new type of happy eating experience. I make the following statement because of what you wrote “giving thanks”. Presently, the town we live in does not allow hot dog cart vending (%$#@*) and we also are not able to build one at the moment strictly due to finances. We are believing we will be able to move back to NC this year and be able to build a cart then. All depends on our mutual Creator opening doors.
I must tell you that my wife and I are impressed with your opportunity AND your endeavors to spread it! We agreed that the principal you are using is exactly what the church is supposed to be doing. Helping each other UP vs seeking only self gain. Thank you for what you are doing and we hope to join your ranks soon.
Blessings on you and your work!
Jay and Linda Bailey
Thanks for the kind words Jay and Linda. I love helping folks get started in this great business. If there’s anything I can do to help some of those doors swing your way, call me on my personal cell phone at 636-399-2460.
Still trying to get a spot to start my business. Public vending is illegal around here. So, I need private property permission. No luck so far. But a did manage to get into a local parade yesterday and pushed my cart 2.5 miles and give out 250 flyers. Yes, it was hot! The lady in charge of the parade said I could give a flyer out to anyone who asked for one, so I put signs on my cart that said “Please ask for a flyer”. This worked great!
We all encountered similar friction when we got started. Everyone here who has their own hot dog cart business today has one thing in common. They never gave up. You showed that you have what it takes with your creative flyer solution. Nice job David! Keep moving forward.
been doing this food thing for so many years.a lot of 110 hr weeks,hard work.I just converted a old 1966 camper into a food service stand.i love my country so much and so proud to be AMERICAN that I painted it red white and blue.I had a lot of problems figuring out the water system(hot water)and pump,by the grace of God and good people out there(u too steve lol) I got it done.I live in NYS now and theres really no business here for me.I came from Florida when I just had a cart and did well.I sold my house in the woods and we are moving back to Florida.
I hope this old timer makes the trip.I replaced the wheel bearings and the brakes in the trailer and replaced the tires.By the grace of God we will make the trip.
THANKS TO EVERYONE AND GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR SLINGER BUSINESS!!!!IT TAKES TIME BUT THEY SAY”GOOD WAITERS GET GOOD TIPS”””
God bless you all.I will let you know Steve if I made it back to Florida in one piece.1340 miles((((((((wow))))
Brian
Good luck Brian. You’ll make it!
Had a blast taking photos for our Stockton Ports “A’s” Minor League team. Celebrated with a Vintage Baseball Game with a list of former major league players, and hall of fame players. Had more fun than anyone deserves. Plus a lot of family time too. It is great to be a Slinger, and have the freedom to control your own work time. And to live in the greatest country on earth .
Amen Chappy! Sounds like a wonderful day.
Had a very eventful day …set up my cart at a friends 4th of July party and didn’t charge for the food ..my friends payed me outright for the dogs ,hamburgers and rolls . I just set a tip jar up and did very well,also picked up 3 more events coming up in a few weeks. ….would like to give a shout out to those selfless Americans that fight for our freedom on a daily basis and allow us to live the way we do ….GOD BLESS AMERICA !!!!!
Nice job Kevin! Right on regarding our servicemen and women!
Steve, hope you had a great 4th! I too feel the same way and you said it just right!
To David of Casey’s Hot Dogs: I too ran into difficulty setting up somewhere! The opportunity to set-up in front of the local courthouse, “fell” into my lap when I joined the Chamber and went to their monthly meeting and mentioned I had a hot dog cart and was looking for a daily location to set-up at. I got three opportunites and lots of helpful advice! Afterall, I was in the presence of all business owners, managers etc. in the area! Two were from private companies saying they’d love it if I set up in their parking lots and the suggestion to set-up in front of the courthouse was from the president of the Chamber and by a member of the planning and zoning board who liked me and told me what I needed to do to get permission (which wasn’t hard just some extra paperwork, photos of the cart, copy of food license, State Hawker’s and Peddlers license which says I can go anywhere in the state to sell goods, and a nice introduction letter in a nice pretty professional folder with business cards). 🙂 Whoa-la! Easy-peasy! The rest is history!!!
Check out the local Farmer’s Markets too! I make a killing every week at mine in my town! I make more at the Farmer’s Market than I do for nearly the entire week in front of the courthouse!
Great tips Julia. N.G.G. (Networking Gets Gigs).
Glad everyone had a fun 4th!
I was the volunteer chef at the local VFW post… It was fun as can be! I’ve been out of a commercial kitchen for several months now, so needless to say I had a riot… That and the free beers they kept handing me didn’t hurt matters either!
That’s a beautiful thing!
Just want to say great day to all
Please help my fb is dogingit@gmail .com
I finnished my cart last sunday about 7pm and took some photos to post, was a bit sleepy so i layed down. woke up at 11pm to find out i was having a hart attack at 49
i was in the hospital for 4 day thay installed a stent and fixed a few other things lol.
my question is because of this my permit money is now gone and i have no real income.
any slinger out there have any idea on how to raise mim funds to get going i have have food and everything i need and funds for buns . just stuck on the permit thing.
please advise i need help i have my locations and just stuck thank you
pete
dogging it in calif
Wow. I’m sorry to hear that. Kickstarter.com comes to mind as a source for quick funding. Good luck Pete. I know you’ll make a spectacular comeback.
working on it steve day by day
Pete
calif
DID I MISS SOMETHING? TODAY IS ONLY THE 2ND…. HOW CAN YOU SAY YOU HAD A GREAT 4TH… ? MAYBE I SHOULD GO LAY DOWN AND WAKE UP AGAIN AND SEE IF THINGS HAVE CHANGED AND THIS MAKES SENSE
You’re reading last year’s post. lol!