I, as many of you probably do, think of tons of random business ideas. This is my newest one. The plan would be to open a hot dog cart near the main bar spots in the city. Starting out, I'd be there Fridays and Saturdays 9pm to 2am. I'd also be wearing this costume


I'd like to be known as The Hot Dog Guy from regulars. I know after a night of drinking and walking down the street I'd definitely buy some hot dogs. Either that or beat the crap out of the guy wearing a hot dog costume. Any general input is appreciated. Also answers to licenses/permits needed. Anyone like this plan?

Not enough information.

I have all the information I need -- this is the greatest idea ever.

I live in California, specifically San Diego.
Don't know how much more information would be needed.
Plus I have a sweet costume.

Get ready for government regulations to give you an unpleasant surprise.

"Do you have the proper permit for this mobile food establishment, sir?"

Drunk chicks will lay you plenty imo.

They do this in my city. They do decent business. Hiring someone should be interesting since doing this yourself is like contracting AIDs.

I bet that given the income potential of this business, you'd probably be better off spending $5k on poker coaching.

this doesn't sound like a horrible idea if you're a college student trying to make some money, imo. i'd prob talk to a lawyer about legal issues first, though.

wisconsin style bratwurst >>>>> hot dogs

and if u get beat up u get paid even more...

Where do I invest?

*very long article cut n paste warning*

There was a decent article about this last week in the page one section of the journal. $1k a day net if you have the market cornered? I'd do that.

Of course it was also on tv news so maybe that's where you got the idea...

WSJ article link

* PAGE ONE
* APRIL 9, 2009

Dogged Pursuit: Professionals Find New Livelihood Selling Frankfurters
As Gloom Spreads, Carts Sprout All Over; The Guajardo Family's Stand in Texas

By SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN

(See Corrections & Amplifications item below.)

BANDERA, Texas -- In hard times, some small-town Americans are turning to a new livelihood with relish.

Among them are Andrea and Ben Guajardo. They began selling hot dogs from a pushcart on Main Street in November.

Ms. Guajardo is a grant administrator for a health-care system. Her husband, Ben, is a pipeline operator. Theirs is the first hot-dog stand in Bandera, pop. 957, that anybody here can remember.

"It's a backup plan," says Ms. Guajardo, a mother of four. "No one knows what's going to happen with the economy, and I don't want to have to scrounge for a minimum-wage job."

View Slideshow
[SB123921681053802049]
Sarah E. Needleman/The Wall Street Journal

Andrea and Ben Guajardo both work full-time, but began selling wieners with help from their four kids in November.

Facing pay cuts and weakened job security, more Americans are turning to this century-old, big-city trade in outposts like Bandera, where cowboys on horseback share the road with motorcyclists. Many of these vendors are working professionals with day jobs, ranging from real-estate agents to train operators.

Sales of carts, which start at about $2,000 new, have heated up in the past year. "Every model is...taking off," says Joel Goetz, owner of American Dream Hot Dog Carts Inc. in St. Petersburg, Fla. Since January, he has sold about 25 carts a week, 15 more than usual.

"Business is really off the charts," says Dan Jackson, a division manager at Nation's Leasing Services in Newbury Park, Calif. Leases for hot-dog carts account for about three-quarters of sales, and revenue is triple what it was this time a year ago, he says.

Hot dog vendors are a familiar sight in big cities around the country. For one Texas family, their weekend business is bringing in extra cash amid a slumping economy. Sarah Needleman reports from Bandera, Texas.

Today's cart buyers are generally older and have more white-collar work experience than was traditionally the case, says Will Hodgskiss, president and "top dog" at Willy Dog Ltd., a New York cart manufacturer. "People are either buying these carts in anticipation of a layoff or to supplement their incomes," he says. Willy Dog's sales are up 30% from March 2007.
Street Food of Choice

Hot dogs are the street food of choice for vendors because frankfurters are sold precooked and therefore tend to undergo less scrutiny from state and city health departments. They're also popular. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Americans typically consume seven billion hot dogs, according to the American Meat Institute's National Hot Dog & Sausage Council.

"It's a very recession-proof business," says Kurt Horlacher, a former sheet-metal worker who co-owns four hot-dog stands in Sarasota, Fla., with his wife, Renee, a former registered nurse.

The two say their sales have increased 20% annually since they started two years ago, and they plan to open three more stands later this year. Their eight employees, who are paid $8 an hour, include laid-off professionals and part-time workers looking to augment their earnings. "I get three to five people applying for jobs each week," says Mr. Horlacher.

