MyConcessionBusiness.com

Archive for June, 2010

It seems like anything dripping with BBQ sauce is a sign of summertime, holidays or parties. BBQ concession trailers are a great way to start your own business and serve all the hungry people what they are really craving. The whole BBQ rage has become popular virtually everywhere including large festivals, fairs and sporting events where there is high revenue potential.

If you are one of those people that has an absolutely perfect, mouthwatering, barbeque recipe that everyone you know raves about, you should be opening a BBQ trailer and making money off of it.

BBQ concession trailers are profitable anywhere that there are hungry people. Even people that are not hungry will feel their stomach start to growl when they get an inhalation of that familiar aroma. Most individuals running BBQ concession trailers report that a busy location easily can gross well over $1,000 per day and some say that they have built up enough clientele in a short amount of time that they can stay in a static location and their customers will travel to find them. To top it off, they are doing something that they love!

The most important thing to invest in with BBQ concession trailers is your smoker equipment. Make sure that your equipment and set up offer good circulation. It may be a good idea to talk with someone at the health department to find out the standards that your trailer will need to meet before you open for business.

BBQ concession trailers do not need to exclusively cook chicken and ribs either. Hamburgers and hot dogs will also expand your appeal to children as well so parents that want BBQ do not need to make an additional stop for their child's food too. You may want to even sell small containers of beans, rice, coleslaw or potato salad. The best part, since there are far less BBQ concession trailers around compared to other food concession trailers, you won't have nearly as much competition. Not that anyone else could compete with your special barbeque sauce recipe anyway!
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A catering truck allows you the rare opportunity to combine your chosen food service with the flexibility and freedom of moving your business from one place to another. Having the ability to change locations gives you the benefit of offering a different menu, based on the specific needs of your customers at each location. You can profit on different items from different locations based on what sells the best at each place.

Having a catering truck is far easier to operate and turn a profit than running a stationary restaurant, with less hours and less stress. Ideally, you can start your day serving coffee and breakfast at your chosen venues and then transition to boxed lunches and hot dogs in the afternoon.

Owning a catering truck offers a business owner a huge amount of flexibility when choosing equipment. Starting your own catering truck business is done with fairly low start-up costs with the primary investment being your vehicle. You will need to equip your catering truck with equipment for food preparation that meets sanitary regulations in your area which your local Health Department can guide you on. This will include preparation areas, stainless steel sinks, a cooking top or grill, running water and a refrigerator. Luckily, most companies will conveniently carry a catering truck that already meets all of these specifications.

When you own a catering truck business you can control your profit increase by simply adding additional services and menu items. Some catering truck businesses will even lease a space at a specific location permanently to provide their customers with seating to enjoy their food near the truck. Tables and chairs can be conveniently transported right on top of the truck if it is large enough or you can tow a small trailer to transport these items. Providing seating around your catering truck raises your potential for customers to buy a last minute snack on their way back to the office to eat later on their next break at work.

Purchasing a catering truck gives you the wonderful chance to become self-employed and control your income and your future.

Regardless of your age, a concession cart business is a fabulous way to enjoy the benefits of being self-employed. It is ideal for a full-time business or perfect for a summer and weekend business for college students, teachers or retirees. If you enjoy meeting new people in a fun atmosphere and making a pretty nice income, a concession cart business is for you.

To start your concession cart business you will want to evaluate your options and choose what you want to sell. Most carts will focus on one specific area like hot dogs or ice-cream but if you want to carry more than one item that is completely up do you. You will also need to decide where you want to set your concession cart up at, whether you are erecting it at the same spot everyday or traveling to music festivals, farmer's markets or other outdoor venues.

Before starting your concession cart business you will want to obtain a health certificate and determine what licenses and permits are required in your area. You will also need to decide if you want to find a partner or hire an employee. Sharing long shifts with someone, especially at a busy event may be needed so that you can keep up with the customers and take a break every now and then. Not to mention, you have become self-employed so you might also want to take a day off once in awhile without losing any potential income opportunities.

It is possible to also rent a concession cart in some areas so that may be another option for you if you want to become self-employed but you are on a tight budget. Keep in mind that even though you are focusing on selling food, you should also consider selling drinks. Most people would prefer purchasing their drink at the same location as their food so that they do not have to make an additional stop. You may also want to consider having bite-sized sample containers available to entice those people passing by. Above all, have fun with your concession cart. It is a great opportunity to make a lot of money and be your own boss so have a good time while you're doing it!

If you love cooking and planning, you may be wondering how to start a catering business of your own. As a caterer, you have control over planning and delivering foods such as appetizers, desserts or even full meals for some of the most important events in people's lives. From weddings and birthday parties to receptions and conferences, people around the globe call on the help of a caterer at some time in their lives.

The first step when you are figuring out how to start a catering business is to decide on a niche market. Later on once you are established you can expand your services but you are better to develop a specialty in one niche to put your heart into marketing. You will also need to figure out if you are going to need a loan to get your business started or if you can come up with the funds on your own.

