Looks to me like you've got all the big pitfalls covered.

* Relatives to stay with ( reduces costs and risk )
* Relative that will be a mentor in the busines (Uncle Manny and him allowing the use of his cart until you go live)
* Backup cash/zero debt or bills.
* Family support for your wife. Until the cash flows she'll most likely not be on board. When it does she might try to take credit for the whole idea. :blush:


You're in a prime position.

Now, let me add something else.

I'm here in rural Indiana. It's cheap living here and there are three world class ortho products corporations with good blue and white collar jobs available. This area has been insulated from the obvious downturns in towns not far away. That could change overnight.

Food prices are increasing. People are spending less. We don't know what's coming next. The market continues it's decline. Gold and silver are up 20-30% over the last 3 months. There are more people on UC now than ever before.

Times are tough. It seems perfectly plausible that they are going to get much worse.

My point is that I'm skeptical that people in large numbers are going to be ready willing and able to spend money on dogs rather than going to the supermarket and cook them at home. Or as my inlaws often do, prepare foods before going out and eating those cheap home cooked foods on location.

If there is an event that changes the dynamics of the game you may have foods too expensive for the times. This is not all that unrealistic in my mind. You may also have an expensive cart with no customers.

Alternate action:

If you can ditribute dogs throughout a crowd with your cart, you may also distribute "other items" that may be more suited for the times.

You decide what "other items" might be.

If you game the situation ahead of time you may be able to take a profitable venture of selling dogs here and there into an embarassingly profitable venture should the excrement hit the fan.

And I do believe that we think alike that doesn't frighten me. As we decline into chaos we may each find that we have much more common ground than we might think.

As the money evaporates out of the US things are going to change. Survival may become more important than arguing.

Or not. :blush: Who knows?

Go for the biz. You're in good shape.

If the location is an office area, however, you might pick up increased business from the workers who are scaling back from actual restaurant lunches.

Clod has a point people are actually eating at McDonalds these days.:vomitblu:

$5 for a hot lunch isn't expensive. Also, during tight times, one of the last thing people give up is comfort food.

I think if you've got a great location, you don't need to worry about much.

Yes, the first rule of good business is location, location, location.

But with the wrong product, a great location isn't so great.

For example, what if you scope out the neighborhood, see that pass-by traffic is exactly at the level you want it to be because there are two large businesses. You set up your cart, and wait for the customers to stroll by.

Unfortunately, they keep on strolling by ... because the two largest businesses you set up next to are the editorial offices of Vegetarian times and PETA.

Little details mean a lot in marketing.

Taxes?

maybe not in Cali :( For $5 I want more than a hot dog meal-especially off a cart....

I'm with you.

Foods from the market are much cheaper. I can eat a big meal for $5.

1.80 BIG can of Campbells soup
.60 One stick of saltines
1.50 Can of Chili
.75 Chocolate candy
0.00 ice water

4.65


0.00 Use of the company microwave
0.00 Use of sink to clean my dishes

That's not to say that I don't spend money on prepared food or that I don't believe that there will be enough customers to make your venture profitable.

The cheap food model is becoming more popular now days.

I'd rather have a really good jumbo sized dog, chips, and a cold drink than that stuff.

$5 will get you a quarter-pounder meal at McDonalds.

Esentially a quarter pound beef burger, fries, and a drink

vs

A quarter pound beef dog, chips, and a drink.


Not much difference.

Big difference, actually, in terms of branding, customer desire, etc.

Frankly, I think the frank is the better deal, because a lot of the Mickey D's $5 is going to things like advertising and marketing research, so you're actually getting better caloric value from the dog ... a quarter pound dog pretty much stays a quarter pound dog and there's considerable shrinkage in a quarter pounder after cooking.

there is something just so Ignatius J. Reilly about all of this...he never had much luck with his weenie stand, either.

Will the weenies be kosher? Coz I'll only eat the kosher ones.

(we used to call quarter pound dogs "home wreckers")

Yes, they will be Kosher dogs. They taste much better to me, and they don't use gross stuff like sphincters, lips, etc. They only use the best parts of the cow.

The term "home wreckers" is cute. ;)

You could name a special hot dog that! The Home Wrecker! What should it have on it...?

:lol: So would I.


Bring the cart over to Indiana. I'll buy 2 dog meals.

Sauerkraut and nacho cheese.

That just made me a little queasy Perry Winkle. Thanks for that image.

:vomit:

Now now, the customer is always right. I'll take mine with bacon.