A 25% increase in year-over-year cart sales has prompted one manufacturer, All American Hot Dog Carts Inc., to offer classes in how to succeed in wiener work. Later this month, Hot Dog University will cover everything from the right way to squirt mustard (in a swirling motion with a quick flick of the wrist) to how to heat up buns (steam them over the dogs for two minutes before serving).
[hot dog]

Then there's the art of the sell. "You got to schmooze people," says Louie Di Raimondo, the Miami company's founder and self-appointed hot-dog king.

A skilled cart dealer in a pedestrian-heavy area can net up to $400 a day, say many vendors and cart-company officials. Newer dealers and those in less-ideal locations make one-third to half that amount. Weekend and event-only vendors, like the Guajardos, say that when the weather is good, they too can turn a hefty profit.

The Guajardos manage their two-wheeled stainless-steel hot-dog cart just on weekends, from about 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., in this Texas Hill Country downtown dotted with hitching posts, heavy-duty pickup trucks and cowboys leading cattle. They set up again on Saturday nights outside local honky-tonks like the Longhorn Saloon. They average $1,150 in take-home earnings each weekend selling roughly 400 dogs, plus drinks, chips and pickles. The couple's four children often help out during the day.

"I tell them, 'Your mom's going to pay for your college education with hot dogs," says Ms. Guajardo, while directing her oldest son, 13-year-old Ben, to put some more cans of soda and bottled water on ice. The business is named after another son, 6-year-old "Big Lou."

Before they started, "you could find a flying frog easier than a hot-dog stand," said 75-year-old William Ellis recently as he waited for a Chicago-style frankfurter, including neon green relish and sport peppers atop a poppy-seed bun.
From the Independent Street Blog

* How to Start Your Own Hot-Dog-Cart Business

For others, hot-dogging is a stopgap. Real-estate investor Marty Katzenberger turned to it after the housing market tanked and he couldn't sell any of his properties. "I found that I'm a little clumsy with my hot dogs," says the 72-year-old, who withdrew $4,200 from his retirement savings to get started at a Sarasota, Fla., beach resort. Mr. Katzenberger, who generates an average of $150 in profits a day and works five days a week, says he's considering moving to a new location to boost his earnings further.

The work -- which requires hours of standing -- can be quite an adjustment for people accustomed to sitting behind desks at 9-to-5 jobs. There's also a lot of preparation and cleaning involved.

Then there's the growing competition. Many small cities and towns have never had to worry much about enforcing laws that limit the number of pushcarts -- until now.

Connie Means, a former college math professor who owns four wiener stands in Gadsden, Ala., recently encountered her first competition since starting her business in 2003. It came from a husband and wife who had previously sought her advice on becoming hot-dog vendors. "I tried to help them," says Ms. Means, who makes about $42,000 annually working six days a week. "I didn't realize they were going to set up two or three blocks from me."
Growing Competition

Gadsden officials say there are more competitors on the way. The municipality of about 37,000 is now considering changes to a vending ordinance that would require new carts to be farther apart from one another. "They all want to be in a four-block radius," says Shane Ellison, a city planner.

After Jerry and Sandra Mottola ordered a $3,000 hot-dog cart online recently, they discovered that there were only two available locations zoned for the purpose in their hometown of Haverhill, Mass. A local hardware store rejected the couple's request to set up on its property. Ultimately, they scored an open spot near a courthouse, library and shopping plaza.

Mr. Mottola hopes his new business, Family Hot Dog, will supplement his sagging income as a home contractor. "I'm creating my own stimulus plan," he says. "I'm not waiting for the president."

Write to Sarah E. Needleman at sarah.needleman@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications

Lou Guajardo was incorrectly identified as Ben Guajardo in a photo caption accompanying a this article on hot-dog vendors.

Drunk people eat just about anything put in front of their faces, in my experience. I lived above 4 nightclubs a few years back, and would watch in pure fascination as the only 24hr pizza shop would have lines as deep as 100-150 people waiting in line for $5 slices of pizza. His 30sqm business with a marketing plan and product simpler than most Grade 10 proposals, made him $2 million net profit in 3 yrs.

Why no one opened up a shop right next to him (for all they cared) was a source of much fascination to me for years. I was friends with him, but very often considered the idea myself. Then I remembered I was lazy.

For all I know, he's still making 1000% markups and managing 100-customer lines for those markups - with no competition.

Sell blow out of the cart and the idea is gold

I live in Toronto and some of the 'HotDog' guys make a killing downtown - or near a college/university campus.

