Ever heard of the saying that location is everything? The very first thing you need to be sure of even before you purchase anything is the location you would be placing your business. You first need to carefully evaluate different possible locations for setting up a hotdog vending cart. Scout out and select the best locations and check to see if they are available for your hot dog cart location. You may have to pay rent to private or commercial owners for a lucrative location in a mall or parking lot. You may also need to acquire a location license in addition to your business license if you want to park your cart on a public property like a park, sidewalk or street. Check with your municipality for details regarding locations and permit requirements.
The 4 characteristics of a possible profitable hot dog cart site are:
- High Visibility – This means that your hot dog cart can easily be seen from a distance or is not easily overlooked by people in its location.
- Heavy Foot Traffic (or Drive-By Traffic) – This means that there are a lot of people that pass by the cart. As for drive by traffic, there must be a number of vehicles that pass by your possible location and where you are situated is not isolated.
- Favorable Competitive Situation –You also need to see who are the other concessionaires located near your proposed stand. With this knowledge, you will see how your business would fare in the daily grind.
- Easy Customer Access – Your concession stand should not be on island and it must be easily reached by your consumer base. Access thus is very important for your business’s survival.
The best locations for a food vending cart have a lot of foot traffic. Foot traffic means a lot of pedestrians or passers by that move by your concession stand. These people are often found in high density areas such as malls, offices and where a large population of workers, visitors or people can be found. The concession stand should be highly visible and easy to access. The location is even better if there are no other competing food businesses nearby. Here are some examples of possible permanent locations for a hot dog cart:
- Parking lots of large retail store, factory, plaza, or mall.
- Industrial parks or commercial complexes.
- Park, beach, pier, zoo, golf course areas.
- Downtown street corner or parking lot.
- University, college, high school student areas or cafeterias.
- Court house, military base, and government complex.
- Office building, hospital, call center.
- Transportation center such as bus, train, subway, airport, marina, truck stop, service station, and car wash.
In addition to having a regular daily permanent position many hot dog cart operators set up shop at temporary locations to catch extra business after hours and get more customer exposure. These temporary venues can be very financially lucrative. Here are some examples of these that you should investigate:
- Sporting events such as soccer, baseball, football, etc., tournaments, little league through to professional.
- Car shows and car rallies, farm shows, boat shows, air shows, industrial shows, home shows, county fairs, cultural events, carnivals, fishing derbies, auctions, parades, flea markets, music festivals, antique and craft shows, tourist attractions.
- Grand openings, open houses, large sales events, business anniversaries, company picnics & banquets, conventions.
- Charity events, church/club/school functions.
- Very large construction sites.
- Catering birthday parties, anniversaries, and bar mitzvahs.
Other Location Ideas
Permanent Locations (Regular Scheduled Locations):
- Large Lumber / Hardware / Home Renovation Stores (Home Depot, Home Hardware)
- Large Automotive Chain Stores
- Large Grocery Stores
- Big Box Stores (Costco)
- Large Grocery Stores
- Strip Malls / Plazas / Shopping Centers
- Industrial Parks
- Business Parks
- Large Factories
- Office Complexes
- Large Office Buildings
- Government Complexes
- Court Houses
- Hospitals
- Call Centers
- Colleges, Universities, High Schools
- Military Bases
- Golf Courses
- Busy Downtown Streets
- Parks
- Beaches
- Parking Lots
- Transportation Hubs – Airports, Train and Bus Stations, Marinas, Freeway Off Ramps, Service Stations, Truck Stops, Car Washes
- Amusement Parks, Zoos
- Waste Disposal Sites
- Construction sites or public works locations
Special Events and Temporary Locations:
- Sporting Events – baseball, soccer, hockey, football, bmx races, little league, big league
- Sales Events / Grand Openings (especially large car lots, furniture and electronics outlets)
- Large Construction Sites
- Charity Events
- School / Church / Club functions
- Business anniversaries, open houses, golf tournaments, company picnics
- Boat shows
- Air Shows and Fly Ins
- Car Shows
- Car Rallies
- Conventions
- Music Festivals
- Carnivals
- County Fairs
- Antique Shows
- Farm Shows
- Craft Shows
- Cultural Events
- Theatres
- Flea Markets, Swap Meets
- Home Shows
- Industrial Shows
- Parades
- Auctions
- Estate Sales
- Fishing Derbies
- Tourist Attractions
- Seasonal Areas:
- Beaches / Piers
- Marinas
- Zoos
- Parks
Catering:
- Birthday Parties.
- Anniversaries.
- Company banquets, tournaments.
Notes:
Keep in mind that you will need large pedestrian traffic to make it worth your while. It is best that you do a traffic analysis first and this can be done by observing the number of people that walk near your prospective site. In counting heads at particular times and dates, you can make a determination of how large the pedestrian traffic would be when you start operating your hot dog stand.
Be careful with special events that you meet the specific needs of that group of people in attendance at that event. You may need to have kosher meals or have enough supplies at least for your possible customers. If your consumers are mostly children, having all the simple ingredients need to be stocked up compared to the more complicated recipes.
Keep an event log – record attendance (if known) and items sold. This will be valuable for planning for future events such as next year. Having this as a record, you can plan your year and have a better handle of sure business for your hot dog concession stand.