After you have started your business plan for your catering business you will need to check with the Health Department in your area to find out regulations and then obtain your permits, inspection certificates and insurance. You will also need to decide if you are providing chef services which are also referred to as “in-home” catering services or you may want to start a bit larger of a business and look into renting an industrial kitchen for special events.

It may also be helpful to take classes or workshops to educate yourself about food trends. When you plan your available menu keep in mind that dishes that require exceptionally rare ingredients may not be a good idea when you are first starting out.

When you are starting out, it is a great idea to give gift certificates away so that people can try your product and service before they commit to a long-term commitment. You may want to also give away samples at supermarkets along with a sample menu and business card to spread the word about your new catering business.

When temperatures turn hot, nothing is more profitable than an ice cream concession business. The best part about ice cream concession trailers and trucks is that many vendors will rent these to you to use to start your business until you are ready to actually buy one of your own.

So which will you choose? A trailer, truck or cart? Trailers are ideal if you want to set up at events like festivals and fairs and offer extensive amounts of product, trucks are ideal for taking your business on the move and venture through neighborhoods, school sporting events or local parks and carts are perfect for a smaller scale business on the strictest of start-up budgets.

When you are opening your ice cream concession business you will need to make some very important decisions. Will you sell soft serve ice cream in the form of cones or sundaes or are you going to deal exclusively with individually packaged treats? If you are selling soft serve, what toppings and syrups will your offer? You will also need to decide on a supplier that you are going to order from and place your initial order.

You will need to check in your area to find out what permits and licenses that you will need to legally sell and you will have to get set up to take payment. If your ice cream concession business is going to be in the form of a truck or a cart, you will only need a cash bank to make change but if you are looking into a trailer, you may want to open a merchant account so you can take credit cards for all of those large family orders.

Ice cream concession businesses are an ideal way for virtually anyone to open their own profitable businesses and they are a ton of fun. What better job could you have for the spring, summer and early fall where you can be outside, set your own hours and put smiles on the faces of hundreds or even thousands of people? Everyone loves when they see an ice cream concession so make the world's favorite treat your business!

Being self-employed is quite a lucrative opportunity and buying a concession truck is a very intelligent decision. However, like any business, there are risks so it is important to educate yourself on the business first before just jumping in.

There are many benefits to buying a concession truck. The first obvious benefit of a concession truck is having the freedom to be able to travel to different locations. Once of the most important factors that influence the success of any business is location. With a concession truck, you can follow the crowd, fair, festival or event. The possibilities are endless! You can open for business outside a sporting event, a parade or a local fair. Many people see a phenomenal profit setting up in the parking lots of bars and nightclubs to feed the hungry 2:00 am crowd that is on their way home.

The second benefit of purchasing a concession truck is the start-up cost advantage. To open a restaurant, you need a large budget to finance and purchase everything but a concession truck can be purchased at a mere fraction of the price. You are spending very little money to start your own business where you make the rules, decide on the hours and ultimately get to make every decision regarding your own future. Your income will be in your own hands!

A concession truck is ideal because you never have to stay in one spot. When business is slow in one area, you simply move somewhere else. You can travel to different parks when there are softball and soccer games and on the weekends you have the potential to sell at a few different events in one day, giving you the opportunity to potentially to make a substantial amount of money. Depending on what food you are selling, you may even want to have a lunch route mapped out of local businesses that you can stop at daily at the same time so their employees will be awaiting your arrival. Purchasing a concession truck is ideal for anyone with the dream of becoming self-employed.

When you are in the process of looking to buy a food concession trailer, you need to understand that they range from mobile catering trucks to stationary concession stands. You will need to decide the size and type of food concession trailer that you will need according to the food choice you are going to sell and if you are going to sell only at one location or travel to several different places.

Each food concession trailer is going to have its own features. Some may have freezers, refrigerators, fryers, ovens and sinks. So obviously, if you are selling ice-cream, you will not need a food concession trailer that has a fryer and an oven. This is why it is important to have any idea of what foods you will sell. Choose a food that you will be comfortable working around. If you are scared to cook with oil, clearly you will not choose to sell french fries.

The next thing you will need to decide is if you want a new or used food concession stand. A used one is going to save you a substantial amount of money however, there is probably little or no warranty left on it. However, if you do not have the out-of-pocket money available to spend on a trailer to start your own business, you may want to choose a new one. Many vendors will offer financing on a new trailer so you will only need to make monthly payments and you get the peace of mind of having a warranty.

When possible, take the time to inspect the trailer in person and ask the seller plenty of questions if it is a used item. You will want to know how old it is and how long that they had it for? Did they buy it new or used? What did they use it for? How old are all of the appliances? Is there any warranty left?

Do not rush into your food concession stand purchase. You are probably excited to get started on reaping the rewards of havingyour own business but picking the right trailer can ultimately make or break your business.