We talked about this in our business class, and figured that hot dog guy on our campus was netting anywhere from $30 - $50K a year - selling HOT DOGS!! Its not a complicated job, the hours depend on when you wanna work, but it was usually 10am - 6:00pm for him - 7 days - and he worked them all himself.

One article said that top guys downtown net $100K - $120K a year. Obviously you'd have to be in a solid location, but when you do get your permit and can sell - you will make good money.

Me and my friends where gonna buy all the materials etc. and hire someone to sell for us, but both of my friends couldnt get any money at the time - this was back in college. I still have ideas about setting up a stand somewhere - the only thing is you have to get is a permit, and I dont know how hard that is. You pay someone $10 per hour and a coupld hot dogs for himself, I dont think you should have a problem retaining an employee and making $100 - $300 per day off them, net - again in a SOLID location.

Generally speaking these ideas are pretty lousy but if you can get permit and find an extremely good location that has traffic but no food competition you can do well. I remember in high school there was a guy who had a hot dog stand by the beach. The guy made 6 figures just working the summers. But he was the closest food source to the beach. The mini mall which had some restaurants was about 1/4 mi further in.

I agree with most of what has been said regarding a solid location resulting in a steady and good income.

But I would love to hear everyone's definition of a solid location. Some say in the downtown core. Some say near a beach.

I've often thought that an industrial area would be ideal. Especially if you can find out in advance that the facilities do not have cafeterias.

Can anyone think of any other 'solid locations'?

I don't know if it will be profitable, but I lol'd. Love the costume. You should get plenty of drunk women wanting their picture taken with you.

I'd consider the alternative moniker of Wiener Man and be sure to offer chili and cheese toppings. No drunken hot dog is complete without chili and cheese.

A friend of mine did this in San Diego 25 years ago. It wasn't as easy as he thought. He had his cart downtown and operated during lunch & dinner as opposed to going after the late night drunk crowd. Fixed expenses: He leased the corner he was on...his cart needed to be stored overnight in a location approved by the health department. At the time this was in a warehouse downtown. He had to pay rent to keep his cart there...health permit...business license. If you are going to incorporate there is an $800 minimum yearly state corporate tax. There is the also the cost of the cart. Are you going to be able to get a decent ROI working 2 nights a week?

Where exactly are you planning on trying this? I'm sure you're aware that San Diego has a ridiculous amount of 24 hour eating options so unless you score an amazing location you are going to have a lot of competition. I admire your initiative but make sure you think this through. Try to talk to someone in the business and find out if there is anything you may have missed.

In Houston, they restrict where you can sell food from carts downtown.

Plus, they have lots of health and permit restrictions.

Check out San Diego's city ordinances.

Mojo, what about if it was the *nearest* viable 24hr option. Do you think people would make the 5 min drive or w/e to the nearest mexican place instead of paying for overpriced hot dogs?

I know a guy who does this and makes a decent cut. He has even gotten laid a couple of times... and he is known as "hot dog guy".

I can't see how it wouldn't be profitable. Hot dogs are insanely cheap.*

-Charge people a couple bucks to take pictures with you in compromising positions. Let them take it for free if they buy a few hot dogs.

-Buy 1.5oz bags of crappy chips in bulk at Sams and sell them for $1. I have to think this is at least 600-700% markup for what they'd cost.

-Come up with some ridiculous gargantuan dish. Get a huge bun and put like 4 hot dogs, and cheese sauce on it or something and charge $5 for it. Drunk college kids will do/try anything. It will also help with word of mouth growth for your business.

-Avoid doing anything that's going to cause logistical problems -- cooking, unneccesary mess, storing, etc. That's why bare hot dogs with ketchup/mustard packets and bags of chips are going to be great for you, they are clean, easy, and you don't have to manage a whole lot of moving parts.

-You might try selling some sweets too. Hell, you could probably go to the local donut shop at 10pm each night and buy all their day-old donuts for 25 cents on the dollar. Prepackaged oreos or candy bars would probably sell as well.

Let me know if you need investors!!!


*I knew a kid that was so cheap that he bought a pack of like 100 hot dogs from Walmart for 10 bucks or something. All he ate was hot dogs for like 2 weeks, I don't think he even had buns or ketchup. After it was over he got a case of intenstinal worms or something ridiculous like that, I'm pretty sure he had to go to the hospital for the stomach pains. I laugh everytime I think about that story.

Yeah, Mexican drive thru is the default after bar food for most San Diegans. You would have to be in a great location and offer a unique product for this to work IMO (Bacon dogs? Very popular in L.A. but you need a special cart to be legal). Pacific Beach or the college area seem like logical choices but there could be zoning issues with a late night stand (noise and residences don't mix).